Praise Towing

Review: On Thursday May 30th 2013 my car broke down on the side of the road in Blackstone, VA. Praise Towing was the only company available at that time (8pm) and so towed my vehicle to their place of business. [redacted] offered to repair my car by putting a new fuel pump in. He said he could probably have it done the next day for "about $150". I accepted this offer. That evening he gave my wife and I a ride home. The next day I was on the phone to [redacted] several times. He told me the first fuel pump he got was faulty and so had to get another one. He also informed me it would be a little more expensive, the pump cost almost $230. Later that day he called and told me he had put a fuel pump in, and the car still would not start. He told me he was "up against a wall" and didn't know what else to do. He then decided it might need a Knock Sensor and proceeded to put one on, after telling me it may take 4-5 hours. He called back shortly after and told me he had found a Youtube video on how to do it. He put it on, the car still didn't start, so he took it back off. On Saturday June 1st, he told me he was going to a wedding that day and couldn't work on it. I decided to pick up the car and pay a neighbor to tow it home. When I arrived to pick the car up, I was handed a bill for $469! I wrote a check, but asked that he wait until Tuesday for the funds to be available. He agreed. The car was towed away from his business in the same shape it arrived in, if not technically a little worse (spliced wires, taped back up from the knock sensor). On Monday June 3rd, I called him and asked for a receipt for the fuel pump, in case it was another faulty one. He responded by saying, quote "I don't have to show you anything" and he also informed me that he had put the check in the bank, instead of waiting until Tuesday. As a result of this, I stopped payment on the check. I had my car towed to a mechanic in South Hill once he was available, and the car was fixed within the day. It was determined that the fuel pump had been put in incorrectly and as a result had caused too much stress on it, and damaged that fuel pump. Because of this, I lost a lot of work. In a letter dated September 17th 2013, Praise Towing attempted to collect this debt, of now $569, which included a $100 returned check fee! They claimed to have made several attempts, although this was their first correspondence with me since the incident. As they have never provided me with a receipt for the fuel pump, I could not return it, so I mailed it back to Praise Towing. I also included a $65 check for his $40 tow and $25 charge to take me home that night.Desired Settlement: Accept the $65 that I sent. Disregard all other charges, as the repair work was improper and unprofessional. Due to Praise Towing's error the fuel pump was put in incorrectly. All other work was unnecessary.

Business

Response:

After speaking with [redacted] from the company on 10/2/13 he stated the customer asked the company to replace the fuel pump and after work was done the customer paid with a check and the check was no good. The customer owes the company for services rendered.