ComplaintsforDon's Auto Body, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  10/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

     Don told *** ****** Bad timing chang They paid for that 1,333.00. But he said to me the motor was no good.If he has cold *** ****** and  said that motor was mp godd theywould have paide for new motor. But he did no. Even try.So the cost of this motor is on himIt has been 1 year, any other peoples that may have come to the vical ? is on himI have found a lot of Motos on the internet

  Business response

  11/03/2022

  Mr. ******** brought in his vehicle on 8/26/21 for us to diagnose motor.  We performed a compression test and diagnosed that the vehicle had bad timing chains.  We had to start somewhere.  We called the warranty company and advised then of this matter. The warranty said they would cover the timing chains.  They sent us a credit card payment of $1333.63 on 9/28/21. it was discovered that the vehicle needed an engine replacement.  Don called the customer to advise of this.  He told us to call the warranty company.  We did call and they told us no coverage  for this.  Don spoke with customer and advised of this, we told him we could not locate a good motor. Don told Mr. ******** if he can find a good motor to go ahead and he can supply his own engine he would purchase.  Don told Mr. ******** he could keep vehicle here until a motor was found by customer.  The vehicle has been here at our shop since 8/26/21.  We have not charged him any storage fees.  They money we were paid from the warranty company would go towards the bill for engine replacement.  If he decides he does not want work performed here, he can take his vehicle elsewhere and we will refund him the money paid by the warranty company. There still we be a fee for the diagnostic time in the amount of $271.88 total.  We will not refund him $4500.00 plus any tax.  He would only receive what was paid to us($ 1333.63) less diagnostic fee of $271.88, which comes to $ 1061.75 

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I requested an estimate from Don's Auto Body (3160 Union Road, Cheektowaga NY 14227 ###-###-####) for collision work on 6/3/2022. I submitted a claim with this estimate to ******** online on 6/5/22. I provided the ******** estimate to Steve G******** at Don's on 6/6/22 and scheduled a drop off of the car for 6/9/22. I dropped off the car on 6/9/22 and was told three days to repair. Received a phone call from Steve on 6/15/22 stating he was waiting on parts and should be ready on Monday. I called Monday 6/20/22 and was told by Steve that the car is complete and it looks great, but he is waiting on ******** to approve the extra work that was done. I received a phone call from ******** (Aaron - in North Carolina) on 6/22/22 approving some of the extra work, but stating that he could not approve all the work as Don's completed work without contacting ******** for approval prior to completing the work and he was concerned that they are charging $65/hour instead of the $51/hour that the other local collision shops are charging. Mr. *** ****** (field adjuster for ********) was sent to the shop to discuss the issues with Steve, some additional payment was added, but not enough to cover all the work per Don's. I was never called by Don's to authorize any additional work and neither ******** nor Don's will budge on the payment for the additional work. Steve from Don's keeps telling me he wants to release my car but he is owed money for the work. The preliminary estimate from Don's was $1,976.80. ******** agreed to pay $1,093.49. My deductible is $250.00. The FINAL total invoice from Don's original estimate plus supplemental work (that I was not informed about) came to $4,688.16. ******** approved supplemental work 6/22/22 (***** *****) at the cost of $2,272.95. ******** then approved a second supplemental work 6/28/22 (*** ******) at the cost of $91.18. There is a balance of $980.54 for the extra work. My car is being held for ransom. 4 weeks on 7/8 I am w/out my car.

  Business response

  07/13/2022

  This is a problem between Dons Auto Body and ******** insurance.  **** ***** has picked up her vehicle today 7/13/22 and only paid her amount of $1093.49. We have apologized to her for the delay.  She is not responsible for the difference in the amount.  That is between ******** insurance and Dons Auto Body.We were not holding her car for ransom.   This issue is resolved with the customer. 

  Customer response

  07/14/2022

  Better Business Bureau:I am unsure as to why they would not release my car after they received the final supplement from ******** on June 28th and why the email they sent to me on June 29th explaining the costs (when I requested the information) stated "Out of Pocket Expense $1230.99", if they never expected me to pay this.  I was without my vehicle for way too long.  I was not contacted by Don's to pick up my vehicle until 7/12/22.  I did receive my vehicle yesterday 7/13/22 and the owner of the company did apologize for the delay.  I have accepted the resolution. Regards, **** ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In August 2021, I drove in my 1955 **** ********** becaue it was leakin oil and I wanted them to repair the engine. I never received any updates on my car, I had to ALWAYS contact the garage to get updates. After 6 months of them having my car, I call again to be told that they cannot fix my engine. They said it would cost about $3500. I get there with a friend who is a mechanic, and we see that my car parts are all over the place. My car has an inch of dust (I have video proof). The windows were left down and it was left in an open bay garage in the back. Cats and other animals were living in my car as there were prints all over. When this was brought up, they just laughed and said that they have cats back there. I brought a flatbed tow truck driver with me to get my car out of there and to another place waiting for my car. The woman at the front was VERY nasty to me. The cops were present during this as well. She wrote 32 hours of labor on the invoice right in front of me. There is no detailed invoice of days and times they worked on my car. I have affidavits from many other local mechanics that stated this should not have taken more than 6-8 hours to take the engine out of my car. We were told that these old cars are much easier to work on as there is no computer or chips in them. They are trying to charge me $5233 for not reparing my car and having animals live in it during the winter. After talking to other people, I found out that they have done this to other people. I am not paying this much since they have NO detailed invoice and just made up a number right in front of me. How do I know it is accurate?

  Business response

  04/28/2022

  On 7/8/21 the customer brought in his 1955 **** ********** car.  He advised us that the car needs a tune up, change the oil and filter, tighten inside screws, sometimes it won't start. Also we were to adjust the doors and go over vehicle. He said air bag switch check, vehicle goes slow and speeds up. dramatic drop when lowering car.   He asked for lake pipes to be ordered and install,  When the mechanic Peter looked over vehicle, found it was leaking oil badly from a previous repair. Pete tried to fix that but someone added an auxillary oil line to feed the drivers rockers. Whom ever built the engine, installed the cam bearings improperly the engine was to far gone, needed to be overhauled. Customer gave the ok to remove and rebuild the motor. Removed the motor. Disassembled the motor and sent to machine shop for machine work. Crank was no good as per **** machine shop. It was then sent to another shop, they said they could not do it.  They could not get parts. We picked up the motor and brought back to our shop. We recommended a different size motor that was newer.  First the customer said ok, then 1 week later he said no. Then the customer and some guy that said he was the brother came in and the other guy( brother) became beligerent.  The police were called to our shop. The reason the car was not cleaned up is because it was stored in the warehouse for some time , not stored outside.  We would have cleaned up the car if they told us.   they were coming.  They customer paid by credit card and they next day he cancelled payment with credit card.  In other words, he never paid for the work that was done. Maybe a cat got into our garage.  Not sure.  We definately had 32 hours into this project. I had to complete invoice on what was done  when he came in and wanted vehicle.  I could not just give him vehicle without paying for what was done.  He owes us money since he cancelled his credit card. 

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