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Airey Volkswagon Service, Inc.

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Reviews Airey Volkswagon Service, Inc.

Airey Volkswagon Service, Inc. Reviews (2)

Review: On the evening of Saturday, August 3, 2013, the clutch in my VW Rabbit went out while a relative was driving it while I was visiting them in Harrisonburg, Virginia. At my relative's suggestion, I had the car towed to Airey Volkswagon Service (Airey VW) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I left my key with my relative, and called Airey VW early Monday morning, August 5, 2013 to explain the situation and ask them to give me an estimate for replacement of the clutch. I left my phone number with them numerous times, and asked them to call me with any information, estimates, questions, etc. Throughout the course of the next eight days, I had to call them repeatedly to get updates and information on my car. They quoted me a cost of $1165 to replace the clutch, which I agreed to. On Tuesday, August 13, 2013, my husband and I drove to Harrisonburg to pick up my car. Once we arrived at Airey VW, I was informed that labor was not included in the estimate provided to me the week before, and that the total bill was $1,666.75. Feeling as if I had no choice but to do so, I paid the bill, minus $200 that my relative had paid without my knowledge. I drove the car straight home, to Richmond. Late in the afternoon of August 13, 2013, I attempted to run some errands in my car, and noticed a very strong smell of hot clutch, and a scraping noise while the car was in motion. Terrified that I might damage the new clutch or my engine, I drove the car two blocks to my own mechanic and left it for them to look at and diagnose. My mechanic discovered the following items: 1) Two (2) out of three (3) transmission bolts were not screwed into the transmission properly. 2) The driver-side transmission bracket was stripped. 3) One (1) of the bolts for the flex plate was replaced by a non-original equipment bolt that is longer and has a bigger head, which could cause the flex plate to be unbalanced. 4) The new fly wheel was warped. 5) The transmission had not been cleaned out when it was removed to replace the clutch, and was full of debris. My mechanic recommended replacing my flywheel, throw-out bearing, and clutch plate a second time. I called Airey VW and informed them of my mechanic's suggestion. They told me that my mechanic was "selling me a bill of goods", and that nothing was wrong with the clutch they'd installed. They explained the scraping noise was probably a heat shield that had come loose, and the smell was to be expected. They further said that if I had any problem with their work, I should have brought the car back to them. Due to the distance from Richmond to Harrisonburg and my dissatisfaction with their work and their overall customer service, I opted not to return the car to Airey. My mechanic replaced with genuine VW parts the clutch Airey VW installed, at an additional cost to me of $2,095.41Desired Settlement: I am requesting a refund for the parts of my clutch that had to be replaced a second time (my slave cylinder did not require replacement again, so I'm not requesting refund for that), and the charge for the original labor.

Business

Response:

To address [redacted] complaint#[redacted]I gave her an estimate for a clutch and labor, upon removing the transmission I realized we had to update as it has a 2 piece flywheel (locked up) and a melted slave cylinder. As I had given her an estimate once on labor my exact words were it will need over $1100.00 worth of parts. When she called about a noise it didn't sound much like a clutch noise and asked her to get an opinion from a VW dealer to check this and call me back with their opinion. I heard nothing until Revdex.com.As far as replacing all these parts I have told about this has ever heard of a bent flywheel (first term) or a warped flywheel. According to her the clutch worked just fine as far as smell it will have that for awhile. You should have been in the shop and in the car with the original bolt broken the 1/2 ounce difference in weight wouldn't make a difference in a stock engine. lf this bolt was to change balance the engine would be vibrating and clutch rough which was not stated. lf you was building an engine for NASCAR or a1000h.p engine this would not be used. As far as loose belt ect. The terms used in this complaint I don't believe it. As common courtesy to another garage if we run into a s¡tuation as this we talk to them and try to resolve the problem. This place told her what she wanted to hear and is what us old timers call a salesman and parts hanger. As you can see he replaced less new parts for more money. lf she wanted to resolve this she would have done what I asked her to do and get another opinion. So far I still don't know what the noise was or any parts to examine. Why is this the only business I know of with these demands made with no returns or cooperation. Airey VW Service lnc.Charles Airey

Consumer

Response:

