On Wednesday, October 4th my husband, Dan, called Dallas County Auto Salvage looking for an electrical harness for a 1995 Mercedes C-280. He spoke to Chris, the manager at the shop, and was told that yes, they did have that make and model vehicle on their property. The car had been involved in a rear end collision and there was no reason to believe the electrical harness had been damaged. He told my husband that they would be happy to pull the part and deliver it to our auto repair shop immediately following payment.
Thursday, October 5th Dan was at the auto salvage shop when it opened. He paid $400 cash for the part (the salvage yard does not accept credit or checks.) Chris told him the electrical harness would be pulled from the 1995 Mercedes C-280 in their possession and delivered to our auto repair shop, Browns Auto Parts, by noon the same day. The part never arrived on Thursday. It did not arrive on Friday, Saturday, or Monday. Tuesday, October 10th an electrical harness was delivered to Browns Auto Parts, but the part was rejected by David Brown, the owner of the auto repair shop, because it was not an electrical harness from a 1995 Mercedes C-280 and it would not fit our car.
Since the day the wrong part was delivered, my husband made daily calls to the auto salvage shop to see if in fact the shop could deliver the correct part. He got the run around and never got a straight answer. He spoke to numerous employees, was put on hold, was told yes, then maybe, then yesbut they couldnt say when they would find the particular make and model of the vehicle we need. He stressed the fact that we were in desperate need of this part as he and I both have full-time jobs in different cities and we have two small children. The car waiting to be repaired his is sole mode of transportation. Sharing a vehicle for 10 days has been less than convenient and desirable. He said if the shop could not deliver the part then he would simply need a refund of the $400 and would purchase the part elsewhere. He was told that no refunds are given on electrical parts and no other parts after 48 hours have elapsed.
Today, I called Dallas County Auto Salvage to dispute the fact that we have a receipt for a part we never received so we should be given the full amount in a refund. I spoke to Todd. I told him our story and said we were going to get the part elsewhere and needed a refund. Todd asked me to give him until 3 P.M. Today to find the part, if he couldnt find it then we could get our money back. He did not find the part by 3 P.M. When I called him to let him know I was on my way to collect our refund he said I had to speak to David who is in charge of refunds.
I called him. David, who is the person responsible for refunds at the salvage yard, told me the best he could do would be to give us a store credit good for the full amount or refund us 40% of the cost. He emphasized that he really wasnt even authorized to give us any credit or refund. I said this was not acceptable and said I didnt want to make this messy, but I would consult an attorney. He said, and I am paraphrasing, that the salvage yard is owned by a large conglomerate company run by the mob out of Chicago and it wouldnt do me any good! When I called Todd back and told him that this was unacceptable, he said that we are entitled to 60% back or the entire amount in a store credit and I must have misunderstood David.
I asked the gentleman at our auto repair shop what if anything we could do. He called David at the salvage yard and got the same answer I did no refund even though we never had possession of the part mob connections deal with it.
The principle of this matter will not allow my husband and I to just deal with it. We wish to pursue this matter in small claims court to not only recover our $400 but also to bring this salvage yard to accountability. Please advise us how to pursue this matter.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
Respectfullly,
Karen Chraska
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