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Report: #39873

Complaint Review: Garage Door Services - San Jose California

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  • Reported By: Cupertino California
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  • Garage Door Services 769 E. Brokaw Road San Jose, California U.S.A.

Garage Door Services ripoff Victimized customers for all they can get San Jose California

*Consumer Suggestion: PDS you're busted!

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Almost forgot

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: We can help!

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My story follows serveral other stories that I have read about the Garage Door Services company.

On December 7, 2002 I needed to get my garage door torsion spring replaced after it broke. I checked the Yellow pages and picked the company with the largest ad. They appeared to have experience with lots of garage doors and listed the BBB in their ad.

Even though I consider myself a cautious consumer, I was caught off guard by what I consider a consumer rip off. Heres the scenario:

I called the company and the operator said that she would send out a technician within the hour. The charge was $55 per hour and $5.50 per inch for the spring. It seem strange that they were charging by the foot (this should have been the first tip off), but I knew that my springs were about 2 feet long ( quick calcuation $ 330) which was little high but seemed in the ball park.

The technician was a 30 minutes late but did call to let me know which I thought was courteous. Bill, the technician, pulls up on time in an unmark, white GMC truck. He was very friendly. We went to the garage and showed the problem. He filled out an Estimate/Invoice. The first line showed

Qty:1 Service Charge $50.00
and the last line had an X _________________.

Bill said they he could start if I would sign on the last line.

He then started to take apart the spring mechanism. After a while he calls me to show the main bearing which he suggests that I replace along with the cable drums and cables. He does say that we "dont have to replace them" but he said that the parts do show sign of wear.

Ive had my garage door replaced before and know that these parts shouldnt be that expensive so I tell him to go ahead and replace them.

He worked on replacing the parts for a little over an hour. He has the springs in place and the new drums/cables put on. He shows me the door is working. He then pulls out on of the door rollers and points out where there is wear and suggests that these be replaced. This time I asked for the cost. He says that these are $5 per roller for a cost of $50. This seems reasonable so I give the go ahead.

This last part takes a while. After another hour, Bill announced that the job is complete. He said that he will go to the truck and calculate the bill.

What a surprise when he returns with a bill for $997.65 !! I was shocked and realized that Ive just been taken!!! At that price, I could have replace the entire garage door.


I was in shock and could only say that the bill was a lot more than I expected, and took some time to review the bill.

The cost for each item seemed small but added up quickly:

torsion spring - $374 (they had a 39 and 29 spring)
cables - $89
drums - $192
bearing - $135
rollers - $65 (at least close to the $50 estimate)
Lubricant - $10
Disposal - $5
Service Charges = $110 (2 hours)

Bill said that I needed to sign the receipt if I wanted the warranty. The statement at the bottom of the invoice read:

I approve of all work to be done immediately and waive my cooling off period. Insufficient funds or stop payments will void warranty. Upon completion and satisfaction of service provided and product purchased, I agree to no refunds and to settle disputes with litigation.

Bill asked if I wanted to pay by Credit card or check. I felt that I was scammed at this point, and felt that I didn't have many alternatives.

At this point, I felt embarrassed and betrayed. I missed the first rule of always get an estimate.

I did pay by check and checked the web for information on garage door installations and costs.

I called their office on Monday and did talk to the owner, Jon Sprung. He said that he didn't have the invoices back yet and that I should call on Wednesday.

I called back on Wednesday. He was very friendly, but said that they would have been "very willing" to give an estimate if I had only asked. I explained that the "professional companies that I have dealt with" offer estimates and don't try to take advantage and overcharge customer if they don't ask for them.

I also explained that they had used an unusual installation procedure since they had installed springs of different sizes. This caused a problem in my installation since the larger spring was jammed up against a 4x4 beam and was rubbing everytime I opened the garage door.

I threatened to get a reputable garage repair company to do a proper job of installation, replace all their parts, and ship the parts back to him in a box.

As this point, Jon asked if there was anything that he could do "to save the order". He offered to do a N/C the cables and a reduction in prices for several other items.

I was able to get a $223 refund. This still left with a $763.83 bill which still seemed high, but less than the orginal $997 invoice.

I did check with the Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley. The report on the company stated:

"Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau. Our records show that the company has a pattern of complaints concerning Selling Practices And Credit or Billing Disputes"

This has been a bad (learning) experience. I would like to have others learn about the unprofessional business practices of this company so they can avoid the same fate.

Doug
Cupertino, California
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on various garage door companies

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/02/2003 09:35 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/garage-door-services/san-jose-california-95112/garage-door-services-ripoff-victimized-customers-for-all-they-can-get-san-jose-california-39873. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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0Employee/Owner

#3 Consumer Suggestion

PDS you're busted!

AUTHOR: April - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Check this out, PDS was busted http://www.wftv.com/money/1958348/detail.html

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#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Almost forgot

AUTHOR: Dale & April - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, February 02, 2003

Before I get to far along and forget, any and all informtion that you would like people to also know about Precision, you can send to precisiondoorscam@juno.com. We would be happy to hear about ANY problem you've had with Precision Doors or one of their known Alias's. We are trying to stop this company and we would appreciate anyone's information weither you were a customer or an former employee.

Also, posst your own Rip-off Report!
The more Rip-off Reports filed, the more educated other consumers will be when dealing with the reported company or individual. This will also help create a better working history on the company or individual that Ripped you off..

Thank you to all taht have helped.

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

We can help!

AUTHOR: Dale & April - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, January 24, 2003

I'm sure you've read other reports on this company, placed here. Do you know why Garage Door Services comes out in an unmarked truck? Because if you were to call Precision, GDS, Inc., Overhead of Jan Jose, Master Craftsman, Repair Specialist, etc. just to name a few, you would have the same "repair" man come out. With this companies many names, they find it easier to use white unmarked trucks, that way, depending on which of their names you called, they can place magnetic stickers on the sides for some of them, Precision for example.

As an installer for 11 years, you can not have two different torsion springs on your door, as the problem you mentioned will occur as will the other spring breaking. This gives PDS a reason to come back out an screw you over even more. By placing two different springs, the older one will break and probably cause the new one to. When you call them, they will come out and viod your "warranty" by telling you that it was your fault for not replacing both springs. The larger spring is either too big for your door or the bolts on the spring weren't tightened and it's causing your shaft to move.

At any "REAL" garage door company you charges for the same things would have been as follows:

Torsion spring: $75 to $80
Cables: $40 to $50
Drums: $50 pair
Bearings: $40
Rollers: $40 to $80 (this was right)
Lub: $8 to $10 (also OK price)
Disposal: No Charge (this should have been included)
Service Charge: Flat rate of $29 to $55

All in all the most these things should have cost you was: $350 BIG DIFFERENCE.

The company that you also dealt with is also owned by Ron Bell. Both these men have lost their licenses to do business in CA. You need to contact your Attorney General and let them know that they are still doing business and scamming consumers.

We are actively working to take down Precision and all their alias's. Post your Rip-off Report, the more victims that that the same problems the sooner we can sue them.
Good Luck!

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