It appears that Mr. Airey misunderstood parts of my complaint. I realize that this situation is devolving into his word against mine, and so I am stating again the facts as I know them.After I got my car back to Richmond and my mechanic diagnosed the problem, I called Mr. Airey on August 22 to explain to him the history of the situation after I left his shop on August 13, and to let him know what my mechanic had found. He was defensive, and told me some of what he mentioned in his written response to my complaint, namely that my mechanic was wrong, that I was being sold a bill of goods, and that any noise I was hearing was a loose heat shield. He told me more than once that there was nothing wrong with the work his shop had done to my car, and at that point I ended the call. I do not recall him asking me to get another opinion, only that he was irate during our phone call. At this point, I'd been without a car for 19 days and authorized my mechanic to go ahead and replace the clutch again so that I could get my car back. Mr. Airey mentions a loose belt in my complaint, but I didn't complain of a loose belt. The particulars of my complaint were:1) Two out of three transmission bolts were improperly reinstalled2) The driver's side transmission bracket was stripped3) One of the bolts for the flex plate was replaced with one that was longer and had a longer/deeper head than the others4) The flywheel was warped5) My transmission hadn't been cleaned out during the first clutch replacement, and was full of debris from the original clutch Finally, in his response to my Revdex.com complaint, Mr. Airey says that "this place told her what she wanted to hear and is what us old timers call a salesman and parts hanger." I'm not sure why my mechanic didn't call him before, but will be more than happy to ask that they do so immediately. Out of courtesy to both shops, I will refrain from repeating the "parts hanger" comment. Finally, he presumes too much when he suggests that I wanted to hear I had to have a second clutch replacement. I could ill afford one clutch replacement. Paying for two has been a huge burden.Sincerely,[redacted]

Business

Response:

After checking these parts as well as several other mechanics the opinion of mine as well as everyone I have shown them to is the same. This is the normal way for a clutch and flywheel to be, it is going to get some stain from the fiber disc to transfer to flywheel and pressure plate. Her complaint was a squeal when the car was moving. As she stated it was no vibration or chatter when engaged.Anyone working in this business knows this. They also know one different bolt this small is not going to off balance an engine which it didn't I am still waiting to hear what the squeal was when the car was in motion. She did not listen to me about her estimate or a second opinion on the noise she complained about. I still believe all she had was a gravel in a brake rotor or a backing plate bent to hit a brake rotor.If she can't follow instructions she must like paying a big price for a fast talking salesman to sell her a line of bull and take her money. With nothing wrong with the parts and being installed I can't return them. I don't really understand what she expects. If she buys a stove at [redacted] does she try to return it to [redacted]?

Review: On Monday 5/5/2014 my car (04 Mazda6) was taken to the garage for check engine light issues and running very ruff. On Thursday 5/8/2014 garage said car was repaired and ready to be picked up. My husband wrote a check for 912.20 for the repairs and drove home which is around 20 miles. He made it home without incident, however upon driving to the store the light came right back on. I was just about to leave the garage with his car when he called and said he was bringing the car back because the light had come back on, so I waited in his car for him to get there. When he got back to the shop he walked in to the door gave them the keys and walked right back out, I asked him what he said to them because he was not in there any length of time. He said he told them when it was fixed correctly to call him. Friday 5/9/2014 they called and argued with my husband about repairing the back brakes. Brakes is not why the car was taken into the shop it was brought in to fix the engine light, and owner was wanting to fix the brakes, but was told to leave the brakes alone and find the problem with the light. So I had to rent a car over the weekend from [redacted] because my husband needed to have his car for work and there would not be a car for the house if needed. My car was in the care of the garage now for the second time from 5/8/2014-5/12/2014 at which point they called my husband and said it was ready for pick up. I was given a ride from work to the garage to pick up the car. When arrived and saw my car there was now a nice huge dent in the hatch directly under the license plate where there had been none before. I walked into the office for the very first time I have never seen anyone or talked to any of them before yesterday at around 4:15pm. I told them I was here to pick up the Mazda6 and asked if they knew how the huge dent happened to be in my car. They got defensive and said they can not watch the car 24 hours a day. He asked one of his workers, and he said he had seen it there that morning but did not remember seeing it there before. Collectively they had my car from 5/5-5/12. The guy I was dealing with was not being very helpful about the dent he did discover that the car had been pulled into a parking spot with the back end exposed to front of the garage and parked there for the weekend. I could see was getting no where with the dent so I asked him about the parts he had put into my car if there were any warranty's he said there may be one, but he did not give me any paperwork on it so I can use it if need be, he simply told me that I was not to bring my car back to him again for all the attitude I had given him. I had never even seen the man before or talked to him until 5/12/2014. I wasn't to happy about the dent in my car so I told him I would not be back however I had already paid him 912.20 in parts and labor, mostly parts. And I wanted the warranty information, he would not give it to me. So I started to write another check for the new bill of 252.31 and he threw his notepad down and said he was not going to take my check I had to come back with cash or credit card. I said you took my 912.20 check just on 5/8 what is wrong with this check. He would not give me an answer and no where on the wall did it say anything about not excepting a check. I gave him the cash and drove off very aggravated at how I had been treated like a second class citizen. I wasn't three miles down the road when the check engine light returned I went ahead and drove it home because was already informed that the garage was not working on my car again. So I'm out 1164.51 and I still have a check engine light on. The more I thought about it after being home I just couldn't believe that someone would treat a paying customer the way he did. So I did place a hold on the check that I had originally wrote, it had not gone through my bank yet. I don not know if the hold was placed in time yet. I maybe should not have done that but he was unwilling to give me any warranty paperwork on the parts he claims he purchased for my car. Parts alone were over 800. I feel he should have given me the warranty information for these parts if he is not going to stand by the work he said he performed. With no warranty information how am I to know that he actually purchased new parts for my car. I have no history with this garage they are a stranger to me, it was a garage my husband had always gone to before we were married.Desired Settlement: I want the charges for the first payment to be forgiven, because there is no warranty information provided for either visit's charges, plus the work was not completed and they have no intention of completing the repair. So from a consumers point of view no warranty equals used parts. Thank You for your time. Hope you have a great day.

