BMW of Tri-Cities

[To assist us in bringing this ***er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] Revdex.com, I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaintFor your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below [To assist us in bringing this ***er to a close, we would like to know your view on the ***er.] So, if I had brought my car into a business such as [redacted] or [redacted] , this wouldn't be happening right now, I see my mistake for bringing it to youWe obviously have different views on what being responsible for something meansbottom line is, even if a part was already on its way out, if it breaks during your care, you are responsible to replace itlets say for instancea man brings a car to the mechanic, drops it off, works ok but needs a oil change, as the ***nician pulls it into the garage he yanks the steering wheel too hard, and the power steering pump goes out! THEY WOULD STILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! Besides the fact that before buying the car I had it checked at [redacted] in april and have the paperwork to prove that they did a full car check, and a/c isn't on the list for a high pressure relief valve I am also seeing you don't plan on owning up to a simple mistake perhaps to run into further problems such as this, check the high pressure relief valve before filling the a/c Regards, [redacted] ***

To whom it may concern, This was the first time that Mr [redacted] has visited our dealership Mr *** brought his vehicle to us with two requests as noted on the attached work order The request in question was to recharge the AC system, in which we connect the AC system to the vehicle and allow the machine to evacuate and recharge the ac system with FreonWe recharged the system to the original specifications, and after this procedure, we noticed that the high pressure relief valve located on the ac compressor was stuck open The only time this is noticeable is when the ac compressor is engaged Further, the ac compressor will only activate when the pressures are within an acceptable range, determined by the high and low pressure sensors located on the ac lines The only way to determine this issue was to charge the system to capacity It is questionable as to why the customer would request an AC recharge if the air conditioning was working "ok" to begin with This vehicle is years old, and has 132,miles on it All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor was the original cause of the AC not blowing cold enough for the customer I can only rely on the customer data given to me at the initiation of service As for the costs associated with the repairs, our policy is to only provide the best parts and workmanship available for our BMW customers, and we back this up with a year unlimited mile parts and labor warranty When Mr [redacted] indicated that the original quote was too high, I had my parts manager locate a quality aftermarket compressor and adjusted the quote accordingly The warranty is parts only, and only for one year, but I wanted to try to assist Mr [redacted] in getting his vehicle repaired in a fashion he was comfortable with I understand that an AC compressor is costly to repair, but unsure why we are being accused of a scam If the customer is unhappy with the cost, there may be other facilities that are willing to do it for a lessor charge If the customer wants to procure the AC compressor for $240, I would be willing to install it at our internal cost, which would be $+ tax There will be no warranty for parts or labor in regards to this install As a reminder, the recommendation and original quote included the price of a condensor as well, which is always recommended when replacing a compressor I would strongly discourage the customer from pursuing the aftermarket route due to the lack of reliability with those components I am willing to be as competitive as possible in regards to the cost of the repair, but I will not accept responsibility for the failure of the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor Sincerely, [redacted] , Service Manager

Subject: ResponseWe appreciate being informed of this situationWe have contacted the client and remedied the agreed upon price of the services rendered. Warm regards, Pete S*** / Service Manger BMW of Tri-Cities

Dear Mr***
Mr*** that responded to your first inquiry is on
vacation at this time. However I have been briefed on your issueFirst
let me say I can understand the discomfort that you must be experimenting
especially in our current climate and I am sorry you have to deal with it
I have read your complaint and must state that the
component you mentioned the high pressure valve is not available as a single
item it is sold as one unit with the compressor per my Parts ManagerTherefore
your request is not available.
Sir we run an honest business and I can assure you if we
damaged your component we would have replaced it as I instruct my staff..
I spoke with the *** and from prior experience know that sometimes if a
component is failing as it was in your case; whether its completely our our not
at a 100% once you put the pressure back to full potential the pressure will
cause the component to completely failThat is what happened in your case
Because it happened in our care doesn't mean it is our responsibility
This is unfortunate because we surely don't want you to be
upset at us but this was just unavoidable and it would have been inevitable
that the component was going to completely failI believe Mr*** offered
you a special rate to correct this issue if not please contact him and we would
like to assist in some manner
Again my apology for your inconvenience please let us know
if we can be of further assistance please feel free to contact us
Respectfully,
*** ***
CEO BMW of Tri- Cities

July 1,
Dear Ms***,
First, let me apologize again for your perception of the chain of eventsWe sincerely hope that none of our Clients would ever have a negative experience at our locationWe are not the type of company you mention in your letter. I do understand your frustration in this matter and unfortunately, I honestly believe that we may never come to a satisfactory conclusion for you. I will do my best to explain our opinion one more time and hopefully offer you some peace of mind so that we can both move forward
I reviewed your documents and the maintenance records of what we preformed on your vehicleWe did not do any software work on your vehicle. What we did was maintenanceGenerally speaking it was spark plugs, oil change, physical inspection, brake flush and filters. Your theory that this work caused the issue is not accurate or physically possibleTo simplify; it would be like if you hired me to clean your windows at your house and I did and then your air conditioning stop working a week laterWould it be my fault because I was there and worked at your house? I would hope you would agree that it wasn’t
You comment that we don’t care about our customers; if we didn’t care would we do the following:
1- Have you come in and give you a new BMW Loaner to drive even though your problem didn’t exist when you bought the car in
2- We also spent $of labor testing your car out even though the fault light was not on; and we already knew, it was not related
With the service we provided and the days of alternative transportation we provide and a full tank of gas it would equate to about a $good-will gesture on our partWe do this because we value you as a customer and our sincere concern for all of our clients’ safetyWe guarantee all our work and if you have a workmanship issue on what we did we will stand behind it 100%
The cause for the drivetrain light you saw on your dash matched your comment that the vehicle had sat for some time while you were out of town and was validated by our diagnostic equipmentYour car sat idle for about a week or longer and your battery was not chargingIn that time the voltage dropped below optimum and the car notified you by the light coming on. It was so slight that by the time the vehicle was driven to our dealership the battery was charged again and the malfunction light went away
In regards to doing a full software reboot on your vehicle; it is evasive and will not accomplish any remedy when you and our equipment identified the error codeI hope that you can trust our expertise and that our highly trained technician has evaluated all aspects and gave your vehicle a clean bill of health
In closing, it is obvious that we were not able to gain your trust; we are a hard-working honest company and would prefer to keep our discussion on a civil level, not a name calling confrontational approachI’ve never encountered a situation of a complaint on a repair that is done properly and the vehicle is operating properlyHowever, we will work harder to communicate in a proper fashion and/or explain the cause and corrections taken in a better manner
If you still feel that you need a second opinion on your vehicle we will reimburse you up to $dollars to get another point of view on this matterWe are confident that it will verify our positionI offer you this because your trust in us is fractured and I am truly sorry for your experience with our company as it is not customary. Please accept my apology and my offer to put you at peace of mind so we can close out this issue for both of us
Sincerely,
Christopher M***
Executive Manager

