Public Mediation

Stinggray Automotive-Dispute-#1817338 HIGHWAY ROBBERY

E. R. vs. Stingray Automotive
13501A N. Hwy 183, Austin, Texas, 78750, United States
Amount Involved: $300.00
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Stingray Automotive
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 1817338
    • Amount Involved: 300.00
    • Filed On: Aug 15, 2012
    • Posted On: Aug 26, 2012
    • Complaint(s):
      • Bad business practices
      • Problem with a service
      • Contract / Agreement / Promise dispute
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (6) - View
Claimant says:
"I took my Van to Stingray Automotice on August 01, 2012. I spoke to Mr. John Lasker, owner/mechanic about my airconditioning problem. He told me that he knew what the problem was. I asked him if he could tell me how much it would cost me to fix the problem with the A/C. Mr. John Lasker quoted me a price of $80.00. My next question was, how long will it take you to fix it? He said, bring your van in tomorrow morning @ 9:00 a.m.. It should take me about an hour but no more than four hours to have it ready. I was there the following morning at 9:00 a.m.. Four hours latter I went to check on my van as he suggested. Mr. John Lasker approaches me and tells me, you are in big trouble. Why is that, I asked? He said, it's not going to be no $80.00 to fix your van, it's going to be a lot more. How much more I asked? He said between $180.00 to $190.00. About three more hours go by and John calls me and asked to go to his shop. He had the van torn apart, and said, It's a lot more work than I expected. If you want it fixed, you're looking at $300.00.
We agreed on 300.00. I paid him 300.00 cash. He refused to give me a cash receipt. I still have the same identical problem with the A/C.. He does not want to work on it anymore, he will not refund my money nor is he willing to give me a receipt. He ran me out of his shop, but I called Austin police. All they could do was ask for a receipt, but to no avail. They advise me to contact BBB. I got a case # 12-2270676"
...
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Stingray Automotive Hide
  • Aug 24, 2012, Stingray Automotive (responding party) added:

