MG & Sons

Review: There was a rattling noise when I hit a bump in my 2006 Grand Cherokee Jeep. I go to MG& Sons Auto Repair which is a licensed mechanic for the repair. MG& Sons diagnose the problem as a bad Transfer Case and that I need an new Transfer Case. I was charged a diagnostic fee for this. He then calls me with a price that was way out of my budget for parts and labor for my repair. Being that I already paid the diagnostic fee, I decided to supply the parts and have MG& Sons perform the labor which he guaranteed my repair. MG& Sons replaced the Transfer Case(labor charge) and it was the same exact problem with the rattling. MG then tells me my Transfer Case came without the motor(which may be sold separate) and that's what's causing the problem. I supply the motor for the Transfer Case and MG installs the motor and its the same exact problem. At this point he tells me the parts I bought were defective and he is not responsible and suggest I go to the dealer. I'm out of 1100 dollars and I have the same exact problem with my car. I go to the Jeep/Chrysler Service Department and my Jeep is diagnosed as having loose Suspension and needed to be adjusted and tightened which is a very simple repair. The repair had absolutely nothing to do with the Transfer Case. I was out of the Dealer in an hour with my car repaired and driving fine. In addition the Jeep/Chrysler Dealer performs a vehicle inspection which checks the Transfer Case and there was nothing wrong with the Transfer Case which was replaced on my car. I go back to MG& Sons to show him the receipt from the Dealer and to come to an agreement of a refund which he refused. I have all of this in writing on receipts of the work performed by MG& Sons and Jeep/Chrysler Dealer from 7/** to 8/**/2013. The evidence of the receipts show MG& Sons misdiagnosed my repair and replaced a part that had absolutely nothing to do this the matter at hand. Jeep/Chrysler repaired my car accurately and the receipt shows the rattling was caused by my Rear Suspension being loose and that my Transfer Case is fine.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund for the misdiagnosed repairs on my Jeep and also be compensated for loss of my employment wages by having car in shop and not being able to safely drive. I am a Field Information Technology Technician and I use my car daily to make a living.

Business

Response:

I am sorry that this customer had such a negative experience – I take such things very personally. Since he was unwilling to listen when I tried to explain this to him in person, I hope that he will read this response to his complaint.

On July [redacted], 2013, the customer came into my office complaining of the rattling his car would make every time he hit a bump. I took a road test drive with him to witness this occurring. We returned to my shop and I requested the customer’s permission and received his consent to inspect and diagnose the issue which took 4-5 hours (in the course of the inspection, we removed, inspected, and reinstalled the rear drive shaft, then did the same with the front drive shaft, then checked the front suspension and then the rear suspension for looseness - all of which was a very labor-intensive process). During the inspection, after clearing all other possible issues, I determined that the problem was with his transfer case. When I told him this needed to be replaced and the price it would cost, he stated he would buy his own parts for me to install because it was too costly, and I agreed.

He returned to my shop on August [redacted], 2013 at approximately 4:00pm and brought a used transfer case without a motor. Transfer cases usually come with motors unless you are buying them used or second-hand- - in which case, some places will sell them separately to make extra money. I informed him of this, and because he knew his late arrival towards the end of the business day on 8/* would mean that we would only install it the following day on August [redacted], we decided we would install the motor from the original transfer case temporarily until he could supply a replacement so that he would not miss any additional time at work.

The following day, on August [redacted], I started the process of removing the original transfer case. I discovered (and have photographic evidence, as well as the old part still physically in my shop) that there were metal particles in the transfer case and damaged parts inside of it. This is a major defect and it was the cause of the problem with his vehicle. I then completed the installation of the replacement transfer case supplied by the customer with the motor from the original transfer case. He then came to my shop, picked up his vehicle, and left.

After this, the customer returned to my shop on August [redacted] at the end of the day and brought a used motor for me to install in place of the original temporary motor. I immediately replaced the original temporary motor with the replacement motor supplied by the customer free of charge and he left.