Dear Revdex.com representative,
This client called in to our dealership just after 6:00pm on Monday June 6th after our service department was closedShe stated that there was a drive train malfunction light on in the vehicle and that it told her to drive moderatelyWhen I was
speaking to her I had asked her if she was in the area and if she could bring the car to us and leave it so we can take a look at it in the morning for herShe accepted and came in to the dealershipI did pull out a loaner vehicle for her to drive while we looked at her concerns for no chargeShe did mention that it was the first time she had driven the vehicle since she picked it up from the dealership for maintenance on 5/as they were out of town for a whileOnce she was situated in our loaner and had taken off I pulled her vehicle around to park in backA that time there were no warning lights on in her vehicleSince it was on while they drove it to us I still wanted to have it looked at to verify its condition and look for any stored faults in the system
The next morning service went through and checked the vehicle and found stored codes in the computerOne was for a low battery voltage and the other for charge air pressure controlWe did investigate and find that there was not a charge pressure loss in the vehicleAfter that, we did a load test on the battery to see if there were any issues and found the battery was in good condition and fully charged it for herAfter we ran these tests we checked with BMW to see if there was any bulletin related to cases such as thisIt turned out that there was a software update available for her vehicle that could help prevent this situation from happening in the futureClient was quoted $for this programming by our service managerShe was immediately upset because she states that we caused the light to come on when we did maintenance to her vehicleThis is, however, not the caseThe low voltage in the battery came from the vehicle sitting for an extended period of time and would not be caused by doing the maintenance back on 5/The services performed were for spark plugs, oil service, micro-filter, brake flush, full vehicle check and standard scopeThose services would have no interaction with the pressure charge or low battery charge showing as faults in the systemOn top of that, every BMW that receives service in our shop is hooked up to a battery charger to prevent the battery from losing power
Ms*** eventually called me to complain about the conversation she had with Matt as well as the charge to program the vehicle to prevent the light from coming on againI did explain to her that it was not related to any of the work performed from her previous visitThe inspection we had done that morning was also taken care of by our service department and not charged to herThat includes the diagnosis time as well as the time we put the vehicle on our charger and test it to make sure it is in good conditionShe was still not satisfied with this and was upset with how rude she was treatedI was polite to her as she vented her frustrations but was not given that courtesy in return by herI did explain to her that we would need our vehicle loaner vehicle back that day if she was not wanting to do the programming but stated it was not convenientI did tell her I could send someone to her in Yakima if it was more convenient but the time frame she gave based on the distance was not sufficient as it was already 11:AM on the 7th and she stated she would only be at work until 12:as she had a meeting to go to after thatShortly after our phone call I was out of the building and she got in touch with our General Sales Manager David E***Dave explained to her that we sent someone up to Yakima to drop off her car to her and was trying to meet the deadline of 12:She then proceeded to tell David that due to construction that there was no way he would be there by then and that she would be leaving right at 12:If he was to arrive after that time she demanded that the car be left there until she returnedDave then explained to her that our driver was the only one going up there and that there was no way the vehicle could be left because the loaner vehicle that we had given her was his ride backAt that point she started yelling at David and after a certain point David told her that he would be forced to hang up the phone if she did not lower her voice so he could speakShe refused and at that point he had to hang up the phone as nothing was being resolved at this point
After some time she emailed me personally as follows ;
"Chris,
I would like the programming done to my vehicle free of charge Because the vehicle issues were due to getting service at your location Because of the inconvenience this has caused me.Your people are rude, demanding, and disrespectfulI would never do business at this location again.I will drop off your vehicle once this is taken care of.***"
At this point, her fiancé had called in and spoke to David about the situation and explained as best he could about what was going on with her carHe then referred him to our service manager to get a better breakdown on the vehicles condition as he was better versed on the carThey had a thorough conversation on what happened and why and spoke about the programming we had offered to her and also how it was not related to the services we had performed the previous monthHe told Matt he would discuss this with Ms*** and let us know how they would like to proceedA bit of time went by and Ms*** wrote me an email saying she had not heard back and that we were very unprofessionalSince her fiancé spoke to our service manager and said he would discuss things with her we didn’t find it necessary to get back in touch with her but instead wait until they had their discussion and then reach out to usWhen I explained this to her, she replied stating that Matt had “sat on the phone talking at him and he’s told Matt that he believes that this issue is NOT a coincidence but rather faulty work done by this location.” She then stated that she would not be returning our loaner vehicle until we came to a resolution with her problemAt this point, there was no issue with her vehicleThere had not been a malfunction light on the entire time we had the vehicle and it was safe to driveThere is a chance that light may never come back on while they own the vehicleDoing the programming we offered is optional and could help prevent the light from coming on again, however, it is not imperative for it to operate normally
My response to her was as follows;
“Hi ***,
I apologize that you are still under the impression that this is related to your most recent serviceBased on what we have diagnosed we are able to determine it is not related to thatLike we said the programming may help prevent the light from coming on in the future in the case that the battery drops below a certain voltage but it is operating properly and you currently have no drive train malfunctionsWe are not going to be programming the vehicle so it is ready to go back to youLet us know how you would like to make the exchangeWe can still send someone to your location if needed otherwise bringing the loaner back in the morning would be fineLet me know how you would like to proceed
Chris”
She responded as follows;
“Chris,
Obviously you rather stand behind a lie rather than own up to the issues related to the service your location providedI will be in contact with BMW rather than go through your deal ship which has again been disrespectful and rudeVery unprofessionalBMW will hear about how I was treated and the issues with my vehicleRevdex.com will also hear about thisAlso I have reached out to other people who have had issues with your service department to file a formal complaintYou obviously don't take pride in your work nor do you stand behind your workYou must really be struggling as a business to cause an issue for a client but refuse to fix the issue and cause all this over $
***”
I was as patient as possible with Ms*** and myself and service manager showed all the facts on how it was unrelated to the services performed on the 28thShe refused to believe them and still accused us of causing the light to come on in the vehicle without having any firm facts other than it being serviced with us previouslyWe used a series of comprehensive tests to check the vehicle thoroughly and have technicians with many years of experience that were able to determine the cause of the issueThe facts are all there and it is not our responsibility to compensate the cost of the programming as we had already tied up a technician for many hours to determine the cause of the issue at no charge to herConsidering the vehicle no longer had the light on, it truly became an optional programming for them and wouldn’t be required in order for the car to operate properlyWe returned her vehicle to her washed and with a full tank of fuel on June 8thWe received our loaner vehicle back with nearly additional miles on it and without any fuel in it which was breaking the loaner agreementDue to the circumstances, I waived those charges to her as wellIn regards to her statement that our staff was rude to her, only one of my staff members got to the point where they had to hang up the phone with herHe did try to let her know that if she did not lower her voice that he would be forced to hang up the phoneNo one ever raised their voice with her as she did with usWe have a very attentive staff with a reputation for taking great care of our clientsIf the issues with her vehicle were caused by us, there wouldn’t be any discussion and it would be fixed no questions askedIt isn’t about the money She fails to comprehend the facts showing that it was not caused by us and simply wants us to pay for the programming because she is sure that we caused itAt this point, there is nothing further due to her from our dealership as we have compensated the cost of researching the issue she had as well as the excess charges accrued with our loaner vehicle
Christopher M***
Executive Manager
BMW of Tri-Cities

