ComplaintsforGear Grabbers Garage LLC

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 3/9/2024, my engine light in my jeep came on. I called my warranty company to ask what to do, they suggested I take my jeep to the Gear Grabbers Garage shop. My warranty company is or was Car shield/American Auto Shield. The vehicle was diagnosed with several different problems. At first, I was told it was spark plugs. Then I got a call from the shop stating it was a bigger issue, which had to do with the solenoids and an oil leak. The shop then started a claim with my warranty company, the claim was ultimately denied. I then chose to go ahead and pay the cost of the repair out of pocket. I was told the estimate to fix those issues would be $1945.00. The actual cost was $*******. The car was then fixed, and I picked it up and paid the $******* on 3/26/24. At the time of pick up, ***** told me that there is an audible ticking noise that they didn't notice at first, she said my jeep should be fine and the ticking should go away after a few oil changes. Not even 24 hours later, I was at a stop light when the engine light began flashing and my jeep start shaking and felt like the car was going to stall out. I immediately called GGG, they told me to bring my jeep back to the shop. I did take it back. They then diagnosed my jeep as the lifters and camshaft. The shop then started a second claim with my warranty company who again denied the claim. I called GGG on 4/18/24 at 10:27AM and told them the warranty company denied the second claim, **** asked if I wanted to continue with the repair. I told her no; I am sending someone to tow it home for me. A family member went to the garage to get the vehicle and loaded it up on his flat bed and towed it home to my house. I checked out the jeep when it got delivered home, to find my engine is taken apart and there are engine pieces in the back of my jeep. I messaged GGG ******** page as it is after hours and let them know how wrong this situation is. I also want the BBB to know that this shop, specifically **** and ***** committed fraud to my warranty company. They told me to lie and say I had my car towed the second time the break down happened on 3/27/24. I did as told, and let the warranty company know that I had my jeep towed to the shop. I ended the call with the warranty company and called GGG where **** answered the phone, I let her know that I had just gotten off the phone with the warranty company and that they said they will need a receipt for the tow, and I told the warranty company and GGG that I did not have a receipt. **** said, ok, I will let ***** know, she will get it taken care of. On 4/11/24 at 11:57AM **** called me and said, ***** found a tow company that will make us a receipt for the tow. The fake receipt was sent to my warranty company. I am now stuck with a taken apart jeep and out ******* for the first repair, which my warranty company stated they should have never made that fix. I am also out of ****** I paid my family member to tow my jeep back home. Not to mention all the time and stress this situation has caused me.

  

  Business response

  05/13/2024

  Customer presented while in from out of town. Vehicle was brought in w/no appointment, and we diagnosed right away. Per diag guidelines, and in an attempt to complete her repair immediately, per her request, we indicated that her spark plugs were fouled and we could start there. Customer agreed. Spark Plugs did not fix the misfire, so we indicated that the vehicle would need more diag. Vehicle came in with very dirty oil & it was determined that her VVT & Oil Sending Solenoids were bad. We submitted the repair to her warranty company & they indicated that since she had a history of deferred maintenance that they would not cover the repair. She decided to go ahead with the repair & we ordered parts which took about a week to come in. The repair fixed the misfire, the vehicle was picked up, and she drove it back to where she lives out of town. She then drove the vehicle back to *********** a few weeks later & a tick could be heard. During the initial repair, the intake had been removed, but at no time had the valve covers come off the vehicle. We indicated that we would have to remove the valve cover to see the cams on the passenger side. She okayed the diag. Once again, the warranty company denied the prescribed repair due to the same reason they denied it the first time. She contacted our secretary and indicated that she would be trailering the vehicle back to her place of residence. The shop owner understood this to mean that she was having the work done elsewhere, so he didn't have the valve cover put back on. She was never charged for the diag. Once she got her vehicle back, she saw it was still disassembled. She asked why that was the case, and I expressed our apologies and sent a technician out of town to her home to put the valve cover back on. He had to stop at one place to acquire the vehicle key and go to another location to complete the repair. We also wrote her a check for the $250 she paid her family member to trailer the vehicle as a courtesy for the inconvenience, which she accepted and deposited. She asked why we didn't notice the other problem when the vehicle came in for the initial repair, and I indicated that we don't just start tearing vehicles apart to try to find miscellaneous problems, that the vehicle ran fine when it left, and she agreed that it did run fine all the way back to her home and for three weeks and then back to ***********. There was no way for my technician to see that the cams on the right side were scored, and no reason for him to look. No diag was ever paid for. She was reimbursed for her tow, and no money was ever received from the warranty company. We did what we could to help a person who was from out of town in the most cost-effective and expeditious manner possible. She does agree that the initial repair was effective, thus I don't see any reason to reimburse her for that repair over the fact that we weren't able to predict her other issue. All of her issues were likely secondary to improper maintenance as her oil was in very poor condition  (low and full of sludge) at the initial repair.
  
