Consumer's Original Complaint: On May 12 I took my 2002 Ford Escape into Rick Johnson Auto for new tires, an alignment and an oil change. The work was completed at 5:06 pm that evening for a total of $586.05 which I paid in cash at Rick Johnson Auto located at 4740 Radio Road, Naples, FL 34104, phone number 239-643-2230. I drove the car home to 8245 Ibis Club Drive #406 which is 3.65 miles away. Everything was fine and the car was running well, the tire noise that I had had before the alignment and tire replacement had abated. At approximately 9:20 that evening I left home to join a friend for dinner at The Waterside Shops located at the corner of Tamiami Trail and Pine Ridge Road in Naples. On the way there the car stalled at the light located on Goodlette Frank just south of Pine Ridge Road. I was able to restart the vehicle and a horrible noise began coming from the engine and the oil light came on, it seemed to be sputtering and making the loud banging noise. My friend Jason Benoit called me to see where I was and he could hear the noise over the phone. I told him I may need him to pick me up as the car just stalled. He wound up coming up behind me once I turned onto Pine Ridge Road from Goodlette Frank, he followed me into the parking lot in front of Silver Spoon at Waterside Shops, which was a total of 10.9 miles, the noise was horrible at that point, I turned the engine off. We popped the hood and were waiting for the engine to cool when a security guard for Waterside Shops, Mr. Ricky Blanco approached us. He said he had heard the noise the car was making from some distance and thought we may need assistance. I informed them both of the oil change that I had had completed approximately 4 hours previously. At this point Mr. Benoit removed the dipstick and wiped it clean with his fingers and on his jeans, he then replaced it and pulled it out, it read no oil on it. I had a rag in the back of my car which I got and Mr. Benoit then removed the dipstick again and looked again, it still read that there was no oil in the car. At that point both Mr. Blanco and Mr. Benoit recommended I leave the car and call Rick Johnson Auto in the morning to have it towed and fixed. Mr. Blanco stated he would put a tag on the vehicle so that it would not be towed overnight. I thanked him and Mr. Benoit and I left.in the morning I called Rick Johnson Auto at 239-643-2230, there was no answering machine available and they were not open yet. I then called the Rick Johnson Auto listed on the back of their invoice, 239-643-4415 and left a message. I continued calling the 643-2230 as well, once my call was answered I informed them of what had happened, I was told someone would need to call me back. I received a call back sometime later, they said that it was not possible that there was no oil in the vehicle; I insisted that was the case. He said he could look at it, that he would have it towed. They sent someone to pick up a set of keys from my house. I had already taken a cab to my Mothers to borrow her car as I had let them know I had an important appointment on the East Coast that I was leaving for. I received a call several hours later they stated that the vehicle had oil in it, that the tow truck driver also checked the vehicle before he towed it and that he said it had oil in it, he also stated he had several mechanics at his shop that have made sworn statements that the vehicle had oil in it. He went on to tell me that he went through my glove box and that if I hadn't had an oil change since the last receipt I had in there that it would have been 18,000 miles since the last oil change. He also stated that while I was in the waiting room of their shop that he came in to tell me at some point that there was no oil in the vehicle and they have cameras that would have recorded this information. I do not recall him ever having said that to me which is what I told him. He made several other comments regarding the oil but kept contradicting himself saying that whatever went wrong has nothing to do with the oil. He stated he thought it may be the tie rods but that they had no intention of having their men spend 5-6 hours to find out what was the real problem. His stance was there was oil in it and it's not his problem essentially. I told him I would have to get back to him. I then called a friend and attorney Henry Johnson in Naples, Fl 239-591-0133. He told me to come right over to discuss the issue. I went to see him and explained the situation, he said he would write a letter on my behalf letting Rick Johnson Auto know that we expected them to resolve the problem. He instructed me to go back to Rick Johnson and get my keys back and take back possession of the vehicle. Henry felt that my one mistake was allowing them possession of the vehicle at all again and that they were likely cleaning up their mistake to the best of their ability. I returned to Rick Johnson that afternoon and told them I wanted my keys back, they said I would need to pay the $70.00 tow bill first. I immediately walked out into the parking lot and called Henry Johnson again to inform him of this development. He thought it ridiculous, told me to take my personal belongings from my vehicle and leave the key with them. I removed my belongings from the car, asked for a copy of the tow bill and left. I have a few issues with the tow bill, first of all it states my mileage is 100,161, the Rick Johnson invoice from the previous day states my mileage is 100,846. If he couldn't read the mileage was he truly able to read the oil? Secondly on his invoice he states 'checked dipstick vehicle has correct amount of oil'. What exactly is the 'correct' amount? Lastly, I believe that they had not even received the keys yet from my brother at my house when they sent the tow truck driver, if he had no keys how could he pop the hood to check the oil? Henry Johnson sent a letter on May 14th stating that we expected them to resolve the issue and we needed a response by May 18th. To date I have received no response. I have three sworn statements one from someone I have never met that there was not a drop of oil on the dipstick, I believe that Rick Johnson Auto made a mistake, does not want to admit it and I demand they fix the problem that was a direct result of this mistake.
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