T & B Motor Sales & Service

Review: T&B has now replaced both my transmission and alternator 3 times in just over a year (they are under warranty) and I have now received aggression and fowl language from the GM himself, before he hung up on me. After them insisting that my transmission was perfectly fine (and me having to wait for over an hour in the parking lot for somebody to give me my key), it completely blew again on the way home from the shop. They have refused to compensate any of the excess cost that I have accumulated even though they warrantied the repairs and I have now spent well over $1,000 on rental cars and towing (not including expenses related to the original repair or cost of repair itself). I am a recent college graduate and have been consistently financially strained because of T&B's failure to solve this issue. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in their service and work, if the GM of a business using the "F-word" and hanging up on me can be considered customer service.

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

I am requesting compensation for the significant expenses that I have accumulated in just over a year in excess of the cost of repair itself. I have now had to have my car towed to T&B 4 times, had to obtain 3 rental cars (more expensive because I am under 25), and have had to pay for transportation to the shop to pick up the car. I now live 90 minutes away from the shop, but must continue to work through them as I paid for a warranty through them. The General Manager has now acted aggressively.

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2013/08/06) */

Contact Name and Title: [redacted] O'Donovan

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Contact Email: [redacted]@live.com

This customer's statement is inaccurate and incomplete. The vehicle originally came to our facility in April 2012 via a AAA call with a severely damaged transmission and failed alternator. As we do not complete internal transmission work, the job was outsourced to a highly reputable transmission shop. The transmission was rebuilt for a total cost to the customer of $2,500, which included a new battery and cooler lines, in addition to the transmission rebuild. Shortly after the transmission was repaired, the alternator failed and was replaced at our facility. Both of these repairs carried extended warranties, with the transmission warranty being 3 year, 50K miles and the alternator being 3 years on the part and 1 year on the labor.

In January 2013 the transmission acted up again, and the vehicle was brought from T&B Motors to the original rebuilder at no cost to the customer. The rebuild shop found significant quantities of water in the transmission when the pan was removed. The entry point of the water could not be conclusively determined; however it was most likely from the dipstick not being fully inserted and seated after the customer had his oil changed. Despite the evidence that the transmission damage was not the fault of the rebuild shop, they still honored the warranty. The transmission was rebuilt at no cost to the customer. The customer never made any request for towing services, a loaner vehicle or reimbursement for any out of pocket expenses. Our Company was not aware if any costs were even accruing.

On July 1st 2013 the customer dropped off the vehicle for an intermittent hesitation going from Park into Gear. Additionally, the intensity of the dashboard lights was fluctuating. We quickly identified the lighting issue as a defective alternator. It was replaced at no cost to the customer, even though the labor was no longer covered under warranty. We placed a total of 50 miles on the vehicle on road tests attempting to duplicate the hesitation complaint, which we were not able to do. Our original communication to the customer to pick up the vehicle occurred two days after he dropped it off (July 3rd). He did not come to get it until July 17th.

The night he picked the vehicle up, the transmission did act up but only after driving a significant distance. Also, now the problem was no longer intermittent and we were able to verify the complaint. We transported the vehicle to the transmission rebuilder at no cost to the customer, who rebuilt the transmission under warranty. The entire job was completed one week after the complaint was verified. The customer then left the vehicle at our facility for over a week. To close out this matter, we made arrangements to deliver the vehicle to the customer free of charge (he lives an hour and a half away).

With the exception of the original repairs, all services provided to this customer have been at no expense, which includes the following items that he could have been charged for (i.e. not covered by his warranties): multiple towing services, diagnostic time, labor on the alternator replacement and delivery of his vehicle. Until the vehicle came back on July 17th, the customer never discussed with a member of management the costs he was incurring or the need for a loaner vehicle. As documented above, during the last repair completed we needed the vehicle for a total of 10 days (3 to repair the alternator and 7 to repair the transmission). It is unclear why the customer waited to pick the vehicle up initially and after the repairs were completed if the rental car was so financially draining; he incurred 21 unnecessary days.

As far as the customer's comments within this complaint, most are inaccurate. The customer requested to speak to a manager for the first time on Friday 7/19/13, after it was determined that his transmission need to be rebuilt. The General Manager (GM) never swore at the customer and was attempting repeatedly to make our Company's position clear, but the customer did not like the answers he was receiving. During that particular phone call, we expressed that we were doing everything that we were contractually obligated for, which was to fix his vehicle under warranty. Repair facilities are not responsible to cover costs incurred while the shop is performing warranty work; however may reimburse such costs to maintain relationships or avoid negative publicity. This fact was verified by our Company attorney and State of CT Department of Motor Vehicles / Dealers and Repairs Division. The General Manager told the customer that he would approach the business owners about reimbursement of his out of pocket expenses and get back to him at the beginning of the following week. The customer informed the General Manager that he was getting his attorney involved, at which time the GM could no longer talk directly to the customer, so the call was ended. Nobody from the Company ever acted aggressively towards the customer and all communications were in writing going forward. These written communications clearly demonstrate our professionalism and can be reviewed if necessary.

Over the weekend of 7/20/13 - 7/21/13 the owners of T&B Motors did approve partial reimbursement of his expenses for the time we were actually working on the vehicle, but not the time it was sitting in our lot waiting to be picked up. Unfortunately the customer decided to write negative comments over various internet sources, from Revdex.com to a myriad of on-line review sources. After reading his inaccurate comments, they were no longer willing to reimburse his expenses, since the reputational damage had been done and we will incur a significant amount of time and money writing responses to each one of the reviews. Again, we were under no contractual obligation to pay these expenses to begin with.

This customer has his vehicle in his possession for about a week at this point and we assume that there are no additional complaints with the vehicle performance, as we have not received any communications indicating there are any issues.

T&B has now replaced both my transmission and alternator 3 times in just over a year (they are under warranty) and I have now received aggression and fowl language from the GM himself, before he hung up on me. After them insisting that my transmission was perfectly fine (and me having to wait for over an hour in the parking lot for somebody to give me my key), it completely blew again on the way home from the shop. They have refused to compensate any of the excess cost that I have accumulated even though they warrantied the repairs and I have now spent well over $1,000 on rental cars and towing (not including expenses related to the original repair or cost of repair itself). I am a recent college graduate and have been consistently financially strained because of T&B's failure to solve this issue. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in their service and work, if the GM of a business using the "F-word" and hanging up on me can be considered customer service.