",sans-serifTimes New Roman">She states that we did not warn her about the
condition of the carWe didShe even asked if we wanted to buy the vehicle
because we told her it was not safe to drive with having a leak in the cooling
systemIt is even noted on her invoiceSecondly, the service advisor did tell her about her
rear tiresIt is even documented by the technician. While the tires were not documented in writing on the final invoice, she was told about them being at 3/32nds(right rear) and 4/32s(left rear) and both would need to be replaced soon. We also warned them that aligning tires that were at the end of their life in addition to aligning a car that had suspension issues was not recommended. We were told to do it anyway. There is no surprise that they rear tires blew and they were warned. They would hear nothing of any of this. The husband claimed we must have done something wrong and so I had the vehicle towed to the shop at my expense($200) to verify that we had not done anything causing this Expecting us to pay for tires she was told she would need soon is so utterly ridiculous that it is almost humorous. In the end I am not amused by any of it.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my dispute
Please enter your reason(s) for rejecting the business response below.I am well aware that the AC systems on older German cars leave much to be desired This is my second 560SL My original also required some repairs to the AC after I had owned it for many years and it had in excess of 180,miles Although this is a model from the same year, the mileage on it was low as the prior owner was an elderly lady who drove it locally and infrequently in the higher altitudes of North CarolinaThe car spent almost no time in the Texas heat and only has about 60,miles on it I am not asking for a refund or credit for the work done previously However, I continue to have qualms about the charges I incurred today I brought the car back on the assumption that it had not been adequately repaired Had I realized that I was going to be charged for time (not components), I would have taken the vehicle elsewhere.Regards,*** ***I have been driving and working on old German cars for almost years and along the way have owned many, mostly older so while I feel for him and his issue, I can tell you there is never an easy fix on AC systems on German cars that are years old like his. And here is why. AC was a new thing to the Germans in the 80's. It has only been main stream since the late 70's and Germany hadn't figured out yet what heat really is. It was actually the mid 2000s before BMW and Mercedes got it right. The car in question is no exception to these issues. With the exception of items that have been replaced, everything is years old. When a year old car comes in with the AC system not working there is a standard protocol. The first step is to pull all of the refrigerant out to see how much is in it. If is low or empty, the first step is to charge with a proper charge and then activate the system. If it was low leaks are first dealt with. That is a must and required by law according to the standards laid out by the EPA. To not seal up a system would be a violation and could result in heavy fines. Then the system is checked for full function. Items that aren't working are replaced or corrected and then it is all checked again If everything works at that point you drive the vehicle and see if all works at speed. If there are no issues you return the car to the owner. There is no on board diagnostics, no lights that tell you anything is wrong or about to fail What my staff probably did not tell *** *** is that he should expect possible issues to ensue in the near future. It is typical to see several failures in the AC systems on old German cars after reactivating the system after any amount of time not working. Once again I have to reinforce this is a year old car, with year old parts and a system that is years old. We can only fix what is broken at the time the vehicle is brought to us. If it works when we return it that is the best that any shop or client can hope for and as it develops issues we can tend to those. It is going to have issues. And also it is real possibility that it will have multiple issues in a short period. Once that is all worked out then you can expect to go longer periods in between services. But definitely indefinitely. These systems weren't all that good to begin with, don't cool very well when working and are under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress even in colder climates. But you add to that the heat of Texas and it is magnified. These old cars are no where near as efficient or as durable as the newer stuff, but even the newer stuff eats their compressors on a regular basisHis compressor was working when it was in the visit before and therefore we had no reason to expect it was failing or about to fail. If it isn't making noise, isn't leaking and is working, meaning cooling the car, then we don't know any different. If he would like us to make an estimate for everything that I think will eventually fail, that estimate will exceed the value of the vehicle probably a couple of times. All components have a finite span, and years is pushing the outer limits of just about everything in his vehicle that has moving parts and many components that don't I am sorry he felt that we didn't catch or should have caught something that hadn't failed, but that isn't really possible unless there is some sort of sign. I can and do warranty all components we replace for months, but I can't do that on components we haven't replaced. That just isn't possible
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Instead of the business simply saying that they will respect a consumers right to privacy by removing us from their marketing, they instead chose to respond with rudeness and be unprofessional about it by saying I should thank them? Thank them for what? Sending us duplicate postcards once or twice per month? Regardless of the intent it is unwanted junk mail.Maybe the business should focus more on targeting customers that actually want their service instead of those who do not, and claiming that they have no idea where those lists come from is nothing but ignorance. All businesses should know exactly where their money is being spent. I would have thought advertising via word of mouth from providing a decent quality service or other means would be much more effective than relying on routinely outdated DMV records.
