Maier's Auto Service,Inc.

Review: I made an appointment with Maier’s Shell Service for an oil change. I informed the manager that the oil drain hole had been stripped and was leaking and that an emergency plug was in place. I was hoping Maier’s Shell could repair this problem. The plug had a nut on the back side (inside the oil pan) very similar to a drywall hanger to give some threads to fasten the plug into. I informed the manager of this and assured me that they could manage the situation and to bring the vehicle in.

After the work was done the mechanic told me I needed to have the entire oil pan replaced and that he had put another kind of last resort plug in the drain hold. I asked him if he had removed the other device to which he replied that he had. I repeated the question with more detail, asking about the part inside the oil pan. Again he replied in the affirmative. If he had told me otherwise, I would have insisted that more work be done to remove the threaded part (dropping the oil pan to remove the loose part).

In less than a week’s time I made an appointment with the dealership to replace the defective oil pan. At the dealership the mechanics there found that the loose part had in fact not been removed and had knocked around in the engine causing approximately $3000.00 worth of damage.

I immediately contacted Maier’s Shell about the situation. [redacted]’s (the owner) would not acknowledge any wrong doing and became abusive over the telephone.Desired Settlement: I would like for Maier's Shell to refund the cost of the oil change and pay me the value of the car.

Business

Response:

The customer brought his vehicle here for the 1st time and knew that he had a stripped drain plug with a last resort drain plug that was installed at his previous mechanics shop. Also he requested 10w40 conventional oil be installed when the vehicle requires a full synthetic 5w30 (VW502 00). We removed his last resort drain plug that was previously installed in vehicle including the wing nut that holds it in. Showed the customer and explained that it was difficult to remove the wing nut but we got it out. We removed the wing nut from the oil pan and reinstalled on the plug and showed to customer as recorded on video that day. The vehicle has over 150,000 miles on it when it came in with the stripped drain plug. I installed a different type of last resort drain plug per the customers request, and stressed to the customer the importance of having the oil pan replaced and documented that as well, and that we could do that for him here even if he got his own part. We only charged the customer for the last resort plug that was installed and did not charge any labor for the removal of the old plug and wing nut, or installing the last resort plug due to no threads left in the oil pan. Why did the customer take the vehicle to another shop? We feel as if we were being set up by the customer after only doing one oil change on his vehicle so he could try to place the blame on someone other than himself. He should not have been trying to use any more last resort drain plugs but should have replaced the oil pan and he knew it. And the customer was abusive when called us on the phone demanding we take care of his car or would take us to court. Sent on: 10/6/2015 3:00:50 PM

Consumer

Response: