My 1987 Pontiac GrandAm was in great shape when I took it in to Auto Air of Macon to have the air conditioning recharged and serviced in the summer of 2000. They told me that they would call me when it was ready to be picked up. After a six days with no word, I decided I had better check on the progress. I called to discover the bad news.
Auto air of Macon informed me that the work had been done the first day and that during the rest of the time it was stored in their garage waiting on me to be pick it up, but that someone broke into their building and stole the left rear tire.
When I arrived the air conditioner worked fine and they were payed over $700.00 in cash for the work and the store owner had placed my spare tire on the car and handed me the keys stating that it was not their problem. They refused to speak with me after that. I called the police to fill out a report but they refused due to the fact that the store owner denied everything, claiming I could not prove that the tire was in fact stolen.in other words its the store owners words over mine. "The fact that he admitted putting on the spare himself didn't matter to the police." In addition, the trunk lock had been pulled out and destroyed by their staff when they tried to get in my trunk to put on the spare tire (I did not give them the trunk key as they had no business in the trunk anyway for work on an air conditioner.)
The better business bureau failed to get a satisfactory answer as they continued to deny it. Small claims court won't hear my case as I have no receipts for the original tire. The fact that it was the original wheel didn't matter to them. Who carries receipts for every individual component on their car? The way I see it, I brought the car in to them with four good wheels and I expect it to be returned to me in the same condition. Several things strike me as odd about the whole thing, If someone "broke into" their store why didn't they file a report with the police. And why would a thief break into a business just to steal a tire when the parking lot was full of cars. I later found out that I have not been the only victim of identical crimes at this location.
All attempts to recover the tire or be compensated for it have failed. My only recourse is slander in the hopes others will not fall prey to the same rip off!
Brian Cherry
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