Jennifer
California,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, December 18, 2006
My husband use to be in military also. Some places really take advantage of people in the military and alot of thier business comes from them. I was unaware of those options, I had heard something before about the barring thing, but didn't know much about it. As for the BBB however, they might be helpful. The business may decide to help out if someone else gets involved, but the BBB cannot MAKE them do anything. It is the businesses decision in the end. All they can do is mediate, and try to work out a compromise between the two, which may be helpful so it is worth a shot. The dealerships don't care too much, they have a constant flow of new customers from the sales department, so customer service isn't a priority after the work has been done. It is when you are there, and thier commission is on the line, they treat you like you are thier best customer. Other than that, when conflict arises, they act as if they don't know you, they can't remember the details, etc. I bet getting barred would get thier attention though, like Michael said. Especially if they hear from the BBB and you about the petition thing.Do whatever it takes to get them to come around and accept responsibility, but if you have to take them to court. I don't understand why Texas doesn't have better laws about this stuff.
Jennifer
California,#3Consumer Comment
Mon, December 18, 2006
My husband use to be in military also. Some places really take advantage of people in the military and alot of thier business comes from them. I was unaware of those options, I had heard something before about the barring thing, but didn't know much about it. As for the BBB however, they might be helpful. The business may decide to help out if someone else gets involved, but the BBB cannot MAKE them do anything. It is the businesses decision in the end. All they can do is mediate, and try to work out a compromise between the two, which may be helpful so it is worth a shot. The dealerships don't care too much, they have a constant flow of new customers from the sales department, so customer service isn't a priority after the work has been done. It is when you are there, and thier commission is on the line, they treat you like you are thier best customer. Other than that, when conflict arises, they act as if they don't know you, they can't remember the details, etc. I bet getting barred would get thier attention though, like Michael said. Especially if they hear from the BBB and you about the petition thing.Do whatever it takes to get them to come around and accept responsibility, but if you have to take them to court. I don't understand why Texas doesn't have better laws about this stuff.
Jennifer
California,#4Consumer Comment
Mon, December 18, 2006
My husband use to be in military also. Some places really take advantage of people in the military and alot of thier business comes from them. I was unaware of those options, I had heard something before about the barring thing, but didn't know much about it. As for the BBB however, they might be helpful. The business may decide to help out if someone else gets involved, but the BBB cannot MAKE them do anything. It is the businesses decision in the end. All they can do is mediate, and try to work out a compromise between the two, which may be helpful so it is worth a shot. The dealerships don't care too much, they have a constant flow of new customers from the sales department, so customer service isn't a priority after the work has been done. It is when you are there, and thier commission is on the line, they treat you like you are thier best customer. Other than that, when conflict arises, they act as if they don't know you, they can't remember the details, etc. I bet getting barred would get thier attention though, like Michael said. Especially if they hear from the BBB and you about the petition thing.Do whatever it takes to get them to come around and accept responsibility, but if you have to take them to court. I don't understand why Texas doesn't have better laws about this stuff.
Michael
Warner Robins,#5Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 15, 2006
Hello Mrs, I know exactly what your going through, except my incident was with a different dealership in Killeen. There aren't any laws that would offer the kind of protection you seek in texas. But as the spouse of a military member you can speak with the Command Financial Specialist assigned to your husbands unit, and if the car is your only mode of transportation, an AER loan would fix anything that your car needs. You can also get a petition out there for other soldiers to sign for the commander to bar military members from doing business with Cleo Bay. It may be a long shot, but I've seen it happen before, and in a military town, you don't want to get barred from anything. Once you get the ball rolling with a petition, let Cleo Bay know what you're doing, and they might just give in. The other thing you could do is, call the Better Business Bureau, if they do an investigation, then Cleo Bay may be obligated to help you. The important thing here is, not to quit. You know what you want, and you know what they need to do. Tell your husband thanks for his service, and I hope he comes home safe. Good Luck
Michael
Warner Robins,#6Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 15, 2006
