Your car overheats, tires wear unevenly, and the electronics exhibit a life of their own. You take it to your mechanic or dealer, they work on it, you pay, and the problem comes back, maybe in a day, a week, a month, or three months later. What to do?
- Read the work order, that piece of paper you signed to authorize the original repair. You signed it but never read it. Read the front and that pesky back with the words so small you need a magnifying glass. Does it give the name, address, phone number, and email of the facility? Does it state the scope of the repair work, give a warranty, and limit your legal rights and remedies? Most probably. Know what you are up against before you start complaining.
- Talk to the manager of the repair facility, the manager, not the receptionist, not the secretary, and not the mechanic. Make a phone call ONLY to find out who the manager is, and make a face-to-face appointment. You may have to take half of the day off but bite the bullet. Remember anyone can say anything on the phone, and later say they never said that. Face-to-face is the only thing that matters. If the manager says they will do X, Y, and Z to fix the problem, write it down and have them sign it. A written document is more likely to stand up in court, than “He said She said.”. Put a time limit in the written document, it doesn’t matter if it’s a week or 30 days, what you want is a written commitment by the repair facility.
- Keep a written log of the date, time, name, and phone number of who you talked to, and a summary of what was said. This log is to be written when the event happens, not a week, month, or year after. If the repair facility is not willing to enter into a written agreement to fix the problem or does not fix the problem by an agreed date, do not hesitate, immediately contact the Law Office of Elliott Klein, PLLC.