Ripped off at dealer

[repete]

Back in Oct. I hit a deer on I90 NY at xt43 did a lot of damage to a 2010 Prostar, with coolent and oil running out and the hood hanging there I had no choice but have it towed. $800 and something later I'm sitting at the IH dealer in Rochester (xt 46you can figure what dealer) I leave the truck and my company gives me a new 2012 Prostar (POS) and I promptly go out and tag another deer! This one wasn't bad just hood and bumper damage so I contunied to drive it till my old trucks done. SIX WEEKS later I get the call and I go to pick it up. I stopped inside got the keys and was surrprised when thy just handed them to me and said it's on the side WTH?? That repair was $13000 that's 13 thousand not hundred! Ok so I walk out there and first thing I see is the hood and bumper dosn't line up, also the truck wasn't even washed! Shakeing my head I started looking and found 2 missing bolts, 3 loose torx head bolts on the bumper, and 1 bolt WITHOUT a nut on it, low on coolent (just a little) and it still had engine warning lights on from the accident.

So I went back in gave them the list and told them I'd be back when it's done, call me.
Two or three days later they call, I go back and pretty much the same thing! Some was done but it was still dirty and bolts still finger tight.
Two days later I get a call again, OK this time it's gotta be right I think and to my surprise it's still dirty! Everything else looked ok and as I was tired of driveing a truck that looked like it had done a hit-n-run I took it.

Lately I've been going thru some coolent ( just a little here & there)and at first chalked it up to the bunk heater haveing been airlocked. Yesterday I took a good close look at the back side of the rad. and found that it's seeping coolent in several places. This WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BRAND NEW!! Even tho the my co. got billed for a new rad. we didn't get one!
I contactacted the the guy in my co that handles the billing , confirmed the bill (apox$900)for the rad.
Can you believe this? The dealer knew we had another truck waiting to come in, knew we're looking for a shop to handle repairs and maintance in this area and they do this?
I don't want to say the name yet as we're going to try to work this out. But as far as I'm concerned I don't want to bother with them, after all there's more than one mechanic in town.
Rant over I don't feel better , I'm still PO/d

I guess ya gotta watch every little thing

[Musicman]

I have a list of times I’ve been ripped off by Peterbilt dealers longer than my son’s Christmas wish list. It’s gotten so bad and such a common occurrence that I simply quit taking my truck in unless it’s absolutely necessary. I have no faith whatsoever that they will be able to fix the problem, yet they seem to have no problem in billing for the work.

[Orangetxguy]

There are three dealer shops that I trust out on the road. The Hunter ITH in Union City PA, the Truck centers Inc. Freightliner dealership (believe it or not they actually do a good job and fast) in Troy IL, and the Brattain ITH dealership in Portland OR.

Hunter in Union City replaced the radiator in my truck on the 4th of July 2010 on the friday night of the holiday. Not only did they install a brand new radiator....but a better radiator than the truck originally had.

Truck Centers in Troy IL has done several things for me over the last 6 years....from wheel seal and brake job to clutch replacement to a warranty Injector replacement, with the work done in hours....not in days or weeks!!

Brattain in Portland has always been dependable too! They saved me thousands when they caught a problem that was caused by the ITH dealership in St. Cloud MN when that outfit rebuilt the motor in 2006!!

[barf]

Your story really changes my mind.

I was a little pissed that a shop took an entire month to get my 09 Prostar back on the road. But they did a perfect repair, truck was fixed like new!

Guess I have no reason to be upset, could have been much worse!

[repete]

I really don't understand how these shops get away with what and how they bill.
When I worked in a shop you put on the parts the customer paid for plain and simple, the only execption was when the part was not needed then the customer wasn't billed for it.
Also whats with the "try this part and see if that fixes it" WTF I guess if the computer dosn't tell them whats wrong they have no idea? What ever happen to logical trouble shooting and commen sense? I just turned 189,000 on my truck and am on the 4th set of steer tires, think there's a problem? '
I give up, I don't want to get all cranked up again.

[Mr. Ford95]

That sucks repete. Scary to know that these "mechanics" aren't mechanics at all in any type of shop, passenger car or big truck. The fuzzy billing is crazy as is the whole not actually fixing the vehicles. My brother hit a deer with his truck a month ago, deer jumped into the side of the cab. He took it to a guy he knew, not really tight buddies just friendly. Guy screwed my brother's insurance over bad, charged for a new factory door, it was still the original door, dent and all. Didn't wash the blood splatter off but charged the insurance for cleaning and materials. Charged them for a paint job to the tune of some $1,500 when he never even touched it. Brother called the insurance company up and sent them photos of the job.

[repete]

That sucks repete. Scary to know that these "mechanics" aren't mechanics at all in any type of shop, passenger car or big truck. The fuzzy billing is crazy as is the whole not actually fixing the vehicles. My brother hit a deer with his truck a month ago, deer jumped into the side of the cab. He took it to a guy he knew, not really tight buddies just friendly. Guy screwed my brother's insurance over bad, charged for a new factory door, it was still the original door, dent and all. Didn't wash the blood splatter off but charged the insurance for cleaning and materials. Charged them for a paint job to the tune of some $1,500 when he never even touched it. Brother called the insurance company up and sent them photos of the job.

Turning it over to the Ins co is good. Companys have been cracking down hard on fraud for quite awhile now. We had a shop closed and the owner went to jail for it a few years ago, I worked for him for two days and only stayed that long cause I had to line up a truck to move my tool box! I hate crooks they made every body shop look bad just like the slob trucker makes all look bad

[Musicman]

What blows my mind is when you have a good experience one time and then come back for work a few months later and get treated completely differently, or when one location of a dealership treats you well and a different location screws you without Vaseline.

Thinking about all the times I’ve been mistreated and outright ripped off by places makes me think that we need a dealer / vendor horror story section of its own on the forum. Anyone want to second that motion? I want to vent, but want to do it in an appropriate place.

[boneebone]

That's why they are called Stealerships.

[VPIDarkAngel]

I just turned 189,000 on my truck and am on the 4th set of steer tires, think there's a problem?

Now I don't feel so bad. I'm at 45,000 and one steer tire (but not the other) is going, due to uneven wear. By the way, did you get your tires balanced? That seemed to be the problem I had on my previous truck ('07 Peterbubble).
As for dealers, I've yet to go to one for repairs.

[Copperhead]

Wow. And that $13,000 and hassle could have been avoided with a $1300 investment......

ProTec ProStar

[solo379]

Anyone want to second that motion?

I do! We could call it "The good, the bad, and the ugly" And make it sticky!