ComplaintsforFranklin Welding & Equipment

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  1. unauthorized, unapproved, very costly charge 2. merchant ultimately refused to service/repair tractor 3. merchant pushed customer to trade in tractor and purchase other used tractor at dealership instead of repairing tractor as desired and requested 4. merchant placed customer signature on documentation that customer had never seen before 5. merchant did not provide any details on exiting invoice 6. merchant did not return calls/voicemails for weeks 7. merchant violated Code of Virginia Title 59.1. Trade and Commerce Chapter 17.1. Automobile Repair Facilities Act § 59.1-207.3.

  Business response

  02/11/2022

  We at Franklin Welding feel that all of the customers complaints are false. The customer called about an IH 354 tractor a few days prior to Wednesday January 5th and asked a few questions regarding water being pushed from the radiator. He decided to bring tractor and he dropped it off on Wednesday January 5th. On the original phone conversation I indicated that I could begin working on the unit within a few days. The unit was brought into the shop and it was found to have several problems. The diagnosis and repair options are detailed in the attachment terra email. Prior to sending the email I spoke with ****** on the phone going over the information in the email and it was sent shortly after our phone conversation. A short amount of time went by (maybe a day) and customer called back stating that he did not want to go with any of the options listed and that he only had $3000.00 to spend. At this time I told him that I would try to figure a cheaper option but that we had a high workload and I would get back with him as soon as possible.Before I got back with him his wife left several voicemails saying that she would have to sell a horse to pay for repairs and fussing that we had not responded.We then spoke to ****** on the phone and he was advised that we would stick to our original 3 options listed in email and that there was a charge of approximately $850.00 for diagnosis and teardown and the required assembly  for him to pick up if no repairs were desired. He was also told that the tractor would not be ready for pickup until Saturday January 22 due to technician being on a service call in ********** **. On Friday January 21 the customer called and said he would be picking up his tractor that day. It was again stated that the tractor would not be ready until Saturday but that if there was any way possible we would get it back together and let him know as soon as possible. I personally took my lunch break and reassembled the tractor to try and help the customer out and reduced the total charge to him to the 786.84 charged on attached invoice.The only thing the customer signed and the only signature we have on file for him is the signature required when using a credit card to pay.1- as documented in the attached invoice we had a phone conversation with customer prior to removing the head to let him know that there was no going back after removing it.2- we gave the customer several options and he stated that he did not have that much money to spend on this repair.3-we tried to advise customer that spending the amounts listed in the email was a large amount to invest in a tractor this old and offered another option of trading it for a used tractor on our lot.4-The only signature we have is on His credit card receipt5-The exiting invoice is attached and has over half a page of detail6- The tractor was here from January 5th until January 22. It was only here for a little over 2 weeks and we communicated several times during this period.7- Customer has not contacted Franklin Welding at all since picking up tractor. 3-

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