My girlfriend was driving about a year ago and her car slid on some ice on the street into a curb. When she hit the curb, it messed up her CV axle. Neither one of us had the money at the time to get the problem fixed right then and there, so she waited until she got her grant from school. When she got her grant, we were looking at the prices at different repair places to fix a CV axle. She wanted to go to the Honda dealer to get it fixed, but it would've cost her $245 just for one axle. So one day, we were going to get something to eat and we passed a repair shop on the way to where we were going. They had a sign saying a CV axle repair is $150 which is almost a hundred dollars less than the Honda dealer, so I suggested that she try them out so she could have some money left over to spend on herself. What a mistake!!!
We went to Tire City the next day and told them she needed a CV axle fixed. They wrote up all the paper work and what made me a tad bit skeptical was she had to pay up front. Most repair places have you pay AFTER the repair is done. Well, we just brushed that off and I told her maybe they make you pay up front so they can ensure that the customer really has the money to get the repair done. They put her car on the lift and was looking at her CV axle. They called both of us over to look at it to show us how bad it really was. The mechanic told us that she needed to get the other CV axle fixed too because it was on the verge of breaking and showed us how it was breaking and sure enough it was breaking.
We went back in and paid the lady at the desk for the other CV axle to be replaced. She told us that her car should be ready by 5 that same day, so we left to kill time. When we were leaving, I was expressing to my girlfriend how awesome it was that they actually showed us the problem instead of us just going by his word. At that point, I felt confident about them. Well, we came back at 5 to see was the car finished. The mechanic told us that the car wasn't finish because there was a rusty bolt holding her CV axle on and he broke 3 tools trying to get it off, so they had to buy some new tools. He was waiting on his coworker to return with some new tools, but as he was waiting he got a slegde hammer and started hitting the bolt I guess to break it off. We asked him when should we come back and he said we should come back the next morning around 11.
My girlfriend had a morning class, so we didn't get to Tire City until around 1. We figured since we came 2 hours later then he suggested, they had more than enough time to finish. When we pulled up, we saw her car still up on the lift with her tire missing. We were looking at each other confused becase we were told the car would be done. We went inside the office about to ask why was her car still on the lift and the mechanic walked in and told us the car isn't done because they realized that her spindle (the thing that holds the tire on the car) was broken and wasn't rotating properly. The first thing that popped up in my mind is he broke it when he was hitting it with that sledge hammer, but I didn't say anything. One of the other mechanics told us she could probably get one from the junk yard for no more than $30. The lady at the desk started calling junk yards and we heard her talking to one saying "You only have one for a Honda Accord (my girlfriend has a Honda Civic), we'll take that one, no no I'm just kidding" and she laughed. She supposedly called another junk yard and they told her it would cost $85. My girlfriend and I were both thinking the guy just told us she would pay no more than $30 dollars for it.
Anyway, my girlfriend gave them the money to get the spindle. Since it was a Friday, they told us to come back on Monday since they were closed on the weekend. Well, Monday rolled around so again we went to Tire City. When we got there, her car was still sitting on the lift with the tire and the spindle missing. We went into the office and asked why wasn't her car done. The mechanic came in and told us that his co-worker couldn't get the spindle from the junk yard on the past Friday because it was closing when they called, so they had wait til Monday to get it. Another mechanic pulled up and had the spindle in his trunk and they was showing it to us. We asked how long would it take for him to replace the spindle. The mechanic told us it would only take 20 minutes, so me and my girlfriend decided to sit in my car and wait for him to finish.in about 20 minutes or so he did indeed finish. He gave my girlfriend the keys and told her it was all done.
Well, I felt a little skeptical so I told my girlfriend to give me the keys. I told her to take my car and I'll take hers. The first thing I noticed when I was driving off was her car was making a noise somewhat like a small airplane. Her car wasn't making that sound when we first brought it in. Next thing I noticed was her brakes weren't working properly. I was attempting to make a turn but I had to miss the turn because her car wouldn't stop completely even with me pressing the brakes to the floor. The car slowed down and gradually glided to a stop and I turned on the next road. Luckily, she didn't live far from Tire City, so I didn't have to drive far with those terrible brakes. My girlfriend had already made it to her house by the time I got there. I parked the car and I got out and told her about the experience I had just had with her brakes and the noise her car was making.
Something told me to walk around the car and examine it. As I was doing so I looked at her wheels and I noticed that one of her lug nuts were missing from her wheel. She got so upset about the let down she just experienced that she cried. I called Tire City right then and there and a guy answered the phone that I believe was the manager. I told him about the noise it was making, he told me that would only be temperary because the car wasn't use to the CV axle fitting so tightly yet. I told him about the brakes, he told me to get in the car and pump the brakes with the car off to see if they would tighten; they wouldn't. He said to bring it back in, the brake fluid probably needed to be flushed. We took the car back and I told the guy I spoke to on the phone that a lug nut was missing also. He called the mechanic in that "fixed" the car and asked him did he mess with the brake fluid. He said no. Me and my girlfriend later found out that you have to drain the brake fluid in order to fix the CV axles. The manager asked him why was the lug nut missing. He said he probably just overlooked it.
The manager told him to fix the problems and they better be done when he gets back. The mechanic popped the hood and realized he didn't replace the brake fluid, so he did so.By that time, my girlfriend's older sister and her husband came to Tire City. As you read earlier, as for the lug nut, he just overlooked it. Well when it was time for him to fix that problem, his story changed from he overlooked it to the screw that the lug nut was on was stripped too bad for the lug nut to screw back on. He asked who rotated her tires last and she told him the Honda dealership did. The mechanic then said "Oh, well the Honda place stripped your screw so I couldn't get your lug nut back on." If that was the case, why didn't he tell us that before we left? I guess he figured we wouldn't notice.
I was furious by that time so I had to walk away. My girlfriend's brother-in-law knew a guy who owned a shop so he suggested that she take her car there to get it looked at. She took her car to the guy and she came to find out that the CV axles weren't even bolted down and she was lucky they didn't fall. Her car was making the airplane sound because the spindle they put on her car was 3 times bigger than the original one. Since the spindle was so big, it started breaking something else on her car. I can't remember what it was. She had the new mechanic fix all the problems which costed her over $500. He gave her the too big spindle and she took it to Tire City and asked could she have her money back. They told her no because she had someone else fix her car and didn't give them the opportunity to correct their mistake. She asked them how could they make a mistake like that and cost her all that money. They just simply said everybody makes mistakes. Everyboy was telling her to take them to small claims court, but she spent ALL her money on getting her car fixed and she doesn't work much because she attends 2 colleges so she didn't have the money. I told her I would pay for whatever but she felt like it was useless.
In conclusion, she GAVE Tire City $385 for nothing. I'm going to purchase your Rip Off Revenge book, so I can get my girlfriend's revenge!
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