Complaint Review: Jim Daniels Cheryl Roberts South Seattle Community College Auto Repair Program

I paid approximately $70 to tow my car to South Seattle Community College Transmission Class on or about January 2004. During the month of May 2004, the school advised me to purchase two transaxles and parts for a transmission and have them delivered to the school.

On or about April 9, 2004, Schucks Automotive delivered two axles to the college with a Lifetime Warranty -- subject to approximately $40 core charge if I returned the core. The cost fo the axles was $221.93

On or about May 6, 2004, Seatac Warehouse delivered transmission core and related parts at a cost of $312.29
and on May 10, 2004, Seatac Warehouse charged my creditcard an additional $5.06. All of the charges from Seatac Warehouse and Schucks were charged to my credit card. Seatac Warehouse also has a warranty subject to the return of defective parts.

During the month of May 2005, Instructor Jim Daniels advised me that the students were had completed the transmission work and were just putting the car back together. June 2004 passed and I never heard back from the instructor or the school. I made several calls throughout the summer and never heard back from anyone. Finally I was able to get in touch with Instructor Jim Daniels during the month of September 2004 and at that time he made the remark that the school didn't finish the car and that if I was lucky enough for him to find an advanced student then maybe he could complete the work -- otherwise I would have to wait until January of 2005 for the school to do the next transmission class. At no time did Jim Daniels advise me that the school had damaged my car or that the students and their instructor had made a mistake.

February 2005 rolled by and I never heard back from Jim Daniels. I called his telephone number several times and at this time he indicated that he wanted additional money. I advised him that this wasn't acceptable because he advised me that the students had already completed the work in May of 2005 and I didn't understand why he wanted additional funds. Again at no time did Instructor Jim Daniels indicate that the students had damaged the car. He tried to conceal it from me. He did indicate that he would have to get some parts, but didn't indicate that he was going to buy "used parts".

I made several more calls to Jim Daniels during the month of March and after the winter quarter was complete. He failed to return my calls. At this point I called the Dean of the Department Woody Ahn several times and he reluctantly agreed to talk to the instructor about this. I finally got a call from Jim Daniels indicating that he would fix my car and hadn't forgotten me. At this point Instructor Jim Daniels had mentioned that the students had dropped a screw in the valve. My understanding is that he was referring to the transmission and not the transaxles. Another month rolled by and I hadn't heard from anyone. Again I called Woody Ahn and this time Woody Ahn said it wasn't his problem and that it was strictly between the instructor and myself. After Woody Ahn displayed such unprofessional behavior, I called Cheryl Roberts, Vice President of South Seattle Community College and Woody Ahn's Supervisor and she assured me that the matter was going to be taken care of. She did not indicate that the school was planning on using "used parts" to replace the remanufactured and new parts that I paid for at an auto parts store.

During the latter part of the month of May 2005, I thought I would call the school and check the status, because I hadn't heard from anyone. Replacing a transmission in a shop is typically a four hour job and the transaxles are typically 2 hours each side. It would be reasonable to assume that it would take much longer than this at a school because the schools typically teach students how to rebuild the individual components instead of merely swapping a transaxle and a transmission out.

On May 26, 2005, Vice President Cheryl Roberts sent me an e-mail transmission that had not been decoded and was completely unreadable. And on May 31, 2005, Cheryl Roberts sent me an another e-mail indicating that that the transaxles were being repaired with used parts. This is confusing to me because the transaxles that were delivered to the school from the Schucks store were entirely new and rebuilt axles and instructor Jim Daniels had made previous remarks that would seem to indicate that the transmission and not the axles had been damaged.

In addition, repair work on the transaxles or transmission would void the warranty. South Seattle Community College is now indicating that both the transmission and the transaxles were damaged and had to be worked on.

At no time have I ever authorized the school to use used parts. The parts that were delivered to South Seattle Community College by Schucks and/or other sources are remanufactured parts that come with a warranty and core charge and therefore require the school to return the old cores to me for credit. This was discussed on several occassions with instructor Jim Daniels during the calendar year of 2004 and a request for return of old parts was listed on my original signed work order request. I have requested that South Seattle Community College provide me:

1) The original transaxle cores that were on the car at the time the car was brought to the school;
2) Show me both the old transmission parts prior to the students damaging the transmission;
3) Provide me copies of receipts for the "new and remanufactured parts" to replace the transmission and/or transaxles that the students damanged, and
4) Provide me the actual new and remanufactured parts that were put on the car to replace the new and remanufactured parts that the students damaged.

Instructor Jim Daniels was notified about the need to have the old transaxles returned to Schuck's for a core charge. Jim Daniels was notified several times during 2004 and at the time the car was brought to the school that I want the old parts back.

On or about the evening of May 31, 2005, Vice President Cheryl Roberts has now indicated that Instructor Jim Daniels has alleged that I agreed to having old parts installed on my car in 2004. The Instructor, the Dean, the Vice President and the school are trying to cheat me.

Obviously this school doesn't do a very good job of training their students at vocational work or about the laws governing consumer protection and auto repair within the State of Washington.

This is a bad school and should be avoided at all cost.
Complete ripoff. The school has cost me approximately $770.00 for parts and towing charges and my car still isn't fixed.

Randal
Renton, Washington
U.S.A.