Constantine Plumbing, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2017/05/09) */
In reply to: Case # [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]
Mr. [redacted] had his vehicle towed to my shop because the vehicle had not run for several weeks.
Upon inspection we discovered the plugs were fouled out and the ignition coil was...

broken. The plugs and ignition coil were replaced and the vehicle started, but ran poorly. After further investigation, we
discovered water was in the tank causing the running problem along with the no start. When the temperature was cold the water was freezing in the tank. I did question Mr. [redacted] about where he was getting his gas.
We pumped the water and fuel out of tank and added new fuel, The vehicle still did not run well. At this point we cleaned the fuel injectors leaving them in the cleaning solution over the weekend. Monday, we
started vehicle and the injectors worked and the vehicle ran great. I did test drive the vehicle to determine if there were any additional problems, which there were none. The customer was charged [redacted] and paid with a credit card. See invoice # XXXXX.
Mr, [redacted] returned February 7, 2017 stating the vehicle was running poorly again. Again, I did question him on where he was getting his gas.
We checked his vehicle again. It did start but it did run poorly. We checked the fuel system again for water in fuel tank. There was NO water in the tank. We continued to check and discovered number one (1) and four (4) injector were not working. The water from the previous time wore out the injectors. 1 attempted to contact Mr. [redacted], but no one answeted his phone and no phone calls were returned to me. A couple days later Mr. [redacted] Father-in-Law called wanting to know the status. I informed him I had been trying to contact him, but had been unable. Within ten (10) minutes of his Father-in-Law calling him, Mr. [redacted] called me. I informed him he would need six (6) fuel injectors replaced. Mr. [redacted] approved the repair. I ordered the injectors and when they were replaced, the vehicle ran great. The cost for these repairs was [redacted] Mr. [redacted] paid [redacted] on a credit card with the remaining balance to be paid when he received his taxes. He was given the keys and the vehiele. See invoke #
XXXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2017/05/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
May 13, 2017
Dear Ms [redacted]
There are a lot of incorrect statements in Mr Kruse's response, starting with the very first line he wrote.
Incorrect statement #1
My truck WAS running the morning I had to have it towed. I drove it to work that morning. Over the course of the day we had heavy rains/winds/thunderstorms and unseasonably warm weather. When I went to leave that night from work my truck died on me. True, there had been moments prior to it dying that it would sputter but then it would start working, again this was in the winter before we received some warm spells. However, that day it completely died. Upon Mr Kruse's inspection, I was never once contacted for an estimate. When he completed the UNAUTHORIZED repairs, we were informed that he cleaned the fuel injectors (not giving us the option if we wanted them cleaned or replaced) and drained the gas/water out of the tank. He did question where I was getting my gas and I stopped getting gas at my normal gas station at that point.
Incorrect statement #2
I had to tow my truck in again because it WAS NOT running due to the heavy rains and unseasonably warm weather we had again that day. I have attached the second and third towing invoices showing that my truck would not start on February 7, 2017 and March 7, 2017. I made it a point that I wanted Mr Kruse to contact me before he did anything to my truck, since he failed to do that on the prior visit. He did contact me ONCE while I was at work. I called him back when I was able to. He then informed me that there WAS water in me fuel tank due to the fuel injectors being cracked and all 6 fuel injectors would need to be replaced. I did approve him to replace the fuel injectors and drain the water out of my gas tank. What I did not approve him to do was to test drive my truck 40 miles which he disclosed to me when I picked my truck up. We did agree to pay [redacted] at the time I picked up my truck and the remaining balance in TWO WEEKS once I got paid again, NOT when I got my tax return!
I believe I did not receive all of Mr [redacted]'s response due to the fact I only got the first page of his letter and the copies of the invoices he attached. I would like to see the rest of the response as I am sure he misinformed you about our third visit that I had with him.
I have also attached weather calendars from the Fort Wayne International Airport which shows you the dates that I took my truck in, the rain and temperature on those days. I also put a line through the days that Mr [redacted] had my truck at his shop. Every time it warmed up with heavy rains any frozen water in our tank with the additional water from the rains would prevent my truck from running.
I would also like to add, on my third visit all Mr [redacted] did was give me an UNAUTHORIZED oil change and drained my tank, yet again. We promptly took it to my father-in-law's friend where he patched the hole that was rusting through the top of the gas tank. I have not had any further issues with getting water into my tank since then. This has been 2 months ago and many, many rain storms.
Sincerely,
[redacted]