Several days later, the customer called me and told me that he still feels the rattling with his car. I asked him to leave the car with me so that I could take a look to see what could possibly still be causing an issue, but he refused to let me reexamine the car. I did not have the opportunity to examine the vehicle to see what was continuing to cause the problem. Instead he went to a dealership which did some “work” and provided him with a receipt which he brought back to me on August [redacted] (and which I made a copy of for evidence).

The receipt itemized both of the 2 services they allegedly performed, which are very crucial:

1) The “cause” of the rattling was that the “rear suspension’s upper and lower control arms needed “adjustment” and that they “adjusted it” -

THERE ARE NO MANUFACTURER ADJUSTMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE TO THE UPPER AND LOWER REAR CONTROL ARMS. It simply is not possible. Any reputable mechanic (and [redacted] itself) will prove this is factually impossible on this particular vehicle – I encourage and request that you look this up on your own;

and

2) They had to “reprogram the final drive controller” which controlled the transfer case because of a defect in the particular vehicle model- This is a legitimate and necessary service that was performed as a result of a national safety recall: N23. HOWEVER, it is something that the dealership cannot charge a customer for by law. This is why they invented the first charge to justify charging the customer for a service that they should have performed for free. Instead, they charged him $179.64 for a service – “the adjustment”- that is impossible to perform on his vehicle.

In other words, the problem with the vehicle was that the transfer case was defective and needed to be replaced AND that the computer that controlled the transfer case needed to be reprogrammed. I would have had no other way of knowing this second step had to be taken unless I had a second look AFTER the replacement transfer case did not solve the issue due to the recall. Had the customer left his car and allowed us to explore the issue, we would have reprogrammed the computer that controlled the transfer case and solved his problem without further issue. The only problem was that the final step of reprogramming the computer had not yet been taken because the customer did not give us the opportunity to do so.

I follow the highest quality industry standards. I diagnosed his problem correctly and I undertook a significant amount of labor to diagnose the problem, remove the original transfer case and install the replacement transfer case. Ultimately, my labor is the reason his car works today. He feels taken advantage of because of this fabricated fee from the dealership, the “adjustment” (point 1 above), which was simply pure fiction. The dealership deceived him as this is not even a service that can be performed on his vehicle. I encourage him to do his research before defaming my shop. I implore him to look into the matter further and to [redacted] the words on his receipt.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

Hello [redacted],

I totally reject this response and I plan to pursue this matter until Im compensated for my time and money. I find that MG’s response is totally untrue and Im surprised that he would go to this length of fabricating a story to cover what might have been an honest mistake(misdiagnose) by himself and his mechanic’s.

Attachment 3968 is the receipt for my first visit to MG&Sons on July **, 2013. Yes we did the road test and returned to his shop to inspect my car after we heard the rattling noise. Never did he mention that he checked the suspension. This claim of his is false and there is no mention of this in the receipt that he checked my suspension which I strongly believe he never did. I stood there and watched the mechanic inspect my drive shaft and determine the problem to be with the transfer case. Why is the no mention of checking my suspension in the receipt he provided? After his evaluation he put on the original transfer case, I paid the inspection fee and left the shop. My car was operable with the original Transfer Case, the only problem I was having was the rattling when hitting a bump.

Attachment 3967 is the Dealer receipt(8/**) and MG&Sons(8/[redacted]) receipt. I drove my car for another week with the original transfer case and returned to the shop with a purchased used Transfer Case on 8/*. I would like to say again that my car was operable with the Transfer Case he claims was defective. He installed the Transfer Case the next morning and actually asked me to go to the Jeep Dealer in Queens for the oil for the Transfer Case which I did because I desperately wanted my car repaired. I have a receipt for the Transfer case oil also which I believe I never needed. He made no mention of the Transfer Case not having a motor until I took the car for a test drive and was having the same problem. Once I returned to the shop with the same problem, MG sent me out with another mechanic who determined that the motor on the Transfer Case was bad. Now is it the Transfer case motor that was bad or the Transfer Case itself? MG told me the motor was bad and made the Transfer Case defective which doesn’t make any sense to me because Im driving with the replacement Transfer Case with the motor from old Transfer case which he is now saying is defective. In my logic, if I am driving with a bad Transfer case motor on my replacement Transfer case, then it will make my replacement Transfer case defective also.

