Fulton & Desplaines Garage

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: The shop owner is lying about the condition in which he returned my carI'm still waiting on him to state the reason in which he felt this was fair to me as a paying customer to his shopI would hope that the service I received has nothing do with raceIf my race was a problem, I hope that he would have just refused any service to me and not have wasted my timeI do however feel that my car was discriminated against due to the fact that it was an older vehicleHe referred to it as junk on several different occasionsIf he has a preference on which cars he wants to service then that to should have been explained prior to our agreement to have the car towedIn my initial message to the owner, I explained that I really wanted to get my car fixed due to personal reasonsI tried to express the sentimental value that it had before I even called himI was not shocked when he told me that the car needed a new engineI kind of expected it was an issue with the engineI just wanted to know for sureI didn't think that my decision to have my car towed to his shop would result in additional repairs due to the way they treated my carI guess when I said that I wasn't going to pay him$to replace my engine that that somehow meant to leave my cars parts not reconnectedRegardless of what Matt says, my grill was not broken or hanging before it arrivedIf it were, I'm sure it would not have survived a mile tow to his shopIf he didn't even see it before I found it on the top of my car how would he know what condition it was in before it arrivedHe tried to say it never had a front grillWhen I located it he said it will just take a few seconds to pop to back onThat's when we both saw that every single clamp was broken off and that it was impossible to put it back in placeI do not think he had any knowledge of what was done to my car or what was not replacedAll four spark plugs were removed, not just twoHe just keep lying and making things up as he goes alongHe is not taking my complaint seriously and will not admit that my car should not have been returned to me the way that it wasAlso, I live a block from Advanced Auto and they have free battery chargingI own a air pump and inflate my tire whenever necessaryI have an alarm on my car as wellIf my battery gets too low then the alarm doesn't work so I have charged it three times since my car stopped workingThe AAA tow driver had no problem charging battery or inflating my tiresI paid $for a tow and at that price, if my tires were low then it could have been includedMaybe I paid extra for it, who knowsThe battery had to be charged because my windows were down and they are automaticWhen I retrieved my keys from the ignition, they were turned all the way to the on position as if they purposely wanted to drain my batteryIf they were like this for three days then that's why my battery was deadThe whole ordeal was just totally unfair to me as a customer and that is the reason why I filed the complaint with the Revdex.comThis needs to be addressed and if the owner keeps lying and not admitting any wrongdoing then there is no resolutionI trusted him with my car and received horrible treatment in returnI walked through his shop doors with my credit card in hand and paid without reservationWhen I finally got to look at the work left undone, I tried to speak with the owner and he refusedI had no other option other than to file this complaint due to his shops business practicesI believe they are crooks and rip people off when they decide not to get repairs done at the shopI paid for a diagnostics and this has turned into a slew of problems, for unnecessary reasonsI should have had my car returned to me with everything intact the same way it arrived at the shop Sincerely, Lynn [redacted]

Tell us why hereTo whom it may concern,
Please be advised that we work on literally a few thousand vehicles every year, and every so often, we get a customer that is simply unreasonable, or simply does not understand the situation their vehicle is
in
We towed in Ms***’ vehicle in on Monday 12/19/from *** * ***l (about miles away)The vehicle came off the tow truck with two blown out front tires, a completely dead battery, and the grill hanging on by a threadMy team attempted to put air in the tires, which the tires would not take air; they put power to the battery just to get the car into neutral, and removed the grill and set it off to the sideIt took my entire team to push this car onto our rack since it had not moved in so long and had two flats
My team spent about an hour inspecting the vehicleWe checked to see if it had fuel pressure, it didWe checked to see if it had spark, it didWe the removed a few spark plugs to check compressionCompression was weakMs*** had an internal engine problemWhat exactly? Hard to sayFrankly, it becomes irrelevant since the only way to fix it is to remove the engine and replace it or rebuild itWe did not touch her windshield wipers; we did not touch her exhaustRealistically, why would we? We put the spark plugs we removed off to the side
