I am writing now to ask for legal advice. Specifically, what are my rights in the following situation?
The mechanic has stated on a number of occasions that he only uses new parts on brakes. I’ve discovered that he has installed remanufactured calipers on my car, and charged me for new ones. Since he also put on a master cylinder, I’m assuming he did the same thing here, but I can’t tell.
I have gone through hell in the past three weeks, first trying to get my brakes to work properly, paying through my nose to do it, and now finding out that this guy is screwing me. And I have proof. Since I don’t trust him, I feel like my warranties are void and worthless. So if one of these parts goes, I’m not taking the car back to him. Can I get any/all of my money back?
The reason I got calipers in the first place is because after getting the master cylinder and rear brakes installed, my brake pedal still went to the floor. He insisted that I had air in my lines and that calipers were to blame. After getting the work done, I asked another mechanic if what this guy was telling me was true, and he said no. What he was saying just can’t happen, (i.e. you can’t draw air into the system without losing brake fluid). So this guy was screwing me all along. If you have any specific questions, e-mail me or take a look at the above thread.
I just wanted to say that almost every reply you get to this thread will state not to get legal advice from a message board and they are right. Look for legal advice from a pro, get suggestions from a MB. But take all suggestions with a grain of salt.
That said…
Now IMNAL so I can not give you specific advice however it does sound like you have been screwed. What you might want to do is talk to the Better Business Bureau and ask them what should be done. You could also talk to the guy and ask him why he used re-manufactured parts. As far as the wrong “diagnosis” of your problem, look at all the doctor threads here and you will see that no one is perfect at their job. He is just like any other human and makes mistakes. If the mistake was on purpose however, then you might have a case.
As far as getting money back, all you could get probably would be the price of the re-man’ brakes. As far as labor or anything like that I seriously doubt he would do it out of free will.
find out if your state/provincial government operates a consumer protection, and try them. The level of assistance varies from jurisdiciton to jurisdiction - some just hand out pamphlets telling you your rights, others may make phone calls, others may actually have investigators.
Fair enough. And I have contacted an attorney. I just have not met with him yet. I was hoping that an attorney or two out here could give me some more information.
I have also contacted my Office of Consumer Affairs, and they sent me a form to fill out. I also called the BBB, and they have a “satisfactory” rating on this guy. I’ll have to file a complaint… maybe that’ll change his rating.
At a minimum, the guy promised you new parts, and put remanufactured ones on. You’re entitled to the difference in cost between the two of them (minimal as it may be). If you’re particularly persusaive, you might also be able to convince the judge that the guy’s deception reduces the value of the warranty, and that you should receive some refund for that portion of the cost of the job, too.
Small claims courts are pretty user-friendly. It costs about $5 to file an action, which you do by simply filling out a form. The court usually serves it for you, and you just show up on your hearing date with proof and witnesses on hand and explain your side of the story to the judge. It works just like The People’s Court, and you don’t need an attorney. Just bring your receipts and your mechanic friend, and have the car in the parking lot on the off chance the judge wants to see it.
Hie yourself down to the local county or state courthouse and ask the clerk about small claims filings. They usually have a nice little booklet with lots of handy information.
US consumer law varies, of course, depending on what state you live in. So do the laws pertaining to mechanics liens, which allow shops to repossess and auction vehicles when the owners fail to pay for repairs (it doesn’t sound like they’re relevant here- you’re suing, not refusing to pay, but I just thought that I’d mention them.)
What really seems stupid is that the remanufactured parts are probably no worse than new parts. Assuming that new parts are on the market (sometimes even the dealerships only stock rebuilt or remanufactured on some parts), it sounds like he did it either out of convenience or to increase his profits (no, I’m not that gullible, I’m just entertaining the possibilities.)
State or city Consumer Protection Board are your best bet. Also, if your local newspaper has an “action line” type column, you might get help from them (though that feature, once common, is rare these days).
Don’t bother with the BBB. All they can do is downgrade the man’s rating (and it’s not likely they’ll do it on one complaint). BBBs have no authority and, due to liability concerns, they are very cautious about saying anything negative. Sending a letter of complaint won’t hurt, but most likely won’t make much difference.
In my experience, you can FORGET about small claims court (hereafter referred to as “SCC”).
Here’s why:
-the defendant usually gets two or three chances to show up. If he defaults on the third date, the judge will usually find for you, and award you a judgement (so far so good).
-getting a judgement and actually collecting ARE TWO UNRELATED MATTERS!-the defendant will usually try to weasel out of it; if he refuses to pay, you have an option:
(1) hire a lawyer and sue him in civil court-this will cost you at least $1000.00 up front(2) hire a constable (who will expect at least 30% of the award for his pains)
Either way, the guy can string this out for more than a year-and in the end, with your time off from work, headaches and such, you will probably regret ever going to court.
My advice: cut your losses and go to a good brake mechanic-the problem should be solvable with a few replaced parts!
Wow, EG. This is getting depressing! Thanks for the perspective. I would probably have to agree with you, though. In talking to my attorney, he said the odds are that what I can get out of this is the difference between the re-man’d and new parts. I might be able to get some compensation for the fact that I wouldn’t go back to this guy for warranty work, but that’s not a certainty.
All in all, this mechanic probably figures that a) most people would never check his work anyway (or know how to), and b) if they did, it would be too much of a hassle to track him down. Is it worth the pain and aggrevation? For most people, the answer is no, and he knows it. A couple of things I have in my favor. 1) I know he lied about the types of parts he used, and 2) I paid for it with a credit card. I could always contest the charges and let my credit card company come to a solution. In the worst case, I’m out what I’m out anyway… and if anything does happen to go wrong with the brakes again, I’ll be going somewhere else anyway, so the warranty is lost. My attorney has offered to write a letter to begin the legal process (he’s as pissed about it as I am), and he will take it to court if necessary… but he doubts it will come to that.