Regards,
[redacted]
Had this been a recheck where we had found we had done something wrong in our work or one of the components we had installed had failed you would not have been charged. But what we found was a separate issue. Had you approved to replace the compressor than it would have been a part of the cost to replace it since we have to pull the system down to prepare for compressor replacement. There is no way to verify that the system has enough refrigerant in it without removing it all to weigh it. At that point that we are sure it is properly charged we can continue on in the testing. But I explained that previously. [redacted]Lone Star Bavrian.
Revdex.comMESSAGE:This is a follow-up to a complaint filed several months ago regarding poor service with my airconditioning heating on my 1986 Mercedes SL. I initially complained because I had gone toLoneStar Bavarian in February to have repairs made that included non-functioning heating andair conditioning. I was told I needed a new AC dryer. I paid for the repairs, but the systemcontinued not to work. I brought the car back several times with no success. Finally, in June Ibrought the car back and was told I needed a new compressor. I was charged $291.19 for theevaluation and was informed that the repair would cost over $1500. I had serious doubts aboutthe recommendations. Since the original complaint, I brought the care to Import Masters inWeatherford. It turns out that the problem was actually a faulty control panel. Total charges forthe repair were $812.90. My heating and air conditioning are working fine now. I feel the initialservice was probably not necessary and the recommendation to have the compressor replacedwas totally erroneous.I am requesting a refund of the $291.19 from Lone Star Bavarian. They never did make theneeded repairs. I paid for the new AC dryer, but the cooling system still did not work. I wascharged almost another $300 for an erroneous evaluation. Fortunately, I decided to take thecar elsewhere and obtained the needed repairs at far less cost.
Really! Shady marketing tactics? A postcard in the mail is shady? Our marketing is done by a third party and I have no idea where they get their list from but this is the first time in 17 years of sending mailers that we have been called shady. I get dozens of pieces of marketing...
in the mail daily and keep a recycling bin by the place I open mail. I don't see businesses that send marketing as shady...I see it as a business trying to market their product or service to the public in one of the only ways available. I can't imagine being offended by receiving mail like this since it is not being sent maliciously by anyone of the businesses that do so. There are no threats, no condescending verbage or anything that could be construed as offensive. It simply states we offer a service that you may or may not be interested in. In addition, each piece of marketing cost those businesses money that is paid to the post office which helps to underwrite all of us getting personal mail. Without these types of mailers being sent out in bulk by the businesses that do so, the post office would have already gone bankrupt or personal mail would cost several dollars for each piece. So in the end you should thank businesses like us for helping to keep the post office in business and you being able to receive or send affordable mail. I would suggest you do as I and millions of American's do each day, place your unwanted mail in the recycling bin in your home or business and move on.
A control unit doesn't explain the system being low on refrigerant. So you may have needed a control unit but you have leaks in your system at the compressor also. Because we charged it prior to you taking it there they may not have caught that, no sure. We use a $6000 refrigerant machine that is accurate in it's measurement. It cost me about $600 annually to have it serviced and keep it accurate What you were charged was to pull the system down, determine how much refrigerant was installed and then recharge with the correct amount. Your system had almost nothing in it and it holds 3 lbs. If you look at your invoice, you were charged the labor do all of this plus the 3lbs of refrigerant installed. Our diagnosis and charge stands, there will be no refund. [redacted]Lone Star Bavarian
I have been driving and working on old German cars for almost 30 years and along the way have owned many, mostly older so while I feel for him and his issue, I can tell you there is never an easy fix on AC systems on German cars that are 30 years old like his. And here is why. AC was a...
