ComplaintsforBert's Automotive

• Initial Complaint

  26/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  transaction date March 24th 2022. The only thing wrong with my truck when i brought it to Dominic was that the sub shaft bearing on my front end was making noise. He rebuilt my front differential and supplied and installed ne CV axes. I picked the truck up and immediately noticed the front end was "clunking" at every turn and every turn and when braking and accelerating. He told me it was nothing to do with what he had done and that i needed new ball joints, i digressed that was simply not true and after a brief stand off he offered to replace the ball joints for free. I brought the truck back and he replaced the ball joints. when i picked it up for the second time not only was the truck still "clunking" it now had a terrible odor in the cab. I took the truck back to him and left my dad there to supervise, Dom said it would only be an hour, i left for work. Sever hours later my dad called me and said that Dom was hammering on the rubber boots of the CV axels and that he would never bring anything back there again. He said he eventually resolved the issue by making Dom lay on the ground and he drove the truck over top of him and applied the brakes when the front end was over top of Dom. Dom was said to have shot up from under the car and grabbing his impact gun and jump back under and all dad herd was Dom operating the gun for a solid minute when asked to explain what he was doing Dom replied that there were a few things loose. This was after a number of road tests. When i eventually got my truck back yes it was driving in a satisfactory manor but the inside smelled even worse, grease stains were visible on both my seats. Dom admitted to sitting in the truck with dirty coveralls and had my truck cleaned. on the next road trip the truck was shaking so bad i thought the wheel was going to fall off. i took it to ***** and they fixed it costing me $2000 after Dom paid $600. He accepted partial blame.$6200 for something that should have cost $3000, i want the other $2000.

  Business response

  11/10/2022

  October 6, 2022
  
  RE: 2016 ***** *** ****
  VIN# ****************
  182000KMS truck has a 3 inch modified body lift, aftermarket wheels, truck is not factory.
  
