Good Carma

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/23) */ Good Carma performed a proper diagnostic and competent services on the customer's VW Golf on 09/09/(Invoice [redacted] )The car came in for an oil and filter changeSafety and maintenance inspections are included in oil and filter changes; however a full car diagnosis on every aspect of the car operation is not included in oil and filter changesIf the customer would have requested a full car diagnosis, that is a different service and chargeThe customer did request Good Carma to address four other concernsThose concerns included brake noise, the air conditioning system not working, the left front window not working, and a rear hatch not openingThese specific four concerns were assessed and estimates were quoted for these issues along with the requested oil and filter change service feesThere were multiple service recommendations found from the oil and filter change service inspectionThese suggestions were communicated to the customer Through dialog with the customer, Good Carma understood they were concerned about price and had a tough call to make on a car that was over years old and had been sitting without operation for over a yearThe customer decided to go ahead with the most needed repairs on the car due to limited funds not wanting to purchase a newer vehicle and pay for high insurance costsThe customer was informed that the brake work was absolutely necessary to be safe on the roadThrough the oil and filter change general inspection (and not a full diagnosis because they didn't request that), Good Carma honestly did not observe any additional concernsThe customer agreed to move forward with the invoice # [redacted] Service was performed and car was released to customer on 9/11/ Two months later on 11/9/2015, the same customer returns with an appointmentThe customer's service request for scheduling the appointment were the following - 1) Their concern about when it's cold or wet outdoors the check engine light turns on2) A belt makes noise in the morning when the car first starts3) Look at the clock and the fuel gauge for proper function4) Transmission pops out of the fifth gearWhen the customer arrived, they additionally requested some of the services recommended from their initial oil and filter change general inspection two months priorThese requested services were to replace the rear coil springs, window regulator, and the exhaust flex pipeDuring the technician's assessment of the customer's scheduled concerns, the technician noted the following - the engine was running rough during a test drive with the check engine light flashing which was diagnosed as a faulty ignition coilIt is highly recommended to replace sparkplugs and ignition wires when replacing ignition coilsDuring this computer scan for the check engine light concern, the technician also noticed additional trouble codes stored on the computerThese trouble code were related to the car's cooling system operationAdditionally, during the test drive, the technician noted a left front wheel bearing was also faultyAll of these findings were noted on a repair order and communicated with the customerAfter the repair order was relayed to the customer, it was apparent they were not happy with the findingsRegardless, they requested an additional diagnosis on a different system of the vehicle, that being door lock operationThis was checked into and added to the repair order and communicated to the customerAt this point, the customer grew irate and began blaming Good Carma for their vehicle repair order costs The customer chose to decline any repairs and picked up the vehicle 11/16/Because Good Carma understood the customer was in a tough financial spot, we didn't not have the customer pay for any of the diagnosis that visit and the technician's timeThe customer was not satisfied with no charge and in addition requested Good Carma's help to sell the vehicleGood Carma agreed to help and would be in touch with the customerGood Carma connected with the customer on the sale the very next dayThe offer Good Carma could find them from an outside source was not satisfactory to the customer The customer's main issue and anger stems from their assumption that Good Carma did not disclose information and complete a thorough enough check during the first visit in September; therefore the customer expects all funds returned including outside services not affiliated with Good CarmaWe understand the burden and stress car expenses can be on a customer and empathize; however we are not responsible for an older car that sat idle for over a yearFor a car in this condition and age, anything can happen in over two-months of suddenly driving a car that sat for a long time After consideration and reassessment of this customer's entire experience at Good Carma, the only mistake that we can take responsibility for is the oversight of not checking the timing belt condition during the first visitThe belt visually showed cracks, but not broken, during the inspection on the second visitTo rectify this oversight, Good Carma would like to offer the customer the timing belt service free of charge on the GolfAlthough, as the repair order indicated, this is not the only issue that has the vehicle operating roughly, it is only one of many issuesGood Carma would have offered this corrective measure; however the customer was demanding something unreasonable and demanding Good Carma take responsibility for unpredictable