Fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz of Newport Beach Commited fraud, lied to me and purposefully mislead me for a repair. 40 days and I still don't have my car back for a repair that should have taken less than 40 hours in Newport Beach, California

Fletcher Jones has had my car for a paint repair and a windshield replacement - where they broke the sun roof and then tried to get me to pay for it.  They've had the car 38 days today.

See below for the gist of the story.

I have called the BAR - bureau of automotive repair of the state of California to step in.  I also am looking to retain counsel to begin litigation.

If you look through these complaints - many of the same characters are here and there names keep coming up, and they're still around.

Garth,  Failure just has no bounds there at Fletcher Jones. I was disappointed to not get any reply from you, however, thankfully you have Jason.  He seems to be the only person there who actually cares about his customers.  I had the displeasure of speaking to Steve Dougherty if I never have to speak to him again it will be too soon.  Hes a pompous windbag and lying sack of excrement.  2 weeks ago when I had spoken to him and told him that I just wanted my car back, he said he would put it back together, that was on February 11, 2013.  The car was still not ready when I spoke to him this afternoon ( 2 weeks later ). 

Ed Hill had told me over the phone not to worry about the sun roof, as I mentioned in my previous message,  since FJ was taking care of it and ordering the parts necessary to repair it.  Well, that apparently was a lie since the roof no longer operates at all.  In came in operational, and it left disconnected.  Fraud and deception come to mind as the only place I can go, since when you say one thing and do another thats called trickery, isnt it ?  Did I miss something here ?

I have asked Bob ( the only manager on the property during a business day) who I have spoken to a few minutes ago.  I asked him to attempt to assemble the cast of characters for a meeting early next week when everyone is in the office.  I have a demanding calendar as well as you do; I would like to work out a time for us to get together to discuss this. I hope to come to a conclusion thats acceptable before I take this any further than I have.  Have no illusions that I will not take
this as far as it needs to go, I have no compunction!

So, if you want to head down this very negative path, heres  my first salvo.  Ive filled out the paperwork to involve the BAR( address below ).  I am sure you are aware of who they are.  Your next steps should be considered carefully as you have no idea the speed and efficiency of my resolve, and thats meant as a statement not a threat.  I am asking you
nicely resolve this peacefully, fairly and without any more anguish.   I certainly apologize if the tone of this email isnt necessarily gentle, however, I tried that approach and it didnt work.

Bureau of Automotive Repair
Complaint Intake Unit
10240 Systems Parkway
Sacramento, CA 95827
Phone: (866) 799-3811
Fax: (916) 255-3176

Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 5:11 PM
To: 'Garth Blumenthal'
Cc: 'Larry Lewis'; 'Ron Campagnone'

Subject: Follow up  Greetings and Salutations!
 Hi Garth,
 I was hoping that after our email exchange that these issues were put to bed, however, thats apparently not the case.
 The primary challenge we had here was communication, that was not fixed over the course of the last 10 days or so.  The secondary issue was from my perspective, a lack of competence ( which of course refers back to
the primary challenge plus all the delays internal which only you can see and deal with).   Well, again, stunned today to find out that the car has finally made it to Jason in the body shop for him to finish it up.
 Between last Monday and Today, I have been reached out twice by Ed and once by Jason.  Ed and I had a conversation on Monday regarding his voice mail on Friday he tells me that he didnt work over the weekend and hadnt received my message until Monday morning.  You might think that with an issue thats bubbled up the way this one has that you would assign someone who was on top of it and would reach out to me or hand it off to someone else to communicate effectively with me about where things are.  Thats not the case. When he and I spoke it was about a $1400 bill for sun roof, to which I
said, I would not pay that much to get it done I just want the car back.  Apparently, this is where things go pear shaped again.  I believe, if memory is clear, that Ed tells me not to worry about the sunroof as FJ was going to take care of that issue for me for the delay. 
Well, again, thats not exactly promise made and promise delivered.  Apparently, there were parts ordered, only to get the roof to be able to be put in again, nothing about the actual operation of the roof.  Are you kidding me ?! Theyve billed Jason for $700 worth of labor on the roof, 50% of whats needed to repair the roof and then stop ? What?!?  I hear that parts were ordered, they were the wrong ones and then the parts were re-ordered and then the work commenced, of course nowhere
during that process was I made aware of this issue and the delays. 

So,  Im thinking that the sun roof is being repaired and that was a nice gesture considering whats happened to date.  Oh no, thats not even close.  What the heck are these people thinking ?  This is customer service?   I dont believe so.  Failure, complete and utter.  Also, the only thing that I was told was wrong was that the car might need tire balancing to fix a vibration in the steering wheel.  I asked for that I believe it was done.  When I asked Jason well, did it take care of the balancing ?  Jason, said, I dont know.  So, you do something to the car and then dont test drive it to verify or worse
dont document that it has or hasnt been done so that poor Jason doesnt take the brunt of my storm ? 

