ComplaintsforTuffy Tire & Auto Service Center

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Did not honor its obligations as a corporate store that owns “Tuffy’s” and as such did not honor an obligation to inspect the repairs of a Tuffy’s in gulf breeze. I towed my car there for ~384 dollars, a service that was suppose to reimbursed me with a related 3rd party to Tuffy’s that didn’t work, and as such I towed my car to Tuffy’s, a store that has signage as Tuffy’s, only for the parent company Mavis to say it has no obligations to Tuffy’s. All I wanted that store in particular was to make sure the repairs, where valid, as the issue I kept getting “fixed” at a franchise store when I was trying to move from Pensacola to Boynton Beach (650 miles away) kept going to limp mode / staling after 25 minutes of driving. The said I would need to pay a diagnostic error code fee (I just wanted them to verify the repairs, an obligation the brand advertises it does). The fee was 100 dollars, a place like autozone does it for free, technology can output the code in a minute. Regardless this is predatory action. This corporate store does have a history of not honoring the “Tuffy Brand” keep in mind their signage is Tuffy. The Tuffy franchise in gulf breeze did offer to pay for towing to their store to inspect the car again. However they (gulf breeze) failed to repair my car correctly two times and I was just wanting to verify the repair were functioning correctly. They mentioned corporate (I guess this store in particular) does not honor its obligations just to verify repairs. This costed me upwards of $650 because of the towing, and making the repairs at Honda for a part they overlook at the franchise elsewhere. That being said I do have complaints with a the franchise store for oversaling unnecessary repairs for an error code that shouldn’t have had those requested repairs. This is unrelated to this store, but it is a related party. In summary: The store (corporate) did not inspect repairs made by a franchise member. Repairs at franchise $3900 for a 2005 Accord.

  Business response

  07/18/2023

  Mr. ******* had work done at our shop located at 3737 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Gulf Breeze Florida.  Mr. ******* has a 2005 Honda Accord with 200K miles on it.  It came in with several issues that we are addressing for him to have a safe and reliable vehicle.  All of our work comes with a 2 year 24K mile parts and labor warranty.  How our warranty works is if you break down or have any problem and you are within 25 miles of the shop that did the work you have to have your vehicle towed there and they will cover the tow and any repairs if they have to do with the original work that was done.  If you break down or have any problems and you are more than 25 miles away you can use any shop you want and our warranty company will cover the tow and repairs.  The Tuffy that Mr. ******* went to in Pensacola is within 25 miles of our Gulf Breeze store and therefor would not be able to utilize our warranty.  The manager of the Gulf Breeze store did tell Mr. ******* that he would have his car towed back to our store so we could find the problem but Mr. ******* did not want to do that.  We do our best to keep everyone on the road with safe, reliable transportation.  We have excellent mechanics and one of the best warranties in the business.  We would be more than happy to help Mr. ******* with his car problems but we cant help him if he doesnt let us.  I have attached a copy of the work order for Mr. *******s Accord that has a detailed explanation of his concerns and what we have done to correct them.  As I said we have a 2 year 24K mile warranty on parts and labor.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

   

  Thank you,

  Josh *******

  850-368-4461

  [email protected]

  Customer response

  07/18/2023

  
  Complaint: 20331907
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It is unreasonable to think someone who is moving with their personal belongings in their vehicle that was breaking down would want to be towed back to an island that is in vacation season. Like do you expect me to pay a hotel fee of 280 every day you cannot fix a driver ability issue that is related to code P2647 - and the requested part fix by default is Variable Valve Timing fix. 

  You (Tuffy’s) said the part was good, and then went making unnecessary not related to that core part the computer is asking to have fixed. However, this is less related to that and what the receptionist said at Pensacola University Parkway store of “oh we are not Tuffy’s- we are Mavis and WE OWE NO OBLIGATION”. That store in particular didn’t even try to listen where I got the repairs in the first place. 
  

  However, seeing I am now in relation to the franchise— I believe a return of your profit from those repairs are required. The other item being the one who paid for them is my dad and is insistent Tuffy’s defrauded with the 2nd set of repairs, which I agree I was conned. 
  

  After I took the vehicle to Honda it drove to Jacksonville, and the Honda in Pensacola replaced the part your mechanics said looked good and than you guys just started looking for an issue. The mechanic in Pensacola originally scuffed that you guys were not fixing a drivability issue with the 2nd set of repairs. I am not a professional mechanic— however I trusted your mechanics in professional judgment and after both repairs they said “it should be good to drive to Jacksonville, but the repairs only let my car go 30 miles out from the store. So you think, I would choose to bring my vehicle to the same people who failed 2 times properly fix the issue over 4th of July weekend timeframe. If you pull the invoice before last, you see I was just there. 
  

  That being said, Mr. ******* you attempt to address the repair themselves, and while I did approve them— I did so reasonably informed by your mechanics. However, your mechanics did not reasonably address the issue for it not to fail once, twice, but the third time I bring it- it is to the other store also on the map when I got it towed— it was closer by .1 miles at like 42 mile. 
  

