Tractor shop FRAUD. and got caught.

[macdoesit]

I took my 2000 L2500 with FEL and 4x4, into a tractor shop for clutch work. I have a profound hearing loss so I told them all communication has to be via text messaging.
I took the tractor in, lift the loader bucket drove it off the trailer and put it where they wanted it. Curled the bucket down lowered the bucket. They took the loader off to split the tractor. When I went to pick up the tractor the mechanic loaded it on my trailer while I went inside to pay. When I got home, I proceeded to unload the tractor, WTH is wrong with my loader it does not work right, I text the shop and told them. They said the valve body was bad and needed to be replaced, I said it worked perfect when I took it off the trailer at your shop. This person said, I helped them take the loader off and ((((it did not work right, and we checked and the valve was bad)))). NOTE THIS IS BEFORE THEY TOOK LOADER OFF. I argued that is not possible as it has always worked perfect. THEY INSISTED WE CHECKED THE LOADER JOY STICK VALVE AND IT IS BAD AND NEEDS REPLACED. I started looking at the hydraulic lines and comparing them to my New Holland line set up which is exactly the same as my Kubota, Guess what? The mechanic put the lines back wrong, I set them up just like my New Holland and the loader worked perfect. I text the shop, they said sorry we made a mistake putting the lines back on, I said no, no, no, you did not make a mistake you told me the loader was not working before you took the loader off, so that was a downright LIE. They said I never said that. Again they said they were sorry for not getting the lines back right. So instead of checking the lines that you put back on to make sure they were correct, you decided to just tell me that I needed to buy a new valve and labor to put it on. Apologized again and we will give you 10% off next work. They denied saying most everything they told me. Now think about this, EVERY WORD START TO FINISH IS IN THE TEXT MESSAGES AND TO THIS DAY I STILL HAVE AND DOWNLOADED TO A FLASH DRIVE.
When I told them all was on text message they were completely stunned! and then hung up. I'm still contemplating filing a lawsuit. I have all the proof.

 

[JWR]

None of my business. You have no grounds for any lawsuit (at least based on what you said here.) You were not charged anything extra for their error were you? Good that you solved the problem yourself. Good that you have a complete "beyond question" proof of what was said and when. Does that form a basis for some lawsuit? No. These kinds of disagreements are very common in automotive work, tractor repair, etc. Pick your battles. This is not one worth pursuing.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

If you sued them...what do you believe a fair settlement would be? Someone connected lines wrong and now it works. Good job you found the problem.
It sounds like without seeing it they assumed the loader valve was bad.
Me...if the clutch repair was good and they offered 10% off next repair, I'd forget about it.
What if you had returned the tractor and they found the lines were switched and fixed it?

 

[scootr]

It sounds more like stupidity than anything else... agreed a lie is a lie and they should get a bad review for both offenses. But I agree, no matter how angry you are about the loader mishap and handling, be thankful your clutch is working and move on.

 

[Carl_NH]

Per the other posts the clutch may need some adjustment too - its grinding gears when shifting. This is still a work in progress, so the jury is still out on the clutch replacement work.

I agree, a mechanic should mark lines or parts when you take them off - I take pictures but still number lines etc before disconnecting them - just good practice.

This is not a suit or claim IMO. but if the repair shop offered 5-10% off the clutch repair for their miscue's that would be a fair deal (providing the new clutch is working properly)

 

[mllud]

It's a shame they blatantly lied. About all that goes wrong with control valves is fluid bleeding past seals. Not incorrect function. Sometimes just worn linkage. Joysticks by wire may differ.
That's a BAD shop
Any good mechanic would color mark hydraulic lines with colored zip ties or similar.
I understand your anger; a control valve would be expensive. Wasted money.

Is it wrong to show their name of the repair Shop along with all the text communication on every forum online. Just state verified text documents
That may change the nature of forums in general or break forum rules,
Tempting. My temper has mellowed, but!

I would want to show as many people as you could their dirty operation. Have breakfast at every restaurant in town having a conversation at the big community table.
I did that once and learned everyone already knew the guy was a cheat.

No telling how many customers spent unnecessary money.
A bad injection pumps seems to be a favorite part that customers are told is bad. They are guessing without proper diagnostics. and you spend thousands. If they aren't equipped to verify, they should suggest, The Pump Guy

Text is a good idea for proof of what was said!
I think I'm losing my hearing and requiring text for future business communication.
I'm not making fun of your Hearing loss.