issues, return payments from the previous invoice months prior to complaint, and even pay for other auto shop's invoices on the Golf We understand this is emotional and the customer is extremely on fire about their loss; however is not viewing this issue from two-sidesGood Carma has a good reputation for caring for their customers for years and this particular customer is absolutely no different Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/12/31) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The customer disagrees with the first statement that Good Carma madeWhen the customer walked in with the VW Golf on 09/09/2014, the customer did mention that the car needs oil change along with four other concerns that Good Carma mentionedHowever, the customer also clearly mentioned to "find out everything that's wrong with the car", "the car hasn't been driven for over a year" and "we want to know if we should invest in this car or buy a new car"From customer's point of view, the customer did request for a full car diagnosis, though the exact technical verbiage wasn't usedThe customer feels it is Good Carma's responsibility to understand the needs of the customer and provide the most appropriate serviceThe customer was also not presented with the work statement at the end of the visit and was asked to sign itThe customer was okay with it, as the customer had never experienced that with Good Carma in the pastWhen the customer got a call the overall estimate was $4,and that the diagnosis charges were $104.95, the customer assumed that this included full car diagnosis, as requestedIn customer's experience, $was higher than usual but in line with "new car inspections" that other mechanics had done on other carsHad Good Carma listened to the complete customer request and proposed the "different service" that they refer to, the customer would have agreed to it and paid whatever the charges wereIn fact that's exactly what the customer had requested To recap, the customer disagrees that Good Carma performed proper diagnostic and competent services on customer's VW Golf on 09/09/In customer's point of view, Good Carma failed to listen to customer's request, propose the right service knowing the condition of the car and then failed to show the "work order" to the customer in writing and getting signature, before starting the work On top of that, when the customer expressed concerns about the misdiagnosis, Good Carma failed to propose corrective measures or reimbursements, on timeThe customer was made clear that the Good Carma's managers "hands are tied" and the customer needs to talk to the ownerDespite multiple follow ups and attempts, the customer was unable to get hold of the owner and the owner never called the customer back12/23/(one month after the customer's last phone call with Good Carma) is the first time the customer heard about the first ever corrective proposal from Good Carma; "fixing of the timing belt service free of charge"Had Good Carma offered the customer this when the customer was in dire need of second working car, the customer might have agreed to it or explored other optionsIt would have been at least been a start of the conversation towards resolutionHowever, getting no resolution whatsoever to customer's satisfaction or attempts towards the same, the customer had to buy a new car the very next weekendThe current offer from Good Carma doesn't help the customer, as the VW Golf is sitting in the back alley of customer's house, unusedThe car, as it sits, it not sellable and fixing the timing belt won't help improve its sell value At this point, the customer would really to get rid of the carThe customer would like to counter Good Carma's offer to buy the car and the title from the customer for the total sum of $1,The customer feels this is a fair deal considering Good Carma had already offered $on the car from an outside earlierThis would actually save Good Carma money from performing services that are not neededThis is more than reasonable from customer's point of view, even though the customer is still going into a loss of $1, We appreciate Good Carma's empathy towards understanding the situationThe customer would also like to highlight that they are a big supporter of local businesses in twin cities and avoids national chainThe customer has been a loyal customer of Good Carma since The customer also holds a reputation of caring for its businesses and this is the first ever matter the customer had to escalate to third partiesThis was the customer's last resort, since we, unfortunately, weren't getting any response or didn't feel intent of resolution from Good Carma Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2016/01/12) */ Please refer back to Good Carma's initial response on 12/23/regarding the facts of this case which are filed as office documents as wellGood Carma acknowledges the one oversight made on the timing belt during the initial visit in September of Therefore, Good Carma would like to take responsibility and offer a reasonable resolution to replace the timing belt on the VW Golf (a value of about $780.00)Outside of this logical offer, we do not take responsibility for any other problems with an unpredictable vehicle that sat idle for one yearThis is a good offer and we hope the customer recognizes this opportunityAfter the timing belt is repaired, the customer can choose to sell/keep the car himselfHowever, like mentioned, there's still yet items beyond the belt to repair