I spoke to Ms *** that evening and explained to her the optionsA) Fix it for $2500-$B) Bring me the title, pay for the tow and I would scrap the car and waive the diagnostic charge or C) Tow the car out of my shop and bring it wherever she so choseIt was at that point that things went southIt was Ms*** uneducated opinion that her car was worth more than $Well, it’s notIn good working order, the car was worth about $She needed an engine, had two blown tires, the grill was broken, and it had a handful of other issues as wellIf I got the title, it wasn’t even worth it for me to attempt to fix it myself and resell itThe car was junkWhat Ms*** does not understand is that the price of scrap is down, and the scrap yards give you $for a junk vehicleThat’s itNothing moreMs*** chose to pick up her car
It took Ms*** three days to pick up her carThree DaysUnder circumstances that would not be the worst thing in the world, but her car did not run, and frankly, barely rolledIt was essentially stuck on my rackI explained to Ms*** that I really needed her car relocatedI offered to take a credit card over the phoneI offered to facilitate a tow for herShe looked at days as quickly, I looked at it as the dozen or so cars I could have fixed on that rack but had to make other arrangements to fix them
When Ms*** came to pick up her car, she paid her bill, however she was very focused that her hood was still up and there were two cars blocking herShe felt we were still working on her carBelieve me, we weren’tThat could not be farther from the truthI explained to her that it would take min to close the hood and move the two cars blocking us from pushing the car outThree min later, we pushed the car to the door, and the tow truck hooked up the vehicleIt was at that point that she noticed that her grill had been relocatedI explained to her that the guys removed it since it was barely hanging onShe did not want to hear itShe saw that the spark plugs were still off to the side, and claimed that we were leaving her car in “pieces”Trust me, this car was in “pieces” when it got to meOur spark plugs off to the side were not the issueThe tow truck took the car away
An hour later, Ms*** called me yelling at me about the wipers and the exhaust, which again we had NOTHING to do withI listened to Ms***, attempted to explain to her we had nothing to do with those items, and she simply would not stop yellingShe states that I refused to talk to herI triedBut when someone is yelling and not thinking clearly, I simply cannot talk to themThey won’t listenInstead, they rush to their computer to write bad reviews on you and make complaints to the Revdex.com without thinking about what they are actually concerned about
With respect to a refund:
1) I have not heard any dispute that her car was towed in$of the $was for the towShe has no grounds for being refunded for the towFrankly, I don’t even know why she had us tow it in since I came to find out later that she has AAA2) $was for the one hour of inspection to determine that the problem was in the engine itselfShe received the answer that she brought the car in for; why was the car not starting?
She is essentially basing her complaint on:
a) Not understanding that her car has minimal value at this point and thinking that I was “ripping her off” and
b) Us setting the few spark plugs off to the side after they were pulled out, and putting her broken grill off to the side out of the way
We towed the car, got her an answer as to why her car would not start, and even stored the car for three daysI’m not seeing the validation for any sort of a refundGod knows I do my best to make sure every customer walks out of here smilingYou can look at my online reviews and history with Revdex.com and know that this situation comes up very rarelyUnfortunately, sometimes a customer is just unreasonable and no matter what I do, that customer is going to leave unhappyPlease let me know if there is anything that I can clarify for you
Sincerely,
Mathew ***
Fulton-Desplaines Garage

Tell us why hereTo whom it may concern,Please be advised that we work on literally a few thousand vehicles every year, and every so often, we get a customer that is simply unreasonable, or simply does not understand the situation their vehicle is in We towed in Ms***’ vehicle in on
Monday 12/19/from *** * ***l (about miles away)The vehicle came off the tow truck with two blown out front tires, a completely dead battery, and the grill hanging on by a threadMy team attempted to put air in the tires, which the tires would not take air; they put power to the battery just to get the car into neutral, and removed the grill and set it off to the sideIt took my entire team to push this car onto our rack since it had not moved in so long and had two flats My team spent about an hour inspecting the vehicleWe checked to see if it had fuel pressure, it didWe checked to see if it had spark, it didWe the removed a few spark plugs to check compressionCompression was weakMs*** had an internal engine problemWhat exactly? Hard to sayFrankly, it becomes irrelevant since the only way to fix it is to remove the engine and replace it or rebuild itWe did not touch her windshield wipers; we did not touch her exhaustRealistically, why would we? We put the spark plugs we removed off to the side I spoke to Ms *** that evening and explained to her the optionsA) Fix it for $2500-$B) Bring me the title, pay for the tow and I would scrap the car and waive the diagnostic charge or C) Tow the car out of my shop and bring it wherever she