goldilocks
Jacksonville,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, February 11, 2013
I find quite interesting from the get go that the business owner doesn't know who this is but can only 'guess'. Then smears a couples name all over. Just how many customers were in this situation with this business?? Says a lot all by itself. The swinging of bats and having police escorts & court orders is not good either. In bully fashion, threatens the site itself.
John
United States of America#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, February 11, 2013
To: Rip Off Report
From Jax-Auto Mart, Inc
Date: February 10,2013
RE: Wanda L .Chapman and her husband Robert Chapman
1205-17037 / TC Case Number: ME23400
8175 Montasonta Avenue Jacksonville, Florida
____________________________________________________________________________________
Jax Auto Mart (JAM) is responding to the referenced complaint requesting work closed out on April 14, 2012. It is hard to tell who filed this complaint but we believe it is Mrs. Wanda Chapman as she has file numerous complaints under fictitious names to damage Jax Auto Mart reputation and violation of the Stipulation Installment Settlement . We are asking your agency to report the party that filed this complaint so paries can be correctly identified in this matter.
The facts she has stated are nothing but lies and misrepresentation of the facts to damage JAM reputation. The $1000 job never turned into a $3000.00 job but was $1008.46.
She failed to state she attempted to steal her vehicle from our business without paying for the authorized work. JAM took her to court and won on every count. This is her way of seeking vengeance against our business for doing the right thing. This report is filed without the party revealing their name or stating the truth in the case. There is NO accountability in this
type of media reporting just a mechanism of poor journalism and error of the facts.
Mrs. Chapman challenged the case before The Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Consumer Services and this agency sided with JAM. She challenged it with her credit card company, American Express and again they sided with JAM. She even took this before the small claims court and the Judge awarded this to JAM . However , one of her conditions was she would not contest this matter again and she has failed to honor that stipulation but writes half-truths and many mis -representation to your media and it is published to damage Mr.Hedquist name and JAM.
The Facts
Ms. Chapman has her facts wrong and is flat out misrepresenting this matter and left some very important facts out in filing this report to your agency .
History
Mr. Chapman brought his 2000 Volkswagen Beetle to JAM on April 7, 2012 with air conditioned ( A/C) issues as he described on the work order attached. The A/C system was blowing out warm air. Upon inspection of his vehicle .It was determined he had a major low pressure hose leaking with fluid running down the lower rail assembly. Our technicians ( ASE Technicians ) diagnosed the vehicle and determined this hose was leaking and the car also needed a receiver drier to complete the repair from a visual inspection.
The actual leak was detected visually before we even hooked the Robinair A/C machine to the vehicle. At that point Mr. Daniel Smith the JAM Manager walked Mr. Chapman out to the vehicle so he could observe the oil and dye that had sprayed
out of the A/C system and on the rail of his vehicle. Mr Hedquist was never involved in this matter. The dye in the system reveals that this vehicle had been diagnosed for leaks somewhere else before JAM ever looked at the vehicle. The technicians then hooked the Robinair A/C machine up to pressure test the vehicle and that confirmed that the A/C line and the dryer were in need of replacement.
Mr. Chapman was given an estimate for the repairs and her husband agreed to repair the vehicle at that time. He signed the work order authorizing the repair. The part was ordered from Volkswagen and had to be backed ordered from VW and arrived a few days later.
JAM technicians then installed the hose and drier upon receipt of the parts. The A/C system was then rechecked vacuumed down and Freon installed and pressure tested the system it held pressure throughout the tests.
However, when JAM tried to turn on the air conditioning on it would not work due to other issues that could only be determined after the leak was repaired. At that point JAM rechecked the Freon levels and pressures they were correct and the problem was now pointing to another area now electrical issues.
When Mr. Daniel Smith, JAM Manager contacted and informed Mr. Chapman of the electrical problem that we were now facing is when he9 Mr. Chapman) informed Mr. Smith he had previously had his vehicle at another repair shop with an electrical problem in the heating and air conditioning control unit.
