ComplaintsforElite Trailer Mfg., Inc

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I am the Service Division Manager for The Arc, a non-profit that provides support and services for persons with disabilities from birth through adulthood. I oversee state and county contracts which support The Arc's programs. Some of those contracts require the use of lawn maintenance equipment including pull behind trailers. Many of our trailers were manufactured by Elite Trailers in Crestview, Florida and have been repaired there since 2010 when they built our first trailer. When I took the position of Service Division Manager we continued utilizing their services. The pricing was competitive and the labor cost has been $60/hour for all prior work. On 11/16/2023, three of our trailers were in need of repairs that we could not manage, and I again reached out to Elite. I was advised that there had been some personnel changes, but that it was the same company under the same ownership. I provided a description of the repairs needed. When I asked for an estimated cost, I was told that they could not provide one until they had taken a look at the first trailer due to a discrepancy with the registration's description. It was dropped off by an Arc employee on 11/20. I received a call the next week asking about paint color. On 11/29 I received a call advising that it was not an Elite trailer and they would have to order fenders and that an estimate could not be provided until the fenders were ordered. The next day I was told that the fenders were $130 each. On 12/11 I was advised that they had replaced the jack stand, which was not discussed, and that labor cost was $120/hr for a total of $910. A full estimate had never been given, nor was notification provided of a double in labor cost. The owner was rude and combative and said, "You might be a non-profit, but I don't work for free." When told her that I had not been notified of the increase in labor nor provided an estimate, her response was, "You have to pay the same prices as 'normal' people." They refuse compromise.

  Business response

  12/12/2023

  On 11-16-23 Yvette **** *alled the office and stated that she had an Elite 12 ft trailer and she needed one fender and back.  Jodi advised Yvette that our labor fee is 120.00 per hour.  She was quoted 130.00 per fender and back if it was in fact our standard tandem fender and back.  When the trailer arrived it was not an Elite Trailer, it was a Black Trailer out of Fayette AL  We had to measure the fender and get a quote as it was a special order for us also the gentleman that dropped it off said it needed both fenders and backs.  He also stated it needed a new jack.  He advised that he was second in charge at ARCH.  Ms. **** states in her claim that she just wanted the jack moved from the outside of the tongue to the inside.  The jack is a side mount jack it cannot be moved to the inside.  The old fenders were cut off the trailer and the fenders and backs were welded on.  Jodi then called Ms. **** and advised her that they would need to be painted to keep from rusting.  Jodi advised her that we did not have red paint we had black.  Ms. **** stated she did not care what color the fenders are.  The bill was for 5 hours labor not 5 1/2.  Ms **** amidst her ranting said "are you really going to charge a non-profit organization this amount"? If Ms. **** would have said"Hey I am a non-profit organization I can only afford a certain amount we would've told her we cannot guarantee how long a job takes.  She advised me that the man that dropped the trailer off had no authority to tell us anything to do.  I have been in business for 32 years and it is not standard operating procedures to question someone telling us to do work a trailer he brought.  The industry standard is 120.00 per hour in this area.  If Ms. **** knew that our hourly rate was 120.00 and found other businesses that quickly to do it for 72.50 per hour why is it that she stated to Jodi she had been trying to get these fixed since 2022.  