so choseIt was at that point that things went southIt was Ms*** uneducated opinion that her car was worth more than $Well, it’s notIn good working order, the car was worth about $She needed an engine, had two blown tires, the grill was broken, and it had a handful of other issues as wellIf I got the title, it wasn’t even worth it for me to attempt to fix it myself and resell itThe car was junkWhat Ms*** does not understand is that the price of scrap is down, and the scrap yards give you $for a junk vehicleThat’s itNothing moreMs*** chose to pick up her car It took Ms*** three days to pick up her carThree DaysUnder circumstances that would not be the worst thing in the world, but her car did not run, and frankly, barely rolledIt was essentially stuck on my rackI explained to Ms*** that I really needed her car relocatedI offered to take a credit card over the phoneI offered to facilitate a tow for herShe looked at days as quickly, I looked at it as the dozen or so cars I could have fixed on that rack but had to make other arrangements to fix them When Ms*** came to pick up her car, she paid her bill, however she was very focused that her hood was still up and there were two cars blocking herShe felt we were still working on her carBelieve me, we weren’tThat could not be farther from the truthI explained to her that it would take min to close the hood and move the two cars blocking us from pushing the car outThree min later, we pushed the car to the door, and the tow truck hooked up the vehicleIt was at that point that she noticed that her grill had been relocatedI explained to her that the guys removed it since it was barely hanging onShe did not want to hear itShe saw that the spark plugs were still off to the side, and claimed that we were leaving her car in “pieces”Trust me, this car was in “pieces” when it got to meOur spark plugs off to the side were not the issueThe tow truck took the car away An hour later, Ms*** called me yelling at me about the wipers and the exhaust, which again we had NOTHING to do withI listened to Ms***, attempted to explain to her we had nothing to do with those items, and she simply would not stop yellingShe states that I refused to talk to herI triedBut when someone is yelling and not thinking clearly, I simply cannot talk to themThey won’t listenInstead, they rush to their computer to write bad reviews on you and make complaints to the Revdex.com without thinking about what they are actually concerned about With respect to a refund:1) I have not heard any dispute that her car was towed in$of the $was for the towShe has no grounds for being refunded for the towFrankly, I don’t even know why she had us tow it in since I came to find out later that she has AAA.2) $was for the one hour of inspection to determine that the problem was in the engine itselfShe received the answer that she brought the car in for; why was the car not starting? She is essentially basing her complaint on: a) Not understanding that her car has minimal value at this point and thinking that I was “ripping her off” andb) Us setting the few spark plugs off to the side after they were pulled out, and putting her broken grill off to the side out of the way We towed the car, got her an answer as to why her car would not start, and even stored the car for three daysI’m not seeing the validation for any sort of a refundGod knows I do my best to make sure every customer walks out of here smilingYou can look at my online reviews and history with Revdex.com and know that this situation comes up very rarelyUnfortunately, sometimes a customer is just unreasonable and no matter what I do, that customer is going to leave unhappyPlease let me know if there is anything that I can clarify for you. Sincerely, Mathew ***Fulton-Desplaines Garage

Tell us why here
To whom it may concern,
I will address Ms *** concerns one at a time:
1) She states I paint her as an unreasonable customer: If you look at her personal Yelp page, out of reviews she has left for businesses, are star30% of the time, she has something negative to say about a businessWhat I also find interesting is that out of her reviews have been written ever since she visited my shopout of her first reviews were negativeSince then, all positive and all within the past weeksAlmost like she is trying to make herself look like a positive person for when the Revdex.com looks up her Yelp pageI would suggest you look at her reviews prior to 12/22/She has even left reviews for businesses that she is not even a customer of, simply based on that businesses’ perceived business modelPlus, she makes a few references that businesses she disliked had numerous white people in the business at the time (which is my race), and one positive review making a point that it is a black owned business (which is her race)As much as I hate to play “the race card” here, I see a pattern in her reviews prior to 12/22/You can make your own analysis
2) She states that I never told her there was a charge for the tow: Why wouldn’t there be? I never stated that the tow was a no chargeThere are some shops that waive the tow if the work is preformed, however we did not fix her car, and there is no reason that she should have not been charged for the towIf she wanted a free tow, she should have had AAA bring the car over (as she states she had AAA) or simply asked “is the tow free?” Also, please note that she wrote AAA a positive Yelp review on 12/23/16, eluding that she just received the serviceI question if she even had AAA at the time that we towed the car inI would be interested in seeing her member agreement dated prior to us towing her car in
