My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Virginia
About 2 years ago, my wife's car was damaged by flooding. When we had the state inspection done later that year, were were told that the air bag control module was not working and needed to be replaced. The shop spent 2 weeks telling us they were trying to find a compatible part, and when we finally got it back we were charged for the new part plus 10 hours labor. We had this year's state inspection done at a different shop. The mechanic told us our air bag control module was not working and he would need to keep it overnight to figure out why. We assumed the new part failed. Turns out it was much worse than that. The mechanic told us it was flood damaged and that it and all the wires connected to it were destroyed. The flooding happened BEFORE the previous inspection. This mechanic had no way of knowing the part had ever been flood damaged unless he saw the damaged part inside the vehicle. And it gets even worse. There is an indicator light that would have told us something was wrong with the air bag system. The bulb had been removed from it, and I'm assuming that was intentional.
So, to sum it up:
We were charged a lot of money for work that wasn't done.
The lack of repair was concealed by removing the indicator light bulb.
We were driving for a year in a car that could have killed us because it did not have a working air bag.
We were issued an inspection sticker by an inspector who knew the car did not meet state inspection requirements.
I've called corporate customer service about this. Their preliminary investigation found that everything is as I claimed, the mechanic who repaired it is willing to sign a written statement with a notary present, and it has been deemed serious enough to be handled by the regional manager. They're supposed to investigate further. If they ask what they could offer me to make this go away, I'm not sure what I should ask for. A simple refund would be helpful, but considering they put us in danger for a year with a defective car and tried to hide what they did, I'm more than a little upset with them. Any advice as to how to negotiate a settlement, or how to proceed if nothing is
About 2 years ago, my wife's car was damaged by flooding. When we had the state inspection done later that year, were were told that the air bag control module was not working and needed to be replaced. The shop spent 2 weeks telling us they were trying to find a compatible part, and when we finally got it back we were charged for the new part plus 10 hours labor. We had this year's state inspection done at a different shop. The mechanic told us our air bag control module was not working and he would need to keep it overnight to figure out why. We assumed the new part failed. Turns out it was much worse than that. The mechanic told us it was flood damaged and that it and all the wires connected to it were destroyed. The flooding happened BEFORE the previous inspection. This mechanic had no way of knowing the part had ever been flood damaged unless he saw the damaged part inside the vehicle. And it gets even worse. There is an indicator light that would have told us something was wrong with the air bag system. The bulb had been removed from it, and I'm assuming that was intentional.
So, to sum it up:
We were charged a lot of money for work that wasn't done.
The lack of repair was concealed by removing the indicator light bulb.
We were driving for a year in a car that could have killed us because it did not have a working air bag.
We were issued an inspection sticker by an inspector who knew the car did not meet state inspection requirements.
I've called corporate customer service about this. Their preliminary investigation found that everything is as I claimed, the mechanic who repaired it is willing to sign a written statement with a notary present, and it has been deemed serious enough to be handled by the regional manager. They're supposed to investigate further. If they ask what they could offer me to make this go away, I'm not sure what I should ask for. A simple refund would be helpful, but considering they put us in danger for a year with a defective car and tried to hide what they did, I'm more than a little upset with them. Any advice as to how to negotiate a settlement, or how to proceed if nothing is
Service and Repair: Charged for Car Repairs That Were Not Done
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