new thing to the Germans in the 80's. It has only been main stream since the late 70's and Germany hadn't figured out yet what heat really is. It was actually the mid 2000s before BMW and Mercedes got it right. The car in question is no exception to these issues. With the exception of items that have been replaced, everything is 30 years old. When a 30 year old car comes in with the AC system not working there is a standard protocol. The first step is to pull all of the refrigerant out to see how much is in it. If is low or empty, the first step is to charge with a proper charge and then activate the system. If it was low leaks are first dealt with. That is a must and required by law according to the standards laid out by the EPA. To not seal up a system would be a violation and could result in heavy fines. Then the system is checked for full function. Items that aren't working are replaced or corrected and then it is all checked again. If everything works at that point you drive the vehicle and see if all works at speed. If there are no issues you return the car to the owner. There is no on board diagnostics, no lights that tell you anything is wrong or about to fail. What my staff probably did not tell [redacted] is that he should expect possible issues to ensue in the near future. It is typical to see several failures in the AC systems on old German cars after reactivating the system after any amount of time not working. Once again I have to reinforce this is a 30 year old car, with 30 year old parts and a system that is 30 years old. We can only fix what is broken at the time the vehicle is brought to us. If it works when we return it that is the best that any shop or client can hope for and as it develops issues we can tend to those. It is going to have issues. And also it is real possibility that it will have multiple issues in a short period. Once that is all worked out then you can expect to go longer periods in between services. But definitely indefinitely. These systems weren't all that good to begin with, don't cool very well when working and are under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress even in colder climates. But you add to that the heat of Texas and it is magnified. These old cars are no where near as efficient or as durable as the newer stuff, but even the newer stuff eats their compressors on a regular basis. His compressor was working when it was in the visit before and therefore we had no reason to expect it was failing or about to fail. If it isn't making noise, isn't leaking and is working, meaning cooling the car, then we don't know any different. If he would like us to make an estimate for everything that I think will eventually fail, that estimate will exceed the value of the vehicle probably a couple of times. All components have a finite span, and 30 years is pushing the outer limits of just about everything in his vehicle that has moving parts and many components that don't. I am sorry he felt that we didn't catch or should have caught something that hadn't failed, but that isn't really possible unless there is some sort of sign. I can and do warranty all components we replace for 24 months, but I can't do that on components we haven't replaced. That just isn't possible. [redacted]Lone Star Bavarian
",sans-serifTimes New Roman">She states that we did not warn her about the
condition of the carWe didShe even asked if we wanted to buy the vehicle
because we told her it was not safe to drive with having a leak in the cooling
systemIt is even noted on her invoiceSecondly, the service advisor did tell her about her
rear tiresIt is even documented by the technician. While the tires were not documented in writing on the final invoice, she was told about them being at 3/32nds(right rear) and 4/32s(left rear) and both would need to be replaced soon. We also warned them that aligning tires that were at the end of their life in addition to aligning a car that had suspension issues was not recommended. We were told to do it anyway. There is no surprise that they rear tires blew and they were warned. They would hear nothing of any of this. The husband claimed we must have done something wrong and so I had the vehicle towed to the shop at my expense($200) to verify that we had not done anything causing this Expecting us to pay for tires she was told she would need soon is so utterly ridiculous that it is almost humorous. In the end I am not amused by any of it.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my dispute
Please enter your reason(s) for rejecting the business response below.I am well aware that the AC systems on older German cars leave much to be desired This is my second 560SL My original also required some repairs to the AC after I had owned it for many years and it had in excess of 180,miles Although this is a model from the same year, the mileage on it was low as the prior owner was an elderly lady who drove it locally and infrequently in the higher altitudes of North CarolinaThe car spent almost no time in the Texas heat and only has about 60,miles on it I am not asking for a refund or credit for the work done previously However, I continue to have qualms about the charges I incurred today I brought the car back on the assumption that it had not been adequately repaired Had I realized that I was going to be charged for time (not components), I would have taken the vehicle elsewhere.Regards,*** ***I have been driving and working on old German cars for almost years and along the way have owned many, mostly older so while I feel for him and his issue, I can tell you there is never an easy fix on AC systems on German cars that are years old like his. And here is why. AC was a new thing to the Germans in the 80's. It has only been main stream since the late 70's and Germany hadn't figured out yet what heat really is. It was actually the mid 2000s before BMW and Mercedes got it right. The car in