Hello Mrs, I know exactly what your going through, except my incident was with a different dealership in Killeen. There aren't any laws that would offer the kind of protection you seek in texas. But as the spouse of a military member you can speak with the Command Financial Specialist assigned to your husbands unit, and if the car is your only mode of transportation, an AER loan would fix anything that your car needs. You can also get a petition out there for other soldiers to sign for the commander to bar military members from doing business with Cleo Bay. It may be a long shot, but I've seen it happen before, and in a military town, you don't want to get barred from anything. Once you get the ball rolling with a petition, let Cleo Bay know what you're doing, and they might just give in. The other thing you could do is, call the Better Business Bureau, if they do an investigation, then Cleo Bay may be obligated to help you. The important thing here is, not to quit. You know what you want, and you know what they need to do. Tell your husband thanks for his service, and I hope he comes home safe. Good Luck
Michael
Warner Robins,#7Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 15, 2006
Hello Mrs, I know exactly what your going through, except my incident was with a different dealership in Killeen. There aren't any laws that would offer the kind of protection you seek in texas. But as the spouse of a military member you can speak with the Command Financial Specialist assigned to your husbands unit, and if the car is your only mode of transportation, an AER loan would fix anything that your car needs. You can also get a petition out there for other soldiers to sign for the commander to bar military members from doing business with Cleo Bay. It may be a long shot, but I've seen it happen before, and in a military town, you don't want to get barred from anything. Once you get the ball rolling with a petition, let Cleo Bay know what you're doing, and they might just give in. The other thing you could do is, call the Better Business Bureau, if they do an investigation, then Cleo Bay may be obligated to help you. The important thing here is, not to quit. You know what you want, and you know what they need to do. Tell your husband thanks for his service, and I hope he comes home safe. Good Luck
Michael
Warner Robins,#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 15, 2006
Hello Mrs, I know exactly what your going through, except my incident was with a different dealership in Killeen. There aren't any laws that would offer the kind of protection you seek in texas. But as the spouse of a military member you can speak with the Command Financial Specialist assigned to your husbands unit, and if the car is your only mode of transportation, an AER loan would fix anything that your car needs. You can also get a petition out there for other soldiers to sign for the commander to bar military members from doing business with Cleo Bay. It may be a long shot, but I've seen it happen before, and in a military town, you don't want to get barred from anything. Once you get the ball rolling with a petition, let Cleo Bay know what you're doing, and they might just give in. The other thing you could do is, call the Better Business Bureau, if they do an investigation, then Cleo Bay may be obligated to help you. The important thing here is, not to quit. You know what you want, and you know what they need to do. Tell your husband thanks for his service, and I hope he comes home safe. Good Luck
Jennifer
California,#9Consumer Comment
Fri, December 15, 2006
Texas doesn't really regulate auto repair. You can check out the attorney general website, but as far as I know the law doesn't protect auto repair customers like other states do. I think your best option would be to write down all the conversations you had with them, any statements they made about your vehicles condition, reciepts and some documentation of what the other mechanic found, etc and put together a timeline of the events that occured. Then take them to court. Your report is pretty clear, detailed and it sounds like you have a good understanding of all the things that happened. (Unlike some people on here start spouting crazy things that the shop did to them, or caused to go wrong with thier vehicles, which are unlikely. and just want somebody to pay for all thier car's problems lol) Anyhow like I was saying, I think you would stand a good chance in court. If you had a cracked head or blown head gasket when you went in and they did any sort of testing for overheating it is most likely they would find it! If a vehicle comes in and the customer is complaining of overheating we check for blown head gaskets, cracked heads before any work is done. Lots and lots of people continue driving a vehicle when it is overheating, leading to a blown head gasket and maybe cracked head. It is pointless for a customer to spend money on a radiator (or whatever caused the problem) just to find out they have a blown head gasket and possibly a cracked head. Many people decide that is more money than they want to put into the car, if they just spent 400 on a new radiator, they are going to be REALLY upset to find out they have another 1800 dollar repair! I can't say for sure (I'm not a mechanic, I just type up repair orders, notes from mechanics, and talk with customers) but it seems that if those problems exsisted when you brought it in ( radiator and head gasket) and they actually did inspect it they would have found it. You should ask the second mechanic for details, like what type of testing would be performed on a vehicle that came in for overheating, specifically your vehicle. And if that testing was done, would a blown head gasket be found if it existed at the time? Basically is there anything you can use to prove they didn't do the work you asked them to (check for overheating problem) and that they failed to find the problem, leading to the head gasket. Do you have thier reciept saying what they did to test for the problem? Did you pay for the diagnostics/testing for overheating, or just the maintenance items? Anyhow I'm tired, I think you get my point. See what you can come up with that shows they didn't do what they said they did, etc. and take them to small claims court. They should have been able to find a hole in the radiator if they knew the car was overheating!