ComplaintsforRay's Auto & Truck Service, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took my **** ***** *** to Ray's Auto & Truck shop on Friday, 02/18/22 to diagnose a noise coming from underneath the car. I sat in the shop for over a half hour. I was told by *****/ Mgmr that the noise was coming from left wheel bearing. I was told it was safe to drive my car until I returned for the scheduled appt. I drove my car on Monday and called ***** to reschedule the appt sooner. On Tuesday, after leaving work, my entire left wheel came off, damaging my front bumper, tire well, and door. ***** said they never took the tire off and therefore, not their problem. My complaint is negligence on behalf of the shop which did not properly inspect the tire for any issues, therefore, the loose lug nuts would have been found.

  

  Business response

  03/02/2022

  Regarding **** ***** and the **** ***** ***
  

  **** ***** called the prior week and originally scheduled her visit for Wednesday, February 16, 2022.  She called and rescheduled for Friday, February 18, 2022.
  Her concern when she called and then later brought the vehicle in on February 18 was that there was a noise at the left front of the vehicle.  Our technician test drove the vehicle and put the vehicle on a lift.  It was determined that the wheel bearing in the left front of the vehicle needed to be replaced.  The technicians did not indicate at that time that the wheel was loose, nor did they remove the wheel or the tire.  It was evident that the tires on the vehicle are fairly new.  This was **. *****'s first visit to our shop so we cannot confirm when or where she had prior work performed on this vehicle.   An appointment for March 2 was made to have the wheel bearing changed. 
  

   **. ***** called on Monday the 21st after driving the vehicle and noticing the noise was louder.   She called to request an appointment sooner than her March 2 appointment.  She rescheduled for Wednesday the 23rd.  She drove the vehicle again on Tuesday February 22, the wheel fell off, and the vehicle was towed to our shop that evening.  When AAA towed the vehicle, they removed lug nuts from the other tires so that they could temporarily install the tire that fell off and load the vehicle onto the tow truck.  On Wednesday morning the 23rd we communicated with **. ***** that the wheel bearing was worn and needed to be replaced.  Again, we did not have the wheel or tire off the vehicle on the 18th and did not indicate that the lug nuts were loose at that time.  Lug nuts would typically be loose because they were removed and not reinstalled correctly, such as when changing or replacing a tire.  A loose wheel would generally cause the car to shake which would be felt while steering and even just riding in the vehicle, especially one loose enough to fall off.   They would not generally become loose from a bad wheel bearing.   A bad wheel bearing usually causes a howling, squealing, or grinding noise and the car to possibly pull one side or the other while steering or breaking.  While checking for a bad wheel bearing, it would be apparent much of the time if the wheel lug nuts were loose.  Again, our technicians did not indicate that they had tightened the lug nuts or that they were loose on the 18th. 
  

  **. ***** asked to speak with the owner on Wednesday the 23rd.  He was sympathetic with her situation, and though he had no way to confirm if the lug nuts were loose at the time of our initial inspection, he did agree to have the wheel bearing replaced and the wheel reinstalled with 5 new lug nuts.  The remaining tires were checked to make sure they were properly installed, and the lug nuts were all tightened.   **. ***** was not charged for any of these services.  The owner said he would not cover the damage to the front fender as we did not remove the tire on the 18th nor did we indicate that the lug nuts were loose on the 18th during our initial inspection.  **. ***** asked that the vehicle be fully inspected by us for any further proble** before she was picked up and brought back to our shop to retrieve her vehicle around 4pm on the 23rd.  Prior to that time, around 1:45pm that afternoon, we received the notice from the BBB that **. ***** had filed this complaint.  The work was already completed, conversations had already taken place and were still being had at that time as were trying to resolve the issues with **. *****'s vehicle.  The final inspection she requested was done prior to her retrieving her vehicle.  We understood her concerns and felt that we addressed the situation to the best of our ability.    

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