3) Her main concern seems to be the condition her car was returned to her in: Two spark plugs placed off to the sideTwoSparkPlugsI would hardly say that is leaving her car in “pieces”The wires being unplugged from said plugs, is hardly “completely disassembled”A grill that was placed off to the side when my guys saw it hanging is the right way to handle the situationI stated the car came in without a grill because the guys put it off to the side before I saw the car, and I was under the impression there was no grillPeriodAs I’ve stated in our previous correspondence, my mistake for not seeing thatWe did not touch her wipers, or anything else for that matterPeriodThe battery holder was ripped apart? Certainly not by usOur “putting her car back together” when she finally came to get it was closing the hoodThat’s itShe even states in her negative review of my shop on Yelp that she was able to sell her car for $after I told her the car has little valueHow bad could I have possibly left her car if she was able to sell a $(in good working order) car that had a blown engine and left in “pieces” for $1000? Or maybe she lied on Yelp? I’d be interested in seeing the bill of sale
4) The state her car was in when towed to my shop: She states that her car was sitting since AugustDo you think the battery was at full charge after sitting for months? NoDo you think her tires were nicely and properly inflated after sitting all that time? Of course notShe states that AAA was able to air up her tires once she got the car backI doubt itWe tried to air up the tires and they would not take airDo you think that we would push the car on two flats out of choice?
We could go back and forth on this issue over and over and over againThat’s not helpful to anyoneThis is what I would suggest at this point:
Ms *** seems to indicate that her main concern was that the two spark plugs were left out of the carAccording to Mitchell ProDemand labor guide, it should take hours to install two spark plugs on that carAt $90/hour, that should cost her about $If she would like an $credit, so we can put this situation behind us, I believe that would be more than fair
I would like to resolve this issue, but I really don’t even know what Ms*** wants at this pointI have apologized that Ms *** feels that she was mistreated in any wayYou can tell by my online reviews as well as my rating with the Revdex.com that Ms *** is by no means the norm in my shopShe is the exceptionHowever, she was billed accordingly for the services she receivedPlease let me know what I need to do to make this situation right
Sincerely,
Matt ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The shop owner is lying about the condition in which he returned my car. I'm still waiting on him to state the reason in which he felt this was fair to me as a paying customer to his shop. I would hope that the service I received has nothing do with race. If my race was a problem, I hope that he would have just refused any service to me and not have wasted my time. I do however feel that my car was discriminated against due to the fact that it was an older vehicle. He referred to it as junk on several different occasions. If he has a preference on which cars he wants to service then that to should have been explained prior to our agreement to have the car towed. In my initial message to the owner, I explained that I really wanted to get my car fixed due to personal reasons. I tried to express the sentimental value that it had before I even called him. I was not shocked when he told me that the car needed a new engine. I kind of expected it was an issue with the engine. I just wanted to know for sure. I didn't think that my decision to have my car towed to his shop would result in additional repairs due to the way they treated my car. I guess when I said that I wasn't going to pay him$3000 to replace my engine that that somehow meant to leave my cars parts not reconnected. Regardless of what Matt says, my grill was not broken or hanging before it arrived. If it were, I'm sure it would not have survived a 12 mile tow to his shop. If he didn't even see it before I found it on the top of my car how would he know what condition it was in before it arrived. He tried to say it never had a front grill. When I located it he said it will just take a few seconds to pop to back on. That's when we both saw that every single clamp was broken off and that it was impossible to put it back in place. I do not think he had any knowledge of what was done to my car or what was not replaced. All four spark plugs were removed, not just two. He just keep lying and making things up as he goes along. He is not taking my complaint seriously and will not admit that my car should not have been returned to me the way that it was. Also, I live a block from Advanced Auto and they have free battery charging. I own a air pump and inflate my tire whenever necessary. I have an alarm on my car as well. If my battery gets too low then the alarm doesn't work so I have charged