Complete Auto Service, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/06/09) */
After the customer was so grateful to have her car towed in to us on the holiday week end where we were the only shop that was open. We did explain up front to Ms. [redacted] on the phone that we charge to inspect and diagnose most all car...

issues but for all transmission issues where we do quote and get authorized $120 at the time of drop off or tow in.
We also have multiple signs in our customer lobby and writer up area dates July of 2005 that states please do not assume that will look at or diagnose your car for free since we want to be clear. The sign also states that we may charge for storing some ones car once the car is here for 5 days.
Ms. [redacted] was not pleasant on the phone about having to come here in person to pay for her car and she did not want to pay the additional credit card processing fee's of up to 10% more but she still ok the fee since he could not take the trip back to Blaine.
We also explained to Ms. [redacted] after she had failed to make a timely decision during the week about fixing her car that when she contacted us at around 4:30pm on Friday 5/30 where we close at 6pm and are short staffed that the tow truck will need to be here by 5:30pm. Obviously we had to move the car to the back off our location and when the tow truck showed up at 5:25pm we moved the cars to allow him access.
After reviewing the repair order Ms. [redacted] still owes $165.53 where the total invoice shows $282.78 she has only paid $117.25 and now based on this complaint we are turning over for remaining balance owed to our collections company since Ms. [redacted] is unreasonable and thinks we should diagnose, and store her car for free.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/06/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this response.
When my car was towed to the company it was Friday night after 6pm when they closed. I was not notified of a $120 drop off fee as it was not posted outside anywhere (I could not go in as the company was closed). I had to be back in Superior, WI before they had a chance to look at my car and so I was never able to go into the store due to it being closed. Even if signs were posted IN Complete Auto, I had no way of seeing them. Complete Auto was aware of this and therefor should not assume that I knew of these signs.
The fees in question were never discussed. The employee I talked too was named [redacted] and he told me that my car had not been looked at when I called him on Saturday the 24th. I assumed that I would be charged a fee to have it looked at, but one was never told to me. Any mechanic I have ever worked with has never charged more than $50 to look at it, and they always tell me up front what the cost will be. Then when I contacted the company on Tuesday afternoon (they told me they would look at it Tuesday morning) I was told that my car needed a new transmission (this again was [redacted] telling me this) and he asked what I wanted to do. I asked if I could have a day or 2 to think about it and he said that was no problem. I called back on Friday morning to tell them that I would like to have my car towed back to Superior WI. I was then told by an employee who did not give his name, that I owed 117. 25 for diagnostic services. I was upset as these charges had not been told to me upfront.
The company would then not allow me to pay the fee of 117.25 over the phone (I was in Superior WI at home and without a car I was unable to physically be there to pay). Eventually they said I could pay the 117.25 but thy would charge me a 10% fee on top of 117.25 for paying over the phone to check for fraud. I was upset but I agreed to pay as this was the only way AAA could tow my car home. The man I spoke to on the phone said the fee went through (and it showed up on my bank statement).
I then called AAA and asked when they could get a tow truck there and they said by 5pm that day. I then called Complete Auto and they said it was ok as long as the tow truck was there before 6pm when they closed. I called to confirm with AAA and then was informed that they could not tow my car if I had outstanding fees with Complete Auto. I gave them the number and they (AAA) talked to [redacted] at Complete auto who told AAA that I had paid the 117.25 and that I had no outstanding balance. The tow company (Highway 10 towing) then towed my car out of Complete Auto and back to where I live in Superior, Wi.
I then filed a complaint because I was unhappy that the fees had not been mentioned upfront. It is not the price or the fees that I am unhappy about, it is the fact that they were not mentioned upfront so that I was aware of them. I also was never issued a receipt from Complete Auto detailing the charges for my car. The fees they are claiming I owe are unsubstantiated without a receipt.
A week later I had a voicemail message on my phone saying I had an outstanding balance. I tried to reach [redacted] at Complete Auto but was told she was not at work. The man I spoke to said he would leave a note for her to call me when she got in to work. I never received a call.
