Larsen Equipment

This is my response to the complaint: #[redacted]
Ms. [redacted] and her boyfriend called me on Jan 29, 2017 after being referred to my business from a family member asking for help to fix their bus. My wife informed them that I was sick and could not help them. Ms. [redacted] did not take no for an...

answer and called back on Jan 30, 2017. She was very persistent for my help in fixing the bus and said they could have it towed to my place of business which is also my residence. I agreed to look at the bus if they were able to get it towed to me. On Jan 31, 2017 the bus arrived on my property, in very bad shape. They insisted the problem was the alternator so after replacing the alternator the bus still had problems I repaired the starter then I told them it sounded like the engine. The next day my son drove them to Temecula 40 miles round trip, so they could purchase a new alternator. By their request I replaced the alternator, and it did not fix the problem. From there I told them I would need to take the engine apart to see if it needed to be replaced in full or in part. I asked for a retainer of $2,000 for labor as I was unsure of the total cost of repairs until I was able to completely take the engine apart. They agreed on the price of the retainer and did not request an invoice. For the next four days they slept in their bus on my property and made use of my bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room. On Feb 4th, Ms. [redacted] said she had a job she needed to get to so my wife drove them to Escondido which was another trip of 80 miles. After this, communicating with them was difficult. They called on March 6th stating they had the $2,000 and would be coming to my business to pay the retainer. They arrived after business hours around 10pm and were unable to access the property. The following morning on March 7th, they called and asked for a ride to my property, and my son obliged to driving another 40 miles round trip. They had only brought $450 with them, and I told them that that was not a satisfactory amount as it wasn’t what we had agreed on. That night I made them aware that the longer the bus stayed here the more they would owe in storage fees. After much hostility on their part they agreed to finally get the $2,000 together for me. On March 8th my son drove them back to Temecula another 40 miles to the bus station and they went to Oregon as per their request. At this point their bus has been at my business for 36 days without any payment. From here there was a lack of communication on whether they wanted to continue with repairs or remove the bus from my property. On March 25th I received $2,000 via MoneyGram. At this time I started pricing new and used engines as well as new and used buses so they would have options for their best interest. From March 25th to June 15th there was more lack of communication as well as angry phone calls from their family. Finally on June 15th the bus was towed off my property after they decided to forgo the repairs any further. There was never a discussion about getting a refund for my services performed. The tow truck driver noticed a stench while hooking the bus up and noticed a bucket of human waste on top of the bus, that I had to remove before it could be towed . We then found out the bus was not registered to either Ms. [redacted] or her boyfriend. In total their bus was on my property for 135 days, and I worked on their bus for two days at $85.00 per hour totaling $1,360.00 just for those two days of labor the remainder we applied to storage fees. The $2,000 I received covers some of my labor but not the storage of the bus for those 135 days. At this point I feel like I was taken advantage of and decided to just take the loss. There is no refund available to them I feel they owe me more money.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
[redacted] Equipment