 

[dodge man]

They put the lines back on and you caught it and fixed it. They didn’t tell the truth about the problem but if you could sue all the liars in the world the courts would be even more backed up. Move on and just don’t give them any more of your business.

 

[SDT]

I took my 2000 L2500 with FEL and 4x4, into a tractor shop for clutch work. I have a profound hearing loss so I told them all communication has to be via text messaging.
I took the tractor in, lift the loader bucket drove it off the trailer and put it where they wanted it. Curled the bucket down lowered the bucket. They took the loader off to split the tractor. When I went to pick up the tractor the mechanic loaded it on my trailer while I went inside to pay. When I got home, I proceeded to unload the tractor, WTH is wrong with my loader it does not work right, I text the shop and told them. They said the valve body was bad and needed to be replaced, I said it worked perfect when I took it off the trailer at your shop. This person said, I helped them take the loader off and ((((it did not work right, and we checked and the valve was bad)))). NOTE THIS IS BEFORE THEY TOOK LOADER OFF. I argued that is not possible as it has always worked perfect. THEY INSISTED WE CHECKED THE LOADER JOY STICK VALVE AND IT IS BAD AND NEEDS REPLACED. I started looking at the hydraulic lines and comparing them to my New Holland line set up which is exactly the same as my Kubota, Guess what? The mechanic put the lines back wrong, I set them up just like my New Holland and the loader worked perfect. I text the shop, they said sorry we made a mistake putting the lines back on, I said no, no, no, you did not make a mistake you told me the loader was not working before you took the loader off, so that was a downright LIE. They said I never said that. Again they said they were sorry for not getting the lines back right. So instead of checking the lines that you put back on to make sure they were correct, you decided to just tell me that I needed to buy a new valve and labor to put it on. Apologized again and we will give you 10% off next work. They denied saying most everything they told me. Now think about this, EVERY WORD START TO FINISH IS IN THE TEXT MESSAGES AND TO THIS DAY I STILL HAVE AND DOWNLOADED TO A FLASH DRIVE.
When I told them all was on text message they were completely stunned! and then hung up. I'm still contemplating filing a lawsuit. I have all the proof.

Dealers will be dealers. Yes, many are crooks and nearly all will lie to protect themselves at your expense.

No, you do not have a cause of action as one must demonstrate damages.

YES, you do have grounds for a new dealer.

Yes, they should have offfered the 10% discount for the current work rather than "next" work.

 

[ray66v]

I took my 2000 L2500 with FEL and 4x4, into a tractor shop for clutch work. I have a profound hearing loss so I told them all communication has to be via text messaging.
I took the tractor in, lift the loader bucket drove it off the trailer and put it where they wanted it. Curled the bucket down lowered the bucket. They took the loader off to split the tractor. When I went to pick up the tractor the mechanic loaded it on my trailer while I went inside to pay. When I got home, I proceeded to unload the tractor, WTH is wrong with my loader it does not work right, I text the shop and told them. They said the valve body was bad and needed to be replaced, I said it worked perfect when I took it off the trailer at your shop. This person said, I helped them take the loader off and ((((it did not work right, and we checked and the valve was bad)))). NOTE THIS IS BEFORE THEY TOOK LOADER OFF. I argued that is not possible as it has always worked perfect. THEY INSISTED WE CHECKED THE LOADER JOY STICK VALVE AND IT IS BAD AND NEEDS REPLACED. I started looking at the hydraulic lines and comparing them to my New Holland line set up which is exactly the same as my Kubota, Guess what? The mechanic put the lines back wrong, I set them up just like my New Holland and the loader worked perfect. I text the shop, they said sorry we made a mistake putting the lines back on, I said no, no, no, you did not make a mistake you told me the loader was not working before you took the loader off, so that was a downright LIE. They said I never said that. Again they said they were sorry for not getting the lines back right. So instead of checking the lines that you put back on to make sure they were correct, you decided to just tell me that I needed to buy a new valve and labor to put it on. Apologized again and we will give you 10% off next work. They denied saying most everything they told me. Now think about this, EVERY WORD START TO FINISH IS IN THE TEXT MESSAGES AND TO THIS DAY I STILL HAVE AND DOWNLOADED TO A FLASH DRIVE.
When I told them all was on text message they were completely stunned! and then hung up. I'm still contemplating filing a lawsuit. I have all the proof.

