Battery damaged during dealer cleaning
06-18-2015, 10:32 PM
#11
Small claims court has no lawyers.
I took my old dealer to small claims court.
I got the entire 719 dollars i asked for....the bill they charged me for their damage to my truck.
More so the local paper printed it and their reputation took a hit.
Dealers look bad in court so usually want to settle out of court.
They tried to settle out of court for the entire amount, but i refused as i wanted them to have to answer to their BS before a judge.
My city is only 85,000 people.
Hurt their rep to the tune of a lot more than the money i won back.
They will not be so fast to screw the next guy.
That is the point of a law suit to me.
Teach them a lesson so they stop screwing customers and get away with it.
OP.
I am a licensed AME and will even write you a letter on my company letterhead and sign it to take into court as testimony that if done proproperly, a cleaning of a battery post does not cause a fire and damage.
Pm me if you want to.
I took my old dealer to small claims court.
I got the entire 719 dollars i asked for....the bill they charged me for their damage to my truck.
More so the local paper printed it and their reputation took a hit.
Dealers look bad in court so usually want to settle out of court.
They tried to settle out of court for the entire amount, but i refused as i wanted them to have to answer to their BS before a judge.
My city is only 85,000 people.
Hurt their rep to the tune of a lot more than the money i won back.
They will not be so fast to screw the next guy.
That is the point of a law suit to me.
Teach them a lesson so they stop screwing customers and get away with it.
OP.
I am a licensed AME and will even write you a letter on my company letterhead and sign it to take into court as testimony that if done proproperly, a cleaning of a battery post does not cause a fire and damage.
Pm me if you want to.
Your argument is null and void as far as any one is concerned, the op is in the U.S.A.
06-19-2015, 12:17 AM
#12
Cowboy of the Skies
You can now stop talking about stuff you know nothing about and read up....
06-19-2015, 05:35 AM
#13
Like I said, he still has to prove without a doubt they caused the battery to ignite and as a professional mechanic/technician with 30+ years experience, it is my professional opinion and personal experience batteries can and do ignite/explode etal without warning, I would have to say the same under oath.
Now you can stop talking about stuff YOU know NOTHING about.
06-22-2015, 08:09 AM
#14
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Menasha, WI
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The saga continues
Here's an update on the situation:
After the battery fire/explosion on Thursday, the dealer kept the truck overnight so they could replace the positive cable first thing in the morning. The Quick Lane adviser had told me the repair would take about an hour, so I would have the truck back in time to leave at 9am for our scheduled camping trip.
I called the dealer at 8:30 on Friday since I hadn't heard anything, and was transferred to the regular service adviser who was now handling my case. She said the Quick Lane adviser misspoke, and that it is a 3-4 hour repair, and would be ready around 11:00.
I called the dealer at 11:00, and "things were taking longer than expected", and it would take another 2 hours. It's a "really complicated procedure that involves a lot of parts in the engine compartment." At 1:00, I decided that phone conversations were not being effective, so I drove to the dealer to see if I could expedite the process, and possibly talk to a manager.
I arrived shortly after 1:00 and checked in with the Quick Lane adviser who had initiated the service on Thursday. He was not aware that it was still in for service, but wanted to help straighten things out. He did say that he saw the aftermath of the fire on Thursday, and the fire extinguisher spray inside the engine compartment.
He took me over to the mainline service area, and I saw my truck in the service bay, with parts scattered everywhere. Definitely not going to be ready by 1:00 - one day of vacation gone. After talking to all three service advisers (one of whom later turned out to be the assistant service manager), I eventually got them to concede that the battery cleaning should not have caused all of this, and they would cover all costs associated with the battery and cable (I would still be charged for the oil change and tires, which I was willing to accept, but still seemed petty on their part.) They assured me that it would be ready at 2:00.
I waited until 2:00, and checked in again. Still parts on the ground, but it was getting closer. I was assured that it would be ready in another 20 minutes. When it was finally done, the assistant service manager couldn't find the paperwork, and told me to just go ahead and take the vehicle, since they took up so much of my time. So in the end, they paid for all of the repairs, as well as the oil change.
