Bion's Service Center

Review: I brought my Jeep to Bion's Service Center for a repair on Jan. 28, 2015. When I spoke with them on the phone prior to bringing the vehicle in, I explained that when I attempted to make a turn while it was in 4-wheel drive the vehicle "bucked" and didn't want to turn. A couple hours after dropping off my Jeep I received a call from Bion's informing me they had diagnosed the problem. I was told that the culprit was a bad tie rod and the repair estimate was around $500. I told them that sounded fine and to go ahead and make the repair. An hour or two later I receive another call from Bion's informing me that they discovered something else that could be causing my problem, a bad U-joint. They told me they could include that in the repair for roughly an additional $150-$175. Again, I said OK and asked them to make the repair. The work was completed one day later and I picked up Jeep after paying the bill for $705. The first time I had occasion to put the Jeep in 4-wheel drive was about two weeks later and much to my dismay the problem had not been fixed. When I attempted to make a turn the vehicle responded in exactly the same way. I immediately contacted Bion's to let them know that they had not fixed my problem and I was asked to bring the Jeep back in. I returned to Bion's on March 3 and within 10 seconds of being in the vehicle with me the mechanic diagnosed the problem as a bad CV joint. We then went into the shop where I was informed that for another $325 they could fix my problem. When I told them that I had already paid them $705 to fix this problem, they told me they would take $75 off the additional $325 they needed to do the repair. I told them that wasn't acceptable. If their mechanic can spot the problem within 10 seconds of being in my vehicle, this obviously should have been done the first time I brought my vehicle in for service. Instead I paid $705 and they didn't fix the problem they agreed to fix. I feel as if I have been swindled. Additionally, we are a two-car family and only live a few blocks away from the shop. I even mentioned a couple of times when I first spoke with them (both on the phone and in person) how pleased I was to find a service station in the neighborhood where we could get gas and have all of our service done. Instead I get taken for $705 and they didn't fix my vehicle.Desired Settlement: I believe that if you enter into a contract to fix a vehicle for an agreed upon price you should be required to fix that vehicle.

Business

Response:

After reviewing Mr [redacted] complaint letter I wish to correct some of the facts. Mr [redacted] concernwith his 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee was a noise while turning when in 4 wheel drive. Upon testdriving the vehicle, followed by a visual inspection by our Master Certified AutomotiveTechnician we found that there was a very noticeable amount of free play (or wear) on the twojoints of the front driveshaft (transfer case to front differential). These joints are under a lot ofapplied torque when a vehicle is in 4 wheel drive, especially when added drivetrain resistance isadded while turning the front wheels. The worn joints will make a clattering noise and causewhat can be felt as a binding then sudden release while they are rotating under stress. The firstphone call to Mr. [redacted] was for the estimated $500.00 plus sales tax for the diagnostic, parts,labor of replacing both of these wom front driveshaft joints.While in the process of replacing the front drives haft joints the technician found a large amountof play (wear) on a part of the steering linkage (right upper outer tie rod). We contacted Mr[redacted] and had explained what we had found. This worn tie rod end is a safety concern. Shouldit separate it will cause a loss of steering ability. It would also cause the front wheels to be out ofalignment especially on sharp turns which then would cause extra stress on the front drive axlecomponents when in 4 wheel drive. This was the second phone call to Mr [redacted] with estimatedreplacement costs that included parts, labor & alignment of $162.00 plus sales tax.Upon completion of all repairs the technician test drove the vehicle in 4 wheel drive whilemaking numerous sharp left and right turns. We did not experience any noises. There was whatone would describe as a binding feeling, but this is to be expected from a vehicle when in 4wheel drive while being driven on dry pavement.In his complaint letter Mr. [redacted] stated he did not use the 4 wheel drive until two weeks after therepairs which would be around February 11, 2015, yet he did not contact us to have it checkeduntil three weeks later. With our work schedule at the time we could have gotten the vehicle infor inspection within two days of contacting us. When Mr. [redacted] did bring his vehicle in for us toevaluate it on March 3, 2015, the technician did drive the vehicle and found it to have adistinctive clatter from the front end while on turns. This would be from worn front axle CV joints(front differential to front wheel hubs). At the time the vehicle was initially in our shop on January28th there was not what we felt was enough play (wear) in the front axle CV joints to replacethem. Since so much time has gone by since the initial repairs we do not have the original partsto show how bad they were.Bion's Full Service Auto Care LLC is a long time family business started in 1929 by **

[redacted]. We and our technicians pride ourselves on our honesty, quality ofwork and fair pricing. We did explain to Mr. [redacted] on March 3, 2015 that we had seen severallate model Jeep Cherokee's with these same issues. We even showed him a recent repairinvoice from another customer with the same issues that Mr [redacted] has and we first on thatvehicle: replaced both front CV axle shafts that were obviously worn and the vehicle still hadnoises In the front while on tums while 4 wheel drive. We then replaced the front drive shaftjoints as we initially did on Mr [redacted] Jeep and that took care of the remaining issues. We didoffer to to the other repairs at a discounted price of 1/2 off labor costs.Mr [redacted] has a 12 year old vehicle with over 80,000 miles on it. There will be expected repairand maintenance costs at this point, some of them will unfortunately be expensive.As a good will gesture to Mr [redacted] we propose this: we can replace the now needed front axleCV shafts for parts only, plus sales tax or refund the $132.00 labor clharge from invoice #[redacted].Mr [redacted] would first have to agree to drop the "stop payment" for $705.92 he filed with his creditcard company.