- Report: #268206
Complaint Review: Import Specialty Auto - Colorado Springs Colorado
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Import Specialty Auto
2348 East Boulder Colorado Springs, 80923 Colorado, U.S.A.
Phone:
719-633-3075
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Import Specialty Auto keep our car for two months, didn't have tools to fix our car, ruined transmission and wouldn't pay! ripoff Colorado Springs Colorado
We: Devon and Jesse
They: Import Specialty Auto
2348 East Boulder
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Dealership: Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda
On June 8, 2007, we had our 2004 Black Volvo S60R towed to Import Specialty Auto to get the clutch fixed. We were quoted, by a manager named Doug, $1280.00, plus tax, to fix the clutch and it would take three days to complete. When we dropped the car off, we were given no written estimate, nor did we sign anything.
After our car had been there for one week, we contacted them. Doug informed us that they didnt have to tool needed to fix our clutch. He informed us that the Volvo Dealership was the only company they could borrow the tool from and it would take until Jul 9th to get the tool in. We were not informed before they started work on our car that they didnt have the proper tools to fix the clutch. We agreed to leave our car there until Jul 9th, since they had already taken the car apart and couldnt put it back together without the tool.
On Jul 9th, we heard nothing from them, so we called. Doug explained that the tool hadnt been delivered yet, and if they didnt receive it by 3:00pm, they would go to the Dealership and pick it up.
On Jul 10th, we heard nothing from them, so we called. Doug explained that the tool was in and the car would be fixed by, Jul 13th.
On Jul 13th, we were contacted by Doug and he explained there was a problem with the spline shaft. This was the only time we were ever contacted by Import Specialty Auto the entire time our car was in their shop. We called the Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda Dealership to find out if the spline shaft would be covered under warranty.
We were informed by an employee that it would be covered, if it had not been tampered with and if there was a mechanical defect. The employee explained that it would most likely be covered because its very rare that a spline shaft would have problems this early in the cars history. We drove to Import Specialty Auto to see the spline shaft ourselves. Doug took us to our car and showed us the defected spline shaft. We informed Doug that the spline shaft would be covered under warranty, if there was a mechanical defect and asked him if putting the spline shaft back in the car would cause any damage because we wanted to get it fixed at the dealership. He said it would be no problem and our car would continue to run the way it did, before the clutch went out. He told us the car would be ready on Jul 17th.
On Jul 17th, we heard nothing from them. At 2:30pm that day, we drove there to pick up our car. When we got there, Doug informed us that the employee working on our car was not the same one who took it apart, so our car wouldnt be ready until Jul 18th.
On Jul 18th, we heard nothing from them, so at 2:30pm we drove there. When we got there, we were informed by Doug that an employee broke the steering wheel coupler and they would replace it for free, but the part wouldnt be in until Jul 19th. He said when the part comes in, it would take a day to fix, so the car would be done on Jul 20th.
We informed him that if our car wasnt done by Jul 20th, we wanted our car towed to the Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda Dealership and for them to pay the labor to have the steering wheel coupler fixed. He agreed to have our car towed, but didnt agree to pay for anything.
On Jul 20th, we heard nothing from them, so we drove there. Kevin, another manager, informed us that they ordered the wrong part and the new part wouldnt be in until Jul 23rd. We informed him that we were not authorizing them to keep our car any longer and that we wanted our car towed to the Dealership that day. They agreed, but made us pay them the original oral estimate of $1280.00, plus tax, in order for us to take our car off their property, even though it wasnt drivable.
We told them we wanted them to pay for the labor it would cost us to have the steering wheel coupler replaced at the Volvo Dealership and for anything else that might have been damaged at their shop. Paul, another manager, said to bring them the receipt from the Dealership and they would make a decision at that time.
Our car arrived at the Dealership on Jul 20th around 4:00pm, so it wasnt worked on until the next day. On Jul 23rd, we were informed by the Volvo Dealership that Import Specialty Auto had not delivered all the parts needed to fix the steering wheel coupler. The Volvo Dealership contacted them directly about the parts and Paul, manager from Import Specialty Auto, brought the parts to the Volvo Dealership that day.
After the Volvo Dealership fixed the steering wheel coupler, we were informed that our car was leaking fresh oil because Import Specialty Auto had put the spline shaft in wrong. This caused our spline shaft and transmission to need replacement. We were also informed by the Volvo Dealership that the spline shaft had nothing to do with replacing the clutch, so Import Specialty Auto should never have taken it out.
When the Volvo Dealership contacted Import Specialty Auto about the damaged transmission and spline shaft they were told, "Piss on you, they are your customers now."
Our car was at the Dealership from Jul 20th to Aug 3rd replacing the steering wheel coupler, spline shaft and transmission. Import Specialty Auto declined paying the $268.69 labor charge we requested. When my husband took the Volvo Dealership receipt to Import Specialty Auto he was told by Paul, "Never come back to our property again."
Devon
Colorado Springs, Colorado
U.S.A.
They: Import Specialty Auto
2348 East Boulder
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Dealership: Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda
On June 8, 2007, we had our 2004 Black Volvo S60R towed to Import Specialty Auto to get the clutch fixed. We were quoted, by a manager named Doug, $1280.00, plus tax, to fix the clutch and it would take three days to complete. When we dropped the car off, we were given no written estimate, nor did we sign anything.
After our car had been there for one week, we contacted them. Doug informed us that they didnt have to tool needed to fix our clutch. He informed us that the Volvo Dealership was the only company they could borrow the tool from and it would take until Jul 9th to get the tool in. We were not informed before they started work on our car that they didnt have the proper tools to fix the clutch. We agreed to leave our car there until Jul 9th, since they had already taken the car apart and couldnt put it back together without the tool.