However, while driving the vehicle home, I noticed that it seemed to be lacking power, and that it was taking longer to shift. I called the service manager on the way home and asked about it, and he said that since the computer was off of the battery for so long, it needed to re-learn the shift points, and that it would get better after driving it for a few days. He said the check engine light might also come on, but not to worry unless it was flashing. If it came on, I should just bring it back in to get checked out. He assured me I wouldn't hurt anything by driving it 300+ miles over the weekend.
On the way to the campground, I figured out why it seemed to lack power - it did not seem like the turbo was kicking in at all. I was just using the straight V6 for everything. Shortly into the trip, my wife also noticed that the air conditioning didn't work. And the check engine light came on. So the impact of the battery explosion (and possibly the fire extinguisher) extended even further.
I am calling the service manager this morning to update him of the situation, and have them fix the rest of the issues. I am willing to let them keep it a few days to make sure they have time to check everything out (with a rental, of course). However, I'm concerned that even if they fix the turbo and A/C, something else could pop up down the road, which was caused by this.
Does anyone have any ideas about anything else I need to ask them about or check out? I have less than 2000 miles and 2 months left on my original warranty - does some type of extension of this seem like a reasonable request?
(Thank you for spending a chunk of your day reading through this.)
After the battery fire/explosion on Thursday, the dealer kept the truck overnight so they could replace the positive cable first thing in the morning. The Quick Lane adviser had told me the repair would take about an hour, so I would have the truck back in time to leave at 9am for our scheduled camping trip.
I called the dealer at 8:30 on Friday since I hadn't heard anything, and was transferred to the regular service adviser who was now handling my case. She said the Quick Lane adviser misspoke, and that it is a 3-4 hour repair, and would be ready around 11:00.
I called the dealer at 11:00, and "things were taking longer than expected", and it would take another 2 hours. It's a "really complicated procedure that involves a lot of parts in the engine compartment." At 1:00, I decided that phone conversations were not being effective, so I drove to the dealer to see if I could expedite the process, and possibly talk to a manager.
I arrived shortly after 1:00 and checked in with the Quick Lane adviser who had initiated the service on Thursday. He was not aware that it was still in for service, but wanted to help straighten things out. He did say that he saw the aftermath of the fire on Thursday, and the fire extinguisher spray inside the engine compartment.
He took me over to the mainline service area, and I saw my truck in the service bay, with parts scattered everywhere. Definitely not going to be ready by 1:00 - one day of vacation gone. After talking to all three service advisers (one of whom later turned out to be the assistant service manager), I eventually got them to concede that the battery cleaning should not have caused all of this, and they would cover all costs associated with the battery and cable (I would still be charged for the oil change and tires, which I was willing to accept, but still seemed petty on their part.) They assured me that it would be ready at 2:00.
I waited until 2:00, and checked in again. Still parts on the ground, but it was getting closer. I was assured that it would be ready in another 20 minutes. When it was finally done, the assistant service manager couldn't find the paperwork, and told me to just go ahead and take the vehicle, since they took up so much of my time. So in the end, they paid for all of the repairs, as well as the oil change.
However, while driving the vehicle home, I noticed that it seemed to be lacking power, and that it was taking longer to shift. I called the service manager on the way home and asked about it, and he said that since the computer was off of the battery for so long, it needed to re-learn the shift points, and that it would get better after driving it for a few days. He said the check engine light might also come on, but not to worry unless it was flashing. If it came on, I should just bring it back in to get checked out. He assured me I wouldn't hurt anything by driving it 300+ miles over the weekend.
On the way to the campground, I figured out why it seemed to lack power - it did not seem like the turbo was kicking in at all. I was just using the straight V6 for everything. Shortly into the trip, my wife also noticed that the air conditioning didn't work. And the check engine light came on. So the impact of the battery explosion (and possibly the fire extinguisher) extended even further.
I am calling the service manager this morning to update him of the situation, and have them fix the rest of the issues. I am willing to let them keep it a few days to make sure they have time to check everything out (with a rental, of course). However, I'm concerned that even if they fix the turbo and A/C, something else could pop up down the road, which was caused by this.
Does anyone have any ideas about anything else I need to ask them about or check out? I have less than 2000 miles and 2 months left on my original warranty - does some type of extension of this seem like a reasonable request?
(Thank you for spending a chunk of your day reading through this.)