Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2022

  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.

  I brought my 1969 ******* **** * to UNIVERSALLY MODIFIED in Sterling Virginia. I own several classic vehicles; my previous mechanic no longer lives in the area. So I decided to give UNIVERSALLY MODIFIED a chance to service my vehicle and other(s) moving forward if this experience works out. It wasn’t long to find that this shop is extremely overrated and overpriced and THEY CAN’T PROVIDE WHAT WAS PROMISSED! My issue on my 1969 ******* was the vibration and hesitation on acceleration, I was estimated by Troy initially for $4952.62 of recommended services! I was shocked to see them write this estimate, and to SUM it all up, they wanted to put bigger holly carbs, new starter, and tune up the car. Put in mind that it’s a pristine 1969 ******* **** * which is up for sale for $90K, by no means this car needed anything like this kind of service, I explained how we replaced the Harmonic Balancer and that that didn’t change vibration and I left the old Balancer in the car for them to see. After we agreed on the services above, I was promised this vibration and hesitation was going to be eliminated. Upon pick up, the ******* Road like garbage! I immediately contact Troy explain my concerns, after paying him $3486.23. I expected him to warrant his repairs and to correct his mistakes. Currently the same issue still existing. At no time did **** ** ****** authorized any additional charges which we are currently disputing the amount of $1,654.10 which just posted on our account on 5/16/2022 from UNIVERSALLY MODIFIED. UNIVERSALLY MODIFIED was to correct the repairs on 5/11/2022 and warrant their repairs do to failure of proper services provided **** ** ****** was NOT told of any additional charges or was ever authorized

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2022

  Hello. This is William M********** with Universally Modified. I am responding to the complaint submitted by **. ****** from **************. After reviewing his complaint and speaking with the shop manager, business manager and technician, I am ready to give more details about the incident in question. **. ****** had originally contact us about a rough running/vibration issue from his 1969 ******* **** *. The issue was present even after he had brought it to his personal mechanic who could not fix the vehicle even after throwing numerous parts on the car to try and fix it. When the vehicle initially came in, we had discovered that the carburetor was improperly rebuild by the previous mechanic and there was a significant misfire from the #4 cylinder. After diagnosing the rough running issue, we began diagnosing the vibration. Now whomever reads this may or may not understand how difficult an engine vibration is to diagnose, but long story short, the previous mechanic made an assumption about the harmonic balancer and had it replaced to try and fix this issue. These typically do not go bad, but can be the incorrect type (28oz 50oz or 0). This type is determined by internal factors when the engine is built and is impossible to know what type your engine is without disassembly.
  
  During our initial "fix" we made an assumption that the original balancer was correct and that the vibration was caused by the misfire, but after the customer picked the vehicle up the first time, he informed us that the issue was still present and he wanted it fixed "At all costs" and that he cannot sell a vehicle in this condition. we informed him that the only way to know for sure what the issue was was to due the minor disassembly (which consisted of removing the oil pan) to determine the part numbers of the internal components. Finding these part numbers confirmed that it was a 0 balance engine and the harmonic balancer was incorrect with it having a 28oz.  
  
  After discovering this and from the customers previous statements of "go ahead and fix it at all costs", we proceeded with the repair which consisted of labor to remove the oil pan, an oil pan gasket, oil and oil filter and the harmonic balancer. Knowing that our previous assumption were incorrect, in good faith, we did not charge the customer to install the correct balancer (which we needed to purchase) and offered approximately a $100 discount on the other labor.
  
  After the repair was complete, the vibration was totally gone and in my honest opinion the issue was resolved. I had let the customer know and he came to pick the vehicle up. I had explained everything that I have just laid out, but unfortunately the "good news" that I thought I was presenting was not received kindly. I did everything in my power to help resolve the situation, but he had made it clear that no matter what I charged would be too much and that I was just trying to come after him for as much money as possible which is just simply not true. Though he felt cheated, he did give me his company credit card and by doing so accepted payment. We do not store customer credit card information, so by giving us the card he was knowing of the charges and had received both a printed copy of his invoice as well as an email copy shortly thereafter.
  
  I hope that this offers the needed detail to resolve this dispute, but if it is not, I am more than happy to oblige in conversation via email or phone (************)
  
  Also, we are highly rated within the community and I hope that whomever reads this goes on our ****** business to see who the real Universally Modified is.
  
  Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful week!
  
  William M*****