Burlington Dodge Aka Dodge City & Daimler Chrysler
Will NOT Comply With Arbitration Decision

I have a 1994 Dodge Van with a Mark IV conversion package, that has a paint delamination problem. The van was purchased new; it had peeling paint on the hood which was repaired under the new car warranty. The paint continued to peel and the dealer would not repair the paint. We were told that the peeling paint was part of the "Mark IV Conversion Package" and Dodge wouldn't repair the paint. [The only part of the exterior paint that was part of the conversion package was the pin striping, it is Dodge's original paint.]

In 1999, I had breast cancer and one of the men in Dodge City's service department actually tried to claim that due to the fact that I didn't drive the van much due to surgery, chemo and radiation, the van was "sitting" and that's why the paint and primer peeled and rusted. I contacted Daimler Chrysler and was told that there was a "campaign" to repair paint problems and the campaign ended a month prior to my contact with Daimler Chrysler, I was a month too late.

Frustrated, I filed a complaint with Burlington County Consumer Affairs. Burlington County sent it up to the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Consumer Protection Office, and it was sent to their Alternate Dispute Resolution Unit. I was asked to agree to Binding Arbitration.

I received a settlement document and letter informing me that Daimler Chrysler was offering me $500 to settle this matter. I knew what the cost to repair the paint was since I had made many inquiries, and that was no where near the cost.

Finally nine years later, I had an arbitration hearing where I submitted all my documents and other related information along with an estimate that included body work from a small hit and run accident. I explained that I was only requesting that Dodge City repair the paint on the vehicle and was not asking for the body work from a minor accident to be done by Dodge City.

Ms. M. Higginbotham, Arbitrator, issued a decision that states:
Mrs. Wills gets her entire van primed and repainted only.

The word only has now become the issue that Dodge City is using to keep from complying with the State Arbitration Decision.

I called Dodge City to find out when they were going to comply with the Arbitration Decision. I was told that someone would get back to me. I waited a little over two months and called again, I was told someone would get back to me. This time Ginny Koebert of Dodge City told me that I had to drive my van to the Robert Christopher auto body shop in Hamilton, Mercer County.

When I arrived at the auto repair shop, the owner appeared to have no idea what the situation was. I asked him to give me a separate estimate for the damage from a hit and run accident. I had considered having them repair the dents in my vehicle if their estimate was comparable to price I received from my body shop. He told me that he wouldn't prepare estimates on the work I wanted done because he wasn't sure he would get the job. He didn't want to put a lot of his time into this case with no guarantee he would get the job. He told me that he had to get back in touch with Dodge City, he didn't take any information, etc.

I again called Ginny Koebert to find out what was happening about the paint repair to my vehicle. She told me that I had to go back again and the auto body shop in Hamilton Township, Mercer County would go over my van to give them an estimate. I told her that I was just out of the hospital and was recouperating and didn't know if I would be able to travel all the way up to her body shop and she was somewhat abrasive stating "no one told me" that you were hospitalized. It was up to me to get the van to the repair shop again so they could do an estimate.

I drove to the body shop again, my arm in compression bandages and still extremely swollen from the staff infection, a complication of lymphedema, an incurable condition that can occur after a mastectomy and lymph node removal. I provided all vehicle documents to them, they took pictures, etc. And again I asked for a separate estimate for the collision damage. I was told that they would send everything to Dodge City.

Ginny Koebert asked me to come in and see if they could possibly settle this matter. Trying not to be unreasonable, my husband and I went in and explained our needs for a vehicle with the bed in the back. She asked us how much a month we could afford for a new vehicle since our's was nearly 10 years old with 78,000 miles and she stressed it was getting old. She told us that we were lucky since Dodge was offering a lot of incentives on purchases at that time. She said she would give us a good trade in on our van and showed us the vehicles on the show floor.

Nothing was comparable to the van we have. They could not offer us any sales price/financing that would fit our budget. Dodge City was offering no concessions on the cost either. They tried to sell us a new vehicle that was not really what we need, and offered us nothing more than what would have been offered to anyone coming in off the street.

I called Ginny Koebert on December 24, and she informed me that "they" decided to interpret primed and repainted only. Statement in the arbitration decision to mean that Dodge City is not responsible for sanding the vehicle. They are only required to prime and paint the vehicle claiming that I am responsible for preparing the vehicle for the prime and paint.

I immediately contacted the NJ Department of Public Safety, Consumer Protection, Alternative Dispute Resolution Unit. The Arbitrator was no longer in the employ of the State of New Jersey, they tried to set up a tele-conference meeting to clarify/re-arbitrate this matter. The date and time was scheduled but before that date, Dodge City's attorney submitted a letter to Alternate Dispute Resolution and refused to re-arbitrate the matter.

Now I am back where I started over 3 years ago with Consumer Affairs. I do not feel that Dodge City went into the "Binding" arbitration in good faith.

When the decision was issued in my favor, it appears that they searched for a way out of the decision. I feel that they never intended to comply and sent me on a wild goose chase to further delay the matter in hopes that I would give up.

We bought our van as a two income family and now our salaries have been cut in half since I am no longer able to work. A new car payment at this time is not within our budget.
I received multiple permanent injuries as a result of an elevator accident. There were surgeries and chronic pain which prompted the purchase of the conversion van with a seat that converts into a bed. Providing me with a place to lay when my back is in spasm and the space to transport a wheel chair for the times when I am unable to walk distances.

And now all it comes down to that one word, "ONLY", in an arbitration decision. Or is it a RIP-OFF auto dealership and their manufacturer trying to save a buck and rip off a life-long, no longer satisfied, Dodge owner.

Rusting Van
Burlington Township, New Jersey
U.S.A.

Company: Burlington Dodge Aka Dodge City & Daimler Chrysler
Country: USA
State: New Jersey
City: Burlington
Address: Route 130 South

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