  Customer response

  12/12/2023

  
  Complaint: 20994614
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Ms. *******s response is inaccurate and includes falsified information. I did contact Elite on 11/16 as stated in my initial complaint, however, my inquiry for service was for three trailers, not just the one in dispute. Jodi asked for information that I had not been previously asked in other interactions with Elite as they have performed service on most of our trailers in the past, including the one in dispute. She asked if they had built the trailers, and I told her that I did not know. I pulled the registration information for all three trailers to provide Jodi with the information she was requesting. Jodi was extremely distracted, and I was placed on hold several times for her to take other calls or speak with people at the counter. I had to repeat information multiple times as Jodi kept confusing the repairs needed for each trailer. When I got to the third trailer, the one currently in dispute, there was a discrepancy between the actual trailer and the information on the registration. I advised Jodi that while the other two were confirmed to be Elite trailers, I did not know where the third one had been manufactured and that we often received donated equipment. I told Jodi that the registration indicated that the trailer was 12 feet in length which was definitely incorrect because it was at least 18 feet as was one of the others. The repair requested was for both fenders. I explained to Jodi that one had recently been ripped back with a portion missing and that the other was damaged so they should both be replaced. Ms. *******s response confirms this as she alleges that I was quoted a price "per" fender.  I asked if I should bring the trailer in so that they could look at it for an estimate. Jodi told me that wasn't necessary because she was taking notes on a piece of paper by the phone and that they would figure it out when it was dropped off. Ms. *******s response indicated that Jodi was aware that the trailer build was unknown due to the fact that Ms. ****** felt the need to clarify that the price allegedly provided was "if it was in fact their standard tandem fender". If it were assumed to be an Elite trailer, there would be no need for Jodi to advise me of that. At no time did Jodi provide any monetary estimate or labor fee. She said that the unknown manufacturer was the reason that she could not provide me with an estimated cost for the repair. I let Jodi know that the trailer had been worked on by them before in 2022 and asked if they had records with the information that she needed. She said that she was alone and had other customers and didn't have time to look for it. Our records indicate that a gate assist was installed on the trailer by Elite on 1/5/22 and the same gate assist was repaired on the trailer by Elite on 6/29/22. Jodi said that they should start with the trailer in dispute first but would not be able to work on it until after Thanksgiving. I let her know that I would have an employee drop it off Monday or Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving so that it would be on the lot when they returned from the holiday. When it was dropped off, the employee let Jodi know that the trailer was there. He was asked what work needed to be done on the trailer. His response was, "Didn't you talk to Yvette? She's my boss." He did not indicate that he was second in charge, nor would he as our department is one of many within the agency, which is not ARCH, but The Arc of the Emerald Coast, a customer of Elite for approximately 13 years. He and the welder went outside to look at the trailer. The welder told him that he remembered putting the gate assist on the trailer. Our employee did ask if the jack could be moved from the side to the middle for better stability. The welder told him that it wasn't a problem to move the jack. The employee did not ask for a new jack, nor was he told that a new jack would be installed. The next phone call received from Jodi at Elite was on 11/29/23 at 3:23pm. She told me that they did not have red paint. The trailer is red, not black, as Ms. ****** claims it to be in her response. Jodi stated that they could leave them bare for us to paint, or they could paint them black. I told her that the color did not matter as long as the trailer was functional and to go ahead and paint them black. Jodi did say that painting them would protect them from rust. I later found out from Ms. ****** that they had simply been spray painted. The call with Jodi lasted about one minute. She called me back at 3:32pm and told me that the trailer was not an Elite trailer. She seemed to be upset by this and argued with me over whether or not I had told her it was an Elite. I clarified to her several times that the other two trailers were, but that I did not know who had manufactured this one. It was not determined that it was not an Elite trailer until after the existing fenders were cut off and their standard fenders were attempted to be put on. I know this because this is what Jodi told me had happened. She then explained that she would have to order the fenders and that they would have to be paid for in advance. She said that she would get a quote and let me know. I called Jodi to follow up the next day at 8:40am, but she said that she hadn't heard anything. Jodi called me back at 10:31am that same day and said that the cost for the fenders was $130 each, which ironically, turned out to be what Ms. ****** stated in her response that Elite's fenders cost, making it irrelevant as to whether or not the trailer had been built by Elite in the first place. Jodi stated that she was not going to require advance payment because of the confusion and the length of time we had to wait. I told her that it wouldn't be a problem for me to pay for the fenders over the phone, but she declined. I was told that the fenders should arrive the following Thursday