Tracery, LLC

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 6, 2017/06/16) */ Mr [redacted] came in prior to 5-24-to make an appointment for his vehicleThe complaint was that the wipers would only move a couple inches & then stopHe informed us that he couldn't be w/o it overnight, so we ordered the wiper motor in advance in the event that is what the issue wasHe brought his vehicle in on 5-24-for his appointmentUpon opening the hood, we noticed that someone had already had the components off prior to it coming in because all of the plastic push pins were missing from the plastic wiper cowlingWe then found that the wiper arms were corroded so badly that they would not come off the spline shaftsThe wiper arms are recessed into the plastic cowling, so a wiper arm removal tool could not be usedThe shafts were sprayed with penetrating oil & were wiggled back & forth & they still wouldn't come offThe wiper cowling cannot be removed with the wiper arms in placeSo to proceed onto the diagnoses, my wife held up the driver side of the cowling so that I could stick my arm in to access the wiring harness for an amperage draw testThe cowl would only come up about 2.5"W/a flashlight, I noticed the clasp to the harness connector was broke offI than noticed the driver side wiper arm pivot was completely rustedThinking that the pivot might be seized, causing the resistance to the wiper motor, I reached my left arm under the cowl & disconnected the driver side connecting rod from the motorI had my wife turn on the wipers & the passenger wiper moved freely like it shouldShe then called Mr [redacted] to inform him that the root cause of the problem was a seized wiper transmission issue & that the excessive resistance wore the wiper motor outW/the evidence of the components already being apart once before, we came to the conclusion that someone had already replaced the wiper motor, but did not notice the transmission issue, which caused a premature failure of the wiper motorWhile my wife was holding the cowl up, she noticed a crack at the bottom of the windshield that came up from underneath the cowling about 3" or so veering off horizontally to the passenger sideThe crack was located at the very bottom of the windshield, w/in the black strip at the bottom that is about 5" wideKnowing that he had to have his vehicle back & that we were going to be out of town from 5-to 5-29-for the Holiday weekend, I left the connecting rod detached from the wiper motorNot being able to remove the plastic cowling, I couldn't get my arm in far enough to reattach the ball & socketSince the wipers didn't work anyway, I figured that this wouldn't be a problemThe next day Mr [redacted] called & told my wife that he saw on the internet that there was a recall on the wiper transmissionHe came in later that day to discuss itShe looked up on the GM website, entered his VIN & it said that there were no active recalls on his vehicleHe said that it should say it cause the internet said soShe asked him if he has received any lettersHe said no, we have only had it for a little over a yearShe told him that it may have already been doneHe said he called a dealer & they told him that there was no active recall on it for the wiper transmission eitherShe called GM to find out when it had been done & they said that his vehicle was not effectedIt was the Chevrolet Equinox & TraverseUpon realizing that the repair was not covered for free, he became very agitatedOur next day back in the shop was 5-30-On that morning, around 7:AM, (Our business hours are AM-PM) Mr [redacted] walked in the back door of the business & informed me that I had cracked his windshieldI told him that was physically impossible because I had not yet touched his windshieldWithout any real fuss, he left & I pulled it in to start working on itThe penetrating oil had soaked in over the weekend & I was able to rock the wiper arm back & forth & they came offI was then able to remove the plastic cowling to access the wiper transmission & motorLater that day, after the transmission assembly showed up, he walked into the shop through the back door again & I showed him the seized wiper arm pivot on the transmission & I also showed him that the problem was caused by a design flawThe recessed area beneath the windshield & above the firewall collects rain water & rusts out all the pivot bushingsI told him that I would spray the entire wiper transmission down with lithium grease in an attempt to waterproof it someHe than walked up & looked at the crack on the windshield & a second crack had come off of the 1st crack, going straight up the windshieldThat crack was not present when he picked his vehicle up days earlierI showed him that the crack, very clearly, originates from the very bottom of the windshield a little left of centerWhich was about 5"-6" beneath the plastic cowlingI told him that there is noway I did it because I was unable to remove the cowling on the 24th & that today (30th) is the 1st time I have ever had the cowling off & the area was where the crack originates has