it three times since my car stopped working. The AAA tow driver had no problem charging battery or inflating my tires. I paid $200 for a tow and at that price, if my tires were low then it could have been included. Maybe I paid extra for it, who knows. The battery had to be charged because my windows were down and they are automatic. When I retrieved my keys from the ignition, they were turned all the way to the on position as if they purposely wanted to drain my battery. If they were like this for three days then that's why my battery was dead. The whole ordeal was just totally unfair to me as a customer and that is the reason why I filed the complaint with the Revdex.com. This needs to be addressed and if the owner keeps lying and not admitting any wrongdoing then there is no resolution. I trusted him with my car and received horrible treatment in return. I walked through his shop doors with my credit card in hand and paid without reservation. When I finally got to look at the work left undone, I tried to speak with the owner and he refused. I had no other option other than to file this complaint due to his shops business practices. I believe they are crooks and rip people off when they decide not to get repairs done at the shop. I paid for a diagnostics and this has turned into a slew of problems, for unnecessary reasons. I should have had my car returned to me with everything intact the same way it arrived at the shop.
 
Sincerely,
Lynn [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The shop owner is lying about the condition in which he returned my car. I'm still waiting on him to state the reason in which he felt this was fair to me as a paying customer to his shop. I would hope that the service I received has nothing do with race. If my race was a problem, I hope that he would have just refused any service to me and not have wasted my time. I do however feel that my car was discriminated against due to the fact that it was an older vehicle. He referred to it as junk on several different occasions. If he has a preference on which cars he wants to service then that to should have been explained prior to our agreement to have the car towed. In my initial message to the owner, I explained that I really wanted to get my car fixed due to personal reasons. I tried to express the sentimental value that it had before I even called him. I was not shocked when he told me that the car needed a new engine. I kind of expected it was an issue with the engine. I just wanted to know for sure. I didn't think that my decision to have my car towed to his shop would result in additional repairs due to the way they treated my car. I guess when I said that I wasn't going to pay him$3000 to replace my engine that that somehow meant to leave my cars parts not reconnected. Regardless of what Matt says, my grill was not broken or hanging before it arrived. If it were, I'm sure it would not have survived a 12 mile tow to his shop. If he didn't even see it before I found it on the top of my car how would he know what condition it was in before it arrived. He tried to say it never had a front grill. When I located it he said it will just take a few seconds to pop to back on. That's when we both saw that every single clamp was broken off and that it was impossible to put it back in place. I do not think he had any knowledge of what was done to my car or what was not replaced. All four spark plugs were removed, not just two. He just keep lying and making things up as he goes along. He is not taking my complaint seriously and will not admit that my car should not have been returned to me the way that it was. Also, I live a block from Advanced Auto and they have free battery charging. I own a air pump and inflate my tire whenever necessary. I have an alarm on my car as well. If my battery gets too low then the alarm doesn't work so I have charged it three times since my car stopped working. The AAA tow driver had no problem charging battery or inflating my tires. I paid $200 for a tow and at that price, if my tires were low then it could have been included. Maybe I paid extra for it, who knows. The battery had to be charged because my windows were down and they are automatic. When I retrieved my keys from the ignition, they were turned all the way to the on position as if they purposely wanted to drain my battery. If they were like this for three days then that's why my battery was dead. The whole ordeal was just totally unfair to me as a customer and that is the reason why I filed the complaint with the Revdex.com. This needs to be addressed and if the owner keeps lying and not admitting any wrongdoing then there is no resolution. I trusted him with my car and received horrible treatment in return. I walked through his shop doors with my credit card in hand and paid without reservation. When I finally got to look at the work left undone, I tried to speak with the owner and he refused. I had no other option other than to file this complaint due to his shops business practices. I believe they are crooks and rip people off when they decide not to get repairs done at the shop. I paid for a diagnostics and this has turned into a slew of problems, for unnecessary reasons. I should have had my car returned to me with everything intact the same way it arrived at the shop. 