  Customer came in on March 3 2022, looking for a price to rebuild his front differential. We went for a drive in his truck and I agreed his front differential needed attention. It is a known issue with ***** trucks and I advised that he needed to get it rebuilt. I quoted a price of $2495.00 for the differential and $550 labour to remove it and install it back with new parts plus oil, shop supplies and taxes. I did not hear from the customer for a couple of weeks when he called the shop and booked an appointment for Monday March 19 2022 to start the job. When I started the work, I noticed the inside of the cv axles were worn out and grinding against the stub shafts. (stub shafts are included in the rebuild price but not the cv axles) The bearings inside the differential were also worn out which is a known issue when driving in four high or four auto.
  After installing the front differential as part of the labour process I started to install the old cv axles. I noticed the old axles had lots of wear inside of them and damaged splines from the old stub axles wearing against them. I called the customer and recommended replacing both front cv axles, something you don’t see until you get into the job. The cv axles were not part of the original quote and priced the parts at $289.44 each on both sides with no additional labour charge as they were already removed. The customer agreed to replace both front cv axles.
  The customer picked up the truck and about a week later, explaining there was a clunk when taking off. I advised I had not heard anything like this when I road tested it before returning the truck to him. A few days later he brought the truck back to the shop for a test drive and the noise was present and that it was possibly due to the truck modifications. A few days later the customer called in demanding $850 as “* **** *** *** *** ** **** *** ***** *** *** *** ** ** ********** ****” the shop told him they diagnosed it and advised that the ball joints were damaged due to the shop that rebuilt your front differential. The customer advised he would be taking the truck to the ********** shop to replace all the ball joints costing over $800 and I would need to pay for this. I agreed to replace all the front ball joints upper and lower, even though we had not touched the upper ones in the original work. The ball joints were done on May 11, 2022 with a value of $845.60, and at that time the customer wanted us to service his transmission also with the value of $829.33. I have included bills for both the ball joints and the transmission service to show pricing but these extra services were not paid for by the customer.
  The next day May 12, 2022 the customer called right away and in a very **** way **** ***** ** ***** ***** *** ***** ** * ********* ** *****” This needs to be fixed right away before going on another planned trip! I advised him to bring the truck down right away so the issue could be addressed. I cancelled other appointments that day so I could look at his truck again around 8am. He wanted his dad to stay and over look all the work I was doing, which is unusual practice to have someone watching over your shoulder while you work especially in a commercial automotive shop. I ordered three more sets of cv axle shafts and we found a set that the dad agreed worked the best. (Dealership comment on paperwork “axles were installed properly”) I mentioned to the dad that we could install ******** cv axles but they were more expensive ($578.34 each) but the dad was ok with cv axles we installed to fix the vibration issue while driving in four-wheel drive auto. Moving onto the “clunk” noise, we knew it was not the ball joints like the ********** shop said as we in good faith replaced them on May 11 and the clunk noise was still there. After further inspection I found one of the four bolts on the skid plate was not tight enough, they were all tightened and double checked. The truck was taken on a test drive and the “clunk” was gone.  The customer picked up the truck and called back advising us that there was an oil smell in his truck and he wants the truck detailed. I advised him to pick a detail shop in the Port ********* area and agreed to pay for the service. I met the customer at ******** **** ****** May 19, 2022 and paid the bill for $252.
  Months went by (now August 2022) and the customer called demanding more money as his engine light had come on while he was on one of his trips. His truck started to shake and he took it to the dealer. (Journey ******** *****) The dealer advised his transmission oil was dark and that it had not been changed recently, his axle boot was ripped and he needed a new cam sensor. The crank sensor has nothing to do with the cv axles or differential. This was causing the shaking as the engine misfires and idles rough. The customer wanted me to pay the ******** bill of $2800 for all the extra repairs. I went to the dealership and spoke to the technician and was advised the customer wanted all the work I had done previously to be checked. The customer told the dealership the transmission service had been done only 2 weeks prior when in fact it was done back in May 2022. I showed the paperwork to the dealership for the oil used and new pan/filter installed with labour. They agreed that this is normal for oil not to look new after several months of driving. I mentioned this to the customer why he said it was done 2 weeks ago and he apologized for this. The axle boot was ripped but the dealership stated that the installation of a lift kit can create an inner c/v joint angle causing bind up but that the c/v axles were installed properly. I offered to take back the damaged cv axle shafts and replace them with ones from ****** at no cost or I would pay the labour for ******** dealership to install the *** cv axles if he paid for the *** part costs at ********. He agreed to ******** installing the *** parts and on August 11, 2022 I went to the dealer and paid the labour cost of $474.30.
  A week went by and the customer called again wanting me to pay him back for the original cv axles I installed at my shop. Again showing good faith despite him agreeing to pay parts cost for ******** to install *** axles, I told him to come to the shop and I would pay him $289.44 X 2 = $578.88 for the original cv axle’s in addition to already paying ******** the labour cost of $474.30 for installation. That day the customer came into the shop, I started to refund him $578.88 for the cv axles but he insisted he still wanted the full $2000. Despite that the ******** invoice included work that had nothing to do with work previously done at my shop (ie. cam sensor, center light bulbs etc.) and I had already paid ******** directly for the cv axle labour on that invoice.
  Please see all paperwork and comments from dealership stating the axle installation and other services were done correctly by myself. As a small business owner, I work very hard and take pride in my work and customer service. In over 19 years I have never had a situation like this and feel like I went above and beyond to solve the customer’s issues. Further to several phone calls with ********** tone, indicating his intention to ******* my business and take me to small claims court I did file a report with the non-emergency ********* RCMP.

  Customer response

  21/10/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: First of all i was given an estimate of  $1800-$2500. The mentioned quote in the response is false! I'd like to address the facts of the matter. 1- i was verbally quoted as i said $1800-$2500 and the final bill was over $4200. 2-My truck was returned to me with more problems then i dropped it off with. 3-The problems i was experiencing were with components that the shop had to handle to address the problem. 4-when i tried to address the problems i was told it had nothing to do with the work that was done and i was told i had ***** parts on my truck. 4-Dom willingly installed "***** ***** **" new ball joints at his cost. 5-The new parts didnt solve the problem 6-i had to drop my dad off to supervise 7-Only when my dad was supervising did the problem get "solve" it was with my dads help did Domanic realize that he had not sufficiently reinstall the front end components. 8-it was witnessed that Dom was using the rubber boot component as a point of impacted to insert the cv into the front differential. 9-it was in fact the boot that failed when i was going fishing and caused an alarmingly violent vibration that cause my sensor to fail. 10-i took it to ***** the problems were fixed and i was billed. 11-Domanic paid a portion of the bill, what ever he was willing to pay. He excepted responsibility when he paid a portion therefor he should take full responsibility and pay the rest. This is a direct result of the poor service that was provided. 12- the repair costed me over $6200 and should not have cost more than what he claims he quoted me, roughly $3000. 13- i am simply asking for Dom to pay the entire bill from ***** and am not arguing the outrageous price initially paid for his service. 14-even if i get the requested $2000 i will still have paid $1400 more than what he claims he quoted me. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

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