Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/16/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  As noted in the attachments, after several attempts, I am asking for Milbert's to reimburse me for the cost to replace the AC line that was cut while my vehicle was at his garage, for a total of $600 (including tax).

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2023

  The two attached repair orders are the only two visits the customer made regarding servicing her current vehicle. Prior to this, she had not patronized this establishment in nearly a decade for reasons not known to me.

  The customer's initial visit consisted of an air conditioning system diagnosis. This was performed with little fanfare from either side, and was left as an "open-ended" diagnosis, meaning that any potential leak in the system was impossible to detect at that given time, however the recharged refrigerant was injected with a UV dye to make identifying the leaking component much easier on a subsequent visit. The customer was instructed to continue to drive the vehicle and operate the air conditioning system as normal, and to report any noticeable degradation in performance to schedule a follow-up appointment, to continue the repair process and identify the location of the refrigerant leak.

  The customer's second visit revealed that the vehicle's a/c condenser was leaking and needed to be replaced to complete the repair. The customer verbally authorized the repair. This repair necessitated the removal of the front bumper cover, rendering the vehicle ostensibly immobile one disassembled to facilitate the repair.

  After we reached that point, and were awaiting the arrival of the replacement component, the customer called and instructed us not to complete the work that she already authorized. She was very annoyed that the work was ostensibly 50% completed by this time, and instructed us not to do anything else to the vehicle as she was going to take it to another repair shop for repair as she somehow "just remembered" that she has some kind of warranty coverage on this vehicle that will purportedly cover the cost of the repair. I suggested she allow us to complete the repair, in light of the fact that I would have to collect payment for the labor to disassemble and then subsequently reassemble the vehicle, and she would only be saving the part cost. She insisted she did not want this and that she would have the car towed from our facility.

  The customer called back after being unable to secure a towing company willing to move the vehicle in its disassembled state she begrudgingly requested we do the bare minimum to get the car mobile so she can take it elsewhere for repair. In the interest of saving the customer as much money as possible, we did as she asked. She picked the vehicle up and drove it away, presumably to another repair facility.

  The next time I heard from the customer she accused us of sabotaging her vehicle with a broken air conditioning line. However, we did no such thing. We simply reinstalled the front bumper cover and placed the old condenser in her trunk prior to pickup. I even charged her a reduced cost in light of her situation in an effort to be as fair as possible. I told the customer that we did not damage her car, and are not assuming any responsibility for any damage discovered after leaving our facility. I asked her how she could possibly know that the current repair facility didn't damage the line and just blame us so they wouldn't have to absorb the cost for their error. She admitted that she had no way of knowing that but believed they are telling the truth, and subsequently, of course, that would mean that I am lying. I made it very clear that I didn't appreciate her unfounded accusation, nor her continued tone of underlying distrust throughout the entire process in my interactions with her, despite my very patient efforts to thoroughly explain the entire process to her and identify what was happening each step of the way, and what the reasoning behind it was. I ended our conversation by firmly stating that Milbert's Car Care will not assume any responsibility for any further purported issues with her vehicle and that we would no longer service her vehicle, and that I would not spend my time speaking to her any further regarding this matter.

  Milbert's Car Care does not assume any liability for any purported damage to Ms. ********'s vehicle. In summary, she had buyer's remorse for authorizing a purchase that she realized later that she should not have due to her purported warranty coverage. Laughably, she also blamed Milbert's Car Care for not alerting her to the potential of such coverage (on an eight year old car, mind you), because, "that's our business". When I asked her how Milbert's Car Care could possibly know what her vehicle's warranty coverage was when we did not sell it to her, she had no other explanation other than that we should have known. In my nearly 20 years experience providing concierge-level customer service, I cannot think of what I possibly could have done differently to please Ms. ******** without being egregiously unfair to our own company. Nor can I recall another customer interaction so absurd.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  While I appreciate Ian’s perspective at Milbert’s Car Care, the fact that it took so long to get a response is undoubtedly going to devolve into a she-said-he-said situation, which will leave me holding the bag as Ian and his employees maintain they have done nothing wrong or contributed to this fiasco.
  
  Let’s set the record straight.
  
  Prior to 2023, I frequently took my vehicles to Milbert’s and was always treated with respect and high-quality service from the former owner, Rick. Please do not confuse my long-time, trusted relationship with Rick with Milbert’s current management or ownership. Needless to say, I will not be bringing my vehicles back to Milbert’s in the future.
  
  To provide clarity around Ian’s account, which as you might imagine, is filled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations about what happened prior to him placing my condenser in my trunk and after placing my condenser in my trunk. None of which is what my complaint was addressing.
  
  Unfortunately, only after I had to involve the BBB did Milbert’s deem it necessary to submit a lengthy response, none of which, by the way, is what my original inquiry set out to understand: “How was the AC line detached prior to placing my condenser in my trunk? Or, for more specificity: How did the condenser get removed and placed in my car if the AC line was not cut at the points where the photos indicate?
  
  During my second visit regarding the AC repair after the problem was unable to be discovered or resolved during my first visit resulting in the usage of dye to determine a potential system leak, I did, indeed, authorize the replacement of the condenser, which at the time was determined to be the problem as diagnosed by Milbert’s. However, I later called and instructed Milbert’s not to proceed with the work because I clarified with Honda warranty coverage was available and that would cover the repair cost, a significant financial savings. Contrary to Ian’s opinion, it is my right as a customer to make informed decisions about my vehicle’s repairs. These service dates are included in my previous timeline, indicating when calls were made regarding the work done on my condenser.
  
  I will not address the incorrect comments regarding the conversations I had with Ian, but will comment on the facts, which were omitted in Ian’s response:
  
  · After picking up my car (after determining Honda could then place the repair under warranty) upon exiting Milbert’s, I quickly needed to return because of an unsecured part, which was dragging underneath the car. Once there, a mechanic popped the hood to determine which part was dragging, but I pointed out it was coming from under the car. Once the part was reattached, I was able to then drive the car.
  - Unfortunately, after leaving Milbert’s and traveling on HWY 79, I noticed the mechanic never closed my hood – leaving it unlatched. I had to pull over to shut the hood.
  · More importantly, I was never made aware the mechanic left my condenser and various parts in the trunk of my car. Ian, however, was aware. I have asked, several times, over the phone and in written letters, “How was the condenser detached prior to placing it in my trunk?” Again, I asked, “Where then, is the AC line?” Miscellaneous parts were placed in
  my trunk, but no AC line. How or why would Honda put the car up to do the repair and then cut the line?
  
  Any reasonable person would consider these additional points as contributing facts regarding the overall quality and attention to detail necessary in a car repair facility when customers are trusting them with one of their largest investments.
  
  Ian “purports” that I accused his facility of, “sabotaging my vehicle.” That is completely false. I raised a legitimate concern based on the timing of the issue and the fact the AC line was intact before the repair process began. It is not unreasonable to question whether damage occurred during the reassembly process. Honda did not even have to begin the repair once they saw that the condenser was in my trunk. The photos clearly show where the line was cut at the end of the condenser and at the other end of the line from under the hood.
  
  The responsibility lies with Milbert’s. This is not an issue of Honda “just blaming us (Milbert’s) so they wouldn’t have to absorb the cost for their error.” Honda did not even begin the repair since the condenser was already removed! The issue, however, is that the AC line was cut while removing the condenser and the $600 charge to replace the AC line was billed to me, a charge I asked Milbert’s to cover for the mishandling of the work performed on my car.
  
  
  
  Regards,

  ****** ********