Sincerely,
Lynn [redacted]

Tell us why here... To whom it may concern,I will address Ms [redacted] concerns one at a time: 1)      She states I paint her as an unreasonable customer: If you look at her personal Yelp page, out of 14 reviews she has left for businesses, 4 are 1 star. 30% of the time, she has something negative to say about a business. What I also find interesting is that 8 out of her 14 reviews have been written ever since she visited my shop. 4 out of her first 6 reviews were negative. Since then, all positive and all within the past 2 weeks. Almost like she is trying to make herself look like a positive person for when the Revdex.com looks up her Yelp page. I would suggest you look at her reviews prior to 12/22/16. She has even left reviews for businesses that she is not even a customer of, simply based on that businesses’ perceived business model. Plus, she makes a few references that businesses she disliked had numerous white people in the business at the time (which is my race), and one positive review making a point that it is a black owned business (which is her race). As much as I hate to play “the race card” here, I see a pattern in her reviews prior to 12/22/16. You can make your own analysis. 2)      She states that I never told her there was a charge for the tow: Why wouldn’t there be? I never stated that the tow was a no charge. There are some shops that waive the tow if the work is preformed, however we did not fix her car, and there is no reason that she should have not been charged for the tow. If she wanted a free tow, she should have had AAA bring the car over (as she states she had AAA) or simply asked “is the tow free?” Also, please note that she wrote AAA a positive Yelp review on 12/23/16, eluding that she just received the service. I question if she even had AAA at the time that we towed the car in. I would be interested in seeing her member agreement dated prior to us towing her car in. 3)      Her main concern seems to be the condition her car was returned to her in: Two spark plugs placed off to the side. Two. Spark. Plugs. I would hardly say that is leaving her car in “pieces”. The wires being unplugged from said plugs, is hardly “completely disassembled”. A grill that was placed off to the side when my guys saw it hanging is the right way to handle the situation. I stated the car came in without a grill because the guys put it off to the side before I saw the car, and I was under the impression there was no grill. Period. As I’ve stated in our previous correspondence, my mistake for not seeing that. We did not touch her wipers, or anything else for that matter. Period. The battery holder was ripped apart? Certainly not by us. Our “putting her car back together” when she finally came to get it was closing the hood. That’s it. She even states in her negative review of my shop on Yelp that she was able to sell her car for $1000 after I told her the car has little value. How bad could I have possibly left her car if she was able to sell a $2000 (in good working order) car that had a blown engine and left in “pieces” for $1000? Or maybe she lied on Yelp? I’d be interested in seeing the bill of sale. 4)      The state her car was in when towed to my shop: She states that her car was sitting since August. Do you think the battery was at full charge after sitting for 5 months? No. Do you think her tires were nicely and properly inflated after sitting all that time? Of course not. She states that AAA was able to air up her tires once she got the car back. I doubt it. We tried to air up the tires and they would not take air. Do you think that we would push the car on two flats out of choice?  We could go back and forth on this issue over and over and over again. That’s not helpful to anyone. This is what I would suggest at this point: Ms [redacted] seems to indicate that her main concern was that the two spark plugs were left out of the car. According to Mitchell ProDemand labor guide, it should take 0.2 hours to install two spark plugs on that car. At $90/hour, that should cost her about $18. If she would like an $18 credit, so we can put this situation behind us, I believe that would be more than fair.  I would like to resolve this issue, but I really don’t even know what Ms. [redacted] wants at this point. I have apologized that Ms [redacted] feels that she was mistreated in any way. You can tell by my online reviews as well as my rating with the Revdex.com that Ms [redacted] is by no means the norm in my shop. She is the exception. However, she was billed accordingly for the services she received. Please let me know what I need to do to make this situation right.  Sincerely,Matt [redacted]