  Gear Grabbers Garage
  

  
  

  Customer response

  05/14/2024

   
  Complaint: 21598115
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The first repair of the *** & Oil Sending Solenoids was NOT successful. Gear Grabbers Garage states that I took my jeep and drove and had it for a few weeks is a complete lie. I picked up my jeep on March 26, 2024, where I paid the ******* out of pocket. I drove my jeep back home to *********, ** which is about 90 miles away. I then drove it back to *********** the NEXT DAY on March 27, 2024, for my daughter and my doctors appointments and can prove we went to the appointments. On this day, March 27, 2024, we were at a stop light near Benefis (place of appointment number 1), when the engine light began flashing and the jeep began to shake and felt as though it was going to stall out. I immediately called Gear Grabbers Garage, as I did not even have the vehicle for a full 24 hours before the engine light came back on, and the jeep was in the same shape or worse as when I first took it into Gear Grabbers Garage. ***** told me to bring the jeep back. I immediately took the jeep back to ***, on March 27, 2024! This shop has had my jeep in their care from March 9, 2024, until March 26, 2024, March 27, 2024 to April 18, 2024, until I had my jeep towed to my house on April 18, 2024, where the jeep was towed back to my house disassembled. Yes, GGG sent a tech out to my house to assemble the jeep back together on April 19, 2024. Yes GGG reimbursed me ****** for the tow fee. That is NOT the issue.
  
  THE ISSUE IS THAT GGG MADE A FIRST AND INCORRECT FIX TO MY **** THAT COST ME *******. I AM REQUESTING THAT MONEY BACK AS I AM GETTING THE **** FIXED ELSE WHERE, AND THE FIX FOR ******* WAS PUTTING A BANDAID ON A BULLET WOUND, IN LAME TERMS. THE FIX FOR THE *** & OIL SENDING SOLENOIDS WAS INCORRECT AND MISDIAGNOSED.
  
  I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD WHEN GGG, *****, CALLED ME TO LET ME KNOW THAT THE **** WAS FIXED AND READY TO BE PICKED UP, SHE DID TELL ME THERE IS AN AUDIBLE TICKING THAT THEY DIDNT NOTICE UNTIL AFTER THE REPAIR WAS MADE, BUT THAT IT SHOULDNT AFFECT THE WAY THE **** RUNS AND THE TICKING WILL GO AWAY AS I GET A FEW GOOD OIL CHANGES DONE.
  
  In GGGs response, it states, she agreed that it did run fine all the way back to her home and for three weeks and then back to ***********. This is a complete lie, as stated above. I did not have my jeep for a full 24 hours before the engine light came on and the jeep began to shake, and I took my jeep right back to GGG less than 24 hours later.
  
  I would just like my refund for the repair, since it was misdiagnosed and repaired erroneously, so that I can go ahead and get my jeep fixed correctly, elsewhere. AS stated above. GGG had my jeep in their care for over 1 month, and now due to their deceitful business and repair. I am still without a working jeep.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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