  That being said, the issues I listed are still in place. And the franchise where I got the repairs from is only 1/3 of my issue. My main issue I said I got it repaired at a Tuffy’s and it is true the store at gulf breeze Tuffy’s offered to tow me back to gulf breeze. However, why would I go into an isolated market and attempt repairs a third time at a place that failed me. All I wanted was confirmation that the parts they put in were good / functioning correctly (and in which case means they did not address the issue I originally brought it in to be repaired for). 
  

  Now on the other 2/3 of my problem here, the Mavis-not-Tuffy-but-building-Tuffy is just pardon my language hot garbage of false advertising. And for a company to be that petty to its franchise members or follow stores to fight about just inspecting repairs - not being my car to be repaired, at most a 40-60 labor fee. They rather indirectly make the “company/franchise partner” pay 300. From a business standpoint it is baffling. From a consumer standing point it is frustrating. I want that University Parkway store to either rebrand to Mavis (which the intern said this is Mavis and not Tuffy’s even when in a Tuffy and signage building), pay for the Towing I had there as I used the roadside assistance offered by Tuffy’s and it was longer and more expensive than insurance tow claim however Utgency (the third party- or contractor of contractor that is third party) will reimburse me, but they never did. 
  
  

  Sincerely,
  
  Zachary *******

  Business response

  07/19/2023

  I only run the Tuffy in Gulf Breeze.  I am sorry if you had problems at the Tuffy in Pensacola or at the dealer.  I can not speak for them as I am not affiliated with them.  As far as the Tuffy in Gulf Breeze, as I said before we will honor the warranty on the repairs we have made thus far.  I hope you understand when you have intermittent problems or multiple problems with a vehicle it makes it very difficult to diagnose.  I understand that can be frustrating for all parties concerned but in no way are you being taken advantage of or conned.  This is the process it takes to get to the root of the problem.  We are committed to honoring the warranty of this repair or finding out if there are other underlying issues but I will need the vehicle to do this.  Thank you.

  Customer response

  07/20/2023

  
  Complaint: 20331907
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  So the wiring of the catalytic converter you put on my car was out of place, and as in photo 2, and photo 1 is the bill it took to fix. This isn’t the issue I filed this complaint, but the fact the repairs in question lacked some integrity a professional should have. 
  

  I brought it in for a drivability issue, and yes the first set of repairs in the earlier invoice were justifiable. However, invoice 2 (did you magically find problems?) I agree for the car repairs to fix drivability issue. Honda when I brought it, the mechanic said your repairs do not fix a drivability issue. So it isn’t unreasonable to be frustrated from my point of view. And I am currently 364 miles away, so while your offer may still stand to “warranty, etc”, it does not resolve the issue. 
  

  Lastly, well you say I have not been conned, however the lifetime profit on the first repair was 1200.  I am sure the second repair should have similar margins. The first repair in theory resolve would be issues. The 2nd, did not. And as you can see you didn’t even do the job correctly as you failed to put wiring back where it belongs. 

  My earlier requests still stands.

  
  Zachary *******

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 8th I booked an appointment with tuffy auto center in Destin regarding my A/C core They told me what needed to be done to the car and cost estimates, I was going to pay it with the help of my extended car warranty PMC, so they needed to have an inspector sent to the shop in order to approve the repair, finally after a week, approximately a next Wednesday the inspector went and approved it, the car went in the shop in the shop on Wednesday July 13th and it should be ready in 1.5 days, which was the labour time advised, I waited until Friday 15 th and called because they never gave me a callback, they told me the A/C issue was fixed but they were having an issue trying to make the car radio work again and they were checking the cables and connections, I told them I needed my car so I would pick it up and take it back on Monday 18th, when I picked it up on Saturday I noticed the issue with the radio and other electrical problems, I also noticed unusual noise under the hood, they said they were going to fix that the week after, but after I noticed several issues such big scratches on the dashboard and the air blowing while the car is of I sent the shop an email detailing everything with pictures. After I took the car back the following week they were taking several days and they were not informing anything, they said they were waiting on the dashboard repair kit, so they needed more time, so I went ahead and picked it up but the radio and electrical issues were not fix, I complained again and they did nothing. On August 2nd I went to pick up the car with a friend being my witness and after checking the car the dashboard repair was horribly done and the electrical problems were not fixed,I complained and the person at the store called Josh Willage and I spoke with him, he said:"we checked everything regarding the electrical and there seems to be nothing wrong, I don't know why it is not working " I was upset and hang up, the store person was very rude to me

  Customer response

  09/02/2022

  There's a new update from the shop, last week I spoke with corporate and they told me to take the car to the shop in Gulf breeze, so I took the car yesterday and I'm waiting on a response from the shop to see if they could fix it within the next days, I will let you know any updates on the repair

  Business response

  09/29/2022

  I represent Tuffy Automotive. I do not see any instructions on how to respond so I will put my response here. Juan brought his car in for repair. We completed the repair within the time frame quoted. After Juan picked up his car he had a couple issues that we resolved. He had a part failure bout a month after the repair and we warrantied that part for him. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Josh ******* ************

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