Gilbert's Repair and Farm Equipment

To begin with our response to the claims made by the customer, we wish to point out that we are primarily a farm equipment sales and service center.  We do not do many engine removal and overhaul services on automotive applications.  We were contacted about the job by a relative of the...

customer, whom she had asked to see if we could possibly help her out.  We did not solicit the job.  All early communication about the job was done through the relative, as the customer did not want to talk to us directly.  We did not speak directly to the customer until a loose estimate had been provided to the relative, who passed it along to the customer.  The numbers provided in the customer's complaint are incomplete and misguided.  The $1,400 was what was required to remove the engine and assess total damages.  The $1,700 was a best case scenario in the event that very little had to be done to the engine to restore it to working order.  The customer consented to the job through the relative.  When asked about a time frame, she was told that we were two to three weeks from being able to start on the vehicle due to our current work load.  Once the engine had been removed and inspected, it was determined that the crankshaft and one connecting rod were damaged beyond repair.  Parts were not available through local resources, we had to obtain the parts through a machine shop.  Even through the machine shop, parts were back-ordered and difficult to obtain in a timely manner.  The parts she claims to have found were from a discount auto parts store not in our area that we do not do business with.When the customer came to our business two weeks before completion of the job, she was belligerent and verbally abusive.  She was told that the final parts had arrived, and time to completion was at about two weeks.  At no time during the conversation did the customer state that she had no money to pay for the job, and wished to make payments.Upon completion of the job, the customer was notified of its completion. She was told the final bill had come to $2,200.  At this point, the customer said she was moving out of town and needed the car and would make payments to us in a couple of months when money she said was coming to her, came in.  We told her that we at least needed enough money to cover the parts, totaling $1,200.  She again became enraged and said it would be better for her to pay off the vehicle and bring us the title.  We did this job for $2,200, which is less than half of the $5,000 that she was quoted by another repair shop in this area.  Two weeks after completion, her father has now brought us $1,200 and retrieved the vehicle  We feel that we have gone above and beyond in trying to help her, even allowing her to take the vehicle without paying in full (which is company policy) without prior approval.