ComplaintsforNorhwest Battery & Electric LLC

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought this truck on August 25th, 2022. My truck was sent to NorthWest Battery to fix a broken drive line on september 24th 2022. It is December 12th, 2022, and the company still tells me each week that it will be fixed, that parts have arrived, and it will be ready for pick up. I have been told this every single week for months. *****, at NWB tells me this morning that my truck will not be ready tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th of December. He assured me that he and his boss will be working on the truck Friday and Monday to finish it up. He says the parts are there, but his boss won't schedule my truck to be worked on. I have lost work, been let go from a company, and not able to afford the truck at all anymore.

  Business response

  01/11/2023

  Northwest Battery & Automotive Inc. 01/06/2023
  3005 ************.
  ******, ** 59601
  **************
  ****************************************
  
  ID: ********
  
  Responding to the complaint to the BBB from ********************* about service issues.
  
  The truck in question was brought to us in August of 2022, not by *********************, but by *********************** and the dealership where ********************* purchased it.  It was stated on the work order by ***********************, that while he was driving, the rear end "locked up and caught fire".  
  
  09/23/2022 Our mechanic, ****** ******, first diagnosed the truck as needing a new rear differential.  There was a lot of damage, and it was very hard to see exacly what was going to be needed to fix the truck entirely, but the rear differential and rear drive line were needed first to see what else may need to be done.  The dealership was notified of our findings.  
  
  09/23/2022 Upon diagnoses, a work order was put together and discused with the dealership.  The dealership informed us that this repair may be covered under their insurance (Alpha Warranty).  Two different estimates were put together for Alpha Warranty to assess.  One included a Complete housing from a junk yard as parts were not available through the dealership ($3,071.06) and one for only parts to repair the housing that was already present in the truck ($1449.96).  We strongly encouraged the complete housing, knowing there was most likely more damage than we could see.
  
  09/23/2022 A Claim was filed and being reviewed.
  
  09/29/2022 Alpha Warranty requested an inspection from a third party.
  
  10/05/2022 Alpha Warranty denied the more expensive recommended repair but authorized the repair for $1449.96 (Differential Assembly, used rear drive shaft, and 6 Hours Labor)
  
  10/05/2022 Our Service Writer, *****, ordered  parts, and notified our junk yard vendors of the used rear drive shaft that we were looking for.  
  
  10/20/2022 One of our junk yard vendors notified us; they had recieved a used rear drive shaft.  Upon opening the drive shaft, they (the junkyard) found the drive line to be bent.  They notified us and stated they would contact other junk yards to find a replacement as quickly as possible.  
  
  11/01/2022 Our junk yard vendor notified us that they had recieved the replacement rear drive shaft. 
  
  11/07/2022 One of our techs had time availabe to pick up the rear drive shaft from our junk yard vendor and return it back to our shop. ***** put the truck back on the schedule for repair, The soonest available date (needing *********) was 11/28/2022.  
  
  11/28/2022 ****** and another tech pulled the truck in the shop, installed the rear drive shaft and differential.  Filled the differential with oil, and attempted to spin the wheels, and discovered the outer housing bearings were also siezed and seating surface for the pinion seal was damaged due to the drive line snapping, caused by the rear diferential seizing up from the lack of oil in the first place.  
  
  11/28/2022 Another claim was filed and being reviewed.
  
  11/29/2022 Alpha Warranty requested another inspection from a third party.
  
  12/01/2022 An updated estimate was submitted to Alpha Warranty ($6,213.79)
  
  12/01/2022 Claim was being reviewed.
  
  12/02/2022 Claim was approved for complete new axles in addition to original repairs, but refused to cover the cost of labor.
  
  12/02/2022 The truck was put back on the schedule for repair.  Soonest available repair date (for *********) was 12/16/2022.
  
  12/16/2022 Work was performed, and picked up by the dealership in good working order. Final cost ended up being $5,556.80.  Alpha covered $4,776.52 and the dealership covered the remaining $1,281.36 for our additional labor.  ******* picked up the truck the same day from the dealership.  
  
  ALL costs with us were covered by Alpha Warranty and the dealership who first brought us the truck.   ***** never owed/paid us a dime.  We attempted to keep all business/communications through the dealership, as we were aware, the dealership was handling all the billing.  Which they did.  We did recieved several phone calls from ******* (the driver of the truck) asking when the truck was going to be ready.  Unfortunatly we ran into many lengthy snags finding parts, picking up parts, replacing damaged parts, finding more issues needing repair and submitting insurance paperwork.  This truck wasn't just in for a broken drive line as ********************* stated... this truck was badly neglected, then continued to be driven and seized causing it to actually catch FIRE.  So the damage was EXTENSIVE to say the least. ********************* also states in her complaint that we refused to schedule the truck to be worked on, again, not true, the truck was scheduled many times and completed 12/16/2022.  The dealership picked up the truck that day, and ******* was able to pick the truck up that same day.  What happened beyond that, we were not aware of. 
  We can provide all paperwork proving timeline of events, phone records, video surveillance, payments and reciepts if needed to prove our case.  
  Our technicians are ASE certified ******************* of ************ which requires experience, training and extensive testing.  We are very proud of the work we perform here and we stand behind our work.  We've been in business since the 70's and still retain our amazing reputation for finding and fixing problems that other shops in town cannot.  And because of that, we are very busy...typically scheduling out two weeks in advance or farther during our busy times, especially cold weather snaps when we sell and install batteries all day long.  We had one of the coldest weeks of the year right in the middle of ************************* repairs.  If the repair had simply been to replace a driveline,  work would have been completed at longest (finding parts) three weeks.  
  We do feel bad that ********************* or *********************** were without a truck for so long.  Unfortunatly, non of the time delay's that took place were in our control.  We hope they can understand that we did everything we possibly could to get this job finished and out the door as quickly as possible.  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  Northwest Battery & Automotive Inc.
  ***************-Owner
  *************************-Manager
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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