not been accessible till todaySo there was no physical way I came into any contact with the origin of the crackAgain, no real fuss from himI told him that all I had to do was run a tap down through one of the mounting bolt holes because the bolt had been installed cross threaded beforeI finished the vehicle & we called him & said it was ready for pick upHe came into pay & after doing so, my wife said "you are all set" & he said, "except now I have a cracked windshield." She told him that it was like that when it was in here a few days ago cause she say itHe said "ok" & walked outLater that evening, it dawned on me that, being blamed for something that I didn't do, I had forgotten to push in little rubber pieces on the ends of the cowlingMy wife called him the next morning & asked his wife to have him stop in so that I could push them inBeing in a small town, people tend to ignore signs on the shop that say "EMPLOYEES ONLY"We open the shop overhead garage door only 2' to keep people from walking in the garageMr [redacted] pulled up to the garage door & literally army crawled to get in under the door INSTEAD of using the customer entrance in the officeAs he was trying to get in under the door, he hit his back on the bottom of the door & literally fell flat on his faceMy wife came out from the office & said to him "We keep the door low just for this reasonCustomers are to use the front office door." I went out & pushed in the rubber molding on the left & right side of the cowlingI apologized for forgetting to push them in & that I was distracted for being blamed for something that I didn't doHe asked if I had insurance & I said yes,( & he implied that I should just turn it in on my insurance because that is what I have it for) but it would only cover it if I did the damageI told him that if I was to turn it in, at some point, the claims adjuster would ask if I did it & I would have to be honest & say noAt this point, he told me that I should just man up & pay for itHe than called my wife a liarShe told him that he is just mad because he thought that the wiper repair was going to be taken care of for free & it wasn'tI told him that if I had broken his windshield, I would have 1st called him & told him what happened & than called Safelite & wouldn't even mess with turning it into insuranceWe than closed the garage door, he left & my wife & I had a discussion as to who we would hear from 1stThe Revdex.com or a personal injury lawyer

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2017/06/16) */
Mr [redacted] came in prior to 5-24-17 to make an appointment for his vehicle. The complaint was that the wipers would only move a couple inches & then stop. He informed us that he couldn't be w/o it overnight, so we ordered the wiper motor in advance...

in the event that is what the issue was. He brought his vehicle in on 5-24-17 for his appointment. Upon opening the hood, we noticed that someone had already had the components off prior to it coming in because all of the plastic push pins were missing from the plastic wiper cowling. We then found that the wiper arms were corroded so badly that they would not come off the spline shafts. The wiper arms are recessed into the plastic cowling, so a wiper arm removal tool could not be used. The shafts were sprayed with penetrating oil & were wiggled back & forth & they still wouldn't come off. The wiper cowling cannot be removed with the wiper arms in place. So to proceed onto the diagnoses, my wife held up the driver side of the cowling so that I could stick my arm in to access the wiring harness for an amperage draw test. The cowl would only come up about 2.5". W/a flashlight, I noticed the clasp to the harness connector was broke off. I than noticed the driver side wiper arm pivot was completely rusted. Thinking that the pivot might be seized, causing the resistance to the wiper motor, I reached my left arm under the cowl & disconnected the driver side connecting rod from the motor. I had my wife turn on the wipers & the passenger wiper moved freely like it should. She then called Mr. [redacted] to inform him that the root cause of the problem was a seized wiper transmission issue & that the excessive resistance wore the wiper motor out. W/the evidence of the components already being apart once before, we came to the conclusion that someone had already replaced the wiper motor, but did not notice the transmission issue, which caused a premature failure of the wiper motor. While my wife was holding the cowl up, she noticed a crack at the bottom of the windshield that came up from underneath the cowling about 3" or so veering off horizontally to the passenger side. The crack was located at the very bottom of the windshield, w/in the black strip at the bottom that is about 5" wide. Knowing that he had to have his vehicle back & that we were going to be out of town from 5-26 to 5-29-17 for the Holiday weekend, I left the connecting rod detached from the wiper motor. Not being able to remove the plastic cowling, I couldn't get my arm in far enough to reattach