Fancy Vans

This letter in direct response to the letter I received about complaint we have from one of our customers Mr***Mr*** came to my Company weeks before he brought his van to me for the work to be doneHe came in my store and ask me if we installed wheelchair liftsI told him YesHe
never ask me if I was a V.M.I dealerIf he had I would have told him NoIt is so easy to find out who is a dealer by calling a number or going to there web site a look at their dealer locater, so I would be a fool to say yes to that...More on that later! That day he came by my store and ask me if we installed lifts I walked outside with him to look at his van not yet knowing it already had a lift in itAs I walked out I noticed that it had side raised doors on itI ask him did it have a lift in it and he said yesI ask him if there was something wrong with it he said noI then ask him why he was putting a new lift in itHe said he wasn't he was trying to decide weather to get another van and put a lift in it or fix up the van he hadHe ask me what I thought needed to be done to fix it upI got inside the van and started looking it overI told him I would remove all the seats and carpet and put new carpet in but because he was using it for a wheelchair I would put down a plywood floor down first and put vinyl in the area where the wheelchair wasThe walls were very stained and dirty from some water leaks but mostly from just years of wear and tear and food, drink and just filthAfter all it is years oldWhen I went around to the back door there was a 12" round spot above the back door on the head liner that was Black mold it was so dirty insideI showed it to him and he said the raised roof had been leaking for years(That was pretty obvious by looking at the Black mold) He then ask me if I could fix the water leaks at the top and at the side bay windowsThe passenger rear bay window had been leaking for a while because of of all the water damage to the covered and stained woodThe front drivers bay window had a small black stain on the lower stained wood trim like it had leaked at one timeHe ask me could I recover the walls,I told him in order to redo the walls I would have to make all new wood panels and cover them because the wall material was glue to the old wood and I would never get it offHe ask me if I could repair the water leaks and how much? I told him I could not give him a price on the water leaks until I could see were they were coming from.Because it could be leaking at the back or leaking at the front and running to the rear to get in the vanHe took the van home and called me several days later and told me he was going to bring the van to me to be repairedWhen he came to my shop he told me he had decided not to redo the walls if I could just clean themI told him most of the dirt and some stains would come out but some of the water stains may notHe told me to do the best I could but it had to be better than it was, he just didn't want to send the money to make new wallsI told him I would take down the roof and wall panels and water test it to try to see where the water was coming from and would call him with a total price on the repairs which he agreed toI told him it would be a couple day and I would call him.I called him a few days later and his wife told he me was not home but she would have him call me backWhen he called me the following day I told him that the passenger rear bay window was leaking and would have to be removed and resealedThe top was leaking were the roof had been cut out for the side raised doors at the door jam and fiberglass roof met and at the rear of the raised roofI told Mr*** to repair those leaks and remove the complete flooring and install plywood under the new carpet and vinyl wheelchair Floor, clean the seats, upper andlower side wall panel would be $to $7500.00.he said he would go with thatI then told him it would take a couple weeks to doWe had to cut out all of the old sealer at the side door and resealIn order to reseal the top we had to remove the top trim from that part of the roof and reseal it from the insideIn order to remove the interior panels for the top and window repairs we had to be very slow and careful so not to rip or tear the material on the walls and upper panels do to all of the water damageAfter making all the repairs to the exterior and interior we then sprayed a rubber waterproofing sealer to the inside of the roofThen we re water tested itWe were still getting a little drip around the screws that held the top trim onWe then pulled out each screw one at a time and sealed each one and tested againWe then removed the passenger bay window removed all of the old sealer in order to install a new foam tape seal and reinstall the bay windowThen water tested itWe then water test the two driver side bay window and saw no water coming in at allAs I said before I did see were the front one had leaked at one time, but we saw no leaksAt that time I removed all the seats sofa and carpet from the floor and began cleaning the wall panel using a spray cleaner and brush followed with a Bissell upholstery cleaning machineI went through two containers of upholstery cleaner and I showed Mr*** the two containers of black water that was leftThe seats came clean even the large stain on the sofa where it looked like someone had split a soda or something brownThe two front seat came cleanAs a matter of fact he called me and told me he still had the two seats that came out of the second row that were like new if I wanted him to bring the down to install in the front, and I told him that they had cleaned up very well and he should save them in case he needed them laterThe wall came pretty clean compared to how dirty they were except for some of the severe water stainsEverything looked clean as long as it was wet with the cleaner on it but some stains reappeared when it driedI was even able to get 95% of the black mold stair out of the rear headlinerAll of the seatsremoved from inside the van.When getting up under the van to remove the seat belt bolts I noticed everything under the van was very rustedNot the floorboards or frame but things like exhaust, muffler, hangers, shocks and other bolt and bracketsThe rear wheel wells had carpet covering them and the bolts that were holding the sofa seat belts in went through that carpetI used a penetrating oil on them and at one point even used heat to heat them up as much as I could without catching the carpet on fireThey would not come looseSo I decided that because you didn't see most of them I would have to clean them and just leave themThe engine cover also had carpet on it that had a binding on the outer edge of it so there was no raw edgesI do not have a binding machine so I cleaned that carpet and also let that goI