Ranchwood Auto Works

Wheeler Chevrolet did refer this customer to meTruck was brought in after lunch and I provided a loaner car free of charge to themI charged them for diagnosis computer scan and time for compression testI reduced the price of the compression test by 40% to help themmy test
showed no compression on number cylinder. I do not recommend fixing an engine with miles on it with a quick fix on the roadI am allowed to make personal recommendations as my professional experience has been learned....Just as customers are allowed to have their choice on repairsAny repair I do I go above and beyond to help with any issues that may ariseyear engine with a quarter million miles is at the end of life expectancy.... I never bid the engine repair because the repair was unknown I also asked him to come in the shop and I would show him the problem with the compression he was not willing to do thisWe discussed a few options and *** asked me to finance them because they did not have the money to fix itAt times I speak my mind to freely "I said I have no recourse over state lines if you do not keep up with payments and I am not comfortable with that"At that point the attitude did change. I offered them to keep the loaner as it was Friday and the weekend was comingI also pointed them to a dodge dealer to use if they were choosing to trade it in.I am interested in a copy of the repair invoice to identify what was done.please let me know if I can be any more help on thismy long good standing with the Revdex.com is important to me and I have made every effort to maintain my reputation. the charged amount was fair. while paying to fix a truck I have not repaired is a strange request. thanks***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/26) */
Let me just say that this kind of complaint does not go lightly with our shop and I want to make it very clear that no repairs were made on this vehicle that were not authorized prior to the work being doneFurthermore, several details have
been left out of this complaint that need to be addressed and brought to lightFirst of all, *** brought this car in with two main concerns:
1.) Battery drains/has draw and vehicle won't stay started
2.) Vehicle runs very rough and dies
As I explained when *** dropped the vehicle off, YES it is $to look over a vehicle and we will call before any work is approved, however when a vehicle has an electrical issue or draw there is no way to estimate that repair because it is a real time repair which basically means that it could take minutes to find the problem or it could take several hoursIn this case, the technician spent almost hours isolating the problemHe found some wires that were rubbed through and exposed to metal that was draining the batteryHe replaced the wiring and the draw went awayAfter he finished the rest of the checkout I called *** and told him the electrical repair was $I also let him know that the technician smoke tested the vehicle and there was smoke coming from underneath the intakeI told him we needed to do a $teardown to remove the intake in order to see what was leakingHe approved the teardown and said do not go past the $mark until we called him firstOnce I had all the information from the technician I called *** with a list of problems that was found and it totaled almost $He said he needed some time to come up with the money and asked if he could leave it here for a month or so while he saved upOur shop owner told me in this special case in order to help our customer he would rather set up a payment plan rather than have the car sitting here for that longI ran it by *** and he said he would call back and let me knowTHREE DAYS later he actually showed up at closing time with a friend of his who seemed very knowledgeable about the Pontiac Firebird and I walked both of them to the back of the shop where the car was sitting in the last bay still torn down and showed them everything we had talked about on the phone and they approved $worth of work after stating they would do the water pump themselvesTo state that we did a bunch of "unnecessary work" is simply not true when I personally walked them out to the shop and let them see the problems with their own eyesI explained in detail to *** that the shop owner had agreed to let him pay $down and give us checks to hold as representation for future paymentsI also told him the checks had to be dated for the day he picked up the vehicle on his account and we would sticky not the checks for the days the payments were to be cashedHe agreed to the $price and the payment arrangementThere was not an issue until the work was done and he showed up to pick up the vehicle with the $and told me he would just bring us cash each month which was NOT the agreement we had madeHe then told me that he didn't have a checking account and asked if he could use his girlfriend's account at which time I told him I would have to ask the shop owner and let him know the next dayWhen his girlfriend called the next morning I told her that I had not talked to the shop owner yetShe asked why we wouldn't accept post dated checks and I told her they were not technically a legal document but the other issue was that the checking account was not in ***'s nameThe sad part about this complaint is that we were only considering a payment option as a favor to *** so his car wouldn't be witting for a month or two and when the shop owner decided against using the girlfriend's checks (Again...not part of the original agreement), she got angry and belligerent on the phone and I finally told her this was not even her repair or her car and that I would only talk to *** about this from that point onIt took *** less than minutes from the end of that call to show up and pay his bill in full with cashEvidently the payment plan wasn't even necessary to begin withWe tried to help this customer in everyway possible and as they say...No good deed goes unpunishedIn addition, the car was driven total miles from the time it arrived at the shop to the time it leftDid we drive it when it was finished? Yes we didWe ALWAYS drive cars to diagnose them and we drive them twice after they are finished to ensure our customers have a good quality repairFor the record, the vehicle started and did not die anymore when it left and the battery draw was goneThe work we did was at the agreed price and produced results for the concerns that were givenWe stand by our work and do not believe that any reimbursement is deserved in this instance
