robinlow88

I went to an autobody shop in Malden (Century Auto Collision & Service Center) last year after an accident and paid extra to get an S15 front put in. (Someone hit me)

After paying them $2,500 last year and they scammed me for $1500 for car rental, (which my insurance paid them addition $900 for 1 month and ~10 days) and $5k for the body work, they took more than 3 months to finish painting the car, and did not even do a good job. Color was wrong (not TV-2 Bayside Blue) and paint job was uneven.

My 7" LCD Screen and my PS2 was also stolen in the shop, along with my amp and my 12" sub MTX sub-woofers. My interior was also damaged, and all I got was $267 and a new DVD, MP3 player. Many parts of the car was also missing (EDFC box) neons, etc..

I took the car to another shop to ask them to repaint the car and bought some parts and complained to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's Consumer's Affairs Department.

On March 25 2003, I was charged another $2500 on my Debit card, the one which they used for car rental, and somehow got my signature on the receipt.

I disputed this claim with my bank, but my bank sucks and said that I signed for "Auto Parts" on March 25.

I showed them that from Feb 15 ~ April 15, my car was in another body shop tuning up for spring and repairing for snow damage when I hit a snow bank in Feb.

Why would I be paying for "Auto Parts" when I'm claiming my own insurance and getting parts from another shop...

Furthermore, my car rental ended in March 17 so I had no car to visit the autobody shop on a working monday afternoon to sign for the "Auto Part".

Can anyone give me suggestions on what I can do to get my $2500 back and how to stop such dishonest shops from scamming people?

twitchy

Posting on here for anyone who lives in your area is a good start man. Im sorry to hear that though, I dont have a credit card but I know how it feels to get scammed.

Doesnt the credit card company usually take the loss in a situation like you mentioned?

Take the bastards to court. I did that once and I won the price of my first car back as well as all the money I sank into fixing it.

__________________
Who the hell needs a sig anyhow

robinlow88

The shop is in Malden Massachusetts.

Its called Century Autobody, Everyone in Massachusetts beware of this shop!!

misnomer

Well, the trick is it's a debit card, not credit. Much tougher to fight charges. I'm generally not a fan of suit-happy people, but this is one instance you should file a lawsuit for the damages, monies, and your lawyer fees. Do you have all sorts of records on this? Reciepts, etc?

__________________
Rowsdower saves us and saves all the world!

robinlow88

I have inspection records from my insurance dated April 2th.

My insurance came down to look at the parts ordered, etc..

And date of loss for car is Feb 15th.

So I can show I don't need parts on March 25.

I do not however have any receipts of the purchase on March 25, as I was not even at the shop on March 25th..

Its a lot of hassle and I'm really ****ed off now

hookedup240

You don't need receipts, you said you got charged to your debit account then all you have to do is go to your bank and they should have a copy of your debit card history with all the transactions, its the same as a receipt, it tells you the date, time, and place of purchase, etc.

sorry to hear about this whole ordeal.

hope this helps and everything works out

__________________
1991 240sx se 5spd - sold
2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege

robinlow88

I informed my bank about this..

They said I signed a manual copy of the receipt and it was dated 25 Mar 03.

I told them I was working that day and did not go to the bodyshop to get autoparts as my car is in another bodyshop.

No car and claiming insurance = no need for other "Auto parts"

The bank denied my claim...

Fleet bank sucks

AceInHole

no way to prove the sig isn't really yours??? that seems as if it's the only way out... otherwise, if you went to court, would they have to prove that you actually bought something? or just prove that charges were made on your card with your authorization (signature)??

__________________

andrave

dispute the charges. they will cancel your debit card during the period of dispute, but the shop will have to provide evidence of what you paid for.
I'd get a lawyer and file suit ASAP though. sounds like you have an awful lot in damages, and the paper trail should be on your side.
Bring the sign in sheets from your work, or have a supervisor testify that you were at work the day that you "signed" for the parts.
Bring the the police reports that were filed for the missing equipment.
bring in the original receipts for the rental and the repairs that show that you didn't owe them the addtional 2500 dollars that they charged.

with all that evidence, there is a very good chance that the paper trail will get you your money back.
calm down, get your **** togther, and get to a lawyer.

SaintlyCharBoy

yes, yes they do, they have the service of a ... big bank...

i know it's not much, but i got scammed out of $200 last summer - now - that's a weeks pay working between classes

the bank offers literally no help

__________________
92 vert - KADE + VH41 + GM MA5 = too many parts in the garage
95 base - retired

robinlow88

I hope that my car being in the bodyshop, repairing from accident from Feburary to April would be enough evidence to show that I do not need "Auto Parts" from the bodyshop I had a very bad experience with.

I think if Visa check the manual slips for transactions before and after that slip of mine, they would probably find the manual transactions before and after my slip is completed last year.

Also I heard from one of my friends that that body shop has a credit card machine since January, so they need not use Maunal Transactions anymore..

I'd just like to warn ppl in Massachusetts about this really really bad experience I have.