On August 4, two of my friends and I were traveling from Florida to Pennsylvania in a 1997 Chevrolet Jimmy. We stopped for fuel near Savannah, GA and noticed oil all over the trailor we were towing and the axle. We immediately took the vehicle to Fuller Chevrolet a few miles away.
The mechanic there (tech 80) told us the differential cover was bad.in taking it off he busted off three bolts. He laid the cover on the ground and said it was rusted through. He chipped off a piece the size of a quarter with his thumbnail. There were several pin holes all through the cover.
Tech 80 told these particular parts almost never go bad. They didn't have one at the garage, but he had one at home. It seemed odd to us that he would have exactly what we needed when these parts generally don't go bad and that he would have it at his house. He gave no explanation why but did tell us if they ordered one it would take 3-5 days and since this was a Friday it would add additonal days.
We were nearly 900 miles from our destination and didn't have an abundance of money. It was 30 minutes from closing time when we arrived at Fuller Chevrolet. Tech 80 told us that he would bring the part back with him in the morning because there wasn't time to do the repairs before the end of that business day.
We specifically asked him if the cover he had was good and if not we would spend the evening trying to find a cover ourselves that he could put on in the morning when they opened. He insisted it was used but there was nothing wrong with it.
We had to get a hotel for the night.in the morning we went back to the garage just as tech 80 was finishing up the repairs. We noticed the cover looked like it had wet black paint on it and questioned it. Tech 80 told us he put undercoating on it. We were billed $295.59 for the repairs, paid and left.
We made it as far as Orangeburg South Carolina, 120 miles away and noticed oil all over the trailor again. We immediately went to the nearest Chevy garage. We explained to them that we were just at Fuller Chevy for repairs and they said they would cover Fullers repairs providing it was the exact same problem, and then recoup their money from Fuller.
Their mechanic lifted the Jimmy and looked at it. He instantly told us that the rear-end differential cover was rusted through and that the tech at Fuller should have replaced it when we were there. He showed us the part and the quarter size chunk that tech 80 chipped off with his thumbnail was missing from this cover. It also had all the same pinholes in it that tech 80 showed us at the Fuller garage. It was then we knew they had put the origianl part back on and that we had been ripped off. Also the undercoating he claimed to have put on, was actually black paint.
We contacted Marcus the service manager and he argued with us about covering any work costs at the second garage. After several conversations and hours later we finally convinced him but he told us he would have to see the car before he would reimburse the second garage so he planned to drive up there in person.
The second garage explained to him that the repairs we were charged for on our bill were not properly done so Marcus agreed to locate a new cover and bring it to Orangeburg. This was only after reminding him that we were now two days into this trip, additional expenses for a hotel and extra meals and we were still just a little less than 800 miles from home.
Six hours later Marcus showed up at the garage. I insisted on keeping the rear-end cover to send to GM and Marcus was dead set against it. It was so blatantly obvious that it was the original cover he knew he was in trouble.
I asked him for a refund and he refused. I asked him if he was going to do anything to make it right and he didn't think he should have to.instead, he told my friends he felt sorry for them for having to ride with someone like me. They told him he was out of line.
I have been reporting this to Chevrolet ever since. Until recently they never even responded. This week Don Stailey, the Customer Relations Manager from the customer assistance center got back to me. I was told that because of the age of the vehicle, there was nothing he could do to rectify the situation.
I am furious! I asked him what the age of the vehicle had to do with being charged for repairs that weren't done. I explained that I wasn't complaining about the part going bad. I was complaining about being charged for a replacement part when in fact the original was put back on. This was tantamount to driving into their garage and basically just giving them $295.59 for nothing at all.
Mr. Stailey's resolution was to offer a $700 voucher off of a new GM vehicle that was good at any GM dealer. Now, conveniently, he won't answer my correspondence.
Tracy
Cochranton, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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