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/09/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I am happy that to hear that *** is responding to this complaint and as you can tell it is a very RUN AROUND response as he gave meIf a knowledgable "business" smart person can tell some of his responses are not trueYes, he did tell me it was to find out what was wrong with the vehicle, but DID NOT specify to me that it would have to be taken down and torn into pieces and there is a possibility this could cost me more moneyThere was not a single phone call until AFTER the car was torn down in pieces that it was When I went up, not three days later by the way, it was the very next afternoon with my buddy who is very knowledgable about cars in general to find out why the price jumped out of thin air to 250.00, my vehicle was in pieces, so it was either gather all the pieces to my car and pay to have it towed or allow them to put it back together, which in turn would cost me another 250.00, so now we are up to I felt like that was my only optionThe point is, a phone call should have been made when work was going to exceed and then I could ok if I wanted it doneSecond, we all know that post dated checks are not illegal documents and he did not use the term technically, but in all reality, post dated checks ARE NOT illegal documents!! Third, my girlfriend did get beligerant because I had *** on speakerphone and she could hear him telling me a bunch of lies after he had already told me three different stories and left me hanging all day after telling myself as well as my girlfriend that he would call either one of us as soon as possible and neither one of us got a call from himHe kept trying to use a bunch of unnecessary legal terms about prosecutionYes I came up with the money, it was my rent money, my car insurance money and money I had saved up for an emergency that I had to use so I could have my car back as I was afraid to leave it there due to the shadiness of the whole deal with ***I had no other choice than to pay them and they knew thatThey did drive my car more than miles and I do understand a mechanic has to drive a car after it is worked on to make sure everything works fine, that is not a problem, but driving more than a block or so, is a problemIn fact, while I was there a man had dropped his raptor off and after the customer left, one of the mechanics got in it, peeled out of the parking lot in the truck and hot roded it down the street*** even said it himself, they use STICKY NOTES to put on checks?? Really that is how they do business is sticky notesIn reality, sticky notes do lose their stickiness after a week or so, so then what? I just want other customers to be aware of ***If the owner wants to keep a good reputation and keep his business going, the best thing he could do is get rid of *** because he is making his business look very suspicious and conning customersNo customer should receive several stories about what is wrong with their vehicle, be told things are illegal when they are not, make it look like they are trying to help them out when that is not the case and not be told a price and then it turns out to be 1,higher than it should be and every customer should receive the utmost treatment and trust when taking their car in or for anything they doPeople cannot afford to go without their vehicles and places like this company know that and that is why they rip you off and put you in a tight spot so you have to come up with the money instantly in order to get your car backLike I said, the owner needs to do himself and his business a favor and get *** out of thereIt is pretty sad when other employees say *** does not know what he is talking aboutMy advice to anyone that would risk taking their car there is do not deal with *** and have some extra money saved up because it will not be the price that is quoted to you when you show upalso this place does not have reviews on their website, so you cant check out any customer responses on there before you go, at least I could not find any place for reviews, that alone should be a red flag
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/09/19) */
Thank you for your inputI will be considering it
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/09/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I am not satisfied with the proposed resolution because it does not state specifically whether this will be done or notI would be satisfied with a clear answer of a partial refund AND *** being responsible for what he caused to myself and my family, therefore, making sure this does not happen to another innocent customerWhen I receive a clearer, definite answer, I will be satisfied

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: What he said is not true. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]