For the first time, Mr. Chapman now discloses to Mr. Daniel Smith that he had the vehicle at another shop in Alabama and they had replaced the control panel for the instrument cluster. JAM is now aware issues with the A/C caused from an electrical standpoint not from an A/C leak from a bad hose.
If it was initially electrical issues it could have caused the problems with the hose having too much pressure on the line and causing the other A/C problems before JAM even started the repair. It would have been nice to know upfront of the previous control panel issue JAM Technicians could have eliminated other causes of the hose blown out.
At that time JAM started to investigate the electrical issue and it had become apparent that someone had been trying to diagnose the wiring portion of the A/C because most of the wires in the harness that connect to the A/C relay were broken, frayed or exposed to the weather shorting the system out .
Mr. Smith contacted Mr. Chapman again and advised him we needed to replace the damaged wires and a portion of the harness itself to eliminate the shortage in the system. A price or estimate was discussed and agreed upon and again the repair was authorized . JAM technicians then repaired the wiring that we saw broken. That repair was completed and after the wires were repaired the A/C worked correctly and the car cooled down to 58 degrees.
Mr. Chapman was called and came to retrieve his vehicle with the A/C in full working order. He was shown the wiring diagram and informed about the damage that we found during our repairs.
Mr. Chapman called Mr. Smith two days later and stated that the air conditioner was not working and had gone out after working for two days while he was on another trip to Alabama.
He was advised to return the vehicle immediately and if any problems were found that we caused that we would be more than happy to repair the problem at no charge and as a warranty item. However at that time and due to electrical issues, he was also informed, if it was a new problem he would be responsible for the repair costs when he brought the vehicle in.
He did return with his vehicle several days later and we determined that the A/C control panel unit was the problem at this time not any of the work that JAM had completed on the A/C system previously. When Mr. Chapman was informed of the control panel issues he stated he had that control panel put on by a repair shop in Alabama and it should be under warranty from them. That was discussed and he said he would take the vehicle back to the repair facility that replaced that part for warranty repair and let that shop put a new control panel back on . We agreed and he told Mr. Smith he would return the vehicle to the other shop for warranty repair and replacement of the defective part. That shop is responsible for the damage we noted in the wiring harness we had to replace earlier. The Chapmans have never provided the name of that shop or a copy of any of their estimates, work orders or job descriptions for our review.
NOTE: Perhaps your Department may request copies of the repair invoice to document a new Control Panel was purchased and put on as represented by the Chapmans in Alabama. We believe a used or aftermarket part was substituted thus the short and not a VW original panel
This is where the issues begin; Mr. Chapman returned again on May 6 and advised Mr. Smith that the other shop checked the unit and stated their repair was good and the control panel was good that they replaced.
Mr. Smith asked for a copy of the repair order from the other shop stating the issue that was made at the other shop for confirmation. Mr. Chapman could not provide any of the requested information for support for confirmation .
Again JAM informed Mr. and Mrs. Chapman due to NO support documentation that if this part was defective we would have to be recharged them for the diagnostic as this is a tedious diagnostic of probing every pin going to the panel by two technicians. Mrs. Chapman stated emphatically, it is not the control panel. It is your work.
We again asked for the support repair invoice. The Chapmans both Wanda and Robert returned the vehicle and stated the A/C did not work and wanted us to recheck our work.
We stated that we would be more than happy to recheck our work but when you left here the issue pointed on the 14th to the control panel as we informed you.
Mrs. Wanda Chapman stated she did have any documentation to Mr. Smith . He asked to see the work order demonstrating that had the new control panel put on in Alabama and a new control panel had been replaced as she was representing. She responded she did not have it or the repair invoice.
He stated again and made it perfectly clear, I will be more than happy to have my technicians recheck it but testing each electrical circuit with a power probe is time consuming to eliminate each component and if it turns to be the control panel again I will have to rebill you for the diagnostic. She said fine it will not be the control panel. I made it perfectly
clear in front of three technicians as witnesses because they were exhausted by her actions and verbal abuse.
