Saturday, September 19, 2020

Veteran Mechanic Messes With The Wrong Person


Man, oh, man, using one's status to take advantage of others is about as low as one can go. There are bad apples in every bunch though. Fortunately, justice was delivered to this mechanic. 

1.

Text - r/ProRevenge + Join u/earthrogue • 3d Veteran Mechanic taking advantage of active duty military and retirees messes with the wrong person and his buddy goes down with him When this started all I was trying to do was get out of paying for something I didn't need and never asked for. By the end I was going for blood as someone else enacted their revenge. I posted this over in r/militarystories and after a couple comments realized it belongs here too. I'm adding some edits to give context fo

2.

Text - This happened back in 2002 on Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. I was stationed down the way at 32nd Street Naval Base for my MIlitary Occupation Specialty school and was a new Lance Corporal (E3) at the time. I had a 1994 Dodge Spirit with 180K miles or so and l'd just driven it across the country. I bought it a few days before leaving KS at an Auto auction. A couple weeks into my school it died, at the gate, next to the sentry. After an initial freak out that I was a suicide bomber

3.

Text - Before I go in I call my dad and then his cousin. My dad knows a ton about cars and his cousin is a mechanic with his own very successful shop (like a dozen work bays and they handle everything from regular cars to farm equipment to semis). I know a fair bit about cars on my own but he knows everything. Between us we decide it looks like the distributor or the distributor cap is the issue. My dad's cousin says it's a common issue on Spirits from this time and recommends I get it fixed her

4.

Text - Text - I go in and talk to the guy at the counter. They're not too busy and pull it into a bay and run their diagnostics, same thing. Distributor cap. Cool. I get the services agreement saying they'll replace it and call me if they find anything else. I hear nothing until the end of the week when they call and say my car is ready. When I get there they present me with a bill for like $1400! Wow. Just wow. Now my heart has stopped beating and I say something about that being a lot for a di

5.

Text - Text - I'm confused now and say that's not possible. I bought it two weeks ago and... He cuts me off and says I was sold a complete lemon and I should have had it checked. He says he felt bad for me and this should have cost over $2000 but he cut me a deal and he can work with me in an installment plan but will have to charge me interest. Now l'm suspicious and starting to get pissed and I say the only repair I authorized was a distributor cap and they should have called me before doing a

6.

Text - Now I'm angry and a bit scared. Another Marine intervenes and says that's a little extreme and to let me say my piece. I get permission to get into my car to get my maintenance history which includes an oil change, the inspection documentation and the original quote for the distributor cap work. At this point there's a crowd of customers and some other passers by. The owner of the garage and MSgt are in full theater mode talking about how I'm not appreciating the huge help they've been an

7.

Text - I come in and the MSgt cuts me off and tells me to be careful how I talk to his friend. I ask the MSgt if he's going to let me speak or keep interrupting me while I'm in a private conversation with a business owner. I ask him if he owns part of the shop (no) and ask why he's so interested in not hearing a Marine out. Then I get out the original statement of services and say the distributor cap is all I agreed to. I also ask why he didn't call me and he says he called my barracks several t

8.

Text - Now the owner is backpedaling a bit and saying he was thinking of a different customer but he's already made the replacement and has to charge me for the work. Then I pull out the stuff from the inspection and it has some fun little statements in it. Statements like: Timing belt good, timing good. Check again in 30K miles. Radiator, appears to be recently replaced. All hoses new in last 6 months. Nothing on the head gasket but there's a statement that there are no leaks in that area which

9.

Text - Now some old retired guy chimes in from the back and asks "what kind of mechanic damages things when they take them apart?" The owner drags out my radiator and there is a giant hole in one side that looks like it was stabbed with a crowbar. Now a couple other people (locals) are questioning past situations where he 'helped them' out with repairs they didn't know they needed. The MSgt tried to walk off and a Colonel and a Sergeant Major in civilian attire post him to the side for a later c

10.

Text - The Capt takes me to dinner and gets my info and basically a statement from me of what happened. After dinner he takes me back to his office while he types up something for me to sign about the whole incident and I call Verizon to get them to fax over the incoming / outgoing calls from my number from the past week. He explains that the MSgt has been steering a lot of customers to his buddy and they suspect he's getting kick backs. The Capt and several others have been taking their cars th

11.

Text - I wasn't around long enough to see the outcome but when I left there were auditors from base services going through the business with a fine tooth comb and it was a legal matter. Once something like that gets started it probably means a business and the owners will get kicked out of the on base location (the base owns the building and the owner leases it). He and his business would also end up blacklisted as a place known for taking advantage of service members. Most commands give this ou

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