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me I received the refund check from the business today and consider the complaint resolved
Sincerely,
*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: once again a bunch of lies. The staff member who hung up on me was very rude and was the one raising his voice. This place has been telling me nothing but lies. I highly suggest that you check online complaints about this location. They are sleezy used cars sales men who use the BMW logo to cover up their stink! Will never buy another car from BMW or use their service department. Sincerely,[redacted]

To whom it may concern,
This was the first time that Mr [redacted] has visited our dealership.  Mr [redacted] brought his vehicle to us with two requests as noted on the attached work order.  The request in question was to recharge the AC system, in which we connect the AC system to the...

vehicle and allow the machine to evacuate and recharge the ac system with Freon. We recharged the system to the original specifications, and after this procedure, we noticed that the high pressure relief valve located on the ac compressor was stuck open.  The only time this is noticeable is when the ac compressor is engaged.  Further, the ac compressor will only activate when the pressures are within an acceptable range, determined by the high and low pressure sensors located on the ac lines.  The only way to determine this issue was to charge the system to capacity.
It is questionable as to why the customer would request an AC recharge if the air conditioning was working "ok" to begin with.  This vehicle is 14 years old, and has 132,000 miles on it.  All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor was the original cause of the AC not blowing cold enough for the customer.  I can only rely on the customer data given to me at the initiation of service.
As for the costs associated with the repairs, our policy is to only provide the best parts and workmanship available for our BMW customers, and we back this up with a 2 year unlimited mile parts and labor warranty.  When Mr. [redacted] indicated that the original quote was too high, I had my parts manager locate a quality aftermarket compressor and adjusted the quote accordingly.  The warranty is parts only, and only for one year, but I wanted to try to assist Mr [redacted] in getting his vehicle repaired in a fashion he was comfortable with.  I understand that an AC compressor is costly to repair, but unsure why we are being accused of a scam.  If the customer is unhappy with the cost, there may be other facilities that are willing to do it for a lessor charge.
If the customer wants to procure the AC compressor for $240, I would be willing to install it at our internal cost, which would be $369 + tax.  There will be no warranty for parts or labor in regards to this install.  As a reminder, the recommendation and original quote included the price of a condensor as well, which is always recommended when replacing a compressor.  I would strongly discourage the customer from pursuing the aftermarket route due to the lack of reliability with those components. 
I am willing to be as competitive as possible in regards to the cost of the repair, but I will not accept responsibility for the failure of the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor.
Sincerely,
[redacted], Service Manager

[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Revdex.com,
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, we would like to know your view on the [redacted]er.] So, if I had brought my car into a business such as [redacted] or [redacted], this wouldn't be happening right now, I see my mistake for bringing it to you. We obviously have different views on what being responsible for something means. bottom line is, even if a part was already on its way out, if it breaks during your care, you are responsible to replace it. lets say for instance.. a man brings a car to the mechanic, drops it off, works ok but needs a oil change, as the [redacted]nician pulls it into the garage he yanks the steering wheel too hard, and the power steering pump goes out! THEY WOULD STILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! Besides the fact that before buying the car I had it checked at [redacted] in april and have the paperwork to prove that they did a full car check, and a/c isn't on the list for a high pressure relief  valve.  I am also seeing you don't plan on owning up to a simple mistake.  perhaps to run into further problems such as this, check the high pressure relief valve before filling the a/c.
Regards,
[redacted]

To whom it may concern,
This was the first time that Mr [redacted] has visited our dealership.  Mr [redacted] brought his vehicle to us with two requests as noted on the attached work order.  The request in question was to recharge the AC system, in which we connect the AC system to the vehicle and allow the machine to evacuate and recharge the ac system with Freon. We recharged the system to the original specifications, and after this procedure, we noticed that the high pressure relief valve located on the ac compressor was stuck open.  The only time this is noticeable is when the ac compressor is engaged.  Further, the ac compressor will only activate when the pressures are within an acceptable range, determined by the high and low pressure sensors located on the ac lines.  The only way to determine this issue was to charge the system to capacity.
It is questionable as to why the customer would request an AC recharge if the air conditioning was working "ok" to begin with.  This vehicle is 14 years old, and has 132,000 miles on it.  All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor was the original cause of the AC not blowing cold enough for the customer.  I can only rely on the customer data given to me at the initiation of service.
As for the costs associated with the repairs, our policy is to only provide the best parts and workmanship available for our BMW customers, and we back this up with a 2 year unlimited mile parts and labor warranty.  When Mr. [redacted] indicated that the original quote was too high, I had my parts manager locate a quality aftermarket compressor and adjusted the quote accordingly.  The warranty is parts only, and only for one year, but I wanted to try to assist Mr [redacted] in getting his vehicle repaired in a fashion he was comfortable with.  I understand that an AC compressor is costly to repair, but unsure why we are being accused of a scam.  If the customer is unhappy with the cost, there may be other facilities that are willing to do it for a lessor charge.
If the customer wants to procure the AC compressor for $240, I would be willing to install it at our internal cost, which would be $369 + tax.  There will be no warranty for parts or labor in regards to this install.  As a reminder, the recommendation and original quote included the price of a condensor as well, which is always recommended when replacing a compressor.  I would strongly discourage the customer from pursuing the aftermarket route due to the lack of reliability with those components. 
I am willing to be as competitive as possible in regards to the cost of the repair, but I will not accept responsibility for the failure of the high pressure relief valve located on the compressor.
Sincerely,
[redacted], Service Manager

