La Grande Light Truck

To whom it may concern RE: ID ***:On February 14, a customer had his Dodge pickup Rtowed in to our shopThecustomer had already attempted to repair the vehicle on his own and was unable tosuccessfully do itHe informed the owner Luke that due to his serious financial
limitations hehad purchased an aftermarket part and requested our technician use it in the repair of hisvehicleOur technician performed the pre-installation visual inspection and fit check prior toinstallThis particular part does not require any type of measuring or other pre-procedurevalidationOur technician installed the part, the customer was called and he arrived later thatsame day and picked up his vehicle.On February 15, the customer called and spoke to owner Heidi wherein he stated thatthere was some issue with his vehicleHeidi instructed him to bring it in as soon as possible andthat if we were in some way responsible we would do what we could to get it resolvedHisvehicle was subsequently towed inOur technician that performed the initial repair examinedthe vehicle and found that the customer supplied part was of poor quality materials and cameapart which caused damage to the radiatorThe customer was called and came in to speak withluke and the technician, where he was shown the damage and shown how the lesser suppliedpart had caused itThe customer acknowledged that the cheaper part had failed and that heshould have just paid the $for the OEM part that the vehicle manufacturer suppliesHestated that there are obviously hidden costs associated with going with a cheaper productHadthe customer successfully installed the part on his own, the parts failure still would haveoccurredluke told the customer that we would be happy to help him with the paperwork tofile a claim through parts warranty from the company he had purchased it fromWhen this wasstated, the customer then began telling the technician that he was going to go after the partssupplier and say he had a high end radiator and make them pay out the nose to get him betterquality items then he has in his vehicle and that he is going to make them pay for a car rentaleven though he already has a second vehicle to useLuke cautioned him on taking thatapproach and told him that that is not how warranties work.On February 16-20, the customer and our customer service employee began andcompleted a warranty claim through the parts company where he purchased the part, but hisclaim was deniedAt this point the customer began calling multiple times, coming in multipletimes and bringing in different people to talk to the technician and Luke about the repairHebegan questioning our workmanship, when it was clear from the beginning it was obviously aparts failure not a question of the work we had doneDuring these calls and consultations thecustomer attempted to barter with Luke into paying for the repairs neededLuke out of goodwill for this customer and compassion for him offered to install an OEM part and charge onlyhalf the laborThe customer began to get more aggressive and threatening each visit, makingdemands and becoming unreasonable, stating that he would call the cops and hire an attorneyif we did not do the repairs for freeAt this point the customer angrily came in and took hiskeys, assuming responsibility for his vehicle and severing a good working relationship with us.This customer forfeited his right to have use of our in house year- month parts warranty onall parts we install by insisting on using a self-purchased aftermarket productThis is not justour policy, but industry standardAfter his part failed, we attempted to assist him in any waypossible- even at one point offering to split the cost of labor with himWe pride ourselves, andare known for, our impeccable integrity in how we operate our business and maintain ourrelationships with our customersThis customer was no exception to our high standardWespent a tremendous amount of time facilitating him and attempting to help him when hisgamble did not pay offHowever, it was soon evident to us by his behavior towards us and hiscomments about making the parts supplier pay through the nose that this person is looking toget something for freeAnd although we do empathize for him in this situation, we have noobligation or responsibility for the part failure and subsequent damages caused by that failure.Thank you for looking into this matter.Sincerely,Heidi A***