Hellen Garage, Inc.

My friend bought a vehicle from them and paid 5000.00 dollars and after having the vehicle for 3 months the transmission failed. When Hellen's was notified of this they told my friend they were not responsible and would not take the vehicle back and refund his money or repair the vehicle under warranty. Hellen's garage are a bunch of thieves. I'm sure this is not the only person they gave robbed

Charged $625.00 for Starter Diagnostic and replacement and Alarm removal. Charged 5 hours labor plus $200 for Parts.Product_Or_Service: STATER rEPLACEMENTDesired SettlementShould not have to pay 5 hours labor for simple starter replacement Business Response see attached pdf.

I got my oil changed at Helens and as I drove away from the garage a lot of smoke was coming out of the back on my car. I went back to the garage and the mechanic told me my antifreeze was low so try filling it up and come back if the smoke remains. I filled the antifreeze and there was still smoke so I called to tell them but nothing further could be done that day because they were closed. In the meantime I researched what could be causing this online. I read that over filling the oil can cause it and sure enough when I check my oil level it was over filled by more than 2 inched on the dip stick. I looked in my owners manual and it stated that over filling can cause excessive engine damage. I called Helens first thing in the morning and they argued with me over the phone about the situation and wanted me to drive to the garage. I refused because I did not want to cause any further damage. Helens finally agreed to come to my house and take a look for themselves. They saw that it was overfilled dramatically so they drained the oil and took the car for a test drive. There was no more white smoke but my car wad not riding well... It was not accelerating smoothly and kept hesitating. They told me to drive it for a day or two to see if it went away. I drove the car the next day to work and it did not improve and then my transmission and engine lights came on. I went to the garage and the mechanic said that he honestly did not think anything related to the oil change would affect the transmission. He then checked the transmission level fluid and noticed it was empty...turns out they drained my transmission fluid instead of the oil, hence the over filling. The mechanic filled my transmission fluid and it has been fine so far. However, there is no telling what is going to happen to the transmission and if this caused any further damage to my car. I have tried to contact the owner/manager of Helens but he will not acknowledge that this happened. I feel that Henens is not holding themselves accountable.Product_Or_Service: Oil change Desired SettlementI would like something in writing from Helens stating what happened and that they are at fault for my records in case anything happens down the road due to their mistake.Business' Initial Response To Whom It May Concern:Consumer Info: [redacted]We did receive her complaint. We did act quick enough to resolve the issue. She brought her car for an oil change and the technician overfilled her oil by 1 qt and by mistake he did drain almost 1 qt of transmission fluid, so our manager act quick enough solved issue of oil that caused her car to have some white smoke and after [redacted] brought her car second day for check engine light and was transmission light code. We did check and her transmission was low 1 qt so we did take care of the issue and her car was fine after that. We are very sorry about this matter and we did promise her any issue or sign of any problem she may see feel free to bring back so we can take care of it and now [redacted], she does have a receipt for her oil change and I dont know what shes still looking for we did everything that had to be done to straighten this matter.Hellen Garage Inc.XXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXX Consumer's Final Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I feel better because I have this statement and before all I had was their word. However, I still think they are downplaying the error by saying my oil was only overfilled by 1 quart and my transmission was only emptied by 1 quart. In reality, my transmission fluid was drained, leaving my tank empty, and my oil was over filled by double (which is actually closer to 4-5 quarts according to my owner's manual). As I previously mentioned, when I looked at my dipstick the actual oil line was at least 2 inches over the full line.

I got my oil changed at Helens and as I drove away from the garage a lot of smoke was coming out of the back on my car. I went back to the garage and the mechanic told me my antifreeze was low so try filling it up and come back if the smoke remains. I filled the antifreeze and there was still smoke so I called to tell them but nothing further could be done that day because they were closed. In the meantime I researched what could be causing this online. I read that over filling the oil can cause it and sure enough when I check my oil level it was over filled by more than 2 inched on the dip stick. I looked in my owners manual and it stated that over filling can cause excessive engine damage. I called Helens first thing in the morning and they argued with me over the phone about the situation and wanted me to drive to the garage. I refused because I did not want to cause any further damage. Helens finally agreed to come to my house and take a look for themselves. They saw that it was overfilled dramatically so they drained the oil and took the car for a test drive. There was no more white smoke but my car wad not riding well... It was not accelerating smoothly and kept hesitating. They told me to drive it for a day or two to see if it went away. I drove the car the next day to work and it did not improve and then my transmission and engine lights came on. I went to the garage and the mechanic said that he honestly did not think anything related to the oil change would affect the transmission. He then checked the transmission level fluid and noticed it was empty...turns out they drained my transmission fluid instead of the oil, hence the over filling. The mechanic filled my transmission fluid and it has been fine so far. However, there is no telling what is going to happen to the transmission and if this caused any further damage to my car. I have tried to contact the owner/manager of Helens but he will not acknowledge that this happened. I feel that Henens is not holding themselves accountable.Product_Or_Service: Oil change Desired SettlementI would like something in writing from Helens stating what happened and that they are at fault for my records in case anything happens down the road due to their mistake.Business' Initial Response To Whom It May Concern:Consumer Info: [redacted]We did receive her complaint. We did act quick enough to resolve the issue. She brought her car for an oil change and the technician overfilled her oil by 1 qt and by mistake he did drain almost 1 qt of transmission fluid, so our manager act quick enough solved issue of oil that caused her car to have some white smoke and after [redacted] brought her car second day for check engine light and was transmission light code. We did check and her transmission was low 1 qt so we did take care of the issue and her car was fine after that. We are very sorry about this matter and we did promise her any issue or sign of any problem she may see feel free to bring back so we can take care of it and now [redacted], she does have a receipt for her oil change and I dont know what shes still looking for we did everything that had to be done to straighten this matter.Hellen Garage Inc.XXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXX-XXXX Consumer's Final Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I feel better because I have this statement and before all I had was their word. However, I still think they are downplaying the error by saying my oil was only overfilled by 1 quart and my transmission was only emptied by 1 quart. In reality, my transmission fluid was drained, leaving my tank empty, and my oil was over filled by double (which is actually closer to 4-5 quarts according to my owner's manual). As I previously mentioned, when I looked at my dipstick the actual oil line was at least 2 inches over the full line.