Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
You know, if this had been a dealership, I would have said, reach out to Chevy, but as it's a chain...do you know if the Chain headquarters, the company that sells the franchises or whatever, is remotely involved? I mean, sure...they paid for the insurance, presumably (maybe?) but...I would try to find a way to do that. And if you haven't started tweeting bad stuff, etc., I would get on that too.
It's not Lemon Law, unfortunately, but...I should think that there would be some remotely-affordable legal help floating around somewhere. It does sound like prospective litigation.
Do you have Justice Court in FL? In AZ, JC is "between" the small claims and the superior court. I'd claim the value of the entire car and anything else I could and I'd bloody well file. I realize that from an evidence standpoint, you're not in a great position, but there are some commonsense elements here--like "if the car was covered with oil, why didn't they mention it?" that I think are on your side.
What about the consumer protection branch of the State Government? Or the AG's office, for fraud? Fraud in the inducement? Make the case that if they knew that the car had problems, if indeed oil was "all over the place," then they had to know that fixing the water pump would not address it and in fact, would likely cause further damage. That they had an obligation to tell you, if the oil were all over the place. And if it were, why didn't they? Why isn't it mentioned on the quote? Did they think that the water pump work was somehow going to address this massive, alleged oil leak? Or were they just trying to get your parent's money, for the water pump fix that would do nothing, to address or ameliorate this big leak?
If the oil wasn't spewing all over the place, then they have an argument that it was a good-faith effort. Make the argument that if the situation was as they claim it was, they committed fraud; if the situation is as YOU claim it was--the engine was fine--they committed fraud by wrecking the engine and trying to say it's your parent's fault or fate or destiny or whatever. ???
ETA: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/pages....256CC9004EC4F7
Hitch |
Thanks for the link, I will keep looking into places.
So far, we have filed with channel 8 news (no response), Florida Attorney General, Florida Agriculture and Business Practices, Senior Legal Helpline, Rural Legal Services, BBB, their corporate number at Munro, Inc., their insurance Traveler's Insurance, their shop directly with dispute.
As to the oil, it was fine - they said there was a tiny oil leak from one of the valves but that it wasn't a concern yet and that they didn't need to replace it yet. They said it was from the seal or something being a little old. Oil was not mixed with coolant at all, we were not losing or burning any oil, and oil was not dark or sludgey or weird. They reported no problems with the oil and then did the oil change and filter change. My parents were always great about getting regular oil changes, and it was changed in 2020 also.
But you are right on the dispute. We still think the engine was blown from something they did as we had no symptoms - but our second dispute is why work on the car if they even suspected the engine was blown? This is what Sting Rey dealership told us also -- all mechanics i have reached out to with verifying their story back up our suspicion claims. The shops' argument is that the engine must have been blown and there's no way for them to tell, or us to tell, so they are not at fault. They told us the exact opposite however, even saying literally "this engine should be good for another 100,000 miles" as long as you do this work on the coolant hose, etc. They never mentioned a possibility at all about the engine being in trouble or having any weird symptoms.
I am not sure on justice court and such. This is all very new to us as we have not been previously involved in something like this or the legal system. A friend of mine asked an attorney friend of hers but he didn't get back to her. Brick walls all over the place.
I am also going to write a letter this weekend to mail to their corporate with complaints as a follow-up. The phone calls don't seem to be getting me anywhere but I'd feel better sending more documentation to their corporate office since did not get anywhere with their Traveler's Insurance. Also they should be getting notice from the Florida Agriculture and Business practice.
Unfortunately they have 1 star for that corporate company on Better Business Burea - they own chains all over the country
Their Headquarters BBB profile rating is 1.5 star out of over 100 reviews
https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/rochester/...c-0041-6000929