AAA is sending me the records that show that they (AAA) contacted [redacted] at Complete Auto and it was verified on Friday May 30th that my fee of 117.25 was paid in full so that my car could be towed back to Superior, WI.
Again, I do not think they should have diagnosed my car for free, but I do think that Complete Auto should have told me their fees upfront. They were also making it difficult for me to pay as I was unable to physically be there (as I had no car/ way to get to Blaine). My complaint is about the way the fees were handled, not about the fees themselves.

Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2014/06/18) */
I have reached out and tried to contact Ms. [redacted] where I left her a voicemail message and to date I have not had a return call from Ms. [redacted] to make any resolution to all of her issues with Complete Auto Service.
The facts are simple in this case. The customer called our business for service and our employee [redacted] who explained to Ms. [redacted] our policies which included that we do charge to inspect, diagnose, and repair vehicles.
We had Ms. [redacted]'s car here at our location while she considered the repairs and at the last minute late on a Friday afternoon expected us to jump for her when she was ready and we were not with out considering what we had to do at the last minute to try to meet her needs.
Ms. [redacted] want's it all her way and only at her convenience so she can take advantage of our service which she states or feels that the policies as stated and displayed in our business location do not apply to her since she called in, had the car towed in, had it towed out, and when it comes time to pay where once again She can't come to get or to pay for her own car. We bend and break our own rules to accept her payment but she still complains about the added costs for the extra credit card fee's which are 100% legal.
She fails to realize that we are not a online retailer where we accept credit cards online the credit card merchant agreement for auto repair shops and car dealerships read that the customer needs to be present in person and that the customer's credit card needs to be swiped electronically to be processed and that the credit card merchant paper copy of needs to be signed by the card holder. (This is not our policy it is from the banks and the card processors and not the merchant.) I also took the time and explained this on the phone to Ms. [redacted] but she clearly did not listen.
Ultimately Ms. [redacted] wants it all for free and wants a full refund. She fails to take into account that we have not only paid our staff to talk with her on multiple occasions, write up her car, inspect the car & the transmission concern, prepare an estimate, present the estimate to the customer, wait to hear back which was not timely, push and move the car in our parking lot 6 times where it eventually was pushed to the back of our storage lot where She still complains that the car was not ready for the tow truck driver soon enough when she again called late on a Friday afternoon where we warned her we were backed up and it was getting late besides that we were swamped so we did the best that we could when we should of said it could not be picked up until Monday.
Cutting to the chase now if Ms. [redacted] agrees to with draw her complaint with the Revdex.com we will waive the $165.53 that she still legally owes us that has been turned over to RCB Collections and consider this matter resolved. We will not be open to any other offers and we will not make any other refunds of what has been paid to date.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/07/03) */
Unfortunately we did try to speak with Ms. [redacted] multiple times during her visit with us about the diagnosis of her car when she came in to pick up her Mazda but she was upset besides bound and determined to make a scene in our...

lobby that we misdiagnosed her car and that we were taking advantage of her.
We were ready and willing to work with her but Ms. [redacted], actually accused us of making this incorrect diagnosis before even physically picking up her car and with out even having the car looked at, inspected, or diagnosed by another shop or mechanic to verify this false accusation.
Further more she immediately cried wolf while standing in our lobby and said point blank that she was willing to pay for the coolant used in her car but not the diagnosis or she would report us to the Revdex.com.
After we tried to explain to her that we verified her concern that the AC blows warm intermitently after the engine warmed up enough or ran long enough that it actually ran too hot. When the engine and radiator run too hot the extra heat from the engine & radiator transfer the additional heat soak to the air conditioning condensor which is located right next to the radiator. The AC condensor then can not keep up enough cool air flow to cool the freon so that the AC continues to blow cold.
This is why her engine coolant level being one gal. low on antifreeze or coolant which will cause the engine to intermitently run too hot and explains the cause of the customers intermitent warm AC concern.
