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Re: Wheel Collision Center exp.

To: Roland Dudley <cobra@cdc.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Wheel Collision Center exp.
From: Ken Streeter <streeter@sanders.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 15:28:09 -0500
Roland writes:
        
> Don writes:  (of Paul Amaranth's wheel experience)
 
> > So to summarize:

> > 3. He is angry about the fact that they didn't clean up the corrosion and a
> > chip in the paint, even though he didn't want to pay extra for the "cosmetic
> > repair".

> > And people wonder why it is so hard to find mechanics to work on their 
>British
> >  cars.

Hmm.  I may be mistaken, but it sounded to me like Paul was upset
primarily because there is a paint chip on his wheel, which wasn't there
when he sent it to be repaired.  It seems unlikely to me that this
happened in shipping, so either Paul never noticed it (the shop's claim),
or it happened when the wheel was being worked on (Paul's claim).

Here is what Paul wrote:

>     d) The wheel came back with a 1/2" paint chip on the crown of one
>      of the spokes.

> I'm very unhappy about the chip; it wasn't there when I shipped the
> wheel off to them.  They claim it was there when they unpacked it
> and since I didn't want the $40 cosmetic job, it's too bad.  It's
> true that the wheel had some small paint chips, but not this one.

This seems like a valid complaint to me.  I think if a service damages
some portion of your vehicle in repairing another portion, that they
should repair (at their cost) any damage they caused, unless they had
specifically warned the owner of the possiblity of damage occuring.

Maybe it would help to think of this slightly differently. Take the
following example:

  Let's say you take your car into the repair shop to have the
  alternator replaced.  In the process of replacing the alternator, they
  leave a "cosmetic" gouge on the paint of your fender.  They say "You
  didn't pay us to fix gouges on your fender."  and thus refuse to fix it. 
  Of course, the reason they should fix it isn't because you were paying
  them to fix fender gouges, but because *THEY GOUGED THE FENDER*, in the
  process of fixing the alternator!

>From my perspective, it seemed that Paul is upset not because they didn't
fix all the minor chips on his wheel, but, rather, that there is a
relatively large chip that was not there when he sent it in.  

--ken

Kenneth B. Streeter        | ARPA: streeter@sanders.com
Lockheed Sanders           | UUCP: ...!uunet!sanders.com!streeter
PTP2-A001                  |
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Hudson, NH 03051           | Fax:   (603) 885-0631


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