ComplaintsforCountry Side Auto Repair Inc

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On March 13, 2023, I had my like-new condition 2019 ****** Crosstrek towed to Country Side Auto Repair. I had drained five quarts of transmission fluid from the vehicle by mistake and was not comfortable refilling it. ****, the Service Manager, said they were fully capable of doing this simple service, and per my tight time schedule. I provided six quarts of genuine ****** fluid for the job. On March 14, I picked up the car. The transmission was at least two quarts underfilled (they used less than three quarts) and they managed to strip the fill plug in the process. **** and the technician who did the work could not demonstrate or display any kind of competence or an understanding of what the procedures are to do the work correctly. I would absolutely never let them touch one of my vehicles again. It cost me over $900 for a competent shop (****** dealer, ****************) to extract the plug and fill it correctly. I believe their cost reasonable given the amount of work involved to get the necessary clearance to address the issue without causing further damage to the vehicle. The critically low fluid level, if left unresolved, could have resulted in catastrophic failure of my vehicle's transmission. **************** discovered the stripped plug in my presence and took the photographs attached here. Country Side is responsible for the cost of repairing the damage they caused to my vehicle. The owner, *********************, would not take any responsibility other than saying I should have brought it back to his shop (and risk further damage). In fact, he told a story blaming ****************, a factory authorized service center, claiming they had stripped the fill plug and taken advantage of me. Mr. ******* is not credible. For example, he actually mis-identified the fill plug fitting as an ***** type. It is a Torx, or "star" fitting. That alone would explain why it was stripped. I have all emails on file including a statement from the dealer's service manager.

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  After you sent me pictures of what the fill plug looked like, I spoke with my technician who worked on your car, and he said there is no way that fill plug looked like that after he worked on it. If it was stripped out like that here, he would not have been able to remove the fill plug at all to add fluid then tighten it back down. It did not look like that when it left our shop. I believe this dealership stripped it out, either with a defective tool or incorrect size tool, and they are trying to blame us for this. When you called me to inform me of the situation, I told you right away to bring it back to us and I will take care of it, however, you had already given them the approval to fix it before you even spoke with me about it and expected us to pay your bill without giving us a chance to fix it first. Even though we did not strip it out, I would have taken care of it because that was the perception you were told. I spoke with my lead technician, that has over 30 years of experience, showed him the pictures and he knows exactly where that fill plug is located. He said he has a way to remove that fill plug in less than 15 minutes. The bottom line is you were given bad advice by this dealership and should have been told to take it back to the shop that they claim stripped it out. Anytime we discover a mistake that was done by another shop, I always tell the customer to bring it back to that shop and give them the opportunity to fix it and I have done this many times in my 20 year career in the automotive industry. Its what the right thing to do is, not about how much money you can charge a customer. 

  Customer response

  05/01/2023

   
  Complaint: 19955308
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The business underfilled my transmission, stripped the filler plug and clearly is not competent to perform this or any further service. This has been verified by me personally and attested, with proof, by a factory authorized service center. The response by the owner is not credible, simply seeks to shift the blame, and insults my intelligence. They will take no responsibility, do not even address their inability to fill the transmission, which he has not disputed or addressed at all. They have made no effort or offer to resolve. Taking the vehicle back to them to fix problems they don't even acknowledge was simply never a reasonable option.

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  05/03/2023

  We at Country side Auto Repair will not reimburse the customer the amount requested as we were not given the opportunity to fix what he was told we are responsible for. 

  Customer response

  05/03/2023

   
  Complaint: 19955308
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  The business failed to perform the service charged and further damaged my vehicle. I have every right to ask for reimbursement for the damage and reject any further service and chance to cause further damage by this objectively proven incompetent and negligent auto repair shop.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

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