I took my car to a local shop to get some work done: replace blown struts, new rotors and pads, and an alignment.

Well... after picking the car up (after the shop was closed) I noticed a couple of things amiss. One was a bolt that was missing from the passenger side of the front cross brace, the other was that half of the clips in the trunk weren't present or attached. I am also missing one of the bolts that hold the factory Infinity sub in place.

But the thing that pissed me off the worst was that all four calipers now have white streaks and flaking clearcoat from the brake fluid they let run all over them.

When I called the place about it the mechanic insisted that the bolts were already gone when he started working on it. He readily admitted that he let the brake fluid bleed onto the calipers. I asked him why he didn't use a hose to let it drain into and he said he didn't know.

I then spoke with the owner, and once I explained what the issue was he got an attitude with me. He said he wasn't going to do anything about it and it wasn't his responsibility. I asked him if they were working on a customer's car and put a dent in it if they were responsible for fixing it. He said yes, he has insurance for that. I asked how this is any different.

He then said they weren't going to do anything about it and he was going to end this conversation, then hung up on me.

I've filed a complaint with the BBB about it and I'm awaiting a response. Hopefully they'll do the right thing, pull their head out of their fourth point of contact, and offer some sort of compensation for this.

I understand it's just a cosmetic thing, and the brakes still work just fine, but it's the principle behind it. If a person or a company is providing a service and they mess something up, they have an obligation to fix it. That's just the right thing to do.

If this doesn't work, I'm suing for the amount of new calipers, and the labor to install them, plus tax and court fees. I got a quote for new calipers from a mitsubishi dealer and it's about $5,600.00 after tax for parts and labor. That's a hefty chunk of change.

If the owner would have been a decent human being, or had a shred of customer service skills, he probably would have gotten by with an apology and a partial refund from my bill. Instead, since he was acting like a royal douchebag, he gets to foot the bill.

I'll post up some pics tonight after I get home of the damage caused.

 

damn that sucks. keep us updated on what happens. I have 3 cases with BBB open rights now, two of the with usps. lol

 

this is why I do all my work myself..! I hate letting other poeple touch my car...Best of LUCK

 

Yeah, I'm the same way. I just got fed up with it after snapping the head off a caliper bolt and had to order a replacement caliper (which had clearcoat damage now too), so I just took it somewhere to get the job finished.

They didn't charge me much, so I guess you get what you pay for. In the case of this shop though, you get even less.

 

Sadly using the BBB will do little to nothing. The only real way to get things fixed is two ways. One let others know how terrible their customer service is. Two call a lawyer (I really hate that because it seems so many are willing to take everything to court).


If it were me personally, I would just fix the stuff myself and then give them the word of mouth treatment. Nothing hurts business like word of mouth. If anything even stand across the street from them with a sign telling others they are not willing to fix things they break.

 

Same here after a one and only experience of a shop doing work on my 240sx 10 years ago. If something goes wrong when you do your own work, it's your own fault but you will better know what the cause is.

 

I've had some positive outcomes using the BBB in regards to a couple of cell phone companies, one of which gave me a call from their executive offices to offer an apology and two months of free service.

With any luck something good will come out of this.

And the word of mouth thing has already begun. It's amazing sometimes how fast facebook can get information out to people.

 

BBB is a joke. They essentially make businesses pay money to get good ratings. And they have no real influence, especially against smaller companies.

What I would do is figure out how much to get your calipers rebuilt and recoated from TCC. Then I would go down there and offer them the option to settle for the cost of repair. If they choose not to settle, you can offer them the $5,600 lawsuit option.

This way you at least increase your chances of getting something back (ever tried collecting on a judgment? It ain't all it's cracked up to be. Ask anyone who has tried to sue a contractor for shoddy work on their home.)

That's my $.02.

 

^ Correct; as messed up as it may sound, the legal system doesn't do much even if you win a case in court. You may get payments from the other party, or you may never see a penny. You then have to pursue further legal action to collect the money a judge awarded you with.

Since you stated the brakes work fine and it's only a cosmetic issue, I would get a quote from TCC to have your calipers recoated and talk to the owner of the shop in regards to getting compensation.

Best of luck and let us know what happens.

 

It just pisses me off to no end because I already have enough on my plate with this car to get it back in decent condition: replacing worn out/broken parts, getting things set up the way I want them, taking care of issues that pop up along the way, etc. Then this damn chucklehead goes and makes another issue for me to fix before I'm done with this thing.

I swear it's like I'm cursed. I've owned this car for a whopping 3 months and I've had probably 6 seperate problems. The routine maintenance stuff I knew going into it. But the IAC going bad, MAF going crazy, TB full of orange crud, and now the Transfer case bleeding to death within minutes of filling it, it's driving me nuts! It's like every time I buy a part to replace one issue, I get another one

 

Go get it fixed on your own and never take your car there and spread the word. The BBB will do nothing.

I had a body shop put my Type R back together and they clearly put the Type R decals on crooked. The owner told me tough *******. I filled a gripe with the BBB and last I heard he was laughing at it.


It doesn't do crap.

 

Hahah, done with this thing? Since when are we ever finished with working on our cars? Endless money pit, with repairs and mods all along the way.

As much as it sucks, really the biggest thing you can do is spread the word about the shop, and either get the calipers re-cleared, or do it yourself.

 

Any good lawyer will tell you that if you want justice, go to small claims court.

My advice would be to file the case without a lawyer, or have a lawyer file the case for you, but represent yourself.

Small claims court is designed for the layman. It's fairly straight forward, and will at the very least give this guy a headache.

 

man that **** sucks! it pisses me off to hear that.... also why I rarely let anyone else work on my vehicle.

 

Thats suck. Your best bet is take them to small court.