SW Ford, SouthWest Ford Fraudulent Repair Work, Weatherford Texas *UPDATE got my check! *Thank you! badbusinessbureau.com
I took my car to SW Ford to be repaired after a collision. They said the car was fixed and I went to pick it up. It was not repaired and I had to return it two more times. The last time I picked my car up, it was leaking transmission fluid. SW Ford collision center manager, David Bunn, assured me that the car was repaired. He promised that he had looked at it and had found nothing wrong with it.
I told my insurance company that I felt SW Ford was not doing a good job, but no one would help me. They just told me to take it back to SW Ford and have them sort it out. I then looked under the car myself. I am no mechanic, but here's what I saw: the transaxle rod was wired, with some sort of silver wire, to my transmission. The bolt that should have held the transaxle rod to the transmission case was glued into the bolt hole (because the bolt hole had been stripped). The "new" transmission was leaking transmission fluid from a long crack that had been partially covered up with some sort of sticky epoxy glue. There were other things that weren't fixed, but they were not as obvious.
I hired an independent appraiser to look at my car and write a report about the repair work done. This cost me a total of $415. The reoprt stated that the work done by SW Ford was fraudulent and not to the required standard. It states that SW Ford knowingly allowed me to drive a structurally and mechanically unsafe vehicle. The report goes on to list all the other things that were not done properly when SW Ford repaired my car.
I sent a copy of this report to my insurance company (Allstate) and they immediately came to look at my car, arranged to have it re-evaluated, and are now in the process of totaling my car. I have asked SW Ford to simply pay for the costs of the report that I had to have done because they would not do their job. Their owner/manager, Charlie Gilcrest, refuses to do so. Mr. Gilcrest contends that I should have returned my car, once again, to be repaired at SW Ford. He has been quite rude to me over the telephone.
There have been many complaints with the BBB too.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
SouthWest Ford Capitualtes - Thank You RipOff Report
#40
Mon, June 11, 2001
This is an update on the SouthWest Ford Fraudulent Repair Work Report. This morning Charlie Gilchrist of SouthWest Ford called me at 8:45 a. m. He said that he wanted to meet me and asked if I would come in. I told him I would only come in to get a check. He said that he felt that to be a resonable request. I asked if the check would be there and he said yes. I have an appointment to meet him at 11:15 a.m. (it's 8:45 am right now). I have been going around with this firm for 5 months and could get no results. Thanks to the assistance of the RipOff Report, I am finally getting some response and, hopefully, results.
I will write a complete update later this evening as to what transpired.
Thank You badbusinessbureau.com
& RipOff Report!!
I tell him goodbye and I leave his office with my $2,033.95.
#40
Mon, June 11, 2001
To: EDitor@badbusinessbureau.com.com
Subject: Re: File #5380 TX -SouthWest Ford (i called them)
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 17:29:26 -0500
Dear Ed, badbusinessbureau.com
First of all, let me say THANK YOU! I've seen the address for donations and I will be sending one in. I'm sure you can imagine how gratifying it was to sit in Mr. Gilchrist's this morning.
When I got there, a salesman asked me if I needed any assistance. I told him that I had an appointment with Mr. Gilchrist. I told him my name. This guy got a big grin on his face and showed me to the receptionists desk. There were 3 girls standing here and when he told them who I was they all
got big grins on their face (do you get the feeling that M. G. is not well liked?). Then they show me to Mr. G's office.
Mr. G. is visibly angry and he proceeds to lecture me as soon as I sit down. I smile and tell him that he has an enormous ego if he thinks that I am going to listen to a lecture from him. I go on to say that a man who tries to cheat his customers has no business giving lectures to anyone. About this time, Candy Grantham interrupts with a message that my son's called and
that it is important for me to call him right away at work. Ms. Grantham leans into the room, at this point, and takes a good look at me. I call my son in Mr. G's office (he even dials the number for me) and my son tells me that it's important for me to call you. I say that I don't have your number and my son says asks if I'm calling from my cell phone, and I am not, so my
son says call him back on the cell phone. I tell Mr. G. that I need to go out in the hall to call the gentleman from badbusinessbureau.com. He then pushes the $2,033.95 check at me. He says that if the Rip Off Report calls and threatens his staff again he will take me to court. I say, that I would love to air this in a court - especially at his expense. He is so angry his hands are shaking at this point. I heard the recorded phone converstion over the weekend, there were no threats except to file a law suit and picketing was going to start on Wedensday.
He proceeds to tell me that all that's gone on is really Allstate Insurance's fault, that Allstate made them put a used transmission on my car. He says that I should not put up with that from Allstate. I say to him that I'm pretty sure that Allstate didn't tell SouthWest Ford to put a cracked and leaking used transmission on my car, and to wire and glue it in
since it was too damaged to fit properly. He says that the damage could have occurred after it was put in ...I tell him that Allstate has already told me that the S. W. Ford mechanics have ADMITTED (to Troy Rodgers at Allstate Insurance) that the transmission was damaged when it arrived at SW Ford and that they put it in anyway.