[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Revdex.com,
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.All I wanted at first was you to assume responsibility here, it wasn't hard, even if the part was not knowingly or intentionally broken, it nevertheless failed while in your care. But you're "explanation" only backs up my theory further. my ac, which was working when I brought it in, however it could have been a little colder, no longer worked at all when I got it back. and the theory on the high pressure relief valve is insulting.. if it was broken before, it would not have blown any cold air, as your say yourself. how about we replace the high pressure relief valve? if the compressor is fine how could that not be an option? we just want our a/c back. its going to be 105 out today! 
[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, we would like to know your view on the [redacted]er.]
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: We purchased a 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 in March 2013 at [redacted] BMW dealership. When we purchased it we were told that all their vehicles are "certified pre owned vehicles" and all go under inspection. Two weeks after we bought the truck my husband noticed the clutch wasn't shifting properly and contacted the salesman we bought it from. Two months after we bought it the check engine light came on so my husband took it into the dodge dealership where they said it was the crank case filter. We had it replaced which was $368. After picking up the truck the check engine light came on again. We took it back to the dodge dealership and they said they thought it was the mapping relay this time, if not then it was the computer in the tuck. My husband again contacted the salesman. My husband went down to the parts department of [redacted] and explained to them what was going on with the previous filter, mapping relay, computer system, and clutch. He told them all the issues and asked if they can resolve them. He told him about the clutch specifically and the man said it sounds like the clutch is going out. The employee said he would talk to his managers and get back to him, and he never did. July 2, 2013 we were hauling our travel trailer and the clutch blew out. He contacted the salesman again. They towed it to the dealership Friday and said they would have a rental for us by Tuesday. We were told they were going to look at the truck and get back to us. July 9, 2013 we hadn't heard anything so I called the dealership. I spoke to the manager and explained the situation to him. He said he would talk to his boss and get back to me. He called me back and said they weren't going to help us at all with the cost of the clutch, that it was our responsibility.Desired Settlement: We would like to be reimbursed for all of the replacements we've had to make

Business

Response:

This truck was purchased with 75,306 miles on it. It currently has 80224 miles on it. If there was a pre-existing issue with this truck, one would surmise that the issue would be apparent well before 5,000 miles.

The vehicle in question was provided a thorough inspection before it was put on the lot. The vehicle was in good working condition, and verified by the customer during the test drive with our sales professional. The customer obviously agreed with the condition of the vehicle because they purchased it. We always offer the customer an extended service contract to provide the customer with insurance should something fail during their ownership. This customer declined.

We did not get the opportunity to diagnose the vehicle for other issues as mentioned in the complaint. In fact, this is the first we have heard about any other issues other than the clutch. As typical with all ¾ ton trucks with a manual transmission, the clutch is a wearable item, and was made aware that the truck was used to pull a travel trailer, which very well could have caused a premature failure of the clutch assembly. The truck was in good working order when it was purchased.

Our reputation with our customers and with the Revdex.com is superb, and we always make every effort to ensure our customers are receiving a vehicle in good working order, and offer our customers every opportunity to inspect and test drive the vehicle before purchasing. We cannot guarantee that during the ownership of the vehicle that items will not become defective or wear out. That is the situation with this truck.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9615706, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am very unsatisfied with this response. As the message from the business responded that "If there was a pre-existing issue with this truck, one would surmise that the issue would be apparent well before 5,000 miles." ...my husband had contacted the salesman [redacted] 2 weeks after purchasing the truck in regards to the fact that the clutch was slipping. Had again contacted the salesman several times and parts manager with during the first 3 months within purchasing the truck in regards to the ongoing clutch issues and service repairs we had made. The response we would get was "we will get back to you" and in turn we never did. When the clutch went out (3 months and 10 days after the purchase) I was told by the manager [redacted] that it was now past the 3 month warranty period. I had told the manager that we had been in contact many times with the salesman throughout the last 3 months and was waiting for somebody to get back to us. My husband had contacted the salesman [redacted] after I spoke with the manager and he told my husband that he sat down with the manager [redacted] and informed him that we had been telling him about the clutch long before it went out and he told my husband he has emails from him to his managers in regard to the issues. Upon fixing the clutch, the mechanic discovered that the input shaft bearing in the transmission also needed to be repaired. Our truck has been in the shop for the past month and we are now over $4500 into repairs and I believe that [redacted] should be responsible for these costs. This issue did not arise out of nowhere, we had been contacting them long before the 3 month warranty expired and we were told we would be contacted back and never did.

Thank you,

Business

Response:

First off I want to say I'm sorry this happened to the customer, it's always our intention to check all vehicles out pretty thoroughly prior to sale as was the case in this purchase, my belief is the customer test drove it prior to sale, liked it and purchased the vehicle, was offered an extended service contract to cover repairs if the vehicle broke after its purchase, this could be from 1 to sometimes several years depending on what the customer wanted and the vehicle qualified for. After buying a used vehicle or even new one for that matter a car can break and usually will during it's life. I can assure you that this vehicle would not have been sold knowing that the clutch or any other mechanical or safefy item was in need of repair. We would have fixed it prior, only ** and myself can make this call, it's independent from the shop, if we dont put it on the lot for retail as it to be up to our standards, we wholesale to another dealer.

The 90 day warranty we put on all cars with under 80,000 miles is something we have done as a company for many years, the constant is that wear and tear items would not be covered under any circumstance, from time to time we have helped customers by participating in repairs if done in our shop, over and above the 90 days on a case by case basis, in no way is this something we have to do as a company but as how we've done business, in the 23 years I"ve owned my own company selling thousands of cars and trucks, these types of complaints I take very seriously and can count them iterally on one hand.

This customer never once contacted me personally and quite frankly it may have been a better path, should they want to trade the vehicle in and get something different we could explore that as an option, please understand as my company is concerned we owe this customer nothing as we did everything in good faith, them saying we knew anything about a pre-existing any thing could not be farther from the truth, that being said I'd love the opportunity to get them into something that they'd be more happy with if at all possible.

Again very sorry for them having issues, never is that what we want to happen. I will be out of town until next monday. Should they want to discuss this, we could be open to trying to help in this way, we would not pay any bill to another shop.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9615706, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

This offer is completely unacceptable. The last thing me or my husband want to do at this point is trade in our vehicle and spend additional money at our expense to [redacted] motor company. We have already spent $4000 in repair costs to get our truck back in working condition. All we want is to be refunded for the repairs we have made that should had been prevented if a thorough inspection was done by the mechanic prior to sell. [redacted] motor company had the opportunity and plenty of time to assist us in repairing the truck while it was in their shop for 5 days, instead it wasn't even touched. All I was told by management is that they would do absolutely nothing to assist us with costs or repairs. We were "offered" the same price tag for the clutch as another competitor, and was told that the price they gave us was "their cost".

The following statement by the owner is a clear contradiction. "I can assure you that this vehicle would not have been sold knowing that the clutch or any other mechanical or safety item was in need of repair." I was given the pre- inspection checklist and nowhere on the print out is there anything pertaining to the clutch, so as far as we know it was not even inspected prior to sell. Prior to [redacted] motors knowing or now knowing that the clutch and transmission was compromised when we purchased the truck and having it fail while we were hauling our trailer with our children in the vehicle I would have figured that they would without a doubt be more than willing to assist us in repairs but instead we have been stuck with the $4000 bill. Instead of taking any blame or remorse to our situation, the manager [redacted] immediately blamed the failure of the clutch on my husband. I have never been so disrespected as I have been with the manager [redacted], he was condescending, rude, and additionally laughed at me when I explained him of our horrible situation. I was informed by [redacted] that he was responsible for these type of situations but if I had the opportunity to speak to an owner directly I would have. If there was anything [redacted] himself could have done differently than [redacted] he had the opportunity to contact and inform us.

