Ltr to Better Business Bureau:
Please accept this letter and the accompanying copies of supporting documentation regarding a dangerous problem which I encountered as the result of "repairs" done to my 2000 Honda Accord at the Tire Kingdom Inc. Touchton Street Store (4195 Southside Boulevard), Jacksonville on May 10.
As you can see by the return address above, I live in Baxley, Georgia, approximately 120 miles northwest of Jacksonville via US 1 and Georgia 15/121. On Saturday, May 10, my wife and I drove down to Jacksonville, planning to attend the Alhambra Dinner Theater matinee performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on Sunday, May 11; we came a day early to allow time to scout a route to the theater before Sunday morning, since it had been some time since our previous visit.
As we entered Hilliard we were caught by a stop light; when I applied the brakes (lightly, as we weren't traveling over about 30 mph) we heard a loud metal-to-metal scraping/dragging from the rear brakes, but were able to stop safely. When the light changed I drove slowly to a Hardee's and pulled into their parking lot. Visual examination of the rear wheels and suspension (as best I could with the car not on a lift) showed no cause of the noise, but as we continued it recurred every time the brakes were applied so there was obviously a problem.
Rather than attempt to find a repair shop open Saturday afternoon in small towns, we carefully continued into Jacksonville and reached our motel safely. After checking in and getting my wife settled, rather than attempting to find a brake repair shop nearby using the telephone book and our AAA map, I asked at the desk for recommendations. The clerk didn't know of one, but did direct me to a Super WalMart in the general area that she thought had an auto repair facility.
Armed with a sketch map she provided I found the WalMart, only to discover that it had no auto repair capability. However the greeter there directed me to another store on Atlantic Boulevard (I think) which did have one. I located that store, only to discover that they only did tire installation and lubrication. When I asked the clerk for suggestions, he said if I would go east to Southside Boulevard and turn right within a few blocks I'd see two tire stores that did brake work.
Following his directions I turned south on Southside Boulevard and found the tire stores he described. Since I happened to be in the left-hand lane on Southside I chose to turn back to the left and pull into the Tire Kingdom store. After listening to my description of my problem the Senior desk man (I don't know how else to describe it) decided to pull a mechanic off a job that couldn't be finished that day (the car wasn't promised until the following Monday afternoon) and have him put mine on the lift to investigate my problem. When he put the car up on the rack I went out to the work bay to see for myself what the problem was; I had guessed that a large stone had gotten into a disk brake and jammed the rotor. As soon as he got the right rear wheel off it was obvious that there was a bigger problem — the outer face of the disk rotor was badly scored. At that point I decided to go back inside the showroom and stay out of the way.
After the mechanic had pulled both rear wheels and examined the rotors and pad, the desk man came to me and explained that the brake pads on both rear wheels were used up and the rotors were scored too badly to resurface, so new pads and rotors — which could be obtained and installed while I waited — were needed on both rear wheels. I gave my authorization for the work to be done. A copy of the work order/invoice is attached as Exhibit 1.
After the work had been completed and the car given a test drive I thanked the desk man for fitting me into the work flow, and paid the charges using my Discover card. (A copy of the receipt is attached to the work order/invoice as Exhibit 2. I then went back to the motel to tell my wife why I had been gone so long, but that the car was repaired.
Sunday, May 11, we attended the theater performance and drove home, with no further car problems.
During the following week (May 12 through 15) my wife drove the Accord around Baxley and the immediate vicinity, with no problems.
On Friday, May 16, we drove from Baxley to Marietta, Georgia, for a Lions Club state convention (my wife is currently president of the local club). This involved 73 miles on US 341 to the Dublin exit on I-16,53 miles on I-16 to Macon, and 102 miles on I-75 (congested, as usual) to Marietta. On Sunday, May 18, we drove from Marietta to Athens, Tennessee (144 miles on I-75) for a visit with my wife's relatives there. On Wednesday, May 21, we drove from Athens to Macon (246 miles on I-75), 82 miles on I-16 to the Georgia 297 exit, and 13 miles (approximately) on 297 into Vidalia, where my wife wanted to make a brief visit to a physicians office.
(From the 16th through the 21 we traveled a total of 492 miles on I-75,134 miles on I-16 — at an average speed of approximately 75 mph, and 73 miles on US 341 — at an average speed of approximately 70 mph. My point in emphasizing these distances and speeds will, I hope, be appreciated when you read the following paragraphs.)
As we arrived in the outskirts of Vidalia and encountered the first stop light (red), when I applied the brakes (lightly) we heard the same metal-to-metal scraping/dragging sound that occurred in Hilliard on May 10, except that it seemed isolated on the right rear. I proceeded at a very slow speed, hoping to get to the planned stop so I could use a telephone there to call AAA, but we encountered another red light about a half-block from the doctor's offices; when I applied the brakes (as gradually as possible while still stopping) the noise recurred, and it felt like the right rear wheel locked solid.