We also did not charge Ms. [redacted] any additional time or money to tell her that her antifreeze was low and that the water pump is leaking coolant besides the fact that we took enough time to add coolant which we verified by adding coolant had caused her reported AC concern since after the engine had enough coolant added the AC went from blowing warm air to now blowing cold air again because the engine was not too hot since the engine was no longer low on coolant.
We had offered to show Ms. [redacted] and or to speak with her mechanic friend on the phone regarding this to try to show to the customer that we care enough to show them how and why but she wanted no part of it one way or the other except to cry wolf.
We spent well over 30 minutes inspecting and diagnosing Ms. [redacted] car where She reported to us that the Air Conditioning system intermitently blows warm air.
We have multiple signs in our lobby that are dated from June of 2005 that state point blank that Complete Auto Service, Inc. does not offer free or no charge inspections or diagnostic services.
Also when Ms. [redacted] dropped off her car for inspection our Service Writer Mike explained the inspection fee's and took note that the customer had stated that the ac did not always blow warm and that the cooling fan had been running on high most of the time for about a week or so even with the AC turned off.
We regret that the communication has broken down and we do not intend to imply that Ms. [redacted] is trying to take advantage of us but she either does not clearly understand how the engine coolant system and the AC system work together but how we also found her issues with the cooling system her car was not misdiagnosed as She has claimed.
We will not be offering any refund or adjustment in this case based on the facts and If this reply is not satisfactory enough for Ms. [redacted] we would ask for actual proof and or statements from her other mechanic before any other consideration would be made.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2014/07/14) */
On June 27, 2014, I took my vehicle to Complete Auto Service to have them repair my air conditioning for it was blowing warm/hot air intermittently.
This is what followed in taking my vehicle to Complete Auto Service:
- I was not told there was separate fee for diagnosing any potential problem with my vehicle. I never signed anything agreeing to pay for a diagnostic exam.
- Several hours after dropping off my vehicle to Complete Auto Service, Complete Auto Service called me to tell me the air conditioning was blowing warm/hot air due to the water pump leaking.
- Complete Auto Service said it would cost me $560.00 to repair the water pump to get the air conditioning working properly.
- I called an auto repair shop I had previously used, [redacted] in Brooklyn Park, MN and asked their opinion if the water pump was leaking would that cause my air conditioning to not respond properly.
- This repair shop I called said the water pump leaking would not cause the air conditioning to not blow cool air, i.e. this previous repair shop I had used said and I quote "it would be like saying if my air conditioning unit outside my home was not working it would cause my refrigerator to not run cold".
- I called Complete Auto Service and said I did not want my water pump repaired and I will pick my vehicle up at 5:30pm that evening. Complete Auto Service said my coolant was low a gallon and I authorized them to put a gallon of coolant into the radiator of my vehicle.
- Upon picking up my vehicle at 5:30 pm, I was told I had to pay $59.12 for a diagnostic exam. I told them I would pay for adding the coolant and nothing else.
- I said I would not pay for the diagnostic exam for I was not told there would be that fee and also the problem with my vehicle was inaccurately diagnosed.
- A female friend was with me when I picked up my vehicle and what I said to Complete Auto Service was said straight forward with a calm voice clearly stating position on what they were doing.
- I paid Complete Auto Service for a diagnostic exam and the coolant for I would not get my vehicle back if I had not paid them what "they" said I owed.
- This inaccurate diagnosis happened on a Friday. I took my vehicle to the auto repair shop on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 that I had called while my vehicle was at Complete Auto Service on Friday, June 27, 2014. This auto repair shop, [redacted] in Brooklyn Park, MN, said my water pump was not leaking and there were no problems with my vehicle and I was not charged by them for any of that examination and professional diagnosis.
In conclusion, I am requesting the fee for the diagnostic exam be refunded to me of $59.12 from Complete Auto Service.
Sincerely,
[redacted]