Impact Mechanics and Body Shop, Inc.

I am rejecting this response because:
oh my gosh.. can the lady spin a tale. I brought my Jeep in on an appointment on Nov 15 and got it back on Nov 29th they had it for 15 days, with one excuse and then another, the coolant machine broke down, we don’t know how to flush your transmission, well hav to have a Rep come in and show us how, they said they’d have to replace them he transmission lines. The window is what my complaint is about. Her story is just that. A story. No truth to it whatsoever, I am not belligerent, I inquired why my bill was $987.00 as it turned out he live in boyfriend caught the mistake only after I ask how it could be so much.. I had it figured at around $800.00 but they did rectify that. But the door panel no longer has the clips that hold it on.. maybe one or two, anyway I can only say the owner Mike rode with me back to my place, I showed him what the window was doing, he agreed that it was a shirt in the wiring from the fire wall to the door and would handle it.. when they finally got to it they said it was the switch.. I sighed and knew it wasn’t. But it did work for about 2 weeks the it was back to the short in the wiring harness, the exact thing I told and showed Mike about. All the anger was manufactured. I’m not not was I a problem in any way. I did pull up one day while Rachel was out having a smoke, showed her how it worked if I opened the door halfway any where other than there it shorted out.. I had my boss look at it and he fixed the jumbled up mess inside from the firewall to the door.. I have lost all respect for that in- orginazation, they are no better than backyard hacks, Gary isn’t a certified mechanic, they didn’t even put the door panel back on securely.. I will dispute this until I’m refunded $340.00 or there abouts back. Thank you. I promise I’ll sit down and talk but Gary told me to leave, we don’t want your business. Have a good day.

In response to the reply made by the customer on this matter;I am unsure why the customer feels the need to accuse anyone of lying, considering this reply was a grouping of facts made by myself over the contact had with this customer, that was made without ever having the privilege of reading the initial complaint. The initial complaint was made against a company that no longer exists and was never submitted to Impact Mechanics. To the time of me writing this reply, no one at Impact Mechanics has seen the initial customer complaint; we are simply offering facts as we know them to be true. If the goal was to reply on untruths here, then no action would have been taken as the complaint was not technically made against this company, and no recourse would have occurred to this company had no effort to respond been made. The facts stated in the previous response are based upon dates entered in the company’s appointment and phone notebooks, as well as the date on the invoice. I am not sure where the customer gets anything that has anything to do with transmission lines, as they were not replaced. I also do not understand why the customer did not contact us if the window stopped working after two weeks (as is stated in his recent reply) and waited until February to request to have it looked at. He also states that he had his boss (I was told this man was on disability and unable to work?) work on the wiring for this vehicle. Unfortunately, this admission would void any warranty held by Impact Mechanics to the wiring work done on this vehicle.Let it be known that we never at any time did any work to the wiring harness on this vehicle; the mechanic reattached a wire that had come loose that controlled the operation of the passenger windows from the driver’s side door. If the wiring harness was a mess, as stated in the customer’s reply, it had nothing to do with the technicians at Impact Mechanics. This wire that was reattached by our technician would also not have anything to do with the driver’s side window not working if the switch was still functioning. I will also repeat myself here and again state that the customer was given the offer to view the faulty window switch being tested and having no functionality and declined the opportunity. As to the matter of being refunded any amount; as I have stated we have already granted numerous discounts on this customer’s job. We were told that the customer had health issues and was on a fixed income and did everything in our power to deliver his desired result in a cost-effective manner. We have already apologized for the delays that led to this vehicle being in our shop longer than it should have. We offered to look at the vehicle prior to being verbally attacked by the customer, and even again afterwards. We do not offer refunds (It states on the invoice that all sales are final). It is unfortunate that the customer has resorted to name calling and defamation of ability in this matter, but it is also reflective of the behavior that led to him being asked to leave the premises and the other mechanic being unable to speak rationally with him over the phone. As important as it is to us to have customer satisfaction and retention, we cannot appease the customer on this matter. It is impossible to undo a transmission or coolant flush. Window switches (and all other electrical components) are not returnable items once installed, which is why we offer to prove to our customers that an electrical device is faulty before replacing it. All that is left is the one hour of labor that was charged, which is not at all reflective to the time spent on this vehicle while it was here. Our labor rates are not out of line with what other establishments like our own charge. It is unfortunate that the customer cannot be satisfied, but we have already done everything that is within our power to do in this matter, and then some.

This letter is in regards to the customer [redacted] who has filed a complaint against Central Automotive in Kenmare, ND. Good Day, I am the office manager for Impact Mechanics. For transparency purposes, it should be noted that Impact Mechanics bought Central Automotive in October of 2016 and it...