Fortunately we were stopped at a curb cut entrance to a "quick-stop" grocery/filling station. When the light changed to green I pulled into their lot right rear wheel firmly locked and tire skidding and out of the traffic. My wife and I walked to the doctor's offices, where I searched the telephone directory for an AAA-recognized repair shop. Finding none I called the AAA "Emergency Road Service" shown on my card. The lady who answered confirmed that there were no "AAA" service shops in Vidalia, and due to the locked rear wheel arranged for a tilt-bed truck to pick up us and the car and transport us to Baxley.
Early on May 22 I called the owner of D & D Automotive, the mechanic who has maintained all our vehicles over the past 20-plus years and related my sad story. He said if I could get the car to his shop he would examine it immediately and let me know what he found, so I called a local towing service for another tilt-bed transfer. Late that afternoon Danny called to tell me what he had found, and said he could have the car repaired by late Friday, May 23. Since my wife had commitments all day Friday he agreed that we could pick up the Accord early (8:30 am) Saturday morning, as he and his family had a Memorial Day weekend trip planned. I told him to undertake the needed repairs, and asked that he include a detailed list of the problems he found on the service ticket.
The list showed: Check all brakes. Right rear locked up. Both bolts in caliper bracket left loose and lost on road. Both left and right caliper bolt pins frozen up. Removed brackets to free up and lube floating pins. Front brakes OK.
Due to the Memorial Day weekend and my wife's schedule, I wasn't able to return to the Tire Kingdom store in Jacksonville until Wednesday, May 28, timing my arrival until about 1:30 pm in hopes that the Store Manager, Mr. Jose M. Cortes, would have gone to lunch and returned. Alas, when I asked if he was in I was advised that he wouldn't be in that day, and I needed to come back "tomorrow" to see him. When I said that I was 120 miles from home and wasn't about to "come back tomorrow" the individual at the desk said maybe he could help. (I should explain here that there were two men "at the desk" a Senior Clerk, for want of a better terminology, who was busy with a customer [and had the code to unlock the register], and a Junior Clerk, with whom I was speaking.)
After explaining my problem, showing the Junior Clerk my exhibits, and explaining that I wasn't expecting reimbursement for the original repair materials (which were needed and fine) but the labor charges for Danny to redo their faulty work, he said he couldn't help me and I needed to talk to the Senior Clerk. When the Senior Clerk finished with his customer I repeated my explanations of what had happened; he said he felt I was being quite reasonable in my request, but that he couldn't authorize reimbursement only Mr. Cortes or one of the Assistant Managers could do that but Mr. Cortes wasn't in that day and both Assistant Managers were still at lunch. At that point I said I'd have to wait for them to get back. He did comment that the mechanic who did their work (Ricky L. Gerhart, Jr., according to their invoice) was "working today"; but just chuckled when I said that I felt he should be fired for his sloppy work on my car.
When the Assistant Managers finally returned from lunch one immediately went out to the work area, while the other (a rather burly man) began helping with waiting customers in the "reception area" although the Senior Clerk indicated that I was there with a complaint.
After dealing with several customers, and disappearing for a few minutes, this Assistant Manager (whose name I regret I didn't get) came back into the reception area and was reminded that I was still waiting to see him. I began my explanation of the problem, only to be asked brusquely why I had come to Jacksonville on May 10 in the first place. I went through the explanation of why we were in town, and how I wound up at their shop, which seemed to satisfy him. Then he demanded to know "Who is D & D Automotive?" and then called the phone number shown on the repair report. He was unhappy to get the answering machine in the Griffin house; unfortunately I didn't have the number for the shop with me. He then told me that I would have to come back tomorrow and talk to Mr. Cortes."
My response (admittedly somewhat brusque at this point) was that I had come 120 miles to get my problem settled, and I wasn't about to drive home and come back tomorrow. He then said that only Mr. Cortes could authorize a reimbursement. When I asked who was Mr. Cortes" superior was, he replied "Corporate, " and seemed somewhat taken aback when I said "Well, then I guess we need to "call Corporate" and get them involved." At that point he said, "Wait just a minute, " took the copies of my "exhibits, " and went into another room. After about 15 minutes he returned and said he had been authorized to issue a refund of the $120 for the work done by D & D Automotive, in the form of a credit in that amount to my Discover card. (An online check shows that the $120 credit was received on May 28 and credited on May 30.)
I am calling all this to your attention because I feel the response I got from the Assistant Manager was less than what could be expected for inferior work done in their shop that could have resulted in injury or death to my wife and/or me during our trip to Tennessee and back not even an apology! And what I perceive as indifference with regard to the mechanic who did the inferior work. I have no idea what (if anything) you can do, but I do think you should be informed.
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