I return a couple of days later with a Transfer case motor which I also have the receipt for. He puts the motor on the Transfer Case and it’s the same exact problem! No change of modification to my original problem. At this point I call MG and he NEVER TOLD ME TO BRING MY CAR BACK SO HE COULD FUTHER INSPECT IT. That is a total fabrication and untrue. His exact words was “ I am not responsible because I didn’t supply the parts, you gambled on used parts and lost”. That is exactly what he told me. Furthermore, after going back and forth to his shop and searching around for parts under his advise and me still having the same problem, it was time for me to start thinking about going elsewhere to get my car properly repaired which I did. If I would of took my car back to his shop, he would of held it for a day or two and I guarantee he would of charged me more money. He didn’t know what the problem was from the beginning and was guessing which cause me money and aggravation because he was wrong.

He actually told me to see him after I came from the dealer. Mainly to pacify me and get me out of the way while he moved on to other costumers. I come with the dealer receipt which clearly shows the Transfer case I purchased is not defective and that my suspension was loose and needed to be tightened which is a very simple repair. Upon returning to MG to show him the Dealer receipt and come to a gentlemen’s agreement, his story changes again. Now he is saying the dealer deceived me and the work he did solved half of the problem which is total non-sense.So the story changes once again when I show him the receipt.

He went from my Transfer case is bad, to the Transfer case motor is bad, I purchased defective parts, dealer deceived me but yet they fixed the problem in less than an hour.

Please tell me what my next step will be in pursing this matter to be compensated for my time and money.

Thank you

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

It seems as though we have to explain ourselves a third time because the customer refuses to read and research our prior response with sufficient thoroughness.

Part of diagnosing the problem with this customer’s car was to evaluate the overall status of his vehicle. In the process, we determined that the issue with his vehicle is with the transfer case after doing a visual and physical check of his vehicle. We took apart many parts that could have been causing his particular problem. During this process, we also visually inspected his suspension. Since he voiced a concern as to why this was not specifically written out on his receipt, the explanation is simple: he was not charged for this in the inspection. Additionally, if we itemized every single part we looked at in searching for the problem over the course of approximately 5 hours, his receipt would not be a piece of paper, it would be a notebook.

As we explained in our previous response, during our inspection we discovered that the problem with his vehicle was the transfer case. This was evidenced by our finding of many metal particles and debris within the transfer case (we have the physical evidence in the shop, photographic evidence of this and stated this on the receipt which the customer signed!). We even showed this to the customer during the repair process. The dealership itself (that the customer later went to) acknowledged that there was an issue with his transfer case by reprogramming the computer on the transfer case.

Lastly, please review the diagram attached to this response which illustrates that there are no adjustments that can be made to the suspension’s control arms. We do not know how many times we must underscore this concept in order for the customer to understand. We included a diagram of the control arms. It cannot be adjusted. Don’t trust our diagram? Go to another authorized mechanic; go to [redacted], do whatever you have to do… just do SOME research before you come back to us again with this accusation. The customer must accept this reality and go fight it out with someone else, preferably the dealership that charged him for work that was never performed.

Furthermore, if in fact what the customer is claiming were true, then verifying this claim would be effortless. By “dis-adjusting” the suspension’s control arms the problem should be reproducible. We encourage any certified automotive technician to stop by our shop and demonstrate that this is the case.

The customer also claims that we told him he “gambled on used parts and lost.” We never said those words and we are not sure what the point in fictionalizing our conversation is. When he told us that he was going to purchase used parts, we told him that he was responsible for them and that if they were defective that we would not be responsible. We do not see anything wrong with saying that. We have a reputation in the community for being very patient and accommodating with our customers. Not only would we never speak like that, but it would not make any business sense to lose a customer by being disrespectful without any grounds.

The customer wrote: “Upon returning to MG to show him the Dealer receipt and come to a gentlemen’s agreement, his story changes again. “ First of all, we have stayed entirely consistent in everything we have said. We do not know how else to explain that like any other profession (doctor, etc.), it takes both time and sometimes trial and error to diagnose a problem. He can call it “guessing” but we do not suggest he says the same to his physician next time s/he decides to prescribe him an antibiotic before s/he waits a full week to receive the blood work results. We inspected the vehicle, took apart some of the parts, and we discovered the issue. That is how mechanics do their job and that is precisely what we did.