Business

Response:

In response to this letter if it can be called that. It is true I never talked to or heard of this woman

before. I talked to [redacted] only. As for the check engine light the first code was random misfiring. Checking

plugs we found them to not be for this car and a cracked coil unit. They were called with a price and told us

to go ahead.

The next day the keys were thrown on the desk with a check engine light is on. This time the

scanner showed a lean mixture on one bank. A vacuum hose replaced it came back on. Cleaning the mass

air flow it came back on. During this time we noticed a sensor on the floor inside so I called to ask who an

what had been done to the car.

I got very little response to this, we replaced the mass air flow an drove the car. No light came

back on. I did advise them of the rear brake grinding an the brake discs. This was a matter of safety for my

man an theirs. If I had not called about the brakes it would have been liability insurance on us. By calling

them I was off the hook there.

As far as warranty papers there is none with plugs and sensors other than the receipt from us.

Warranty papers are with rebuilt units as engines and transmissions. Anyone who has a car repaired knows

this. I did not tell her not to come back. She said she would not come back and after her attitude I had to

bite my tongue not to respond but I didn't.

As for her dent no one parks a car twice in the furthest corner of the lot with the rear to the road.

Everyone parks next to the door or crossways in the middle. I should have picked up on this but was

preoccupied with getting the light off I am willing to bet either both or at least one knows what put that

dent there.

We was not working on anything at this time that would put a dent this high up. True the car sat

with the rear exposed over the weekend and I told her I could not sit 24/7 to watch her car. I suppose if it

was damaged on a city lot the city would be responsible or maybe at [redacted] she could walk out with a

TV to cover it. I don't think they ever planned to pay from the start. The warrant I plan on getting is $53.00

billed to her with interest plus other expenses. As soon as one or both 2 employees can get back to work we

will let a judge decide this.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

If they insist on getting the money for the check I have on hold I will do it, if I have no choice, but Know that they did tell me never to come back there again, and the damage of the car was appraised at over 560.00 with Insurance company. It was done while on their car lot. I know where every dent and scratch came from on this car since I bought it 1/1/2008. If they insist on the payment I will deduct the cost of the repairs to the car and give them what is left. I believe this to be fair I can provide the written estimate for the repairs.I will mail them a check plus a copy of the estimate for the repairs as proof of the damages created while in their care. The car was parked in front of their garage doors with the other cars this is where their employee said it was parked over the weekend and he didn't see the dent until after the weekend, when they pulled it back into the garage. How the lot is set up there is not a lot of room to maneuver cars around. I can see how a pick up truck could have easily backed into the car with the hitch sticking out, because there is not enough room to move cars easily.

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Description: AUTO REPAIR & SERVICE

Address: 865 Waterman Dr., Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States, 22801

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