Forest Automotive

On 5/23/2016, at about 4:pm, I left my car at Forest Automotive to have them check for a ABS, traction warning light, which I had observed on 5/21/while driving my car They had made repairs on the vehicle on 5/13/for this problem Since the light came on again, I wanted to be sure the problem had been solved The mechanic who worked on my car both times called me at work and said that he had driven the car, and checked all four wheels and that their machine showed no problems He said to drive the car and let them know if there were further problems I picked up the car at about 4:pm on 5/24/ I drove home (five minutes away), and parked at my house I walked around the car and noticed that my passenger door had been damaged It appeared to have been "side swiped", by something The door was marked by light paint and the door rubbed when opened and closed I called the garage to report this damage and was asked to bring the car back on 5/25/to let th

Vehicle was service for a blown head gasket and was told 2-days for the work to be completedTwelve days later I was notified the car was ready and there was another charge for a broken alternator during this repairThe total for the repair was $When I picked the vehicle up after hours I noticed the thermostat that I purchased and told them to install was still in the cup holderI drove the vehicle and it would not come to operating temperatureI notified forest auto and was told to bring it in and they would take care of itOne week later the vehicle started to make a noise from under the hood I immediately noticed forest auto and dropped the car offI was contacted the next day and was told the alternator bracket had a stripped bolt in it from a previous repair and would cost $to repairThis vehicle I have owned for 60k miles never had any issues with the alternatorThese issues only began once forest started working on my vehicleI have no choice but to pay to

Review: On 5/23/2016, at about 4:30 pm, I left my car at Forest Automotive to have them check for a ABS, traction warning light, which I had observed on 5/21/2016 while driving my car. They had made repairs on the vehicle on 5/13/2016 for this problem. Since the light came on again, I wanted to be sure the problem had been solved. The mechanic who worked on my car both times called me at work and said that he had driven the car, and checked all four wheels and that their machine showed no problems. He said to drive the car and let them know if there were further problems. I picked up the car at about 4:45 pm on 5/24/2016. I drove home (five minutes away), and parked at my house. I walked around the car and noticed that my passenger door had been damaged. It appeared to have been "side swiped", by something. The door was marked by light paint and the door rubbed when opened and closed. I called the garage to report this damage and was asked to bring the car back on 5/25/2016 to let the owner inspect the damage which I did, at approx. 10:50 am. The owner looked at the car and said that he could do nothing about the damages. He stated that no "little old ladies" had been driving on his lot. He stated that "his customers" would come to him if they damaged someone's car and also stated that if one of his people drove a customer's car and damaged it they would tell him. When I dropped my car off the evening before, there was no damages to my car. In the 24 hours that my car was at the garage, $1,760.00 in damages were done to my car. I have been a customer at this garage for years and I have always been very happy with their work and courtesy, and I was shocked by the owner's indifference. Now, my insurance has to pay for what was done at his business and I will not have my car for a week. I have to take my car to a body shop for repairs, on 6/6/2016.Desired Settlement: An apology from the owner for his reaction to what happened at his business and full payment for my vehicle repairs.

Business

Response:

We do not dispute that there was damage to the passenger side of the vehicle or that the vehicle was dropped off and picked up as stated. However, to our knowledge, none of this damage occurred at our facility. Our technician did not damage the vehicle in any way nor was he involved in any type of collision while test driving the vehicle. We sincerely do not believe this damage occurred while at our facility. The customer appears to be the victim of a hit and run at some place and time, which he unfortunately did not notice until after picking up the car at our shop. The damage was not readily noticeable--only by inspecting the opposite side of the car--and the timing of the discovery happened to occur after leaving our facility and driving home, thereby raising suspicion in his mind that we were responsible. The vehicle could have been damaged while parked anywhere or any at any time in the weeks prior to discovery. However, the owner and service writer and technician did search the parking lot with the customer looking for a low, white vehicle that may have been able to cause that damage. We did not find any vehicles on our lot that even closely matched that description, nor did we recall any vehicles like that on the lot that day or day before. We do understand the frustration the customer feels and why he would question us, and we tried to politely and professionally explain our side of the story and that we didn't do it, but he abruptly cut us off and would not listen to anything we had to say in our defense. We are so sorry that this situation occurred, but we can't be held liable for something that we did not do. Our insurance covers our technicians while they are test driving vehicles and the cars in our building while they are being worked on, but does not cover the vehicles that are picked up and dropped off in our parking lot, nor does any other establishment such as grocery stores and the like. We don't even know if the damage happened on our property, nor is there any way the customer can know for certain when and where this hit and run occurred. All of us are victims in a case like this. We are very sorry to be blamed in this situation and to lose a valued customer, and we sincerely apologize if we came across as casually dismissive or uncaring. We tried to communicate our side of the issue, but the only thing the customer wants, understandably, is for some one to take the blame and pay for this hit and run accident.