Furthermore, I would like to add that we have also received what I believe is an illegal bill from BMW of tri cities stating a previous balance for $180.32 with no explanation to the bill. We have never received a previous bill from them and the only thing I can conjure up that they are trying to charge us for towing costs for the tow truck that they sent out. We were never told that we were responsible for any towing costs until the day we removed our truck from their facility. I told [redacted] that we never signed nor requested the tow, they stated the day it was towed and I quote "we are sending out a tow truck to pick up the truck". We were never contacted nor received any bill by the tow company. I have attached the bill.

Again, we had been informing the salesman [redacted] since 2 weeks after purchasing the truck that the clutch was malfunctioning. This clutch had obviously been previously abused which become apparent to my husband within 2 weeks of driving the truck. This issue should have been taken care of long before the clutch failed. We have paid $4000 in repairs for the clutch and transmission to be back into working condition and without a doubt believe [redacted] motors should be responsible for the costs.

Regards,

Review: Was promised the refund of my trade-ins cancellation of warranty and gap coverage to date dealer still has not sent me the money. I have VM's from Finance Manager stating yes the check was in but they refuse to refund the money. The Terms of our contract is not what they are honoring. Bait and Switch methods are being used I had the trade in into their Service 5 [redacted]es within a 3 month period as it had a bad motor and Owner [redacted] agreed to pay off car if I leased a new 2014 so I did but he rolled $8000 negative equity to me and now he refuses to refund the left over Gap and Warranty from Trade in. Yelled at me on the phone slammed it down hung up on me and refused to send me copies of the refund check or refund the money to me. Those refunds are not his they are mine. I will also seek the aid of the Washington State Attorney Generals Office for their business practices.Desired Settlement: The dealership owes me the refund amount of Gap and Warranty on 2008 trade-in and copies of the checks they received regarding the transactions. I have a VM and witness of [redacted] the Finance Manager stating yes I would be getting back approx. $1300-$1500 or more. Now he lying and saying he did not say that and I still have VM's stating that and witnesses of the transactions 3 different occasions he stated this and now [redacted] says well I had to put a lot of money into that trade-in

Business

Response:

About the only correct thing about this is the fact I raised my voice and hung up on the customer. The day after I called and apologized for losing my temper, this is not something that happens, she spoke profanities and talked terrible about my employees and family, it got out of hand. I did have 2 witnesses to the complete phone call, so its recorded properly.

I personally closed this deal as I felt [redacted] to be a great repeat customer and wanted involvement, this is something that I do maybe 3 o4 [redacted]es a month with repeat customers. What we agreed upon was that she could write a check for her first payment on the lease and some down payment, the rest of her roughly 2700. down would come from cancellations, which I offered to wait for the money to help her out. Alot of [redacted]es we chose not to wait but wanted to help her and more or less wait for my profit until we recieved her cancellation money. We did get a little more than the 1300 she owed and as agreed any overage would be refunded and any under amount she'd hae to come up with when the cancellation came in. We did send her a check and the back up she asked for.

We gave her a negotiated 20,570 for the trade, did the reconditioning on it, the biggest issue was the soda pop spilled in the electronics which was why it was in several [redacted]es. WE did not spill this sticky soda it was done by the customer. We have it currently marketed for sale after spending roughly 2000. in recon for approx. 25,000. I did say I'd pay this car off and we did, personally it was shared by me that she would be negative in equity due to what she owed on trade, also shared that her payment would more than likely be less on the next car as her negative would be gone in 3 years. She was upside down due to being on a long term contract which we also discussed.

She has always loved coming here and been a joy to work with, this was why I called her and offered to go over complete transaction with her. She said this was not going to work because the things we agreed to and she signed for were not accurate, therefore there was no reason to go over anything. This is why we put things in writing to make sure there is no issue, some[redacted]es people recall differently, by recreating things and having paperwork to back up things, this is called a legal contract. Which is what we have.

Hopefullyl this will help and was partly the conversation that I was hopeful for. We owe this customer nothing more than good service after the which is the hope that is in my heart. Should she continue to come in and yell and scream and threaten and disrupt our business in any way, she will not be welcome here. Hopefully this will clarify and she can understand and get past this.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Revdex.com, and BMW Corporation, Tri-City BMW [redacted] Owner Richland WA 99352

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

[Apparently [redacted] needs to lay off the Kool-Aid or he may just be totally delusional. I never spoke ill of his family EVER. I asked him why he was calling me rather than his son ** who had called me on his cell phone Friday May 9 2014 after hours. ** got my VM at approx.. 6:30 PM and stated in a threatening tone I was to talk to him and not [redacted] or any of the other staff at BMW. I returned his call on Saturday morning left ** a VM and asked him to call me. He did approx. 1 hr. later as he was at soccer game. We discussed he asked to look into the situation Monday morning and I agreed he stated he'd call me back the conversation was friendly and non eventful. So Monday morning I receive a call from [redacted] saying [redacted] what are you doing I closed this deal with you why are you doing this. He was upset and so was I. I stated yes [redacted] I know we talked but the Terms you myself and [redacted] the salesman agreed to were not the same terms that [redacted] (Finance Manager at Tri-Cities BMW stated at [redacted]e of signing documentation. For one [redacted] said nothing of the first Down Payment requirement that day in fact he stated and [redacted] agreed I would not have a payment for approx. 45 days. They forgot I was leasing rather than buying because [redacted] said they always do that. [redacted] Stated he would pay my car off not roll $8,000 plus negative equity to me. He said I had some negative equity and rebates from warranty would help that. [redacted] left and my Nephew [redacted] and Niece [redacted] and I went to the Finance Manager [redacted] about a half hour later to sign papers. Both of my witnesses heard [redacted] state I would be receiving approx. $1300 maybe a little more back from Gap and Warranty Refunds. I commented are you sure. He stated yes again. He did say I would need to leave a check or make the first months LEASE payment that night. I said [redacted] or [redacted] never said anything about that in fact they both stated it would be approx. 45 days before Id have a payment. [redacted] stated yes they always forget Lease is different than a purchase. I signed papers not realizing [redacted] had rolled approx. $8,000 negative equity to me. I paid $1478.99 to [redacted] that night signed papers and left at approx. 9:00PM. On March 21, 2013 I called [redacted] again and verified I would be getting $1300 or more back to me as a refund of GAP and Warranty. He verified yes and again my nephew witnessed this phone call. Not hearing anything from the dealer on refunds I called [redacted] again on Monday May 5, 2014 and left a VM for [redacted] he returned the call on Wednesday we talked in person and he said yes I remember you and yes we should have received those checks and to let him check on it and get back with me so Wednesday he returned call to me left a VM of which I still have that says yes Tri-Cities BMW had received the checks and he did not have anyone that could write a check right then so would I please give him some [redacted]e and how did I want to get that refund check of over $1300 because he stated the dealership received more than the $1300 and did I want to pick up or have him mail it to me. I returned his phone call left a message stating I would be in Friday to pick up the check. I arrived at 5ish on Friday was met my Salesman [redacted] and he stated ok I will go get check for you. He came back said come in we will pay cash. I said $1300 ? So I went into Dealership and [redacted] was busy with other customers I stated I had to be somewhere by 5:30 and was ignored. [redacted] said just go in his office. I walked back and waited. He did not acknowledge me as he was on phone so I waited for 10 mins but I had to get going. Then [redacted] on duty manager Friday May 9th appears and said oh no that was not part of the deal. I confronted [redacted] and he had a real bad case of Amnesia because he said nothing . I had a VM from him. [redacted] did not want to hear it stated it was not part of the deal I closed this deal. I told [redacted] he was a liar became very agitated and stated loudly for other customers upon my exit I would not sign any papers here they are a bunch of crooks what they promise is not what they will d[redacted]ver. I turned to [redacted] and [redacted] and stated have [redacted] call me and I left the dealership. Bait and Switch comes to mind. Which by the way is illegal in this state. 3 different [redacted]es and with witnesses heard [redacted] state I would be getting back at a min of $1300 from refunds. See attached file of which I received in Saturday May 17ths mail conveniently after filing this complaint.