You could talk to the prosecutor, but that is likely to only get you patronized. They will probably not take it up. The bogus job wasn't completed, so it's only at best a conspiracy to commit a fraud. They will argue it was a misunderstanding. And that the person in their shop was mistaken and misinformed them.

If you took them to civil court, and explained the whole thing showing the judge all the evidence, they will ask you to show them what your damages are? Legally, that means what financial loss did you suffer as a result of their actions? The alleged repair didn't actually happen. And other work was performed as planned, so there really isn't any where to go with that. What could have, or would have happened are not things that you can be compensated for in civil court.

Unless the repair facility has a higher management level you can appeal to, and perhaps get some real compensation, you are probably going to have to let it go.

 

[Midniteoyl]

While dealers and techs can and do BS you at times, what most likely happened here is they were thinking of a different tractor with a loader problem. Once you explained, they looked it up, saw it was the wrong one they were thinking about, and offered you a future discount for you troubles. Seems like a pretty straight forward lapse to me that was easily solved.

Now, if your clutch is still acting up, that's a different matter.

 

[RayIN]

If that company is a member of BBB, file a complaint. Otherwise,"lesson learned" do not patronize that dealer again.
Some local TV stations have a reveal program addressing just this type incidents.

 

[macdoesit]

While dealers and techs can and do BS you at times, what most likely happened here is they were thinking of a different tractor with a loader problem. Once you explained, they looked it up, saw it was the wrong one they were thinking about, and offered you a future discount for you troubles. Seems like a pretty straight forward lapse to me that was easily solved.

Now, if your clutch is still acting up, that's a different matter.

They knew exactly my tractor was being talked about.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Is the clutch OK?
The mechanic switched two valve lines.
You found the problem and fixed it.
All the rest was back & forth texting. They assumed the valve was bad, you assumed a deliberate way to make more money.
Main thing is the clutch work they did ok?
I, and I bet everyone reading this could write a book about horrific service related experiences over the years which is why I do my own repair work if at all possible.
I move on letting those bad experiences go.
Life is too short.

 

[pipefitter]

I can't stand this kind of thing. A mistake doesn't bother me, but when they insist that an item is bad, and it obviously isn't, my blood boils. I've had similar issues on several things over the past few years. You may not be able to win a lawsuit against them, but I'd make sure to let others know what happened.

 

[arto98607]

If that company is a member of BBB, file a complaint. Otherwise,"lesson learned" do not patronize that dealer again.
Some local TV stations have a reveal program addressing just this type incidents.

I contacted BBB one time about 20 years ago due to issue with a local contractor and based on my experience they were more interested in protecting the contractor ( IE. Their member).

I got zero help from them.

It's perhaps kind of sort of like HR Department does at a large company?

Your mileage may differ...

 

[SSCreek]

I contacted BBB one time about 20 years ago due to issue with a local contractor and based on my experience they were more interested in protecting the contractor ( IE. Their member).

I got zero help from them.

It's perhaps kind of sort of like HR Department does at a large company?

Your mileage may differ...

Same experience with BBB, they are not there for the consumer.

 

[Quaffer]

If that company is a member of BBB, file a complaint. Otherwise,"lesson learned" do not patronize that dealer again.

One of my companies was once the target of a BBB complaint.

The offense? A person bought an item in a vending machine and the machine dropped the incorrect change. The claim amount was less than a dollar. I think it was .35 cents. posted above our machine was a sign describing automatic refund of $5 dollars upon any machine problem. The highest price item in the machine was $2.

They tried to sign my business up as a member after pursuing a .35 cent claim against me. I said no thanks.

 

[SDT]

I contacted BBB one time about 20 years ago due to issue with a local contractor and based on my experience they were more interested in protecting the contractor ( IE. Their member).

I got zero help from them.

It's perhaps kind of sort of like HR Department does at a large company?

Your mileage may differ...

Bingo.

Consumers should expect little if any help from the BBB.

 

[RayIN]

One of my companies was once the target of a BBB complaint.

The offense? A person bought an item in a vending machine and the machine dropped the incorrect change. The claim amount was less than a dollar. I think it was .35 cents. posted above our machine was a sign describing automatic refund of $5 dollars upon any machine problem. The highest price item in the machine was $2.

They tried to sign my business up as a member after pursuing a .35 cent claim against me. I said no thanks.

Some people just cannot resist publicly displaying their intelligence level. Likely that was only one instance.