Took my van in for a winter inspection. After paying for a front brake replacement and power steering pump replacement, my van promptly died on the I-5 Freeway.
Towed it back to Pep Boys in Torrance where they exonerated themselves of responsibility. They said they would waive the $90 diagnostic fee if we would get a fuel pump replacement for $340.
After performing the work, Fernando, the manager in question decided to charge the $90, in violation of his prior agreement.
Then upon inspecting the car, I noticed a large dent on the left rear door of the not previously there prior to dropping the van off for inspection. This dent was apparent from over 20 yards away. When confronted with the evidence, one worker who was there at the time of drop remarked that the dent was fresh.
Fernando the manager disregarded his worker and tried to defend the dent by saying there was "low light" and there was no way to have seen the dent.
1) Fernando was not present when the van was dropped off, so it would be impossible for him to know what the lighting conditions were at the time of drop off.
2) The workers at Pep Boys had to manually push the van into the garage, so any dent to the rear door would have been noticed.
3) The van was under the sole care and possession of Pep Boys.
4) One worker present at the scene noted the dent was "fresh."
After inspecting the dent, some Pep Boys workers then used suction to remove the dent, yet the deep scratch into paint down to the body remained. This action was performed by the Pep Boys staff without my request.
This action showed culpability because if Pep Boys did not feel the dent was caused by them, they would not have taken any action.
I arranged for a body repair specialist to come to the van to inspect and estimate the damage.
The dent and paint job will cost more than the repair work which Pep Boys performed. I have no confidence in my being compensated and may need to resort to litigation.
You are warned NOT to go to Pep Boys.
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