Since October of 2013 I had my trade in a 2008 BMW with less than 39,000 miles into Tri-Cities BMW 4 [redacted]es for a "tick "or a knock in the motor. In January of 2014 they replaced the motor mounts and rocker arms. This did not take care of the problem and I had that vehicle back to the Service portion of the dealership on an extended warranty issue claim. I stated to them it is the lifters. I know that sound as I am versed in car problems noises and not just a dumb woman as they assumed. All maintenance had been done on [redacted]e on schedule my me by taking to their dealership since being purchased as a Certified Vehicle. You can verify this with their records unless they replaced them. Verifiable with [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] or [redacted] in service. They were all aware of the issues. They still were unable to fix or even detect the problem. The last diagnosis was sticky fuel injectors. I have not a clue what [redacted] is referring to with regards as to sticky soda pop in electronics. I assure you there was not any sticky soda pop in the vehicle as I do not have children and I am diabetic and do not drink sticky soda pop. Maybe its from his Kool-Aid?

Why I was even at the dealership on March 17, 2014 was it was the fourth yes 4th [redacted]e for tic service. [redacted] the salesman met me in service said come on I have a deal for you. I want you to look at a 2014 428i hardtop convertible. Yes and by the way on my next visit to the dealership to have registration and license plates installed I was confronted with a service advisor and he told me you will never b[redacted]eve what we found out with your trade-in. They Tri-Cities BMW had to replace 3 lifters and the head was cracked. WOW exactly what I had been telling them all along. In fact I should have kept this car and turned in under the Lemon Law. I can assure you the car was never abused by me while I owned it and no one other than myself and Tri-Cities BMW representatives drove it. In fact during [redacted] and my conversation he stated you have no idea how much money I had to invest in your trade-in. I did not hid anything the dealership was well aware of the mechanical problems with the car at [redacted]e of trade-in. I had it there 4 [redacted]es in their service department with that same complaint. One could say [redacted] kept my refundable from GAP and Warranty minus the attached file of $254.77 plus he is about $1100 short in what he owes me to make up for what he had to invest in the 2008. Please keep in mind he was also the dealer that sold that LEMON to me as well. As a Certified Vehicle no less. The GAP and Warranty refunds were and are not his to keep.

Bottom Line is you reading this or [redacted] or any management of Tri-Cities BMW or MR/MRS BMW would not accept this level of service on a $68,000 vehicle. Why should I? I expect I would get better service buying a KIA. This is totally unacceptable and I will not tolerate being treated this way. If I was a representative of BMW Corporation I would be horrified to read this email and to be treated like this by a business representing my name would not be tolerated or acceptable.

]

Regards,

Business

Response:

I will not be responding anymore to this, we've never had a new BMW customer ever say things like this, the whole reason we have a 3rd person do the paperwork is to make sure all agreed upon is done, had there been any discrepancy, we'd have ta[redacted] care of it that night. [redacted] does a great job for us, has done the paperwork on literally thousands of car deals, nothing like this has happened and we do not have issues in this way ever. OUR job is never finished until the paperwork is done, we never forced [redacted] to buy or sign, all done of her own free will. IN my opinion she made a good choice.

The reason ** told her not to call [redacted] was simple, she came in, made a scene, in front of customers and employees, she is right in the fact ** called her from a game as he had kids with him on his day off and his wife was having first a baby shower and then they had a family get togehter for a funeral from his wifes uncle passing.

We have sent the balance of her cancellation as promised and the back up [redacted] asked for.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this [redacted]er to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Revdex.com,

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

[[redacted] is still delusional here. He had left that night before I ever got to [redacted]'s office to sign. He was not around because I asked to see him later that night. The dealer has given me nothing except for a hard [redacted]e, inconvenience, no customer service at d[redacted]very, service and beyond, and should be ashamed of the way they have treated ME the only customer I am concerned with and know about. I asked him for copies of the checks written from GAP and warranty refunds and for a copy of what he thinks I signed to recover those amounts on my behalf because I was never given a copy. Frankly, I don't b[redacted]eve a word the dealership or he says at this point. Id like to see just how much exactly the dealership received and a copy of what I signed for the dealership to recover those refunds on my behalf. I have VM's on my phone by [redacted] Identifying himself and 2 other witnesses as to what I signed and was told that night March 17, 2014. [redacted] does not know what [redacted] said because he was not there. It is not as [redacted] states in his responses. I will not accept his responses because they are not factual. I do know however, that myself and 100,000 of my closest friends will boycott BMW of the Tri-Cities and their products. BMW of Tri-Cities still owes me $1050 like I was promised on multiple occasions. I don't appreciate being baited and switched and treated with absolutely no respect as a buying or servicing former customer. That is two sales and service now they have wronged me and I guarantee they won't get a third. No way after this and if BMW Corporate does not step up to the plate and right this then I am DONE with their products too. I will not stand for this. ]

Regards,

###-###-####

Review: I purchased a 2002 dodge pickup and with in a couple of months with having this pickup the engine and transmission went out as well as many other things replaced. It has been nothing but a fight with this dealership to get anything fixed or dealt with. This pickup was truly a lemon and was nothing but a headache. When I bought this pickup the guy I was dealing with the purchase made me a deal that since I did not live near by to get free oil change package he gave me a packet and told me to write down every oil change and keep the receipts and send them in to the company together and they would reimburse me for all of them. So I sent them in and they told me that they were not going to honor it because the guys word was not good enough and I didn't have it in the contract but yet they offer the same plan to everyone that buys a vehicle that lives near buy, for free oil changes. It was same thing but my word wasn't good enough. I feel very much disappointed, lied, to , let down, and will never buy a vehicle again from them. I will let everyone I know as well. Nothing was at all honorable about this company.Desired Settlement: To be reimbursed for the oil changes I was promised.