question is no exception to these issues. With the exception of items that have been replaced, everything is years old. When a year old car comes in with the AC system not working there is a standard protocol. The first step is to pull all of the refrigerant out to see how much is in it. If is low or empty, the first step is to charge with a proper charge and then activate the system. If it was low leaks are first dealt with. That is a must and required by law according to the standards laid out by the EPA. To not seal up a system would be a violation and could result in heavy fines. Then the system is checked for full function. Items that aren't working are replaced or corrected and then it is all checked again If everything works at that point you drive the vehicle and see if all works at speed. If there are no issues you return the car to the owner. There is no on board diagnostics, no lights that tell you anything is wrong or about to fail What my staff probably did not tell *** *** is that he should expect possible issues to ensue in the near future. It is typical to see several failures in the AC systems on old German cars after reactivating the system after any amount of time not working. Once again I have to reinforce this is a year old car, with year old parts and a system that is years old. We can only fix what is broken at the time the vehicle is brought to us. If it works when we return it that is the best that any shop or client can hope for and as it develops issues we can tend to those. It is going to have issues. And also it is real possibility that it will have multiple issues in a short period. Once that is all worked out then you can expect to go longer periods in between services. But definitely indefinitely. These systems weren't all that good to begin with, don't cool very well when working and are under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress even in colder climates. But you add to that the heat of Texas and it is magnified. These old cars are no where near as efficient or as durable as the newer stuff, but even the newer stuff eats their compressors on a regular basisHis compressor was working when it was in the visit before and therefore we had no reason to expect it was failing or about to fail. If it isn't making noise, isn't leaking and is working, meaning cooling the car, then we don't know any different. If he would like us to make an estimate for everything that I think will eventually fail, that estimate will exceed the value of the vehicle probably a couple of times. All components have a finite span, and years is pushing the outer limits of just about everything in his vehicle that has moving parts and many components that don't I am sorry he felt that we didn't catch or should have caught something that hadn't failed, but that isn't really possible unless there is some sort of sign. I can and do warranty all components we replace for months, but I can't do that on components we haven't replaced. That just isn't possible
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Instead of the business simply saying that they will respect a consumers right to privacy by removing us from their marketing, they instead chose to respond with rudeness and be unprofessional about it by saying I should thank them? Thank them for what? Sending us duplicate postcards once or twice per month? Regardless of the intent it is unwanted junk mail.Maybe the business should focus more on targeting customers that actually want their service instead of those who do not, and claiming that they have no idea where those lists come from is nothing but ignorance. All businesses should know exactly where their money is being spent. I would have thought advertising via word of mouth from providing a decent quality service or other means would be much more effective than relying on routinely outdated DMV records.
Regards,
[redacted]
Had this been a recheck where we had found we had done something wrong in our work or one of the components we had installed had failed you would not have been charged. But what we found was a separate issue. Had you approved to replace the compressor than it would have been a part of the cost to replace it since we have to pull the system down to prepare for compressor replacement. There is no way to verify that the system has enough refrigerant in it without removing it all to weigh it. At that point that we are sure it is properly charged we can continue on in the testing. But I explained that previously. [redacted]Lone Star Bavrian.
Revdex.comMESSAGE:This is a follow-up to a complaint filed several months ago regarding poor service with my airconditioning heating on my 1986 Mercedes SL. I initially complained because I had gone toLoneStar Bavarian in February to have repairs made that included non-functioning heating andair conditioning. I was told I needed a new AC dryer. I paid for the repairs, but the systemcontinued not to work. I brought the car back several times with no success. Finally, in June Ibrought the car back and was told I needed a new compressor. I was charged $291.19 for theevaluation and was informed that the repair would cost over $1500. I had serious doubts aboutthe recommendations. Since the original complaint, I brought the care to Import Masters inWeatherford. It turns out that the problem was actually a faulty control panel. Total charges forthe repair were $812.90. My heating and air conditioning are working fine now. I feel the initialservice was probably not necessary and the recommendation to have the compressor replacedwas totally erroneous.I am requesting a refund of the $291.19 from Lone Star Bavarian. They never did make theneeded repairs. I paid for the new AC dryer, but the cooling system still did not work. I wascharged almost another $300 for an erroneous evaluation. Fortunately, I decided to take thecar elsewhere and obtained the needed repairs at far less cost.
