Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took two vehicles to Hometown for inside detailing on Aug 3, 2023. I had two appointment blocks one for my vehicle in the morning and the other for my mothers vehicle in the afternoon. I was notified each vehicle would take about 4 hours. I had my vehicle detailed, came and picked it up and dropped my mothers vehicle back off. When we arrived back at the shop around 4:30 as instructed by the employees, my mothers vehicle was still running. The owner let me know he had unplugged the battery to the vehicle, yet we couldn’t get the vehicle to turn off. I even attempted to call the dealership and the vehicle wouldn’t turn off. The owner instructed us to leave the vehicle until the morning and that he was a master mechanic and would have the vehicle ready for the next day. When we arrived the next day the owner instructed us he let the vehicle run until it went off by itself and charged the battery overnight and the vehicle started. He also let us know that he has a working relationship with ***** Honda and instructed us to go there to get the vehicle checked out. When my mom left she went straight to ***** Honda since her FM radio was not functioning, after diagnosis it they determined the owner was negligent to let the vehicle run and by doing so he burned the FM switch in the radio. After getting the estimate I immediately called the business and the owner informed me to have my mother bring the estimate, when she arrived he became very rude and then took no responsibility. I called several times and left several messages regarding reaching a mutually beneficial agreement and I have yet to hear from this business. Due to the owners negligence of rushing out of the business on the day we came to pick the vehicle up and not correcting the issue this part became damaged while it sat overnight.

  

  Business response

  08/31/2023

  Enclosed is the narrative and counter to the complaint from Ms.******. On August 3,2023 Ms.****** indeed brought in two vehicles for detailing. The vehicle in question was our afternoon appointment. Around late afternoon, my detailer told me that he had an issue with the vehicle. When finished he went to start the vehicle and the alarm was going off and lights were blinking. We could not get the vehicle to start. We are a repair and detail facility. I instructed him  to disconnect the battery to make the alarm stop and lights stop flashing. To no avail. We contacted the customer and they were already on the way to get pick up. We did not instruct them to come at 4:30. The customers entered the shop and proceeded to try many things to try to stop the alarm and security issue.Ms,****** called the dealership and a parts store while sitting in the vehicle, telling me things to try, and adding confusion . Someone told them it was a battery issue. I went to the repair shop and obtained a professional battery tester to test the battery. It showed 90% charge. The test was done with the battery disconnected, So I could get a static reading with no interference. The vehicle still did the same thing when reconnected. The owner stayed in the car and tried to see if she could try multiple things to get it to start.at that point I asked them to leave it and I did put the battery on a micro charger over night. The next morning the vehicle started. No real explanation. We called the owner and she came in picked it up. They stated the radio did not work right, I did instruct them to visit a dealership to see if they could reset it. I do NOT have a working relationship ***** Honda. I buy my parts there. The next day Ms. ****** mother came in and wanted me to pay an invoice from the dealership. She stated to me that ***** Honda said I damaged the vehicle by trying to rectify the issue. One, that is unprofessional, and two, I am a master mechanic and I would never intentionally damage a vehicle. I firmly denied in a professional way that I was not responsible. She wanted me to negotiate a settlement of half. I again stated I was not responsible. ****** did call our office and was again told we were not responsible say that I was rude is insulting. I was nothing but accommodating and professional. They also refused to tip my detailer in retaliation . I firmly disagree with these unfounded accusations. *** ******* , owner

  Customer response

  08/31/2023

  This response does not meet a satisfactory agreement. This was the second appointment because my personal vehicle was the first. This shop received a total of $279.50 which was charged to my personal credit cards as well as a $25 cash tip for the first vehicle. In addition to causing an addtl $480 in damage to the second vehicle. Knowing the vehicle was working when we brought it and not functioning properly when we left, as well as we took it to the dealer that the shop recommended. One should not be able to cause damage to a vehicle, yet relinquish themselves from all liability. We were never offered a refund of any kind or anything, after being told to bring in the estimate. This is completely unacceptable customer service and bad business practices. 
  

  

  Business response

  09/06/2023

  I maintain that Hometown Service Center is not responsible for this. And on another note,I she wishes to express her feelings that I some way we were "horrible" is an untrue statement. There were quite a few things left out of the complaint.Ms.****** and her mother definitely have unclean hands in this issue.

  *** *******, Owner,Hometown Service Center

  Customer response

  09/13/2023

  There has been no mutually beneficial agreement reached, nor any type of refund offered. This shop was negligent to where the battery was drained while they were detailing it. Then they damaged the radio by unhooking the battery to charge it however the car itself remained on overnight. He recommended the dealer and the car was taken to the recommended Honda dealer and they’re the ones who identified the problem and the cause. This shop has done nothing to rectify this matter.
  

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