ComplaintsforFresh Start Auto Repair

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 11, 2023 I was told by my insurance company to pick up my vehicle due to suspicious activity with my auto shop (fresh start auto repair) I trusted the shop to look over and fix my vehicle. They sent over a quote 3x what the damage was on my car which flagged insurance fraud, when I contacted them. they said they added more to help me out with parts I didn’t need or want. When I got there to pick up my car they made up a storage fee, which I was told nothing about when I asked them multiple times if I would get a fee. One of the workers told me to leave the car because they are not going to take anymore vehicles due to the construction being done on the property. That was a lie and I was charged 560.00 that I never signed or was verbally told about. On top of that they had my entire car covered in layers of construction debris inside and out. Now I have to explain this insurance fraud attempt to ***** ****, out of 560.00 dollars and still no fixed car.

  Business response

  05/17/2023

  Tell us why here...On Friday, March 17th, 2023, *** **** **** came into the repair shop Fresh Start Auto Repair in regard to a noise in his rear wheel. *** **** told us that he had recently received his 2007 **** ******** back from multiple different auto body repair shop due to an accident back in October of 2022. *** **** complained about the service he received from both of those body shops stating they had his vehicle for over 3 months. *** **** was told that his vehicle would be checked out first thing that following Monday morning 3-20-2023 due to it was already late in the day Friday and we are closed for business on weekends. We talked with *** **** before he left that day an explained to him that that the noise could be something that was caused due to the accident the vehicle was in back in October. We then explained to *** **** that if we felt that is the case, we would contact the insurance company (***** ****) on claim #**-****-***** and go about putting in a supplement for the accident. and go from there. The following week we put *** ****s **** on the lift to check it out to notice the passenger side rear wheel was bent and off balance. Due to the wheel being off balance an bent it caused the rear shock to weaken and caused the rear brakes to not function correctly and not wear normally. When we removed *** ****s Rear wheel, we noticed it was not the actual wheel that was bent it was the Rear Differential and axle bent. At that point we proceeded to call around to local automotive parts companies to get prices on the parts needed to repair the vehicle. When we contacted *** **** about the cost, which was Tuesday March 21, 2023, he proceeded to state that he could not afford to fix the issue at that time, so we suggested we contact his insurance company (***** ****) to let them know there was more damage to the vehicle then the original shop had reported. We then contacted ***** **** to start the process of the supplement order for the damages to the vehicle. ***** **** sent me an web address to upload an estimate for the job for part and labor time which was done and also attached to this letter. We did not hear back from ***** ****, so we contacted *** **** in regard to the issue. He then contacted them from our understanding and was waiting for a call back. On Thursday March 23th, 2023, we had a vehicle towed in and as the driver was coming in with the tow truck our main entrance way collapsed and caved in to a 12-foot drop and we had to close the shop. At this point we could not work due to property grounds were not safe an no vehicles could come in or out of the shop. *** **** was aware of this accident and was told his vehicle is in a safe spot an no harm could be done to it, and at this point we were already into a claim with his insurance company. The following week we went into the shop because we had the adjuster out for the damages to the building property an had a missed called on our phone from *** ****. We called *** **** up and he proceeded to let us know he finally talked to the adjuster for his vehicle an he wanted to come out an see it. We agreed to let him come to the shop to see the damages of the ****. The adjuster was supposed to come Wednesday March 29th, 2023, but never showed up. We contacted the adjuster he told us he would be there the next day at noon. At this point in time our business has been closed. We came in the following day just to meet with the adjuster, and he looked over the vehicle and told us he would be in touch with us or the owner in regard to what is next. Our shop was closed From March 24th, 2023 - April 3th, 2023, due to construction. But in that time period we never heard back from the insurance company. I then talked to *** **** and was told ***** **** wanted him to take his vehicle to another shop for another opinion which we later found out that was not true because ***** **** contact us asking for an update to the vehicle and i told them that *** **** told us that ***** **** wanted him to take it to another shop and that stated he contacted them about it. We then contacted *** **** about this issue an he stated the insurance company is lying an i quote" Playing Mind Games" with him. The adjuster got back in touch with us later in the day on 4-4-2023 and told us that he told *** **** that they wanted us to take the vehicle apart and send them photos of the internal damages that we felt were caused by the accident. When we asked who would be paying for the labor time for the break down, we were told it is on *** **** to pay the cost of that unless they felt the accident was the leading cause of the damages afterwards. We told *** **** he would have to pay for the labor for us to break the vehicle components down for the insurance company and also for the vehicle being on the lift until they come up with an answer to whether or not they would be paying to replace the bad parts. *** **** then stated he would be contacting them about the issue. He then contacted us the following day and stated he got into a heated argument with management about the issue. We asked him what he wanted us to do he then asked how much it would cost just to replace the Rear Differential without doing the shocks and brakes. We told him it is recommended to change the other components, but we gave him the price at $2500.00 that was with Parts, Labor, fluids an 1 year warranty for the Rear Differential. He then stated again he can't afford it. On April 11th, 2023, *** **** came in again stating he was taking his truck out of our facility because he cannot afford to get the work done, we then stated due to this vehicle was still under a insurance claim that there is a storage fee for the vehicle to be in the shop. We did not charge him for storage for the days the business was closed due to the construction. We charged him for 10 days of storage at $50 a day which is posted on our walls and *** **** was aware of this because we told him prior when he wanted to take the vehicle the first time when he stated the insurance company told him to take it and we later found out it was a lie. We told *** **** his insurance company could possibly pay the storage fee, but he contacted them, and they refused to pay because he took the vehicle out of our shop on his own. Vehicle was in my Shop from March 17th- April 11th, 2023. That is 25 days in total minus the 12 days due to construction and also didn't charge him for the first 3 days when it first got there due to, we did not look at it till the following Monday. Which come out to 10 days of storage fees at $50.00 a day that's totals out to be $500 plus tax at 8% equals $540.00. *** **** paid with a credit card which added a 4% convenience fee which brought his total to $560.00. When the full storage should have been 25 days at $50.00 a day with tax would have come out to be $1,350.00 since it was an insurance claim, and they did not get back to us during any of those days when we were closed. *** **** has come in making threats to tell people we are not a good reliable repair shop; he has gone on google and made a fake account to put a bad review about our business and also about the business before us who work on his vehicle. And has also put in reviews for his own place of business to make it as if he was a customer and he helped them in his own place of work. Attached to this letter is the supplement sent to ***** ****, The receipt for *** ****s 10 day storage fee and also a copy of our storage an fee sign on our wall. 

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