I have emails to verify the following story: I was contacted by Mr Springston on 7-20-09 by email requesting that we agree to having his 2002 VW Passat, which had not been run in over a year, towed to my shop for repair. He specifically requested that he get an estimate of the cost to repair his car so that he could determine whether or not to have it fixed. He acknowledged that "It may need a new battery since it has not been started for a year and I will need to have it inspected since the inspection sticker needs to be updated." (an exact quote from his email)
It is my policy to ascertain whether anyone towing a vehicle to the shop is willing to spend $600-$700 to get the vehicle running as too often they decide to do nothing and leave the vehicle with me to dispose of. Mr Springston indicated during a phone converstion that "if the car was worth fixing" he would not be opposed to spending that much to get the car running.
He had the vehicle towed to my shop on July 21. We started working on it July 22. The vehicle turned out to have a rodent infestation in his engine compartment which had to be chemically cleaned before any work could commense. We replaced the battery so that the engine would turn over for further diagnosis.
He emailed me to check on the status of his car on July 23. I emailed him back on the same day informing him that we had already spent 2 plus hours cleaning out the rodent infestation and feces but had started the car and had it running.
He emailed me again on July 28 to check on the status. He was difficult to get a hold of by phone. I emailed him an invoice for the work that we had done, the bare minimum to get the vehicle running and pass inspection, coming to $867.81. The invoice included the estimates for all the work that the vehicle required, an additional $895.00.
I confess that at this point there could have been a misunderstanding. As I explained my policy was to only take vehicles that people were prepared to repair and I was under the impression that Mr Springston wanted to get the car running and inspected if we thought the car was worth fixing, but would not complete any further repairs until he knew exactly what it would cost.
Mr Springston emailed us on August 8 to inform us that he was out town and would not be able to "go over" the invoice until he returned, despite the fact that we had emailed it to him thereby making it available to him anywhere.
We made numerous attempts to contact him to regarding the invoice and he did not return any of these attempts until August 24.By now his car had remained, repaired but neither paid for nor picked up, at my shop for more than a month with no charges for storage. His email of the 28th informed me, for the first time, that since I had not given him a written estimate before we performed ANY of the work he would dictate terms. He never made any comments about anything we had done in any of our converstaions or emails prior to this time.
He wrote, "Since you did not in fact provide me with a written estimate as I specifically requested and I did not authorize any work to be done, I am willing to work out a mutually agreeable payment arrangement to resolve this issue. At this time, I am willing to do the following: I will pick up my vehicle so I do not incur additional charges and to mitigate any potential damages. If agreeable, I am willing to pay for parts and labor associated with the replacement and servicing of the battery as I reasonable anticipated this expense based on our previous conversations.By my estimate this amount would be $241.82. I am willing to negotiate a payment plan for the remaining charges as determined by mutual agreement. Please let me know if this proposal is agreeable and when I can pick up my vehicle. Regards, Troy L Springston
As anyone can readily see, he agreed to pay for at minimum the battery and to make arrangements, mutually agreed upon, to pay at least some portion of the rest of the invoice.
He picked up his car when it was left on my lot with the keys in it and has never returned any of my phone calls or emails. He has paid nothing for the repairs of his car. When I finally reached him by phone today March 3, he denied any responsibility for the money he agreed to pay me and owes me. He is clearly not a man of his word!
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