Business

Response:

To the Revdex.com, this is the first time I've responded to a complaint in years. I personally looked at the file as this kind of complaint we've never recieved. We've been selling the 7 year oil changes for many years, this is to encourage people to do their routine maintenance at our dealership. We would have never made any kind of deal for another shop and with all the 100s of these we've sold this has never came up even once. Our written signed contracts are very specific on coverage and where. Obviously in this case the customer either did not read the contract or felt there was some other verbal contract that would take precedent over a contract in writing. We put everything in writing to keep things like this from happening.

Sounds like the customer has said regardless what we do that the customer would never do business with us and will be bad mouthing us regardless. I take this as a threat and do not appreciate it. I would refer any kind of slander to my attorney.

VERY IMPRESSED! I was concerned after I read a review on sales/service. I was going in for diagnostics service on my Mini Cooper (first time). Not wanting to drive 200 miles to the nearest Authorized Mini Dealer, I kept my appt.

I was pleasantly surprised by how courteous & professional they were! From the initial phone appointment to when I walked in the door. I was met at the door by a service manager and he immediately took care of us. I had been informed ahead of time for diagnostics it would be $108/hr (min $108). He also asked me if I had any additional concerns other than what I had made the appointment for. I mentioned there was an additional concern of some leaking fluid.

Summary, they only charged me $54 for diagnostics, looked at the second problem with no additional charge, very courteous staff, very professional & prompt. They even offered a shuttle service while my family waited (and washed the car). I will recommend them for their service!

Review: I recently purchased a vehicle from bmw of tri cites. I had a approved loan through [redacted] and I took all the paperwork to the dealership to begin the process. The first night I was there I found a vehicle and was able to purchase the vehicle. I left that night with vehicle and all the paperwork in hand. On month has passed with several call backs from the dealership to come down and sign more documents, claiming that [redacted] needed more information and money. Originally I put 450.00 down for a down payment. A few weeks later I agreed to a additional down payment of 500.00. Just this last week 10/27. The dealership called and said that roadloans had changed there fee from 604.00 to 1380.00. Bmw said I could try another loan or I can pay the [redacted] fee. I agreed to pay the fee. The following day 10,28 [redacted] contacted me to see how the loan process was going. I explained that we would be done the following say when I drop off the payment..they then informed me that they had to pull my funding because passing that fee on to the car buyer is illegal. I have since been in contact with bmw and they are claiming they have done nothing wrong. I have since purchased another vehicle through another dealership. Bmw is also refusing to give back my down payment therefore I am holding on to the vehicle.Desired Settlement: Return my down payment and have bmw of tri cities for illegal practices.

Business

Response:

This customer came to our dealership to buy a vehicle. He had such terrible credit that we were not able to provide financing for him. He assured us this was not a big deal because he was approved through his own finance source. "[redacted]." This was not one of our finance sources, this was a approval that the customer had brought to use. In order to get the deal down through his finance source we had to discount the vehicle he was purchasing considerably to get the loan to the terms the customer needed to finalize his loan due to the fact he has very little down payment. We even actually wait for a few extra days for the down payment. Which based on the customers situation we very rarely do. After this was done we moved forward to submit our documentation to [redacted] so that we could get paid for our car that the customer was driving. My F&I Manager and Sales Manager spent numerous hours on this deal back and fourth with [redacted] getting them everything they needed to finalize the transaction. Every time [redacted] said they had everything they needed there was something else that came up we had to submit or we had to have the customer come back in and sign more documentation. After about 1 month of all this [redacted] told us they were not going to fund the deal and if we wanted the deal funded we were going to have to have the customer re-sign documents again, and they were now going to charge us a additional fee. Due to the fact that this was financing provided by the customer and we already had negotiated our deal with the customer we did not have room to discount our vehicle any further. This is the reason why we told the customer about the additional fee and explained to him that he was going to have to be the one to pay the additional fee. I personally have only dealt with [redacted] 1 other time as a company and this was 100% the same things that happened the last time around. They are very hard to deal with and they make it about as hard as possible for the customer and dealership to conduct business. Either way, this was not my finance source and there was nothing I could do about it. Everything was between the customer and the lender.In summary, this was no different then a cash deal to us. The customer brought us financing, that did not work out. He has now had our car for over 45 days and we have received nothing exempt his down payment. I believe the customer should have to pay for 45 days of depreciation, a full detail, and a inspection of the vehicle so that the vehicle can be returned back to the condition it was when it was given to the customer. BMW of Tri-Cities is not trying to better ourselves in any way. We just want to be made whole, as per what we were promised by the customer.I would invite the customer to call me directly to speak about this more right away. I feel as a company we did nothing wrong and actually went above and beyond for a customer and this is how the customer is repaying us. [redacted]General Manager[redacted]

Review: These guys are the biggest rip off artist I have ever seen. I took my car in to have a starter replaced. [redacted] called me back and verified that is indeed what my car needed. I call 2 days later to find out how the repair is going to be informed it was ready. I go to pick up the car and [redacted] informs me that my flywheel is missing a tooth and that "about every 100 starts or so it may stop in that spot and make a grinding noise". Wrong!!! It made the grinding noise the only 3 times it started after that before it would not start again. I called [redacted] and informed him and paid to have the car towed back over. After 2 days of waiting had to call to find out the status of my car just to be told that they cannot fix it now. Note: NOTHING was said before they put the new starter in about this tooth problem. I call [redacted] the "service" manager to inquire as to what we can work out as I paid for a job that was not done correctly. [redacted] informed me that they where not at fault even though he said and I quote " we probably should have informed you that the fly wheel should have been replaced as well as the starter but we where trying to save you money". I did not ask them to save me money. I asked for a starter to be replaced. If informed that replacing the starter might not fix the problem then I would have made the choice NOT TO HAVE IT DONE, but as per [redacted]'s own words that did not happen. What would have been fair is they refund me the labor charge and re-towing fee and keep the money for the part. That is something they would not entertain. What they wanted me to do was spend another $1,400.00 and they would trim a bit off the labor. Not a chance!!! I would not let these guys work on a Tricycle. P.S.- This is the second vehicle I have had repaired at Bush Motors that had issues after they supposedly fixed the problem. I will file a separate report on the other.[redacted]Desired Settlement: As described above. They should at least refund the labor charge and the cost to tow it back over to them.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