was completing the rest of the work and on July 24th he called me to check on how things were goingI told him I was just about finished and that I would be done that day or the next that I would call himI called him on the 25th and told him I was done and he could come pick it upAt that time I told him about the two carpet issues and he said he would look at it when he came to get itI also told him at that time that the top of the door was still leakingNo the door jam where I sealed it but the door itselfThe problem was that the people that raised the door originally had not done it right and I would show him when he came down to pick it upI told him where it was leaking it would not stain anything that it would drip onto the plastic step well panel and could be wiped up very easyI explained that in order to repair it right I would have to cut the metal at the top of the door re weld and repaint it and it would be costlyHe said we would talk about it when he got hereThe morning of the 26th he and his wife came to pick up the vanI walked them out to the van and showed them everything that was done to itThey seemed to be very happy with what had been done but weren't real excited about the engine cover or wheel wells not doneI explained again that I did not have a binding machine to do the engine cover but I don't bind the carpet on the wheel well like the way it was done, but I couldn't get the bolts out do to all the rustThey then came in my store to pay the bill in the amount of $He then ask me if I would show him what I was talking about on the doors, so we walked back out to the vanI showed him on the top of the doors how bad the were misaligned and why they were leaking and what I would have to do to repair themHe ask me if I painted vans and how much it would cost to repaint the whole vansI told him I didn't paint at my shop and told him it would cost a lot and reminded him of all the rust I had seen under the van and was he sure he wanted to put that much more in the van and that is was just cosmeticHe agreed and said I just would like to get or more years out of itThey then took the van and left and again seemed to be happy other then the two carpet issue'sOn the Friday the 28th Mr*** called me and said it rained the night before and he had water on his vinyl floor Coming straight down from the ceilingI ask was he sure that's where it was coming from because there was nothing up in the ceiling that it could be coming fromHe said that was exactly where it was coming fromI told him he could bring it back and I would look at it but it didn't make sinceA little while late he called me back and said it was coming in from the driver's front bay windowI told him that made more sense to meAgain I told him to bring it back and I would look at it for himThe more we talked I remembered it was going to rain all weekend pretty heavy, so I told him if he wanted to bring it back right away I would put in my shop for the weekend so it didn't get wet insideHe replied no It will be fine I'll bring it MondayWhen he and his wife came to my shop on Monday I could tell they were both upset especially Mrs***I explained to them that when I water tested that window I didn't have any leaksShe was upset that there was still a stain on the back flap of the sofaI looked at it and told her I was sorry I had the flap flipped up when I cleaned the sofa and I must have missed it, but I would take care of it which I didMr*** also made a remark that he had sprayed WD-on the wheel well bolts and they spun free and I must not have tried very hardI explained that I had sprayed WD-and PB blaster on it and held the nut on the bottom with a 24" braker bar while hammering on the top with a 1/drive impactI didn't even water test the window I decided just to pull out the wall and window and reseal itI them water tested it again and had no leaks, but then again I had none beforeWhen I tried to take out the bolts that he had broke loose for me they would not moveI tried for minutes to get them out and could notI finally took a chance and cut them out and replaced the carpet so they would be happyI called them and told them they could come and get there vanThey came on August 2nd to pick up their vanI then ask him if he had put a wrench or socket on the bottom nut on the wheel well and he replied no he didn't know there was one under thereI then told him he was just turning the bolt in the hole not loosening it and that I ended up having to cut the outI didn't charge them anymore money for the repair to the drivers window and had not charged them the first timeAll I was trying to do was make a customer happyI have not heard anything from the since that dayI was not aware that there was a problem until I got your letterAt no time did I lie to them about anythingMr*** was given a estimate and that is what he was charged less taxes and shop suppliesI also did more repairs to his van such as removing, resealing and reinstalling the drivers bay window for free, which I could have easily charge him for to hours labor plus the form sealer but did notAs you can see on the enclosed invoice that Mr*** signed (No Warranty on Leaks) I could have very easily charged him or told him no especially after the remarks that were made to meBut again it was more important to me to make my customer happyBecause as you can see by the invoice enclosed they were never charged for the drivers windowNow back to the V.M.Istatement at the beginning of the letter were I said more on that laterAs you can see one the same invoice that we never did any service or repairs to the liftSo my question is what difference would it make if I was a V.M.I dealer or notI feel thatMr*** should have given me a call if he had this much of a problem with my companyNot one time did he or his wife say that they had a problem the bill because it was exactly what I had told himAnd if it was more than he expected why would he ask me to give him a price to paint the vanI am sorry this is such a lengthy letter but Fancy Van has been in business since and I personally have been with the company since I am pretty much a one man operation and that pride in what I do and how I treat my customersI guess I just take it personal when people call me a liar and a ripoffFancy Vans has never had a letter sent to Revdex.comSo I have no intentions of refunding any moneyI feel I gave Mr*** exactly what I told him for the exact price he was given.Thank you for your time and I hope this problem can be resolved.Thank you,Steve C***

I Eugene [redacted] on September 25, 2017 have reach an agreement with Fancy Van in Waldorf, Maryland, and no longer have a dispute with the service on my 1998 Handicap van or the money gharge. Thank you at the Revdex.com of Washington, DC, for your help.