and that they would get to work on the trailer as soon as they arrived. I asked what the approximate overall cost would be, to which Jodi responded that they wouldn't know until after they started to install the fenders. On Friday, 12/8/23, I was out of town and received a voicemail from Jodi stating that the trailer was ready for pick up. There was no mention of total cost in the voicemail. When the same Arc employee arrived Monday to pick up the trailer, he was advised that the bill was $910, and notified me. I called Elite and spoke with Jodi who, for the first time, told me that the labor fee was $120 per hour and that the cost included the fenders and a jack. I told her that I had not been made aware that their labor fee had doubled since we were last there and that I had not asked for the jack to be replaced. She then handed the phone to Ms. ****** without my knowledge, and I initially thought that I was still speaking to Jodi. Once Ms. ****** identified herself as the owner, I attempted to explain what had taken place, but she would not allow me to speak and interrupted me and spoke over me any time that I tried to interject. She screamed at me, using expletives, and asked me why I would send some "stupid person with no authority" to drop off the trailer and said that I should have dropped off the trailer my "d**n self". I let her know that we had never encountered an issue with the previous gentleman (Myron), whom I had thought to be the owner because he and Tonia were the only ones I had ever spoken to or seen at the location. I told her that we had been coming there for several years and had always been given pricing up front and that the labor fee for the past two years had been $60 per hour. Ms. ****** continued her aggressive posture and let me know that she had been the owner for 32 years and that the gentleman was her "idiot cousin". I asserted that I should have been advised of such a drastic increase in the labor fee and told her that as a non-profit we could not afford such a cost and that if I had been advised of the high rate, I would have most assuredly declined service. Ms. ****** stated, "How the h*ll are we supposed to know you're a non-profit?" I reminded her again that we had been a customer for about 13 years and that when I contacted Elite on 11/16 about the repairs, I had reminded her that we were a non-profit and tax-exempt and had emailed her a copy of our current tax-exempt form at Jodi's request. That is when Ms. ****** began intensely letting me know that we might be a non-profit, but she didn't work for free. She then began accusing me of trying to get work done for free to which I replied that I wasn't trying to get the work for free, that I understood that rates do increase, but I felt that the bill should be adjusted in some sort of compromise since I had never been told that the labor fee had doubled, or that work beyond what I requested was completed. If Jodi contacted me regarding the color of spray paint, and special ordered fenders, she also should have contacted me about the addition of a jack. I told Ms. ****** that I had never received an estimate, verbal or otherwise, and that the only monetary value that was ever discussed with me was the cost of the fenders, so I assumed that the labor costs had remained the same as it had been for our last repair. Ms. *******s claim that the industry standard in this area is $120 is untrue and easily manipulated. As she said while laughing at me when I inadvertently reached her when contacting the Laurel Hill Elite location (which has a different phone number) thinking that perhaps it had different ownership to obtain repairs for our other trailers, "Good luck with that, we're the only ones around!" By that admission, Ms. ****** sets the industry standard. However, I did reach out to locations in Ft. Walton, Santa Rosa, and Pensacola and found that the highest labor fee was $85 per hour. I never stated that I found a business with a $72.50 labor rate. If you read my complaint, I stated that was the average rate calculated from the rates provided by the businesses that I contacted yesterday. I also never stated that I had been trying to get the discussed repairs since 2022. What I had said to Jodi that was I had been told by Myron and Tonia in late 2022, was that the welder was out for medical reasons with an undetermined return time and that I had checked back a few times only to be told the same thing. Since that time, we have been using scrapped trailers, Harbor Freight, & Tractor Supply for parts and have acquired a light duty welder. I reached out to Elite again last month to see if their circumstance had changed because the welder we have isn't sufficient for the repairs needed, they are near to our job sites, and we had always enjoyed our business encounters with them in the past. In fact, the fender tore in November, one is a replacement trailer acquired in 2023, and the other was just added back to our inventory a few days prior to my call to Elite.

  I have taken the time to respectfully respond to Ms. ****** so that she has an accurate account of conversations she was not present for and clarification for those she was, however, it should be noted that none of the details in perception of conversation or attitude is pertinent to my complaint of unethical practice and improper billing. In the end:

  1. We did not receive any estimate of cost and labor beyond $130 per fender.

  2. The labor was completed without cost justification. To date, we have received no work order, invoice, or bill.

  3. We did not request the purchase of a new jack stand, and our previous jack stand was in working order.

  It is our hope that Ms. ****** will reconsider her position and come to an amicable compromise for a billing adjustment as requested both in this complaint and in an email sent that has yet to receive a response.

  Sincerely,
  
  Yvette ****

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