Consumer ZProtest from Chris Morris

Chris Morris is my friend. He asksn for very little.

"Sorry for the Interruption

It's Christopher Morris here with a consumer complaint. I would ask that you post this on your blogs or send via email, even though it is a local issue.

First, the good. That's a sentence fragment, but who cares. The Hyundai Motor Company makes an awesome line of cars. They are super reliable, have a great 100,000 mile drivetrain warantee with a great extended warantee to boot for a small sum. They work hard to get the financing at a great rate and easy payments. Their dealers are typical high pressure, negitiate until your teeth hurt salesmen, but come on! That's half the fun. AND their service departments are superior. The fight for warrantee work and give you a loaner car and call every day with updates.

Now, the bad news. Rick Torres Empire Hyundai:

Company DetailsLocation: Fall River, MAFounders: Richard R. Torres, 41
Website: www.empirehyundai.com
Year Started: January 2000
Initial Investment: $200K
Turned a Profit: 2000
First Million: 2002
2002 Sales: $18.4M
2006 Sales: $60.7MNumber of Employees:
Day 1: 9
2006: 85
2007: 111*

Awesome company. Great service department, initially. Four years ago, the let go of some of the service managers and installed a few real hard asses. We fought tooth and nail. Then, when we had a drivetrain problem and a ball joint problem, they tried to screw us.

Background. My father has worked in the automotive service industry for 30 years, with Goodyear, Getty, Moe's Alignment senter (owner, operator) and for Henney's Towing and repair and Glassman Auto (one of the most respected car dealerships and repair facilities in all of the Bristol Area. I had Glassman do the 60,000 mile madatory replacement of the timing belt, water pump and tensioners. ALL Hyundai Certified parts, with an ASE certified mechanic and a full itemization. Their reputation is known in three states as a quality shop.

So, a year later a few problems pop up. We take it to RICK TORRES EMPIRE HYUNDAI. Jeff White, the service manager, is reasonably sure it's all warantee work, but promises to call if there are any problems. Without written consent, he takes the car apart (not even necessary) claims the timing belt is mangled and it's going to cost $450.00, no warantee, to fix.

Hold on, I say. You did not authorize this.

Well, I've got your car in pieces in my bay right now. It will cost you just as much to put it all back to gether, but feel free to take it somewhere else.

Me: when can you have it fixed?

One week.

Oh? So, how are you going to get it out of the bay?

It's going to sit there until you agree to pay or my guy puts it together and we get paid for his time.

Me: My father works at Glassman auto. They replace the timing belt, the water pump and the tensioner. So, they screwed up?

Yes.

Okay, my brother in law works for a dealership and he could shede a little light on this. I want all the parts you take out.

I can't give those to you.

By law, you have to.

No, they have to go to warantee to ensure that we did the right work.

The job you said wasn't under warantee, you said.

It's half under warantee.

I want my my guys to look at the parts before then. They have all the records and they'll see about this.

Well, it's going to cost you that much either way.

So, you've got me over barrel here. This is like blackmail.

I'm just doing my job.

Look, I've been around car repair long enough. You're lying.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Who can I talk to about this?

No one. I'm the manager here.


I'll hand it to JEFF WHITE, he never raised his voice and made me sound like a cranky old man.

Fearing for my car, I apologized and told him to do the work. I even said my stress level was too high and I should not be taking it out on him and that he was doing his job. Which, I didn't tell him, was swindling people.

I did my research and had a few phone calls made to RICK TORRES HYUNDAI.

SHOCK! It all magically got covered under warantee. THEN, they'd stolen money from the car. Yes, we'd left it there on purpose. The last straw.

Facts.

1. NO repair shop can touch your car without a written good faith estimate and cannot proceed beyond that estimate without another written consent.

2. The cannot charge you labor for any work they innitiate to investigate a problem.

3. No company in their right mind ties up a service bay with a car 'totally taken apart' for nine days. They had to put it back together to get it out of the bay to work on other cars.

4. They have no right to lock your car in a gated lock if they have done no repairs, unless they are willing to release it with a signature of receit.

I was blackmailed, lied to and meant to feel very stressed out AND had to kiss the ass of a lying worm of a service manager just to save my car.

Lastly, they dumped motor oil on parts of the engine to make it smoke and smell to try and get us to come in for a supposed oil leak. Nice try.

Customer service cannot get either manager on the phone to resolve this. I want an admission of the lying and blackmail, reprocussions for JEFF WHITE and a watchdog on their ass, like the Mass Better Business Bureau.

They pull this crap with old ladies and women and executives with no car knowledge.

Advice:

Go with your gut. If the price jumps without warning, refuse and ask to take the car immediately with no service charge.

Keep spotless records.

Always ask for parts that were taken out and double check with another shop if you suspect foul play.

SPEAK UP! Squeaky wheel gets the grease. We got our warantee work for $50.00 (on a $600.0 bill).

They are NEVER authorized to do work without an itemized estimate signed by you and cannot ecceed it with another signed release.

If you get screwed, fight back and threaten bad press. Call the local channels scam busters, the papers and blog and email. Bad press will force their hand.

Don't let them badger you. Get your research lined up and call a reputable shop and ask question. It helps to offer the new shop all your following business if they can help.

PLEASE post this or link it or whatever you can do.

Hyundai is a great company. Their service department is excellent, but many LIKE RICK TORRES EMPIRE HYUNDAI's service department are looking to scam.

I invite Rick Torres, his General Manager (not his service manager) to contact me at eliasdolon@charter.net understand, that's not my real name for privacy issues on the net, but I'll feel free to tell you who I am and explain further in a rational way what happened.

cc www.empirehyundai.com"

Please post everywhere and send nasty emails to hyundai