DENNIS O’SULLIVAN
A Kitchener woman learns the hard way that forestalling an expensive repair can mean an even more expensive repair down the road.
QUESTION
Being a widow, I am at the mercy of the garages that I have been using lately. About six weeks ago, I had the brakes replaced on my 2004 SUV. I paid just over five hundred dollars to have them replaced and after six weeks, they needed to be replaced again according to a garage down East when I went to visit my sister. This time, I was charged six hundred and forty dollars. I told the garage down East that I just had the brakes replaced and he told me that they did not put the correct pads on and that was why they failed again. I came back to my garage in Kitchener and they would not do anything for me towards the cost of the brake work done by them. You helped a friend of mine get her money back about six months ago and I was hoping that you could look into my complaint for me. Enclosed is my bill from down East. Mary from Kitchener
ANSWER
I am hoping that your question is just a misunderstanding about how brakes work because when I called your garage in Kitchener, they told me that they told you at the time that your vehicle’s parking brake was sticking and should be repaired. You apparently told the garage that you never use the parking brake and that you could not at that time afford to have it repaired. Even after I requested the bill from you for the first garage, you never did send it to me but you did send a partially blacked out invoice from the garage down East so I emailed them for the complete invoice. What was blacked out on your invoice that you sent to me was: ”rear brakes seized, replace rear brakes and free up emergency brake cables.” They also replaced both rear brake flex lines because of the heat generated by the parking brake not releasing. With an automobile, we sometimes cannot afford not to have the repairs done that are needed or we end up being in a situation like yours where the costs of not doing the proper repairs can sometimes double the cost.
QUESTION
The driver’s power seat on my 2007 Buick is in the upward position and will not go down. My granddaughters were playing with the car seat and one of them put the seat up to its highest level. The seat motor sounds like it is trying to move the seat but it will not move. I spoke to a mechanical friend of mine and he told me that it is most likely that the seat motor needs to be replaced. I think that I have only adjusted the seat once since I purchased the car and do not want to purchase an expensive motor that I will never use again. Do you have any idea why a motor that was hardly used would go that quickly? Any idea would be appreciated. Tom from Waterdown
ANSWER
Before you spend any money on the seat motor, look under the seat to make sure that one of the granddaughters did not accidently put some type of toy under the seat, which could be restricting the downward movement of the seat. If there is nothing under the seat and you do not want to spend money on something that you say that you will never use then you can get your mechanical friend to mechanically wind down the seat to where you want it to be.
A HAPPY AND UNHAPPY READER
I want to thank you for getting me my eighty dollars back from the bandits who ripped me off but I was very disappointed that you did not use my question in your column to expose them. The public has a right to know about garages that are getting away with ripping people off and the lame government is doing nothing about it. I am happy for the money but disappointed about you not exposing the garage. Dan from Troy
MY COMMENT
That is not what you told me in your email after I spoke to the garage. This is the email that I sent to you after I spoke to the garage:
“Hi Dan, I spoke to the garage and they are telling me that it was your tinkering with the car that caused the problem with the repair but if you would just go away and stop badmouthing them, they would give you back your eighty dollars. They also requested that I not put your foul mouth complaint in the paper. What would you prefer that I do – expose them or get your money back?” Dennis
Your email to me: “Obviously I want my money back but I will never step foot in their garage again.”
Thanks Dan.
Dennis O’Sullivan can be reached by email at: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or by regular mail at Box 10019 Winona, ON, L8E 5R1. Be sure to mention where you reside when writing to Dennis.