Y
yellow003
Guest
Hello,
I'm looking for advice on a situation that seems to have gotten out of control. I am in the state of Illinois.
I brought my car into my mechanic to fix an overheating problem back in November. The first visit was 5 days, and he charged me about $150 dollars for a coolant cleaning and thermostat replacement. Two days after I picked the car up, it started overheating again.
I brought the car in a second time. This time he had the car for another 4-5 days, and he replaced the radiator. The bill this time came to $450. A week and a half after I picked the car up from this visit, it overheated a third time.
"Shame on me", I finally took my car into a dealership to get to the bottom of the problem. They had my car for two days and quickly determined the problem to be with the water pump. In the process of replacing the water pump (and a few miscellaneous belts), they called me back to inform me that they were also going to have to replace the thermostat -- again! I told them that it had been replaced three weeks earlier - they left the part boxed up in my trunk should I need it down the road for any proceedings. The total cost at the dealer came to $770.
From reading these forums, the fact that I "authorized work" on each occasion seems to reduce my ability to recoup anything for this. What I'm wondering is:
1. Can I go after the original mechanic under any provision on the lines of "gross incompetence" (the fact that after two attempts, the original mechanic still hadn't fixed the problem)?
2. Can I take the second replacement of the thermostat as false representation on the part of the first mechanic for claiming it had been done? If not, how should I factor this part in to the equation? Does this give me the ability to go after the original mechanic?
3. All of these charges were put on a platinum credit card. If it turns out that small claims is not the way to go, would I better suited to just deny the charges (I know it varies from card company to company).
Thanks in advance!
I'm looking for advice on a situation that seems to have gotten out of control. I am in the state of Illinois.
I brought my car into my mechanic to fix an overheating problem back in November. The first visit was 5 days, and he charged me about $150 dollars for a coolant cleaning and thermostat replacement. Two days after I picked the car up, it started overheating again.
I brought the car in a second time. This time he had the car for another 4-5 days, and he replaced the radiator. The bill this time came to $450. A week and a half after I picked the car up from this visit, it overheated a third time.
"Shame on me", I finally took my car into a dealership to get to the bottom of the problem. They had my car for two days and quickly determined the problem to be with the water pump. In the process of replacing the water pump (and a few miscellaneous belts), they called me back to inform me that they were also going to have to replace the thermostat -- again! I told them that it had been replaced three weeks earlier - they left the part boxed up in my trunk should I need it down the road for any proceedings. The total cost at the dealer came to $770.
From reading these forums, the fact that I "authorized work" on each occasion seems to reduce my ability to recoup anything for this. What I'm wondering is:
1. Can I go after the original mechanic under any provision on the lines of "gross incompetence" (the fact that after two attempts, the original mechanic still hadn't fixed the problem)?
2. Can I take the second replacement of the thermostat as false representation on the part of the first mechanic for claiming it had been done? If not, how should I factor this part in to the equation? Does this give me the ability to go after the original mechanic?
3. All of these charges were put on a platinum credit card. If it turns out that small claims is not the way to go, would I better suited to just deny the charges (I know it varies from card company to company).
Thanks in advance!