Hayes Affordable Auto

Review: Hayes was contacted to repair and inspect used limousine from private seller in Deer Park Washington. The purchased from [redacted], charged me and installed the wrong battery (confirmed by 2 different mechanics. The limo was being repaired for a road trip to Portland Oregon. I contacted Mark the owner and explained the situation and asked for his help with a refund for only the battery. His final comment was "guess you got burnt" and I bent over backwards to help you". From my standpoint he got paid and paid very well for work to included a correct battery which he did not complete..thus my formal complaint. I did call him an [redacted]Desired Settlement: Refund. I offered to ship or send via [redacted] the battery back. He laughed. Next step is small claims. I have all the receipts and documents from 2 other qualified mechanic shops who will verify his shoddy work.

Business

Response:

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 4,

2013 and hereby submit the following response to [redacted]’s complaint.

[redacted] (a resident of Oregon) was trying to

purchase a limousine located in Deer Park, WA. [redacted] contacted me on or about

September 24, 2013, to arrange to have the limousine towed to my shop and

inspected because the vehicle did not run. Once the limousine arrived, and upon

inspection, I determined the starter was faulty. I called [redacted] with an

estimate to replace the starter and perform a compression test to determine if

the engine was in good shape, along with the cost of the tow. [redacted] agreed to

the price and consented for me to perform the work. (A copy of my invoice dated

9/24/2013 is attached.)

Upon completion of the work (starter and

compression test) [redacted] arrived at my shop to look at the vehicle at

approximately 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 25, 2013. Upon his arrival I

informed [redacted] the limousine was going to need a battery. [redacted] used up much of

my time that morning asking me questions and persuading me to do free work

including the replacement of a bulb, securing part of the vinyl top which was

coming loose, scan testing the car, and installing a battery all at no

charge. The only charge [redacted] incurred was the cost of the

battery and the bulb (a copy of my invoice dated 9/25/2013 is attached).

With respect to the battery,

the people who were selling the vehicle to [redacted] were on their way to my shop

(which is about 5 miles out of town). The sellers were coming from Deer Park,

which is where [redacted] is located. [redacted] contacted

the Sellers and instructed them to pick up a battery at [redacted]

and bring it with them. I contacted [redacted] (not

the sellers of the vehicle) and informed [redacted] it was ok for the

battery to be put on my account so the sellers did not have to pay for the

battery. I did not specify the type or brand of battery to

[redacted], I merely consented to the battery being placed on my account.

The sellers of the limousine, pursuant to [redacted]’s

direction, brought the battery to my shop. Upon arrival, both myself and my

employee informed [redacted] the battery was not the “exact” battery for the vehicle

and asked him if he still wanted it to be installed (if not [redacted] would have

had to wait for another battery that may not have been readily available).

[redacted] informed me that he did not desire to wait for

another battery because he “needed to get on the road” and to just install the

battery the sellers brought out. I installed the battery with no

labor charge.

Upon installation of the battery, I informed

[redacted] that the wiring was suspect and that I did not

want to get involved in electrical system problems on a [redacted] limousine.

[redacted] left my shop at approximately 12:30 p.m. on September 25, 2013. [redacted]

received a total of 2 hours of free labor from myself and my employee, asked

for two cigarettes during his time in my shop, and also kicked my secretary out

of her office so he could personally negotiate a purchase price for the

limousine from the sellers.

Upon my return from lunch that same day, I

received several frantic messages from [redacted] stating that the limousine would

not start and that [redacted] could not get it to start. I immediately left my

shop with my employee and drove to [redacted] in order to jump start the

limousine. Once the limousine was running, I again reiterated that I did

not want anything to do with the electrical system on the

vehicle. I also told [redacted] I would go ahead and follow him to another shop in

Spokane, WA so he would not get stranded in case the vehicle would not start

again. I did all of this at no charge.

On Thursday, October 3, 2013

at approximately 4:35 p.m. I received a call from [redacted] indicating he wanted me

to fax him a copy of the receipt for the battery from [redacted] so he could

return it. I agreed to fax him the receipt the following day in the morning

since it was close to 5:00 p.m. and my secretary had already left for the day.

About 40 minutes later at approximately 5:15 p.m., I received another call from

[redacted] who was very angry because [redacted] would not allow him to return the

battery in Oregon because it was purchased out of state. [redacted] (irrational,

screaming and yelling) then instructed me on how I was going to “give him his

money back” for the battery and that he would “ship it [redacted]” if he had to.

I reminded [redacted] of our conversation about the battery not being “exact” at the

time he purchased it and that he instructed me to install it anyway because he

“needed to get on the road.” Again, I did not order the

battery - - I only allowed it to be charged to

my account so the sellers of the vehicle did not have to pay for it out of

their pocket. At this point [redacted] became unhinged and starting

screaming profanities over the phone. I simply hung up the phone. I never

said “I guess you got burnt.”

Should you have any questions or need any further information please

do not hesitate to contact me.