Cliffs Tire & Battery Inc.

Review: On September , 2013 I left my vehicle overnight to check an error message/check engine light in the afternoon. Later that evening about 8:35 p.m. I noticed I had a voice mail on the telephone answering machine which stated they ran a scan and could not reproduce the check engine light. I immediately went out to their parking lot to see if the light would come on and found my vehicle was left unlocked with many valuable items inside! I left them a message that evening not to do any additional service and told about the vehicle being unlocked. The next day they charged me $49.95 for the error scan and $4.50 for shop supplies for a total bill of $57.44 never explaining what the Shop supplies were. I also asked who the technician was who worked on my vehicle and they refused to tell me with Mr. [redacted] saying he took full responsibility for leaving the vehicle unlocked. I told him I would take an inventory and see if anything was missing from my vehicle (which I am still doing) and he simply said "many of our customers ask for their vehicles to remain unlocked overnight" which I responded "I did not request my vehicle be left unlocked overnight! I find this totally a major liability for all of their customers and will see that it is published to numerous reporting agencies.

Several month's prior I had a water pump replaced and took a short trip to a town about 10-15 miles away after they had completed the repair. On my return trip the fan belt ripped away and I had to pay for a tow to their shop. I noticed the tear was more like a cut and told them only to find their technician did not tighten all of the bolts correctly and thus the fan belt tore. They did not charge me for a new fan belt but nothing was ever brought up about reimbursement for the tow charges they cost me.

I simply believe they are extremely lax in their business practises and quality of their repairs. This too will be published to numerous reporting agencies.Desired Settlement: I want the owner to contact me with an apology and not the salesperson or anyone else. I also request they refund my charges of $57.44 and $75.00 for the towing expense previously encountered due to their negligence and lack of safety measures.

I would appreciate the total of $132.44 be sent to me at my home residence in check form for me to take to a local bank. I also believe they should consider the inconvenience I had with the breakdown and towing of my vehicle.

Business

Response:

In reference to [redacted] complaint from 9/23/2013 when he was

charged $49.95 for his request for us to diagnose his check engine

light. Any time we hook our computer up to a vehicle, the charge is

$49.95. This includes the hook up charge & up to 1/2 hour of

diagnostic time. This was discussed and authorized before any service

was done. There were no codes present at the time of service, so an

inspection of common concerns for that vehicle was performed. Shop

Material charges are on every invoice as a percentage of total. I am

willing to reimburse the $4.50 he was charged for shop materials. As

far as his Jeep being unlocked, I can only apologize. Although, in the

21 years I have worked here, we have never had anything taken from a

customers vehicle, it is still our policy to lock every vehicle after

service. In [redacted] case, where he states it was left open, my

technician believes he had locked it. I wonder if it is possible [redacted] hit his unlock button on the key fab without even thinking about

it.

In reference to [redacted] concern about a prior visit when a

water pump we installed failed, it was covered under warranty in full

parts & labor. The tow charge from 6 months ago was never brought

to my attention, but that would have been covered along with the water

pump. If Mr. Wilda is willing to produce a receipt for the tow we will

reimburse him.