Family Automotive

Decided to support a young entrepreneur in the area Walked in to san oil change and was able to get one immediately the same dayI left minutes later impressed by quick service and the low fee of $I drove miles to my house and parked the car for the nightLeft for work in Marshfield the next day and about miles out of town my car started smoking and was no longer drive-ableCalling into work and calling a tow truck $later I was at my repair shopProblem was found to be that the incompetent worker at Family Automotive had drained my TRANSMISSION FLUID instead of my OILGets better, while thinking that they had drained my old oil they added new oil on top of the old oil-overfilling the oil tank After confirming this was the problem with the other shop I was told that something like this can have long-lasting negative impacts on your vehicleMy father at the time was the owner of the vehicle and decided to pay Family Automotive a visitNick was confronted about the issue and was very abrasive, lacked good business practice, came off incompetent, childish, and down-right rudeRaising his voice and refusing to effectively correct the problemMy father ended up just walking awayAfter work I was able to come down with my dad and talked to Nick myselfI explained my concerns and my frustrations and Nick did seem more calmAt this point I asked for a contract to be written that if anything were to further go wrong with the vehicle that was a result of his error, that he would need to cover the expensesIt took multiple stops to the shop and phone calls before I receive a "contract"The "contract" was the most pathetic thing I have ever seenWritten on lined-paper in pencil with multiple spelling errors, and beat around the bush of what the contract was even supposed to be aboutWe did contact a lawyer about the situation and talked with Nicks business lawyer as well; who did not have great things to say about the business in generalOur lawyer mentioned that you have to allow the shop to fix the problem firstI refused to let him touch my vehicle one more timeI would not pursue this routeNick ultimately refunded me my money and paid for my tow; however the fact that I now had a potentially unreliable car could not be fixedAdditionally the treatment we received from Nick could not be forgottenMANY people were told about this experience including local businesses and business ownersWord traveled pretty quicklyEven local automotive businesses had been hearing complaints about Nick's business; including my experienceNick needs to learn some business sense and high standard business practicesGlad to see he closed his business, definitely not the kind of business we need to see in Wisconsin Rapids

On August 3rd 2015 at approximately 9am [redacted] contacted the repair shop at which I am employed and co-owner Family Automotive . He was concerned that he was traveling from roughly 3 hrs away and had a wheel bearing noise ([redacted]'s exact words) ..[redacted] asked for a price quote on replacing a...

wheel bearing and asking him if there was any way I could help him on short notice as he was desperate and did not want to travel home with a wheel bearing problem. I had quoted him the price of $239.32. However I explained that I was not comfortable changing a wheel bearing without properly diagnosing them first. [redacted] then went into great detail on why he had a wheel bearing noise. He stated that it was a humming noise at 40mph and then a much greater humming noise at 60 mph. When he turned the wheel to left the noise got worse and when turning the steering wheel to the right the noise goes away.  In his own words "This is how I know I need a wheel bearing replaced".  After driving the car shortly down the road I had put the car on the lift for proper diagnosis ..I phoned [redacted] and explained to him that we ran the car on the lift and listened to both wheel bearings and both left and right required replacement. I did explain to [redacted] that this was the proper way to diagnose and that the cost of replacing both bearings would be $478.64. At no point did I pressure him to do any work or disassemble the car until he agreed that he would like to proceed and I would lay out that money for parts and proceed with the labor. [redacted] asked if I could do any better if he paid cash and I explained that I ran my business by the book and was not willing to cheat the government. This made me concerned about [redacted]'s character at. this point.  At approximately 3 pm the work was Completed and [redacted] had picked up the car . Again asking to pay in cash and avoid the sales tax, insuring me he would not tell any body and that he ran a business for 25 years and always avoided having to charge or pay the sales tax. Shortly after [redacted] returned and said he had a problem "His noise was still there" [redacted] and I went for a ride  and he was pointing out his noise ..I had explained to [redacted] the noise he was hearing was a tire noise. The interesting thing was that the noise when he turned his steering wheel to the left and back to the right was no longer there (wheel bearings had been repaired) I then proceeded to show [redacted] the old bearings that had been replaced and why they were in need of replacement..The left front was locked up solid and the right front had fallen apart. We reassembled the bearing before stacking it in our junk pile (we do this to keep all old parts together to show customers) ..[redacted] asked for his old parts back and left. The next day [redacted] had returned before his trip home and explained he would be more than happy to pay for 1bearing but would like reimbursement for the other. I explained that this was not possible as I had properly done the job from start to finish, keeping him informed and providing a quality repair at a price that's fair.  [redacted] had also explained that before even speaking to me had begun to dispute his credit card claim. I would usually choose not to do business with someone of [redacted]'s stature but he was traveling and desperate and I wanted him to be safe along the way.  A day or two later I received notification that he had disputed his claim and called the credit company as this was my first time ever dealing with a dissatisfied customer.  I really don't understand why I would be forced to pay for repair that I had performed at the customer's request that had been diagnosed and repaired properly ..l have a very large local community customer base that constantly praises us for our honesty and quality repairs..[redacted] received the repair he had requested and certainly was able to travel with no more worries. We are a small business and don't understand why we would have to pay parts and labor for a job that was necessary. Any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Ralph at ###-###-#### or [redacted]'@[redacted].com...Thanks for your time.

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.
I agree that there was no pressure in regards to the repair, my decision to replace both brngs. was based on what I was told, that both were bad, one much worse than the other. What bothers me is that Ralph didnt seem to have time to ride with me and hear the noise that had me concerned, at which point he could have said it was tire noise and the outcome would have been different. As far as my "character" is concerned, I think it was a misperception on Ralphs part, just as most of your gas stations these days charge a different price for cash vs credit alot of businesses follow the same practice. Never once did I suggest he "cheat the government". Also, I worked for myself as a sole propritore for 9 yrs. not sure where the 25 yrs. came from. As far as the brng. "falling apart"  is concerned, I strongly disagree that ever happened, that type of bearing is pressed together and if it were that far gone that it fell apart I doubt you would be able to reassemble it, and especially make it appear as though it were never apart to begin with as there were no marks anywhere and no dirt disturbed to indicate it. I appreciate that my car was taken in on such short notice but my problem here is that parts were replaced needlessly. I agree 100% that the one brng. was bad and I did ask to have my tire fixed but I feel thats all I should have to pay for. The other bearing was replaced due to a mis-diagnosis and I also dont see why I should be forced to pay for a repair that wasnt needed.  We all make mistakes but hopefully learn from them. I still feel a refund of $240.00+ tax is in order.  Regards,
[redacted]