the ball & socket. Since the wipers didn't work anyway, I figured that this wouldn't be a problem. The next day Mr [redacted] called & told my wife that he saw on the internet that there was a recall on the wiper transmission. He came in later that day to discuss it. She looked up on the GM website, entered his VIN & it said that there were no active recalls on his vehicle. He said that it should say it cause the internet said so. She asked him if he has received any letters. He said no, we have only had it for a little over a year. She told him that it may have already been done. He said he called a dealer & they told him that there was no active recall on it for the wiper transmission either. She called GM to find out when it had been done & they said that his vehicle was not effected. It was the Chevrolet Equinox & Traverse. Upon realizing that the repair was not covered for free, he became very agitated. Our next day back in the shop was 5-30-17. On that morning, around 7:40 AM, (Our business hours are 8 AM-5 PM) Mr [redacted] walked in the back door of the business & informed me that I had cracked his windshield. I told him that was physically impossible because I had not yet touched his windshield. Without any real fuss, he left & I pulled it in to start working on it. The penetrating oil had soaked in over the weekend & I was able to rock the wiper arm back & forth & they came off. I was then able to remove the plastic cowling to access the wiper transmission & motor. Later that day, after the transmission assembly showed up, he walked into the shop through the back door again & I showed him the seized wiper arm pivot on the transmission & I also showed him that the problem was caused by a design flaw. The recessed area beneath the windshield & above the firewall collects rain water & rusts out all the pivot bushings. I told him that I would spray the entire wiper transmission down with lithium grease in an attempt to waterproof it some. He than walked up & looked at the crack on the windshield & a second crack had come off of the 1st crack, going straight up the windshield. That crack was not present when he picked his vehicle up days earlier. I showed him that the crack, very clearly, originates from the very bottom of the windshield a little left of center. Which was about 5"-6" beneath the plastic cowling. I told him that there is noway I did it because I was unable to remove the cowling on the 24th & that today (30th) is the 1st time I have ever had the cowling off & the area was where the crack originates has not been accessible till today. So there was no physical way I came into any contact with the origin of the crack. Again, no real fuss from him. I told him that all I had to do was run a tap down through one of the mounting bolt holes because the bolt had been installed cross threaded before. I finished the vehicle & we called him & said it was ready for pick up. He came into pay & after doing so, my wife said "you are all set" & he said, "except now I have a cracked windshield." She told him that it was like that when it was in here a few days ago cause she say it. He said "ok" & walked out. Later that evening, it dawned on me that, being blamed for something that I didn't do, I had forgotten to push in 2 little rubber pieces on the ends of the cowling. My wife called him the next morning & asked his wife to have him stop in so that I could push them in. Being in a small town, people tend to ignore signs on the shop that say "EMPLOYEES ONLY". We open the shop overhead garage door only 2' to keep people from walking in the garage. Mr [redacted] pulled up to the garage door & literally army crawled to get in under the door INSTEAD of using the customer entrance in the office. As he was trying to get in under the door, he hit his back on the bottom of the door & literally fell flat on his face. My wife came out from the office & said to him "We keep the door low just for this reason. Customers are to use the front office door." I went out & pushed in the rubber molding on the left & right side of the cowling. I apologized for forgetting to push them in & that I was distracted for being blamed for something that I didn't do. He asked if I had insurance & I said yes,( & he implied that I should just turn it in on my insurance because that is what I have it for) but it would only cover it if I did the damage. I told him that if I was to turn it in, at some point, the claims adjuster would ask if I did it & I would have to be honest & say no. At this point, he told me that I should just man up & pay for it. He than called my wife a liar. She told him that he is just mad because he thought that the wiper repair was going to be taken care of for free & it wasn't. I told him that if I had broken his windshield, I would have 1st called him & told him what happened & than called Safelite & wouldn't even mess with turning it into insurance. We than closed the garage door, he left & my wife & I had a discussion as to who we would hear from 1st. The Revdex.com or a personal injury lawyer.