This is an idea, but I don't think you'll pervail in court. Too much time has elasped, the dealership can claim they know nothing of the accident and you have no way to prove the car hasn't been up on another lift since the 7/25 work. I'm sorry, but I think you'll have to bite the bullet on this one. Just don't ever go back there again. And as far as the BBB, the Better Business Bureau, do you know who finances the BBB, local businesses. You ain't never gonna win there.

 

BBB is BS. I made a complaint once and they closed the file after a few replies, citing "business has offered reasonableresolution, but consumer did not accept" Total BS, they never made any offers, nor did they apologize for their lies, and kept lying more and more from the replies. I repeatedly stated I had evidences and e-mail exchanges that can prove they lied, but BBB ignores that.

As for the court, ask a lawyer. But I don't see why you have to prove your car wasn't on another lift. The truth is it wasn't, and if the dealer's lawyer wants to say otherwise, he has to give the court some evidence. How can you provide a receipt for another job that lifted the car when there ISN'T one?

 

quick question, how many miles were on the car, should be noted on the paperwork for the work done that day. How many miles are on it now?

Maybe (if not a DD) could point out on a map the raduis in comparison to any local shops with lifts. Sounds ridiculous but hey it could help proving after said work, there was no possibility of doing the damage yourself with a lift.

 

sorry to hear about the damage but your real problem is you left the dealer and did not report it i recently lost in court when the dealer dented my cargo van and one of my employees pickit ou with out checking it eventhough the judge believed me with out proof you are screwed sorry to be the one to tell you

 

????

 

I nailed the dealership for damages to the bottom of my front rt fender because i made the service advisor look over the car with me when i brought my Vette in and i told them i would check even underneth when i pick the car up and sure enough they cracked the fender. Thats about the only real way i could prove that they caused damage. Good Luck. LT

 

5 days after your service and then you notice it? Why is there an aftermarket filter on it? You have to see both sides of the story. You cannot prove they did it any more than they can prove they didn't.

 

This world is turing to crap, no one cares about anyone else. I am tired of lying bastards

 

I hate to say this but your chances of winning are slim in the best of cases. You will in all probability spend money and still lose. As mentioned previously the only way to safeguard yourself is to do a pre and post inspection of your vehicle at the store. Once you leave and time has elapsed its your word against theirs. I am not trying to defend the dealership mind you but do you know how many people walk into a store stating they damaged their car and expect them to pay for it when they did nothing? They get screwed so many times that they get hardened to customers legitimate complaints. The only real issue I see here is the A-hole tech who didn't come clean when the damage occurred. If the tech said nothing do you really expect the Service manager to just roll over and take your word for and and pay over $2k in damage? Doubtful.....this is one hec of a problem and I hope it gets resolved for you. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I had the same thought. They had almost six days to clean the paint of the ramps.

 

Good thought, but news stations are usually only interested in sensational stories like claims of racial bias, money scams, etc. This isn't sexy enough for them to get involved.

 

I agree with you that I wouldn't prevail in court unless I got that one magistrate who may have had a bad experience at a dealership. No eyewitness means no win.
Not all business are accredited with the BBB. I checked and this dealership is not.

 

I wanted to give the AC dye time in the system before I crawled underneath to inspect is why the five days. Is there some kind of written SOP among you Svc Mgrs to look for aftermarket parts and then try to attribute that to unrelated issues? My Wix aftermarket filter is a red herring and a feeble attempt by this Service Mgr to deflect the blame; however, you are correct in that it is my word against theirs. One of us is lying.

 

It's not a DD, but it comes down to the fact that a judge in civil court wants an eyewitness. Without that it's circumstantial. There is only one guy that knows exactly what happened - the tech, and another guy who figured out what happened - me.

 

Right on about the BBB. All they do is forward the complaint to the business and give them an opportunity to respond. Once the response is submitted, case closed! But this was still a necessary step in the event I file a suit in civil court. I also filed a complaint with Consumer Affairs of S. Carolina.

 

Well, the point I was trying to make is that they are paid by the businesses anyway (their fees or whatever to be part of BBB). They are not a consumer rights group at all, they are on the business side. Even when they know a business is wrong, they don't do anything to the business's rating other than keeping the complaint on record, but tells you nothing but "there was a customer complaint".

On the other hand, you have consumer report which belongs to consumer union (or something like that) that actually is on the consumer side, looking at laws or whatever that may help consumers.

In the OP's case, clearly, he got screwed hard. And you guys are probably right, he's out of luck as far as taking it to court, unfortunately

 

They will have to talk to you if you take them to small claims court.

Should cost you about $35

Peace
Chip

 

This is one thing that NO shop/dealer wants a bad name given too.

Given this, as a shop owner ( I know to everyone this will ne unfair), if you take your car to someone, get the work done, pay, and leave. That means that you are satisfied with the workmanship performed and you have accepted the vehicle prior to your payment.

Abvious we are people not animals so we as a client have trust in the people who work on our toys. Clearly you are not going to give you car to the first Joe Blow Auto you see.

As an owner, I ADVISE you to inspect your cars BEFORE paying any invoices. I have clients coming all the time with higher end cars and we both do a walk around the car BEFORE and AFTER the service.

This keeps the client at ease, and the tech at high alert not to abuse or mis-use your vehicle.

Im really sorry to hear about your loss. But in my opinion I think you may be out of luck. Especailly if you came back few days later. If it was 30 min later, well than maybe.

The service managers do not observe all employees working. If something is damaged by a tech, the tech will most like not tell and try to cover up. So really, the when you complain to the service rep. he as no item of what damage you talk about. In his eyes, you are someone trying to suck money out of him. Obviously, we know that this is not the case.

Regardless, I would still try to recover the costs for damage. I just want to let you know not to be surprised if your out of luck.

Best of best luck to you good sir!

Rod

 

Not all dealerships are bad. I am a Service Director in a Chevy dealer and a Vette owner and enthusiast. I treat all off my customers like they are Vette owners and the Vettes are serviced correctly, I usually only use the drive on lift that is level with the floor or all of my techs have and know the importance of using pucks. When we work on a Vette even for light service we cover the painted areas with static cling Saran Wrap including center consoles on C6s for example to prevent tiny scratches and fingerprints etc.

We ask all Vette owners if they want a hand wash after service, we dont just wash automatically as we know some guys wont let water touch their cars, most appreciate that and dont let us wash.

I know of many quality dealerships and technicians who take great care when servicing Vettes, find one, get things done right and quit beating down quality dealership shops.

You, the customers are the guys and girls that i earn my living from so I can play with my Vette too, I need to take great care. of you guys.

There, I got it off my chest.

 

That's what I'm talking about
Where is your dealership located?

It's really not that hard to understand customer service. I recall one vender on the forum pointing out that "everyone is a customer at some point, when you go to a restaurant to eat, you wouldn't want to be treated badly." I thought that really captures it.

I think it's a great rule for shops and their cilents to do pre and after walk around car so everyone is on the same page. That way there is no arguments and blaming each other for any damage.