Mr Smith asked Mrs. Chapman ,Show me an invoice that the other repair shop in Alabama you claim made this initial repair has re diagnosed these issues and states it is not the control panel and we will address it at no charge, as this makes no
sense I even went as far to state if she could provide a copy of the control panel being purchased by the other
repair shop at a Volkswagen dealership JAM would return it to our local Tom Bush VW and have them to warranty the part for her at no additional charge for the part and eliminate the finger pointing. That did not work as she did not any paper work so I asked for a phone number to call the repair shop and get them to fax me a copy of the control panel receipt and I would warranty it for them here. She had nothing so we had to re - diagnose the problem again.
JAM technicians rechecked the vehicle and determined there still is an electrical issue going to the control panel. JAM is not liable for existing conditions nor can we afford to warranty repairs that were performed at other repair facilities that we are not affiliated with us or our warranty group.
On May 8 we received notification from American Express that Mr. Robert Chapman has asked for the payment to be reversed on May 2, 2012. The Chapmans have been less than forthcoming on this entire matter. At no time upon dropping off the repair for the recheck did the state they were dissatisfied with the repair or any of our work. Jam has been more than
accommodating their misrepresentations and finger pointing and flat out lies now. The Chapmans had initiated action on May 2, 2012 with American Express to have the charges reversed and never informed JAM of this action. JAM just happened to receive paper work from American Express the third day the vehicles was in our shop and made JAM aware of the chargeback. Also not the Chapmans never disclosed initially this vehicle has been at another shop for major electrical issues that involved the A/C repair until our technicians and Mr. Daniel Smith informed them we /JAM discovered it. Now they have selected memory.
Electrical issues are more consuming, not many shops or technicians are capable of this type repair. Electrical issues therefore are billed out at a higher rate than A/C repairs and are never fixed hours due to the uncertainty of the components but we ask for so many hours upfront to get to an area to determine the issues we are finding. That is because the Robinair
A/C equipment can direct technicians to the issues on A/C components while electrical is chasing wiring diagrams from point to point for elimination of the issue off diagrams and checking circuits.
On the third day of working on the vehicle I received the notice from American Express and contacted Mr. Chapman directly to discuss this matter. Again less than forthcoming, as it would have been nice to know that this had been started with an electrical repair when he dropped his vehicle off.
To make matters worse now Mrs. Chapman just happened to be seen on the corner of our property after my discussion with her husband and was trying to drive her vehicle off the property with another key and not paying for it. She was confronted and she contacted JSO to come out and three patrol cars did arrive. Mr. Smith said to Mrs. Chapman in front of the Patrol Officers if she could provide a receipt that a new control head was placed in the vehicle from another repair shop and was VW control head JAM would warranty the item and fix her vehicle by taking the part to our local VW dealer. Mrs. Chapman said in front of the officers she could not provide a copy of the receipt.
In summary Mrs. Chapman just does not want to pay for any of this repair and even attempted to steal her vehicle without paying for any of it. JAM did diagnose the A/C issue and it again points back to a shortage for the control panel circuit that blew the A/C thrust sensor and was attribute to the wiring behind the control panel. It was replaced and the A/C works fine and cools to 58 degrees at air ducts.
The problem was the other repair and JAM did fix the problem initially and we will bill the Chapmans for the additional work. Attached is a statement taken from the technicians documenting their behavior while I was absent from the property for your review. Perhaps again your Department should request copies of the invoice from the other repair shop in Alabama
JAM has attempted to work with the Chapman in good faith, and even given them discounts for the electrical diagnosis the first time this occurred, but Ms. Wanda Chapman is misrepresenting the facts and we /JAM plan to counter sue in court for the additional costs and misrepresenting the facts of this matter to keep from paying her bill.
Please remove this posting from this page if the real name of the individial is not posted for accountabilty in type forumn