On Jul 9th, we heard nothing from them, so we called. Doug explained that the tool hadnt been delivered yet, and if they didnt receive it by 3:00pm, they would go to the Dealership and pick it up.
On Jul 10th, we heard nothing from them, so we called. Doug explained that the tool was in and the car would be fixed by, Jul 13th.
On Jul 13th, we were contacted by Doug and he explained there was a problem with the spline shaft. This was the only time we were ever contacted by Import Specialty Auto the entire time our car was in their shop. We called the Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda Dealership to find out if the spline shaft would be covered under warranty.
We were informed by an employee that it would be covered, if it had not been tampered with and if there was a mechanical defect. The employee explained that it would most likely be covered because its very rare that a spline shaft would have problems this early in the cars history. We drove to Import Specialty Auto to see the spline shaft ourselves. Doug took us to our car and showed us the defected spline shaft. We informed Doug that the spline shaft would be covered under warranty, if there was a mechanical defect and asked him if putting the spline shaft back in the car would cause any damage because we wanted to get it fixed at the dealership. He said it would be no problem and our car would continue to run the way it did, before the clutch went out. He told us the car would be ready on Jul 17th.
On Jul 17th, we heard nothing from them. At 2:30pm that day, we drove there to pick up our car. When we got there, Doug informed us that the employee working on our car was not the same one who took it apart, so our car wouldnt be ready until Jul 18th.
On Jul 18th, we heard nothing from them, so at 2:30pm we drove there. When we got there, we were informed by Doug that an employee broke the steering wheel coupler and they would replace it for free, but the part wouldnt be in until Jul 19th. He said when the part comes in, it would take a day to fix, so the car would be done on Jul 20th.
We informed him that if our car wasnt done by Jul 20th, we wanted our car towed to the Bob Penkhus Volvo Mazda Dealership and for them to pay the labor to have the steering wheel coupler fixed. He agreed to have our car towed, but didnt agree to pay for anything.
On Jul 20th, we heard nothing from them, so we drove there. Kevin, another manager, informed us that they ordered the wrong part and the new part wouldnt be in until Jul 23rd. We informed him that we were not authorizing them to keep our car any longer and that we wanted our car towed to the Dealership that day. They agreed, but made us pay them the original oral estimate of $1280.00, plus tax, in order for us to take our car off their property, even though it wasnt drivable.
We told them we wanted them to pay for the labor it would cost us to have the steering wheel coupler replaced at the Volvo Dealership and for anything else that might have been damaged at their shop. Paul, another manager, said to bring them the receipt from the Dealership and they would make a decision at that time.
Our car arrived at the Dealership on Jul 20th around 4:00pm, so it wasnt worked on until the next day. On Jul 23rd, we were informed by the Volvo Dealership that Import Specialty Auto had not delivered all the parts needed to fix the steering wheel coupler. The Volvo Dealership contacted them directly about the parts and Paul, manager from Import Specialty Auto, brought the parts to the Volvo Dealership that day.
After the Volvo Dealership fixed the steering wheel coupler, we were informed that our car was leaking fresh oil because Import Specialty Auto had put the spline shaft in wrong. This caused our spline shaft and transmission to need replacement. We were also informed by the Volvo Dealership that the spline shaft had nothing to do with replacing the clutch, so Import Specialty Auto should never have taken it out.
When the Volvo Dealership contacted Import Specialty Auto about the damaged transmission and spline shaft they were told, "Piss on you, they are your customers now."
Our car was at the Dealership from Jul 20th to Aug 3rd replacing the steering wheel coupler, spline shaft and transmission. Import Specialty Auto declined paying the $268.69 labor charge we requested. When my husband took the Volvo Dealership receipt to Import Specialty Auto he was told by Paul, "Never come back to our property again."
Devon
Colorado Springs, Colorado
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Dave
Colorado Springs,Colorado,
U.S.A.
An opinion....
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, March 31, 2009
I have worked, in various capacities, for ISA for several years. I also have had the opportunity to work with the new owner [Kevin] for a period of time. It is my opinion that this company is not now, nor ever has been a "ripoff". It has been my pleasure [at times] to have service managed for several different companies in this industry. I am aware how quickly things can spiral out of control when not attended to quickly. (I know, because I was at fault a few times). This sounds like one of those incidents. Not knowing any facts, and only able to gauge the timeline from Devon's letter, it would be impossible for me to assign sole blame for this incident. It seems like one of those multi-layered comedy of errors one would see on late night TV. Having said all that, I would like to say that I can attest to the high moral caliber of the owner; I feel that this scenario, while regrettable, was not a blatant attempt to deceive the customer. Thank you Dave
Import Specialty Auto
Colorado Springs,Colorado,
U.S.A.
Import Specialty Auto -- 30 Years of Professional Import Auto Service and Repair in Colorado Springs
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, July 10, 2008
Import Specialty Auto has been in business at the same location in Colorado Springs since 1978. We have served thousands and thousands of import drivers over the years and have built a very loyal following because of our commitment to excellent work and professional service. If we were a rip off, our doors would have shut long ago. If we spoke in a derogatory manner to our customers or our vendors, we would not be celebrating our 30th year of providing quality service to our community. As in any business, occasionally circumstances arise that are beyond our control. In the many years that I have owned the business, I can think of two to three incidents in which everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong. The incident described here is one such occasion. Back-ordered tools that had to be obtained from Sweden, vacationing staff, misunderstanding, and simple human error all combined to create a frustrating situation for these customers. I take responsibility for that now and did at the time as well, making every reasonable attempt to work with the customers and correct the problem. This is how we've run our business honorably and professionally for 30 years, and we will continue to do so. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this incident, or our business in general, be emailing to [email protected], or you may contact us through our website: www.ISArepair.com.
