my letter to midas

[alexeye]

i could use some suggestions from y'all: i'm writing a letter to midas to complain about what i feel was a shoddy tune-up inspection, the result of which was my car situation last friday (stranded outside salinas with a burst radiator hose). here's what i have so far:

To Whom It May Concern,


On Monday, the 21st of July, I had my 1990 Honda Civic Wagon repaired at your garage. In addition to the replacement of the back axles, I requested an oil change and general tune-up. I was quite happy with the speed and quality of the repair of the axles, but I feel that the tune-up was not complete. On Friday the 25th, just a few days after my tune-up, one of my radiator hoses burst, stranding me miles from the nearest shop. When I was able to get my car towed to the nearest Honda dealership, they informed me that all of my radiator hoses, approximately 9 in number, were cracked and worn, likely to split again if not replaced immediately. No mention of this condition was made when I came in for my tune-up at Midas. I feel that had your inspection team done a full and complete job, I would not have been stranded as I was, and this problem could have been fixed at a lower cost to me, both financially and emotionally.

what else do you think i need?

Comments

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

I think you should request reimbursement. But I don't know how to go about that. They should at least refund the cost of the tuneup!

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

i was thinking about doing that, but it states on my invoice (which, by the way, says that they inspected the hoses, but does not mention any damage):

"I understand that this Estimate of Repairs is based upon your inspection at this time, and does not cover additional parts and/or labor which may be required after the work has been started. Work or damaged parts which are not evident on first inspection may be discovered. This Estimate of Repairs cannot cover those possibilities."

i can't tell if that would get them out of any refund or not. reading this stuff really makes my head hurt.

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

you know, do you want to try calling them first? kind of feel them out for freebies before you write corporate headquarters?

As I see it, if they said they inspected your hoses, and then they broke like that, they didn't inspect your hoses. You might want to cast apsersions on whether or not they inspected ANYTHING at all.

I'd include the invoice with the hose inspection part highlighted. When I've had to write nasty letters I try to always include a highlighted document as backup.

[alexeye.livejournal.com]

good call on including the invoice: i'll definitely do that.

i'm actually writing the branch, rather than headquarters. if i don't hear anything within a week or so, i'll call headquarters.

[dazzlynn.livejournal.com]

hello, i found you via scarletwench. sorry.... that bit about "I understand that this Estimate of Repairs..."

that means that if the estimate is $10, and it ends up costing you $100 because of additional parts, they aren't responsible. It's not protecting them from the reverse.

I find it really odd that they didn't tell you about the hoses. That means more $$ for them???

I am going thru a similar thing right now. Times like this it's kinda a drag being a woman.