Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In September I'd contacted Wayne Purdy European Motors - my *** likely having a blown engine - and *****, an office employee there, explained in detail the procedures required to fix the engine, telling me it would be 5k for the repairs, a cost that could go up depending on what they might find. I asked ***** how long it would take, telling him that my house had been flooded by ****** and we'd lost our 2 other cars.. so the *** was my only car left. ***** said it would take about 2 weeks to fix the ***. Needing the car fixed soon, I decided to let Wayne Purdy tow my car to them (at my expense), and they did 2 days later. Once it had arrived, ***** called me to tell me that his BMW technician, the one that would be doing the repairs, had just gone on a weeks vacation that day... so the 2 weeks had become 3 weeks+. But I was stuck at that point, since they had the car in their possession and it would cost me even more to have it towed to another engine repair shop. When the BWM technician returned to work and looked at the engine, it was indeed found to have a blown engine, and ***** called me about the diagnosis; he explained the same scenario and procedures to fix it that he'd explained when I first called him. However, now the base estimate for the repair had risen to 6k, fully a thousand dollars more, although nothing had changed from what he'd anticipated initially. I immediately balked at the new higher cost and declined to have the work done - I no longer trusted them due to what I saw as two instances of deception. Since they had my ***, I had no choice but to pay the cost and dispute it later. I feel that ***** was deceptive with his initial estimate and the withholding of the fact that his technician was about to take a vacation, all in an effort to get the car towed to their shop. I was on the hook for both the towing fee and the 1 hour service check of the engine - a total of $468.04. Due to ******* willful deception, I am asking for a full refund.

  Business response

  10/31/2024

  Mr. ***** initially called our facility to speak to us about his *** just prior to Hurricane ******. He spoke with Wayne *******, our service manager, and explained to Wayne that he was told by Ice Cold Air that his *** had a blown head gasket. Based on the discussion, Wayne told Mr. ***** the work described as being needed was definitely within our scope, and that the job would run a minimum of $5,000 and very possibly could be more than that,depending on what else was found once the engine was apart. Wayne also told ******** that the car may be in our shop for at least a couple of weeks at this point since our *** specialist unexpectedly left a week early for his scheduled three week vacation in order to get ahead of Hurricane ******. Mr. ***** told Wayne he had no problem leaving the car here for that length of time since he had two other vehicles that he could drive. When the conversation ended, ******** told Wayne he would get back to him.

  On September 30th, the Monday following the passage of ******, Mr. ***** again contacted Wayne and told him hed like to arrange for us to have the car towed to our shop from Ice Cold Air. We contacted the same towing service that we recommend to all of our customers (we do not do our own towing) and requested on behalf of Mr. ***** that they pick up the car and bring it to us. We were given a bill from the towing company that we passed through to Mr. ***** on his repair order. Once the car was here, Wayne assigned the work order to one of our service advisors, *****. ***** subsequently called ******** and advised him that there would be an initial one hour labor charge for our diagnosis, which Mr. ***** agreed to, and then we would have a better idea as to the extent of the damage to the engine due to a blown head gasket.

  Our BMW technician returned to work on Tuesday, October 15th and performed an initial diagnosis on Mr. ***** vehicle on Wednesday, October 16th. As noted on our invoice #*****, there was evidence of further damage to the engine as a result of the blown head gasket which, naturally,would bring the cost of repairs above $5,000, which Mr. ***** was warned of from the beginning. Our invoice clearly states that we performed an initial diagnosis resulting in one hour of labor at $170, the results of our diagnosis,a towing charge, and an estimate of $5,000 and up to perform the repairs. ******** declined the repairs.

  Mr. ***** requested for his car to be brought to our shop of his own volition, and agreed to the diagnosis, as well as the length of time the car might be in our shop. He was free to remove the car from our shop at any time for just the towing charge, up until our diagnosis was performed. We did not advertise anything, promise anything, hold back any information, or practice any form of deception whatsoever where Mr. ***** vehicle is concerned. Therefore we see no justification in Mr. ***** requesting a refund for honest work completed both by our shop and by the towing company.

  Customer response

  11/01/2024

   
  Complaint: 22472864
  
  I am rejecting Wayne Purdy's response for the very same points I made in my initial complaint. And their response to the BBB adds yet more deception. Prior to the car being towed to their shop, I absolutely told ***** that my family had lost our other two vehicles from Hurricane ****** flooding - though Purdy dishonestly suggested otherwise - and also that I needed the *** back soon (hopeful of the 2 week period that ***** said it would take to repair the engine). ***** knew that I needed a relatively quick turnaround, however, again, he did not tell me that his *** tech was taking a vacation until the *** was towed to the shop.  Also, as I explained in my initial complaint, the work (likely) needed on the engine as ***** explained it when he gave me the base estimate of 5k, did not vary from the work that was discovered to be needed after the tech had taken a look at the engine, as ***** described it -- but with a new base estimate of 6k. My over all point is that ***** omitted the tech's week's vacation and also deliberately gave a lower estimate, in an effort to have me agree to have the work done, which I did. I would not have agreed if the higher base estimate had been given to me at the beginning, and if I knew we would have to wait an additional week+ for the repairs to be completed. (FYI: We had a rental car that cost us a couple thousand dollars during that period.)  Again, I ask for a full refund.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  Business response

  11/12/2024

  We are very sorry if Mr. ***** perceives that he was deceived regarding the repairs needed on his ***. Further, he does not seem to understand that the possibility that threads are pulled out of the engine block equates to much more work over and above a blown head gasket, thus,additional costs. However, there is nothing on his invoice that states the repair will be $6,000. What was stated is $5,000 and up, meaning that additional costs are to be expected

  I understand Mr. ***** need to accuse us of deception and wrongdoing in order to justify his refund. Its unfortunate that he cannot consider that, perhaps, this was all due to a simple lack of communication, or misunderstanding on the part of one or both sides. We are always willing to extend ourselves to our customers when they are dissatisfied with our work. We want to always be on good terms, regardless of the outcome.

  We do not have the time to play tit-for-tat regarding this situation, as our time is much better spent serving our many loyal customers.We have an extremely busy and lucrative business. We have no need to attract customers through trickery and deceit and would never reduce ourselves to that level. The fact that we have been in business for 67 years and are busier than ever speaks volumes to the type of work we do and our excellent customer service. We will refund Mr. ***** money purely for the purpose of laying this matter to rest. He will need to contact us and advise us as to how he would like his refund processed.

  Customer response

  11/19/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  The full refund that I received from Wayne Purdy's company, in reference to complaint ID ********, is satisfactory to me. Though warranted, no apology was given when I spoke to Mr. *********************** [The underling cause of this is that this repair shop pays their account managers a bonus for each repair they oversee, and so they are naturally incentivized to bring cars in even with deception.]
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  Business response

  11/20/2024

  We would like for it to be noted that Mr. ***** never spoke to Mr. ********************** about his complaint, as he states. And we would not apologize for honest work done and an honest diagnosis that was fairly charged for. Further, not that its anyones business, (and we have no idea why Mr. ***** purports to know how we pay our employees) but our service advisors are strictly salaried and do not receive any commissions or bonuses based on the amount of work that they sell. We purposefully do not pay them commissions for the exact reason that we do not want to incentivize them selling unnecessary repairs to our customers.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