Secondly, the customer called it a “gentleman’s agreement”? By which the customer must mean coming to our office and yelling about how he will call the labor department and the DMV, threatening to call immigration services on our employees (all of whom are 100% legal employees and citizens of the U.S.), and then demanding his money back and refusing to listen to anything we said. Well, if that is his definition of a “gentleman’s agreement”, then we are not gentlemen. However, we do encourage him to reach out to any and all departments of his choosing. We welcome the opportunity to have another authorized mechanic or automobile personnel to come and undoubtedly confirm that we did everything correctly. We have complete confidence that he will be left disappointed with what he will hear.

As to the customer’s final point, of course the dealership “fixed” the issue in less than an hour. We already performed all of the difficult labor! As we already stated multiple times, reprogramming the computer (a national recall error) was the next and final step of the work that had to be done and would have been done if the customer had brought the car back to us one more time. Naturally the dealership observed this and realized they only had to reprogram, but as we already stated, that would be free, and they like to charge… hence the fabricated suspension issue. All of the work that we performed on his car before that final step was absolutely necessary, including changing the transfer case.

We are willing to respond as many times as the customer requires to understand the basic facts. However, we cannot emphasize enough that the customer should do some research on the issue before making any more accusations.

Thank you for your time.

Review: On 04/**/15 Repairs were provided involving body work on my 2014 Subaru licence plate [redacted] Including repair on the following:HoodRoofFront fenderRoof side rackRoof liner.Surface was not smoothed out prior painting and rough gauge areas coming through painted finish.[redacted] is refusing to admit faulty repairs and redo his unprofessional work.Desired Settlement: [redacted] must provide needed service to bring finished surface to promised and expected by consumer look.

Business

Response:

We are saddened to discover that this customer feels the work did not measure up to his standards. However, this work is up to professional code. While we always hope that all our customers leave our shop feeling not only satisfied but pleased with the service that was performed, in this case, unfortunately, the customer is dissatisfied with professionally completed work and it is unclear what he was expecting to receive. On April **, 2015 the customer came to our shop for repairs on his vehicle that was in an accident. He needed repairs to several parts of his vehicle, including a paint job. We repaired and painted the hood, fender (left side), blend the fender (right side), repaired and painted roof, repaired and painted sail panel (left side), and replaced roof rack (right side). The customer has been dishonest and deceptive from the beginning. His insurance company paid him to replace several parts to his vehicle and he either only authorized repairs to parts (rather than replacements) or did not authorize the particular repair he was paid for and pocketed the remainder - this is fraudulent - we have a copy of his insurance estimate as well as a signed invoice by him for the repairs. On May *, 2015, the customer returned to our shop to collect his vehicle. He then proceeded to complain that he did not like the gaps between the fender on the right side and the hood. We attempted to explain to him that the gap had nothing to do with the work we performed. He then tried to talk his way into leaving without payment and grew frustrated when we refused. He proceeded to then threaten to call the police in an effort to intimidate us into releasing his car free of charge. In spite of the fact that he behaved rudely and was dissatisfied with the work that we were not even responsible for, we reasoned with him and agreed we would try and appease him. Even though it was not part of the job, we still wanted to satisfy the customer.With respect to his assertion that the paint job was not adequate and that the surface was not smoothed out prior to painting is patently false. We are a professionally licensed shop and it is simply not true that we did not follow the proper and professional protocols in something as routine as a painting. The customer has communicated his complaints to us in person and we have made every effort to address his complaints and placate his neuroses. He inspects the car and attempts to point out microscopic imperfections in the paint job that are simply not there. It is impossible to meet his standards and no body shop would be able to please him.Furthermore, the customer returned to our shop this very morning to tell us that he posted this review and to tell us that he will only remove it if we continue repairs on his vehicle. We believe he is either attempting to intimidate us into completing services he did not pay for or to release his car free of charge. Even so, we are continuing to try to work with him to satisfy him and resolve this issue.