  • On Wednesday 8/1/2012, Edwardo Rodriguez (Mr Edwardo)entered Stingray Automotive with an a/c vent control problem. While conversing with him on the front counter with my office assistant present, I explained to him the problem he was having was due to a vacuum problem I believed. The complaint…customer stated as soon as he got into the throttle of his 2000 ford van with 139270 miles on it that he would loose the a/c from his vents. He was heading out of town and needed it fixed instantly. With a full shop already I asked him to drop it off first thing in the morning and I would do my best to get it fixed the same day. I stated I would do a vacuum test to try and determine the problem for him. I explained to him that I would start with an 80 dollar charge and go from there.
    On 8/3/2012 Mr Edwardo dropped his vehicle off and walked home. I test drove the vehicle and as soon as I pulled from Stingray Automotives driveway the air failed. The vents would change from dash vents to defrost vents. In the 1 mile loop around the block the a/c vents failed several times. The first diagnostic test was a vacuum test to the back of the control panel. The Mitchell manuals call for 1.2($113.58) hrs to remove and replace this item. The next test was to check the one way check valve that is in line between the engine and the a/c control head. I then called Mr Edwardo and authorized what I thought the bill would go to $180- $200. I was not immediately authorized to go further. He would have to talk to his wife and call me back. He returned a call and told me to move forward.
    To get to the valve I had to remove half of the dash on the pass side and remove the left front fender to avoid from removing the a/c box which mitchell manuals calls for 8.5 hrs ($804.53). Mr edwardo informed me on one of his first visits that he was a mechanic until 1980 and had some knowledge of the workings. His reasoning for sharing this information was because he wanted to help work on his van.
    After several visits from Mr Edwardo he walked in around 4 o’clock and I was at a stopping point, because the route I took to try and save him money and be able to complete the job in one day. Found me at a dead end and the a/c box would have to be removed to get to the valve correctly. I showed Mr Edwardo the valve with a mirror and a flash light in a small hole thru the side of the body where the fender was removed. He asked me to drill a hole to get to the valve so we did not have to remove the a/c box.
    I told him the cost would be close to 500 dollars. $ 473.25 for a total of 5. hrs. He refused to pay what I wanted to check and/or replace the valve. I explained I already had worked on the van for 5 hrs and had 5 more hrs to get the valve checked and or replaced and then to put it back together. His reply was “sometimes to win, sometimes you loose. And My friend this time you loose. I will pay 300 dollars and no more to get to that valve”. I was not willing to agree at first but after he kept on about how much business he would bring back to my shop and all the friends he had. I decided I would agree to finish getting to the valve and REPLACE it and the vacuum line going to the vacuum tank no matter what we found for 300 dollars cash.
    He was told I would stay and finish the van as late as it took. I used a small air saw and cut lines above the passenger tire in the fender well, pealed back the metal to get to the valve and replace it and line going to the vacuum box. The valve was bad. It’s a one way check valve and the bladder was busted allowing vacuum to go both ways. Mr Edwardo was shown the valve and he agreed it was bad. I banged the entire metal fender well back into place and sealed it with rtv after I replace the valve.
    I got two visits from Mr Edwardo from 4 until 8, each time he was in my shop he praised my work and my shops condition. When Mr Edwardo was called to pick up his vehicle I told him I went around the block twice and the a/c did not fail.
    When Mr Edwardo returned to pick up his van he refused to pay for his vehicle until he drove it and verified it worked.
    While He was driving his van his wife praise my shop as well “your shop is so nice and clean and organized, you call tell a good mechanic by the way you keep it “she said. She also said “Edwardo praised me and my shop and also he wished he could have worked in such a nice shop.
    This is where things went wrong. I replied to his wife. “Your husband is raving about me but yet he didn’t trust me enough to pay me until he test drove the van himself or even want to pay me the full amount I wanted to fix his van”. She said she understood my feelings and they were warranted. She replied “I am in business and I have found you could not always make everyone happy”. “Some you just can’t” she replied.
    Upon his return from the test drive, “very good job John it works great”. He said. “I will be glad to pay you these 3 fresh crisp bills” He handed me $300.00. He was aware there would be no ticket wrote up and he was ok with that to get the 300 dollar price. He left shortly after his test drive around 8:00 pm with his wife following the van in her 2008-2010 Lexus convertible.
    Several days later my assistant received a call from Mr Edwardo and he told her when the he accerated extreamly hard the van loses the vents again.
    After I returned his call he demanded I replace the valve again because it was a factory defect and he wanted another one. I told him I did not think it was bad but I would replace it again. I would have to order one and as soon as I got it I would replace it. I also explained if it was something else I was unable to help him with it quickly due to the work load.
    He dropped off his van approximately two weeks later and I replace the valve with a new one. It was not bad. He asked me how come I fixed it once and I could not fix it again. I explained there were more problems then just the valve it could be the vacuum box not holding enough vacuum.
    I picked up Mr edwardo with a vacuum gage on the van under the wipers to be viewed while we drove. I showed him there were more vacuum problems to be fixed.
    He asked me to continue to work on it and I declined. I had two over 16 hrs of work on his van which put me almost 2 days behind.
    This is when Mr Edwardo started yelling at me saying I was a poor excuse for a mechanic and he wanted all his money back.
    He was informed there would be no refund because the money he paid did not even cover the diagnostic fees never the less the repair bill…
    When I repeated his statement to him “aren’t you the one who said? Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose” he got very verbally aggressive and threaten to break my arm if I touched his van, as I tried to back it out of my shop. He chased me from his van and I had to call the police to have him removed from my shop.
    Its very unfortunate That Mr Edwardo feels ripped off. We worked very hard and very long hours to save him money and fix his van. We are extremely sorry he doesn’t appreciate it.

  • Aug 29, 2012, Claiming party added:

  • Not only is Stingray Automotive run by a CROOK, but this guy is a compulsive LIAR. Don't take my word for it, check him out yourself. Go to Yelp and see what other victims have to say about this bandit.

What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Refund: Failure to repair what he said he would Aug 30, 2012 $300.00
2. Other – Copy claim to regulators Aug 30, 2012 $14.95
3. Other – Pay for claim posting cost Aug 30, 2012 $7.95
Cash total : $322.90
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Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:
  • I disagree with the Terms

    ""

This claim will remain posted until resolved.

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