Scher Tire/Goodyear
Deceptive Service Practices and Discrimation

On June 9 my mother took my 1991 Plymouth Voyager wheelchair van to Scher Tire in Tustin. I was unable to be there when dropping the van off, because I would have had no way home. However, I communication with the store via telephone, and they appeared to understand my circumstances.

I needed to have the headlights replaced, and an oil change because we were moving from California to Arizona in just 18 days. I asked them to let me know if there was anything else that might need repair, as we were a little nervous about the drive.

An hour later I received a call with a quote of $799. They said that the rear brakes need replacing as well as the serpentine belt.

The repairs were done, and my mother picked up my van later that day. I charged the repair to my Goodyear account.

Right away after picking it up we noticed that the van was running funny. All of a sudden it would squeal when making a right hand turn, and when making a left, the van would shudder and attempt to stall.

We took the van back to Scher Tire one week later and explained what was wrong. The person at the desk, Jason, told me to bring it back on the 23rd, and he would give it a courtesy inspection.

On June 23rd, we took the van back to Scher Tire and Jason has it inspected. My mom and I sat for an hour while they took the tires off (I could see this from the waiting room).

Finally, Jason came out and told us that whoever had worked on the van the last time had left the hardware out of the front brakes. As a result, it would require more time to inspect. I reminded him that I had only had this vehicle for 2 years, and had never had the brakes worked on.in fact, the only time that anyone had been near the brakes was when I assume they inspected them on June 9th. He disagreed.

In hindsight, I should have RUN from the store at that moment. However, he offered to have the mechanic put the van back together and drive us home so that they could continue the inspection.

On the drive back to our place, the mechanic pointed out that he had fixed the squeal, by simply adjusting the belt. I asked about the brakes and he said they seemed fine.

Ninety minutes or so later I received a call from Jason with a quote of $1,100, to replace the front brake system. I told him that I could not afford that, and he immediately said he could get the quote down to $599. Since we were scheduled to leave for Arizona in only 3 days, I agreed.

When we got the van back later that day, except for the squeal that was now gone, the van was in just as bad. Each time we made a left hand turn the van shuddered and attempted to stall. Sometimes it did stall.

A few days later, after we reached Arizona, I had my first opportunity to really look at the receipt for service. After much putting together of the information I found that they had double charged me for the serpentine belt, by simply calling it something else.in addition, I found it unbelievable that they could charge me for the repair of the front brakes. Clearly, when they inspected the van on June the 9th and determined that they rear brakes needed repair, they let the hardware off the front brakes.

I immediately filed a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair, as well as a dispute with Goodyear.

It took 4 months for BAR to investigate my complaint, and by that time Goodyear had issued me credit for all of the labor costs, as well a credit for one of the charges for the serpentine belt.

When I spoke to the BAR investigator he said that he found many violations with regards to my complaint, but that the guy from Scher Tire basically shut down the interview by saying that he didn't want to discuss my dispute any more. I tried to obtain a copy of the report, but the rep said that they could only send a copy of the report to my attorney.

For six more months I continued to file disputes with Goodyear, hoping to recoup the cost of the lousy service Scher Tire provided. At one point Goodyear even told me that Scher Tire had agree to issue me a check, and they provided me with a name and number to call and confirm. However, when I called, they had no information about a refund for me.

Today, I was told by Russell at Scher Tire that he did not believe my claims, and therefore declined to issue me a refund. End of story.

I would like to sue them in small claims court, but I don't live in CA anymore, and you cannot use an attorney.

It is my total belief that Scher Tire took advantage of me because I am a woman, and a woman in a wheelchair. And I'd like others to be careful and aware when obtaining service on their vehicle.

Company: Scher Tire/Goodyear
Country: USA
State: California
City: Tustin
Address: 14511 Redhill Ave
Phone: 7148326011

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