I also tell him that I know they are trying to get their money back from the wrecker, that sold the damaged transmission to them, by claiming that it was already damaged when it got to SW Ford. This makes Mr. G. very angry. He says that he has a problem with Troy Rodgers and that Troy shouldn't be trying to lay all the blame on him (he is obviously unable to accept any responsibility himself and yet here he is trying to shift all the blame on Allstate, but it's okay for him to do this---a little ironic, isn't it?).
Mr. G. continues to insist that it is all the insurance company's fault ...so I tell him that I'm the wrong person to complain to about this - that he alone is in a position to do something about the insurance company and if Allstate is making SW Ford do bad work, then he should do something about it. I told him that when I took my car to the new dealership (McGraw in Mineral Wells), they did a fair assessment of how much it would cost to fix my car, and that Allstate didn't seem to be able to influence them to do bad work. McGraw's estimate was a lot higher than SW Ford's had been, so Allstate decided to total my car.
I told Mr. G. about this and said that if SW Ford had done their job right, my car would've been totaled back in March, and that basically none of this needed to have happened.
Mr. G. kept insisting that he is not the bad/mean person that he knows I believe him to be. He is going out of his way to convince me that I have him all wrong. He tells me that his mother was a teacher and that he appreciates the job that teachers do. He is making me wonder why he cares so much about what I think. I'm thinking Hmmmm? What is going on here?
So, I tell him what one of the lawyer's I called said about him...Mr.. Darwin (lawyer) told me that he'd bought his car from SW Ford and that he was very surprised to hear that Mr. G. was not trying to work this out with me.
I go on to say that Mr. G. might be a good person, but unfortunately his service department is not made up completely of good people. I explain how one of them looked me in the eye and lied to me, allowed me to drive away in an unsafe car on three occasions, and promised me that he had looked at my car and that there was NOTHING wrong with it. I then offered him some advice, telling him that one of these days a "Mr. Darwin" type of person was going to come in to get his car fixed by the SW Ford service department, and when they did him (or his wife) like they did me, Mr. G. wouldn't have a business to worry about anymore. I tell him that if he is really a good person, then he needs to rid himself of some of his mechanics because they
are muddying his reputation. He assures me that they are good guys really...yeah, sure, especially that David Bunn!! Well, now he comes to the punch line...he has the gall to tell me that he hopes, now that I need a new car, that I will let him help me out (boy, his kind of help I think I can live without). I tell him that no matter what I think of him, I can honestly say that I would never buy a car there because I would never trust his service department to do the maintenance that new cars require.
I tell him good-bye and I leave his office with my $2,033.95. Originally, all I wanted was just the $415.00 for the Appraisal Report. But badbusinessbureau.com made sure I got all my expenses it took me to get my money. This was certainly faster than court and no upfront cost to a lawyer that could promise me nothing.
As I walked out, the receptionist was talking to a salesman and she told him who I was, they both got big grins on their faces. I notice several people watching me as I walk out, all grinning. I never once felt like these were malicious grins. I felt like maybe Mr. G. had treated his employees in a similar fashion to the way he had treated me. I felt like they were
grinning because they were routing for me. Needless to say, this feeling of support just added to my feeling of closure. I like to believe that what goes around, comes around. This is one of those rare instances when I got to see someone getting back what they'd dished out...and it felt good!
Thanks again to you, Ed. You are brilliant. Keep on doing what you do so well!!
You are a modern day hero, Ed. It is so refreshing to think that there are people like you in the world. I will be sure to refer to you when I talk about heroes to my classes next year. I am recommending you to everyone I come in contact with and so are my family and friends. Keep up the great work!
THANKS, Jana.
tovjar@digitalpassage.com
An Accounting of my total Expenses: Reimbursement due NOW!
#40
Sat, June 09, 2001
I drove from Jacksboro to Weatherford (or visa versa) a total of 5 times - either collecting my car, or returning my car to SW Ford. This is approximately 250 miles total at a cost of approximately $15.00 for gasoline.
I have spent a total of 52 hours dealing with this incident. This includes: time spent calling either SW Ford, Allstate, or Mr. James Walden (the independent appraiser); time spent writing letters, taking pictures and formating and developing these pictures on the computer, and filing complaints to the BBB, RipOffReport, and numerous other complaint sites.
I spent $3.95 to send a certified letter to SW Ford.
The letter contained the $415.00 appraisal report done by Mr. Walden.
I was without a car from May 17 - May 30. I borrowed my fathers car during this period. Rental rates should be paid to him, as it is not his responsibility to provide a replacement car for me. Both Allstate and SW Ford refused to provide a rental car unless I would return my car to SW Ford to be re-repaired.
Gas costs------------------$15.00
Appraisal Report-------$415.00
My time------------------$1040.00 ...(52 hrs @ $20.00 per hour)
Borrowed Car------------$560.00 ...(14 days @ $40.00 per day)
Certified Letter--------------$3.95
.........................................
Total Costs/Reimbursement due....$2,033.95