ComplaintsforJohnnie Wright Radiator Service, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took my Freightliner truck to Johnnie Wright's Radiator on or around February 7, 2022. I dropped my truck off to ******* for him to take a look at my radiator. I knew that it was leaking from the top. Around a week after I dropped off my truck, he told me that he had found the problem and that he had fixed it. He told me that the problem was a gasket at the top of my radiator and that he fixed the problem. He also informed me that the radiator was rubbing against the frame at the bottom. He told me that he could fix that also. I told him that if it is not leaking right now then it is fine and I would bring it back if it starts to leak from the bottom. He had already fixed the problem that I brung the truck in for without me telling him to. He proceeded to give me an estimate for the price of fixing the bottom and for replacing my radiator with a new one. He told me that he would fix the bottom of the radiator for $800.00 and that he would replace my radiator for a new for $1600.00. At this point, I was confused because he had just informed me that he had fixed the problem. I would still have to pay for the labor that was already done without my permission so I decided to go with what had already been done. At this point, my truck had been in his possession about 2 weeks. I went to pick up my truck and the price for the the labor that he had already performed was $1000.00. I picked my truck up on Thursday. The week was over so I decided I would start back working the upcoming week. I found a load for that Tuesday. When I crank my truck on Tuesday morning I did a PreTrip Inspection and the radiator was leaking from the same spot. I never ran my load. I never moved my truck. I never checked it when I got it from him. I trusted his word. I called the company and they informed me that ******* wasn't there and was out all week. When I spoke to him the next week, he told me no refunds. He did not try to resolve the issue in any way.

  Business response

  03/03/2022

  Customer Information:
  ***** ********* *** *** *** ** **** ********* ** ***** ******* ****** ***** ******** ******* ************************

   

  Mr. ********* came to our shop on 2-7-21 complaining of a leak in his radiator on a freightliner. He did not specify where the radiator was leaking.  ******* told him we would have to pull the radiator to see.  He told us to pull it and fix the leak.  We removed radiator and upon testing found that it was leaking at the top around a gasket.  It also had tremendous rubbing wear where the side rails were rubbing the bottom of the radiator.  Mr. ********* was informed of the condition the radiator was in and the probability that it was not going to last.  He was given the options of replacing the radiator with a new one or attempting to repair this one knowing it was possibly going to recur eventually.  We priced both options for him. He chose to stay with current radiator knowing that it might last a day and it might last a week.  He said he didn't have the funds to buy a new one so put it on. He paid for the repair ($180), the labor ($540), and antifreeze ($150) for a total of $870 plus tax ($930.90).  He drove off in his truck with no leaks on 2-10-21.  On 2-16-21, he called back claiming the radiator was leaking again and had never stopped. He was given a price on a new radiator with the $180 for the repair deducted. ($723.91) He would also have to pay $540 for labor and $150 for antifreeze because he chose to attempt the repair the first time knowing it was a gamble.  We would have to do the labor and antifreeze again, so he would have to pay those fees.  The repair charges were deducted from the new radiator price.  He became irate and hung the phone up.  He would not bring the truck back for us to look at to check for leaks.  We try to please our customers and aim to work with them if at all possible.

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