Brought my car to a garage that someone suggested to have a new timing belt put in. After I picked it up I was having problems ((I would try and start car but it would take a few trys to get it started)I called garage told them i thought the timing belt needed to be adjusted. They told me that was not the problem but i needed some censor. Well now my car wont start at all so i brought it to another garage who tells me that the timig belt was placed wrong. My question is…Now what? lol. Do I ask for my money back seeing that they didnt fix it? Do i have the same garage just fix it?(i didnt like them in the first place so really dont want to go back. If i do ask for them for money back and they give me a hard time,what can i do? or who do i call first?
I would get something in writing from garage #2 stating that the timing belt was installed incorrectly. It was probably installed 1 or 2 gear teeth away from correct which made your valves open and close a little bit early or late.
I’d take this written statement to garage #1 and ask for a refund. Be firm, threaten to sue or file a complaint with the BBB if they don’t give you money back.
Don’t ever let garage #1 work on your car again.
Good advice. Tell all your friends, coworkers, and neighbors too. If they get nasty tell them that they botched the job the first time, had an opportunity to fix it, and botched that opportunity too.
I agree with most of what Goldwing suggested.
Where I differ is in regard to the BBB, which is frequently referred to as the Better FOR Business Bureau.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, many people mistakenly think that the BBB (which is essentially a private “old boys club” for business owners) is actually a governmental entiry with regulatory and punitive powers. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Because the BBB is not a governmental entity it has NO regulatory or punitive power whatsoever.
If the OP wants to file a complaint, he/she should do so with the Division of Consumer Affairs, which IS a governmental entity, and which works in conjunction with the state Attorney General’s office to prosecute business owners who refuse to do the right thing for their customers who have been wronged.
Filing a complaint with the BBB will surely accomplish one thing, and that is for a piece of paper to be placed in a file folder, possibly never to see the light of day again. If you complain about a business that is not a dues-paying member of the BBB, they will take a report, but nothing further is done.
By contrast, if you complain about a business that is a member of the BBB, they will request that the business satisfy your complaint, but there is no follow-up as to whether the customer’s complaint has been satisfied. All that the BBB requires is that the member business communicate with the customer. If the BBB has a copy of a letter on file from the business to the customer, they consider the matter to be resolved–whether or not it has actually been resolved.
What about repeated complaints against a BBB member?
Then the BBB really gets harsh! (sarcasm intentional)
In that case, they will refuse to accept the next year’s dues from that business.
Since those dues are the life-blood of the profit structure of the BBB, would you like to guess how often they refuse to accept dues?
As Smart Money magazine stated in their investigative report a few years ago, “Few consumers have actually been helped by the BBB”.
Save your time and effort, and forget about the BBB.
Thank you all for the advice. I greatly appreciate it. And I definitely wont go back to that garage lol…