has since been known as Impact Mechanics and Body Shop. Impact Mechanics has two mechanics on site and one office employee. [redacted] is the owner of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee that we worked on in November 2017. He had called prior to bringing his vehicle in to inquire about the BG Transmission Flush and Coolant flush systems. He was advised of the rates for each machine and the cost of both the additives and the fluids. He was also advised that a transmission flush does not fix a transmission that is already slipping and having issues (which is something we advise all our customers of, because some believe that flushing a transmission is the same as opening one up and physically working on one). He indicated that he would like to bring his Jeep in and have both flushes performed and asked if we would fix his window issue. He had a switch in the driver’s side door that seemed to work intermittently (sometimes the window would work, sometimes it didn’t, and the switch would not operate the passenger windows at all). Our rates as quoted to the customer: Labor Rates for BG Machines: 135.00 flat fee. Transmission Additive Kits:        34.99 each. Transmission Fluid:                        9.99 per quart. Cooling System Additive Kits:    31.99 each. Flush Coolant by Gallon:                8.99 each. Labor Rates for Gas Engine Vehicles: 95.00 per hour. Shop Materials Fee:                          8% of labor (covers bolts, clips, washers, wires, and other miscellaneous shop expenses that do not get sold by the item to customers). At the time of the initial conversation, Mr. [redacted] was agreeable to the rates. It was a lengthy phone conversation that broke down the individual costs to the customer. He made arrangements to bring his vehicle in and have the work performed. On the day he dropped off his vehicle (The 14th of November), we received two emergency calls about travelers who were stranded in Kenmare. We tend to receive calls of this nature fairly regularly from out-of-state and out-of-country travelers who break down after crossing the Canadian border into North Dakota. We try to prioritize these customers as they are generally hundreds of miles away from home and in an emergency, and most of the other shops within an hour of us will refuse to work on them or give them a two-week waiting period. Mr. [redacted] was informed about these travelers who had broken down and was advised that we could not get his vehicle in that day. I offered to reschedule him, and he indicated that he was “in no hurry” and dropped off his vehicle. Of these two different travelers, one had a drivetrain issue and the other had blown their water pump. One was headed to Colorado and the other was headed to Minnesota. This was on a Tuesday, and we were unable to bring his vehicle into the shop until that Friday (The 17th of November). He made contact every day that week to see if his vehicle was done. Upon bringing his vehicle in, we discovered that we did not have the appropriate adapter to run the transmission flush on his vehicle. We purchase our adapters through our BG representative who is located in Rapid City, South Dakota. I called the customer and apprised him of the issue, offering to reschedule him when we got the adapter in (we understand that customers do not always have another vehicle to drive when theirs is in our shop). He refused, loudly professing that “He was going to make us do the work on his vehicle,” which was a little confusing considering that we were not refusing to work on the vehicle. He was informed that the adapter would not be available to us until after Thanksgiving weekend (which ended with the 26th of November) because that was when the representative could get us the part. He still refused a reschedule. Mr. [redacted] also continued to call daily to see if his vehicle was done. In the meantime, we performed the coolant flush on this vehicle and ran diagnostics on his window issue. The switch in the driver’s side door was broken, and there was also a broken wire connecting the wiring from the driver’s side to the passenger side of the vehicle. He was apprised of the fact that he needed a new switch, and that the switch would need to come from the dealership as the aftermarket versions were special order items that cost about two hundred more than those ordered from the dealer. We offered to let him come to the garage and see for himself that the switch was faulty (some customers like to see for themselves what is broken on their vehicles) and he declined. We replaced the switch (This part was ordered on the 20th and received on the 27th because of the long holiday weekend), and the mechanic spent several hours testing the door wires and replacing the one that prevented communication from the driver’s side switch to the passenger windows. We received the adaptor for the transmission flush on Tuesday, November 28th and performed the transmission flush. When I called Mr. [redacted] to tell him his vehicle was ready for pickup, he stated he was busy and would be in later in the week to pick it up. Let it be noted that we did not charge Mr. [redacted] for the hours of labor we had in on this vehicle chasing wires and testing electrical components. We charged him one hour of labor for putting in the window switch. We also did not charge him freight, which we usually charge the customer for items that are ordered in to Kenmare. We felt bad for the waiting on adapters and parts, and the two emergency repairs that put his vehicle off for three days. He picked the vehicle up on 11/29/2017. We went over his bill, item by item, and he disputed the cost of each item. It did not matter that the cost of each item was the same cost quoted to him. It also did not matter that we did not charge him for most of the labor and waived the freight fee. It should be noted here that I made a clerical error on his invoice, and accidentally entered the coolant quantity as quarts instead of gallons. However, when going over the invoice with Mr. [redacted] and the mechanic who performed the service, it was caught and adjusted before Mr. [redacted] paid. I accept full responsibility for the error. To make up for the mistake, after fixing the quantity, I also knocked off the price of a gallon of coolant. The flush system uses 16 quarts (or four gallons) of fluid. I charged Mr. [redacted] for 12 (or three gallons) instead. Mr. [redacted] paid in cash and took his vehicle home. We saw Mr. [redacted] periodically over the winter; he had a tire that would go flat and he would come in to have us air it up for free, but had no interest in fixing the tire. In February, he drove up and stated that his window was not working again. However, he had to lower his window to tell me this. I told him to call the next week and make an appointment to have it looked at. I was gone from February 20th to March 8th on vacation, at which time one of the mechanics answered phones and scheduled appointments. During that time, Mr. [redacted] Showed up and said that his window would not go up or down, and that his door lock was not working. He claimed that the mechanic (he was speaking to the one who performed the original work on this vehicle) “did not do the work, and he wanted what he paid for.” He then proceeded to complain about his previous bill, and about how I overcharged him for the coolant. The mechanic went over the previous bill again, reminding him that the error I made (and I do accept responsibility for that mistake) was caught before any payment was submitted, and that he was not overcharged. Mr. [redacted] became more and more aggressive towards the mechanic, until the shouting escalated to the point where Mr. [redacted] was asked to leave. He shouted about how he was going to go to the Revdex.com. He then left. About an hour later, Mr. [redacted] called the shop, and spoke with the other mechanic. He was still irate and erratic. The other mechanic repeatedly attempted to inform Mr. [redacted] that if he would bring his vehicle in, he would look at it. Mr. [redacted] would not stop his verbal abuse to the other mechanic, and no matter how many times the other mechanic offered to look at the vehicle, Mr. [redacted] would railroad over him verbally and continue to yell. The mechanic finally gave up and hung up on him. Needless to say; Mr. [redacted] did not bring the vehicle in to have it looked at. I am not sure what else could have been done in this situation. We gave him numerous discounts on his bill. We offered repeatedly to look at his vehicle again. Unfortunately, we could not calm his belligerence down enough to speak rationally with him. We have not heard from him since.