The vehicle in question came in with a no start condition. It was accurately identified that the starter had failed. With [redacted]'s authorization, we replaced the starter. The vehicle started and ran after replacement, but was evident that some noise existed, possibly caused by the flywheel. With this particular vehicle, you cannot inspect the flywheel during starter replacement. Additional diagnostic time is necessary, and the labor time to replace the flywheel is separate from the replacement time of the starter. We performed the additional diagnosis at no cost to the customer, and determined that teeth were missing from the flywheel. Again, there was no way to identify that the flywheel needed to be replaced during replacement of the starter. I offered to replace the flywheel at a discounted price out of goodwill, not because we did anything wrong. The customer was upset, but did come and drive the vehicle away, which is not something he could do previous to this repair. I am truly sorry that [redacted] feels this way, but in no way are we responsible for the repairs that are still necessary. We will always perform diagnostic and repairs that act in the best interest of our customers. It is unfair for the customer for expect us to refund the labor charges involved with replacing the starter. We do business with many of [redacted]'s co-workers on a daily basis, and we have never encountered an issue with any of the work performed.

Sincerely,

Matt Pettit

Service Manager

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9638621, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[redacted],

In reply to the business response. I agree that the car came in to the shop in a no start condition as the starter was out. I also agree that I gave the permission to replace the starter. Neither of these facts are part of the dispute. I would like to address the rest of the response one at a time.

1st – I agreed to have the starter replaced based on the estimate given to me by the business. At no point during the phone conversation was anything mentioned about the fly wheel even possibly being the problem. I agreed to the estimate in good faith that upon repair I would have a running vehicle. Only after the repair was finished, and I was told the car was ready was anything mentioned about the fly wheel. As I indicated in my initial complaint what I was told at that time was that my flywheel was missing “a tooth” and that about “every 100th” start or so I would get a grinding noise. Please note the description on the attached receipt says intermittent grinding. This car started exactly 4 more times after we got it back and made a grinding noise every time before it would not start again.

2nd – As for the company not being able to inspect the flywheel during the replacement of the starter. This I why you get an estimate before you have the repairs done. So you know in total what is wrong and if it is economically wise to spend your money repairing the vehicle. If there is even a thought that the flywheel could be bad as well that should be brought up at the time of the estimate. Again so the customer can make a sound financial decision. That being said, again after the car was repaired is when [redacted] told me and I quote “we probably should have told you we needed to replace the starter and the flywheel at the same time”. This indicates to me either they knew there was a problem after the fact or under most situations they would suggest this from the start. I was not given the option to reject the estimate based on this knowledge.

3rd – As for the company performing additional diagnosis at no cost. This was done after the car was returned due to the fact it would no longer start. This is common practice when there is question about whether a repair was done correctly or not. They clearly did not do this at the time of the starter repair or they would have diagnosed the flywheel problem. So to make it sound like they did me a favor here is incorrect.

4th – As for the offer to repair my flywheel at discounted price “out of goodwill”. This is an absolute insult. Why would I want to let a company that could not even give me an accurate estimate to begin with continue to work on my car and get me to pay them more money? This is absurd. This company chose to roll the dice on the original repair WITH MY MONEY not their own. I would not let this company near a vehicle of mine ever again.

5th – As for me driving the vehicle away. I asked the company if they could at least get it to start so I could drive it home and avoid another towing fee. I was told to call 15 minutes before I was to come get the car and they would have their mechanic tinker with it and get it started so I could drive it home. Again the attempt here to act like the original repair was a success and I was able to drive the car around are not true. This car has not and will not start since they tinkered with it to get it to start that day.

6th – As for me asking for repairs still necessary. I have not asked for this. As I said earlier, I do not want this company near my vehicles.

7th – As for “always perform diagnostics and repairs that act in the best interest of our customers”. It didn’t happen in this case.

8th – As for the business with my co-workers on a “Daily” basis with no issues. The company services our fleet vehicles at my place of employment so once again this statement is misleading. This however is an issue on a personal vehicle and has absolutely nothing to do with my place of employment. If you wish to contact my employer to check their satisfaction with this company please feel free. I will say this howerver. If you are dealing with them “Daily” I would question why as we only have 15 cars or so in our fleet. “Daily”. Those are not my words.

Last but not least – It is unfair for the customer to expect us to refund the labor charges for replacing the starter.

It’s not only fair it’s what I expect based on the fact that the repair did not fix the vehicle and I was given NO indication or pre warning that this could be the flywheel and that putting just a new starter in might not fix the problem. I should have been given the option before the repair was done.

I’m not just seeking return of the labor. I also want to refunded for the towing fee of

$64.98 as I indicated in my original complaint

Regards,

[redacted]

Business

Response:

The vehicle would not crank to start when it was towed in. The reason it would not crank over was because the starter was defective. We replaced the starter and the vehicle cranked over and started. This is an accurate diagnosis, and a repair that is justified. After getting the vehicle to crank over and start, the noise was apparent. That indicates that there is another, separate issue with the vehicle.

I believe that my previous response to this complaint do not need to be re-iterated. Our exemplary rating speaks for itself. It is clear that [redacted] will not do business with us in the future, and I am very sorry to hear about that. Despite this fact, I am willing to refund the tow bill of $64.98, if that will suffice. I do not feel that we are negligent in this case, but I am willing to extend this offer to appease the customer.

Sincerely,

Service Manager

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9638621, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am sure that this is not the first car ever to be brought in in a no start condition. This does not exclude the shop from giving an accurate estimate before doing the repair. I again refer to the receipt. Nothing is said about there being an additional problem with the vehicle other than an "Intermittent grinding". If [redacted] was aware after the new starter was installed that there was a new separate issue why was nothing noted on the receipt or verbally told to myself at that time before the car was driven off the lot? Nothing was said to me about any other issues aside from the fact that there would be intermittent grinding as noted on the receipt. I personally believe that the starter was not shimmed properly if at all upon the installation. The mechanic that looked at the car since found NO shims at all. If not properly shimmed the starter will slam the teeth off your flywheel. The new starter that was put in is no longer good as well due to this. I have stated what I expect to make this situation right. I want a refund of the labor + the towing charge. Under the circumstances [redacted] should feel fortunate that I am not asking for them to either cover the repair or pay me the KBB of the vehicle as it is now scrap. I have stated I great detail in my previous complaint my reasons for wanting this refund. This job was done incorrectly, period.

Regards,