My brother was using my car during the summer while he was here caring for our mother the car stalled out on him on August 10th it was towed to Meineke for diagnosis he made several attempts via phone and in person to find out what was wrong with the car and was never told anything and on Wednesday August 16th I received a call telling me I owed $800 for the repair of the vehicle after I arrived we got into a little heated discussion because I wanted to know who authorized the repairs and was told that my brother had said to let him know what it was going to take to fix it and upon that assumption they took the liberty of doing the repairs because I had not authorized it they took a $100 off the bill the new total was $698.45 the car was brought home only to be returned within a couple of days because the part they replaced the Distributor assembly was faulty. Upon receiving the car back for a second time I noticed that I was having an issue keeping the battery charged and they took the car again this time they never told me the car was returned and they left the keys in the mailbox I pulled the car in the garage and a couple of weeks later I went out to start the car to find the car wouldn't start so I placed a charger on for a couple of days it showed that it had a full charge so the next day I went out to start the car and it wouldn't start I contacted Meineke and had the car towed to them that same day when I spoke with them he said "oh it's still not running right" the tow driver arrived to tried to jump start the car it blew his jump pack and he told me that whoever added the extra wires coming from the battery was causing it to be a fire hazard I went down the next day and explained to them that I wanted those wires removed because they weren't there before they got their hands on the car and I never had an issue with the new battery until after they worked on the car and that it was causing the battery to drain this was a new battery that I had AAA replace for me in November of 2023 it costs me well over $250 to it replaced. The car was returned to them again around the October 28th and it stills sits in there parking presently when I called to see what was going on with the car, I was told that it has a coolant leak I explained to the man that the car was not brought in for a coolant leak but to have those wires they added removed and to find out why the car is still not running right again he got into a heated discussion with me telling me that's not why I brought the car to them I told them I want my money back and that I will have the car towed to someone who can actually do the job right I was told to file a complaint with small claims court and once I have my mechanic look at the car and document all they did with it I will be doing just that I would not recommend anyone to do business with people who have no clue what they are doing as far as I am concerned this place should not be in business they are nothing but a RIP OFF
Claimed loss: $698.45
Desired outcome: I want my money back so that I can take the car to be properly repaired I am on a fixed income and don't have that kind of money to dish out to someone else to get it fixed right
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Due to the misunderstanding and several efforts to sort the matter out, it would be best, as you said, to take this up formally by filing a complaint in the small claims court. It will also be essential to record everything, including the broken parts and the purposeless work performed on the car. Also, if applicable, seek the second opinion of another mechanic in relation to this matter. Hopefully, this should be able to assist you in getting the matter handled well and avoiding further loss.
I just upgraded my AAA membership to have the car towed to my mechanic the only unfortunate thing is that it takes a week for the upgrade to take effect at that time the car will be brought to someone who knows what he is doing I trust this man explicitly he is the owner and stands behind all of his work.