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Review content:
Daniel Cardelli of Autohaus of Union, ""hotwired"" the fuse box on my car causing damage; ignored letters from my attorneys and myself; made false statements in court and tried his best to discredit me, but I was able to secure a Judgment against him on 11/2/10.\r
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I live in Fredericksburg, VA but I was visiting friends and family in Waxhaw and Charlotte. I went to Autohaus of Union, Inc. on June 24, 2010 because my car mal-functioned and would not turn off. My car needed a Master Control Unit, the repairs were $735.00. Autohaus promised to have my car ready on June 25, 2010 but did not have it ready until June 28th.\r
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Although I was frustrated and disappointed that I had to take additional days off from work due to this “delay”, I finally, got on the road with my newly repaired car to make my 300+ mile trip home. When I got home, within two days, the battery on my car began to constantly drain down. I took it to my mechanic of 12 years, and he advised me that someone had ""hotwired"" my fuse box and caused a slow drain to my electrical system. When I saw the mess that had been made of my fuse box, I couldn't believe it. There was a huge red wire that stretched diagonally across the fuse box and was actually soldered on each end to the fuse shafts. My mechanic told me that it would be difficult to track the drain down and it could take hours of labor to go through every schematic. The worst case scenario was up to $5,000 if the whole unit had to be replaced. \r
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I contacted Merritt, Flebotte, Wilson, et al and they sent Cardelli a letter on July 29, 2010 indicating the problems that his repairs had caused, they included estimates for repairs and photos of the modified fuse box. Cardelli ignored the letter. I re-sent the letter to Cardelli via email on September 7, 2010 and again, he totally ignored the communication. On September 28, 2010, I mailed a complaint to be filed in Small Claims Court against him. Cardelli was served on October 6, 2010 and advised of a hearing on November 2, 2010. He never attempted to contact me.\r
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I appeared at the Courthouse in Monroe, NC on November 2, 2010. I brought a witness and evidence along to support my claims. Unfortunately, because my mechanic is 350 miles from Monroe, I only had a notarized Affidavit from him which was not accepted by the judge and I had a hard time explaining the extent of the damage. I stated my case, and then me and my witness were mortified as Cardelli and his witness (a loyal customer) began to tell outright untruths of the account of that day. He began by saying my car was in horrible shape, and that it had been towed into his shop, he then went on to say that the reason he kept the car for the extra time was because I didn't have the money, all of which was totally false. He didn't know I had photos and repair reports for my car to show it had a new paint job and that I fixed anything that needed repairs. My car was in very good shape for its age. He said that he NEVER touched or saw my fuse box and that he had ignored repeated attempts that had been made to contact him because he ""knew I just wanted to sue him and it would end up in court anyway."" \r
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Fortunately, the Judge saw through his lies and found that I presented evidence that he modified my fuse box and did not notify me. I received a monetary Judgment against Autohaus and Daniel Cardelli. Whether he will pay remains to be seen, but I hope he thinks twice before taking advantage of another woman or customer. I feel like he thought he could get away with mal-treatment and ignoring me because I was from out of town. He thought wrong!\r
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