Really! Shady marketing tactics? A postcard in the mail is shady? Our marketing is done by a third party and I have no idea where they get their list from but this is the first time in 17 years of sending mailers that we have been called shady. I get dozens of pieces of marketing...
in the mail daily and keep a recycling bin by the place I open mail. I don't see businesses that send marketing as shady...I see it as a business trying to market their product or service to the public in one of the only ways available. I can't imagine being offended by receiving mail like this since it is not being sent maliciously by anyone of the businesses that do so. There are no threats, no condescending verbage or anything that could be construed as offensive. It simply states we offer a service that you may or may not be interested in. In addition, each piece of marketing cost those businesses money that is paid to the post office which helps to underwrite all of us getting personal mail. Without these types of mailers being sent out in bulk by the businesses that do so, the post office would have already gone bankrupt or personal mail would cost several dollars for each piece. So in the end you should thank businesses like us for helping to keep the post office in business and you being able to receive or send affordable mail. I would suggest you do as I and millions of American's do each day, place your unwanted mail in the recycling bin in your home or business and move on.
A control unit doesn't explain the system being low on refrigerant. So you may have needed a control unit but you have leaks in your system at the compressor also. Because we charged it prior to you taking it there they may not have caught that, no sure. We use a $6000 refrigerant machine that is accurate in it's measurement. It cost me about $600 annually to have it serviced and keep it accurate What you were charged was to pull the system down, determine how much refrigerant was installed and then recharge with the correct amount. Your system had almost nothing in it and it holds 3 lbs. If you look at your invoice, you were charged the labor do all of this plus the 3lbs of refrigerant installed. Our diagnosis and charge stands, there will be no refund. [redacted]Lone Star Bavarian
I have been driving and working on old German cars for almost 30 years and along the way have owned many, mostly older so while I feel for him and his issue, I can tell you there is never an easy fix on AC systems on German cars that are 30 years old like his. And here is why. AC was a...
new thing to the Germans in the 80's. It has only been main stream since the late 70's and Germany hadn't figured out yet what heat really is. It was actually the mid 2000s before BMW and Mercedes got it right. The car in question is no exception to these issues. With the exception of items that have been replaced, everything is 30 years old. When a 30 year old car comes in with the AC system not working there is a standard protocol. The first step is to pull all of the refrigerant out to see how much is in it. If is low or empty, the first step is to charge with a proper charge and then activate the system. If it was low leaks are first dealt with. That is a must and required by law according to the standards laid out by the EPA. To not seal up a system would be a violation and could result in heavy fines. Then the system is checked for full function. Items that aren't working are replaced or corrected and then it is all checked again. If everything works at that point you drive the vehicle and see if all works at speed. If there are no issues you return the car to the owner. There is no on board diagnostics, no lights that tell you anything is wrong or about to fail. What my staff probably did not tell [redacted] is that he should expect possible issues to ensue in the near future. It is typical to see several failures in the AC systems on old German cars after reactivating the system after any amount of time not working. Once again I have to reinforce this is a 30 year old car, with 30 year old parts and a system that is 30 years old. We can only fix what is broken at the time the vehicle is brought to us. If it works when we return it that is the best that any shop or client can hope for and as it develops issues we can tend to those. It is going to have issues. And also it is real possibility that it will have multiple issues in a short period. Once that is all worked out then you can expect to go longer periods in between services. But definitely indefinitely. These systems weren't all that good to begin with, don't cool very well when working and are under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress even in colder climates. But you add to that the heat of Texas and it is magnified. These old cars are no where near as efficient or as durable as the newer stuff, but even the newer stuff eats their compressors on a regular basis. His compressor was working when it was in the visit before and therefore we had no reason to expect it was failing or about to fail. If it isn't making noise, isn't leaking and is working, meaning cooling the car, then we don't know any different. If he would like us to make an estimate for everything that I think will eventually fail, that estimate will exceed the value of the vehicle probably a couple of times. All components have a finite span, and 30 years is pushing the outer limits of just about everything in his vehicle that has moving parts and many components that don't. I am sorry he felt that we didn't catch or should have caught something that hadn't failed, but that isn't really possible unless there is some sort of sign. I can and do warranty all components we replace for 24 months, but I can't do that on components we haven't replaced. That just isn't possible. [redacted]Lone Star Bavarian