RIPPED OFF ???

I would post pictures and call a lawyer.

 

Yes to above, plus call the shop and tell them you will take the car to a reliable party and charge the first shop for any and all repairs related to their work.

 

The shop owner would never forget my name if this happened to me.

 

Indeed!!! In fact, he'd be waking up from nightmares about me for some time.....and, maybe even would require years of therapy

LENNY --- What fluid(s) is/are leaking?

 

Go after the shop. What state are you located in? What is name of the shop?

 

298 miles? wtf? I could see some for a test drive but 298? Something is very, very wrong here. Sounds like someone borrowed it for a weekend.

 

IMO. you need to talk to the business owner, tell him your issues, in particular the miles which is absolutely disgusting and a case for sueing his arse regardless of poor work quality. Offer him the opportunity to rectify at a reduced invoice on the proviso that you are allowed to have an indepedant inspection after the work and new repairs are completed to ensure it has been done competently and if he does not comply, advise him you are taking it to the world of pain.

 

Attorney for sure. Call and tell them what you plan to do, give them a chance to respond then bring in the lawyer.

That stinks. I feel for you. Good luck.

 

Lenny, this is really an incredible story.
What's the shop? Why didn't you take it to a dealer for work in the first place if you were gravely concerned about professionals doing good work?
You say you'd been combing through 360 threads for a while, but you just joined yesterday?
You let them keep it for 2.5 months for relatively "routine" service? Hmm, naive at best, probably worse though.
Mechanic told you he was driving your car home?
They rent out customers' cars as per-day rentals and suddenly your car has ~300 unexplained miles. You didn't bother to ask why?
You were told service would be $5k, and took delivery of the car after a surprise $12k bill?

As I say, this is really an incredible story.

 

Make sure you write down what your mechanic said. ie date time of conversation what was said. NO WAY would any mechanic drive a car for more than a few miles and that would be as a test drive only. The risk to the shop and cost of insurance to work shops prohibits this type of activity. You may also find that they have no insurance to cover your damage if it was done "driving the car home".
These fellows sound like they are having a lend of you. I would say they have rented your car out a copule of times. I still think you need to talk to the business owner, tell him your concerns, allow him to rectify ( if they have come recommended on this forum as you say then they must do reasonable work as recommendations are hard to gain) he has every right to rectify if he is qualified. It may not be to his knowledge, he may have a rogue employee. He has to be given the opportunity to answer the claims. My 2c worth

 

Sounds to me the shop sucks and you already paid the bill. I feel it is partially ur fault for not inspecting the car first and allowing them to keep ur car for over 2 months.

That's the non candy coated truth.

I would now first address the owner on the business and relay ur concerns. Don't enter with a foul attitude because that will get u no where fast. (I'm hot headed and have learned my leassons). If he relsults with an attitude I would step it up a notch.

U have accepted the car from the service facility and they have rebuttal as well

They can reply in many different ways. But at the end if the day u just want ur car right.

U have one if two options. Try to let them fix the screw ups or dispute the transaction.

A judge will ask u if u gave them a chance to fix it. If u reply no and your first action was to dispute the charge that will not go over so well.

Do u have copies if what u signed if so read them carefully before u make any rash decisions

I was a deputy for a long time and from my experience judges look for "reasonable" decisions on both parties

Good luck
Curtis

 

Screaming for 20 minutes bodes well for chances of recuperation. I was making the point that you took it to an independent shop (guy with a big garage) instead of a dealer for a reason...and that was?...to save money? (Assumption, oops)

That was probably a mistake. No physical presence of your own to inspect the work ( the 2 and a half month work) being delivered and then considered a closed matter upon receipt. Just sayin'

No explanation will justify that mileage. None. That is use of your vehicle -- pure and simple. If they do in fact rent other customers' Fcars at 1,500/day @ 100miles/day you should have bare minimum 4,500 coming back your way from that alone.

My point here was that you weren't even registered until yesterday. And again, what shop is it? You said in your first post that you would be naming it.

I've never heard that quip before in my life. Not ever.

 

This whole thing sounds like BS.

What an incredible story for sure. LOL.

 

Maybe B.S., maybe not. We do get that sort of thing here sometimes. BUT, maybe it's another sad story.

Lenny, slow deep breaths. It's not Cancer. Remember where your best interests lie. Yes you want blood, I would too. Well, you're not going to get blood. Best you can hope for is an acceptable level of satisfaction. First, you have to approach the shop owner, in a civil manner. Present your case. Don't argue right away. Give him some time to investigate. You can always sue, etc. later. My lawyer once told me that the legal profession makes a whole lot of money when people let "the principle" of the case interfere. Lawyers ain't cheap. It could well cost you more to try to punish the guilty, than to have the car re-fixed. Good luck.

 

Welcome to FerrariChat.

First, complete your profile so we know a little more about you and where you are.

Let's see some photos of the car. Show us the damage, perhaps a copy of the invoice.

IF your story is real you have been mistreated by a repair shop and you are unfortunately not the first one. We frequently get this kind of story from newbies and in almost every case it turns out to be BS. Excuse our skepticism, if you're for real there are folks here that can help but we need more information. Otherwise your story is just a story.

 

Print out this thread and let him read it before attempting to talk which will surely turn into arguing. Two laws with regard to securing customer consent were broken. In California if you need to increase the estimate you must call the customer for verbal approval and then note the date, time, #, and agreed upon amount on the original signed estimate. If this was never done then you are not liable for more than what you signed the estimate for. Secondly the same rules would apply if the mechanic needed to drive the car for a couple of days to diagnose something.

Best of Luck

 

Typical stupid post.

There's no need to post at all if you aren't planning to name the shop and warn us. You certainly don't need advice about what to do. Burn 'em down.