ComplaintsforSonny Merryman, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had Merrymans' work on our church bus. They said they had fixed the problem, but it broke down on us and had toi be towed back to them. They then told us the fuel tank was rusty and needed replaced. They gave us a quote of $2,400 to replace the fuel tank. They kept the bus three weeks, when they had finished the work they said, "By the way, we did not estimate the repair right, it will be $1,000 more than estimated. There was never a call made about the increase, they did not tell us until after the work was done. I can find fuel tanks on line much cheaper.

  Business response

  01/12/2022

  Mr. ******** brought his 1995 International bus to us on 19 November 2021 with a complaint of low power. We brought the bus in and followed troubleshooting steps during which we found the fuel filter contaminated with what appeared to be rust. After checking for air filter and exhaust restrictions and finding none we replaced the fuel filter and test drove the bus successfully. Mr. ******** was notified that bus was ready. After Mr. ******** picked the bus up the condition returned and ultimately it had to be towed back to our facility for further troubleshooting. We once again found that the fuel filter was contaminated which led us to a fuel tank inspection where we found considerable amounts of rust internally in the tank. At that point we contacted the local International truck dealer for a quote on a new fuel tank. Mr. ******** was given an approximate quote of $2,600.00 for parts and labor for the fuel tank removal and replacement. The quote was approximate due to the excessive amount of rust on the tank mounting assembly which can lead to unknowns during removal and replacement.  Mr. ******** approved the repair estimate and parts were ordered. When the tank arrived, it was the incorrect tank, it was smaller in volume. It is common on a vehicle of this vintage that incorrect parts are received because most of the parts look up systems do not have accurate information on vehicles this old. We then contacted the International Truck dealer for the correct part, we were advised that the correct tank would be an additional $1,000.00. Our Service Manager attempted to reach Mr. ******** unsuccessfully but eventually reached his wife where she was advised of the additional cost. Her response was that she would let ******* know. The tank arrived and was installed and returned to Mr. ******** without incident. Regarding purchasing parts online, that is not a practice that professional dealerships practice. The parts are typically either inferior or incorrect when received. The final bill was $3,222.72 which was approximately $600.00 over the initial estimate given Mr. ********. We are sorry that Mr. ******** feels he was not treated properly during this service visit to our company, but we made the repair to his bus with the best intentions and safety to his passengers. We have previously made repairs to this vehicle in excess of a dozen times without incident. In our 55 plus years in business we have always put customers first and will continue to. Respectfully, ***** ********* Vice President/Parts & Service  Bus Sales • Service • Parts • Trailers & Containers Central Virginia • Northern Virginia • Hampton Roads • Greater Richmond

  Customer response

  01/14/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. There was a call received by my wife when the original estimate of 2600 was made. I called them back and autherized the work at 2,600 dollars. We never heard from the business again until they called to say it was ready. It was at that time that we were told of the price increase. Tried to claim it had a 100 gallon tank. I have put every drop of fuel in it for 55,000 miles, and never put more than 48 gallons in it. It registered 1/4 tank when I picked it up, put 30 gallons in it, and it was almost full. They were asked to change the oil, and never did, but that is OK, we will go elsewhere. Regards, ******* ********

  Business response

  02/22/2022

  In response to Mr. ********’s latest response there is really very little I can say except that there was certainly a breakdown in communication. I have personally tried to reach out to Mr. ******** by e-mail and phone message in hopes to produce an agreeable solution but have not received a return call or e-mail from him. Kind Regards, ***** ********* Vice President/Parts & Service  Bus Sales • Service • Parts • Trailers & Containers Central Virginia • Northern Virginia • Hampton Roads • Greater Richmond

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