Agen's Automotive

We have installed engine block heaters in 11 different Nissan Sentra 1.8 Liter cars, including [redacted]'s car. All of which use the same part number we used on [redacted]'s car. Doug.

Agen's Automotive first worked on [redacted]'s 2005 Nissan Sentra on11/18/2015.The repair instructions stated as follows "Check to see if oil pan pad heater and advise. Estimate for installing a engine block heater. Advise if hard start may be more than just cold weather caused".The repair notes read as...

follows "Test engine heater. Tested the battery blanket and the oil pan heater and found them to be operational. Alternator assembly R&R. Had to remove the alternator to access the freeze plug for the block heater. Install (winter) engine block heater. Install engine block heater and route cord. Test starting and charging system. Check alternator output, test battery, starter draw, key off draws and voltage drop on battery cables. Battery R&R. Old battery tested bad. Replaced the battery.On 11/18/15 at 4:18 pm, Service writer, Jeremy, discussed our findings and repair options with [redacted]. [redacted] approved repairs and services in the amount of $636.73. The repairs and services were complete on 11/20/15 at 4:58 pm in the amount of $611.73. Of the $611.73, $299.13 was for the installation of the engine block heater if you include the AAA discount.Since [redacted]'s first visit [redacted] has brought her Nissan back for inspections and repairs 4 times which include reattaching the battery hold down from us installing a battery on her initial visit, replacing belts, a power steering pump, a belt idler pulley and locating a leak in the windshield washer bottle. She never mentioned she was having a problem with her engine block heater.Nearly a year after the initial installation of the engine block heater [redacted] called our shop and told us she was having problem blowing her GFI, she made an appointment for the next day at 4:00 pm for us to take a look at it. [redacted] never showed up for her appointment and we didn't here from her again until she called us to let us know she took her vehicle somewhere else.Agen's Automotive is a Napa Auto Care Center. The way Agen's Automotive looks up parts is first by entering the Vin # on the work order. We then select a link to an online catalog for Napa Auto Parts. The online catalog pulls up parts requested, applicable to the vehicle by the Vin #. In this case it pulled up a Kat's engine block heater part #111417. This is the part we installed in [redacted]'s Nissan.As a Napa Autocare Center our customers are covered by the Napa Peace of Mind Warranty. With the Napa peace of Mind Warranty the block heater we installed qualifies under the warranty as it is a part that is covered and is within the time and mileage required. Additionally the Peace of mind warranty requires the vehicle to be repaired at the shop who performed the original work to the vehicle unless the shop is outside a 25 mile radius of the original shop. In this case [redacted] made the decision to have a repair shop outside of the 25 mile radius to work on her vehicle.  She called the phone number for the Napa Peace of Mind office which she found on the back of her repair order. At this point she started a claim with the warranty company and Agen's Automotive was out of the picture for the Peace of Mind Warranty at this point. If [redacted] had brought the vehicle to our shop we would have handled the warranty claim which would have been to replace the defective engine heater. [redacted], at the advice of the other shop chose to have the engine heater removed rather than have it replaced. This is what the warranty paid for.Before the warranty claim was settled, [redacted] came to our shop and demanded we pay the warranty claim. She informed us her dad was an attorney and that if we didn't pay the claim she was going to take us to small claims court. We informed her that she made the claim with Napa and that they were the ones who were going to reimburse her on the claim. [redacted] did not understand why we weren't the one's reimbursing her on her claim. We instructed her to call Napa Peace of Mind Warranty to get clarification. She called them on her cell phone at which time she along with our service writer talked with the claims adjuster and were able to clarify the situation with [redacted]. She said she would be back if she didn't receive her reimbursement.[redacted] came back and was upset that Napa only reimbursed her for the work the other shop did. Again, she informed us her dad was an attorney and that if we didn't give her the money back for the original installation of the block heater she would take us to small claims court. She did not understand that she changed what she wanted done to her vehicle and that if she had the block heater replaced rather than removed she would have a working engine heater and would have been reimbursed for it.  It was [redacted]'s choice to take the vehicle to another shop. It was unfortunate for her that they misinformed her about the application of the engine heater we installed causing her to decide to make the decision to remove it and install a freeze plug instead.  We did feel bad for her, even though she was being difficult, and offered her a $200 credit for future work on her vehicle. [redacted] left upset and said she was taking us to small claims court.In [redacted]'s statement she makes claims that are untrue.[redacted] claims that when she called our shop to make an appointment to have us check her engine heater, we said we were booked 2 weeks out. This is untrue. We set an appointment for her to come in the next day at 4 pm. [redacted] did not show up for her appointment. Agen's Automotive has not been booked out for 2 weeks in several years. Also, you do not need an appointment  to have us check your engine heater. This is a free service we do. It takes just a few minutes to connect a meter to the engine heater cord to see if it is working properly.[redacted] claims the other shop told her there isn't an engine heater application for her vehicle and that the one we installed was modified (the heating element was bent). There is an engine heater application for [redacted]'s Nissan. The Vin# for [redacted]'s Nissan is [redacted]. If you enter this Vin # on Napa's website you will see the engine heater, part # 11417 that we used in her vehicle. We have installed many block heaters in these Nissan's. Agen's Automotive was involved in an engine heater program several years ago that was sponsored by the city of Anchorage. During the engine heater program we installed 1000's of engine heaters over a course of several years. It is not a habit of ours to modify the heating element as the other shop claims we did. In fact, we don't modify the heating elements. [redacted] brought the original engine heater in for us to look at. We tested the ground circuit and verified it was shorted with about the same amount of ohms you would measure holding the test leads in your hands measuring the resistance of your body. This slight amount of continuity is enough to blow a GFI circuit but not enough to blow a breaker on a non GFI circuit. This amount of resistance is commonly caused by the engine heater leaking and shorting the circuit or moisture getting on the electrical plug causing a short the same as getting any electrical cord wet. I have never seen an engine heater cause a fire. [redacted] seemed paranoid that we were going to do something with the heater and didn't let it out of her sight. We didn't get a chance to inspect it long enough to see if it looked like it was bent or cracked. With the brief look we had we didn't see the modification that was claimed to have been done or the crack that the engine heater was claimed to have as a result of the modification. We don't know if the engine heater may have been modified before we installed it, which could happen if someone tried to installed it and damaged or modified it then returned it to Napa who resold it to us. Or it could have been damaged on removal which is almost impossible not to do since you usually end up prying them out.[redacted] claims I didn't give her the time of day. I did give [redacted] the time of day. I checked her engine heater with the meter and listened to her story. When I tried to explain the situation to her she just wasn't getting it so I let our service writer explain it to her. Which he seemingly was able to do with the help of the claims adjuster but later found out she didn't get the whole picture.[redacted] claims I used to work at Vulcan Towing and Recovery and that I give them kick backs. That part is true. About 10 years ago or so, I worked for Vulcan Towing and Recovery for about 3 months under a different owner. I reward Vulcan's employee's with a $10 Subway gift card if they refer a new customer to our shop. I also offer this reward not only to Vulcan Towing & Recovery but to all of our vendors, other shops and anyone else who refers a new customer to us.  Additionally I reward our customers for referrals of new customers to our shop with discounts on future visits. I don't know which driver referred [redacted] to our shop but he most likely referred her because our experience of installing engine heaters because of the engine heater program we were involved with that was sponsored by the city.As far as [redacted]'s desired settlement of $307.27, which is more than she paid for the original installation of the engine heater if you include the 10% AAA discount on parts she received, she has already received reimbursement for the work she chose to do rather than the original work. Additionally she has been offered a $200 in store credit which is still offered.