Are you kidding me ?   33 days in total and heres your car back, sir.  Oh, sorry we only half fixed it was going to be the response?  I know we said we were going to do one thing a few times and did another, but, I hope you believe me this time
was that to be my answer when I arrived ?  In my opinion, now were into the realm of being deceived and lied to.  Im sorry thats just plain unacceptable no matter how you slice it. Ive asked for the car back apparently your directive to get this done and the managers meeting didnt seem to get the point across.   If these were on my staffs, theyd already been gone or demoted.  What else do I need to say here ? 
 Regards,

From: Garth Blumenthal

Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 9:03 AM
To: chris
Cc: Larry Lewis
Subject: Re: timeline ( for your reading pleasure )
 Hi Chris,
Thank you for your detailed note. I am terribly sorry that we have failed to take care of your car. More importantly, we have failed to listen to your concerns and have not responded to your messages responsibly. I have copied Larry Lewis, our Fixed Operations Director. We will make your car our number one priority in the morning. Thank you for your patience and feedback.
Best regards,Garth. 

Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 9, 2013, at 4:47 PM, "Chris" <> wrote:
Garth, I was asked by Ron Campagnone a short time ago to write you a note describing my experience over the course of the last 21 days at FJMC. I was heading out of town on the 19th of January so I had planned with Jason in the body shop area to drop the car off to him to replace the windshield in my 1993 500 SEL.   While it was there and the windshield was to come out I figured I would have him look at the roof that had some odd scratching.  Jason a day later or so informed me that the clear coat had failed, after almost 20 years.. ok disappointing but OK, please fix it while you have it was the instruction and I will pick up the car at the end of the week or over the next weekend ( Jan 26-27, 2013 ).
 In addition, I had asked Jason to also have a few things mechanically looked at while it was there knowing FJMC was to have the car for 6-8 days :
         Please look into the sun-roof in the car as its not operating correctly ( it seems it breaks every 10 years or so ).   
        Would you check the front right lower control arm and tires etc. for a vibration that I am noticing        Would you check the engine for fuel economy as it was tuned and it still seems not right.
        And I may have a shock thats finally gone, it seems it might be one of the 2 rears, I am guessing the rear driver.
 
I arrive home from my trip and no calls, no voice mails, no contact. By Saturday, January 26, 2013 (I know this date as it was my birthday and I was bummed that while home), I couldnt drive my baby on one of the few days I can.  None the
less, no calls the entire next week.  Its now February 1, 2013;  I call and leave a voicemail for Jason and asked him comically what had happened to my car.  Had it been crushed, stolen, taken by aliens or had he ?  February 4 rolls around I call back and get Jason on the phone and hes apologetic and says that he was out ( something personal ) and he thought someone had followed up with me.  Having dealt with Jason a few times, I didnt question his integrity and I still dont.  He told
me that the car was not yet out of the body shop.  My first reaction was, huh ?  Youve had my car for now 16 days and the windshield isnt in and the paint isnt done.  Im perplexed ( Ive spent my share of time around body shops ) how long does it take to get a car through this process, maybe 20 hours ?  So, with all due respect, what the heck is going on ?  Theres no way that this kind of work takes longer than 4-5 days. 
 
I then write a note into the Fletcher Jones website and get a call back from Brooke in Guest Relations (the voice mail was so rapid I had to listen more than a few times to figure out who it was and what the voice mail was about ).  I called her back the next day and left a voice mail in the morning, no call back, I called in again that afternoon.  (I believe this was Wednesday February 6, 2013.)  I am not able to get her on the phone.  At this point, I have now reached my limit of how much effort I
am willing to put in.  I ask your receptionist who Brooke reports into, she tells me that person is Heather.  I ask for Heather, shes not available however her admin, also Heather, says that she will ask Heather to get back to me.  Heather calls me back a short time later. 

 Heres where my patience runs thin.  Heather calls, and I am in the middle of an open area talking to my staff and have to step away.  Heather seems impatient that she needs to wait for me to step to a private location.  I finally step away, and I begin to describe the situation to her.  I start with my car has been with you for a simple repair for now nearly 18 days, do I need to say much more than that?  She retorts with well, I dont know anything about your situation I like to hear what the
customer has to say first and then I figure out what happened.  Ok, now I am on guard.  Well, OK, its on!   Now, I say well theres seems to be a lack of competence here.  No one at FJ is incompetent she says as she barks over me.  At this point, Ive had enough. I asked her; then explain to me why youve had my car this entire time and its not out of the body shop yet ?  And, dont tell me its one persons fault ( Jason) as hes just the person whos taking the car in.  She begins to speak
over me again, and this is when I have to explain to her that I am the customer and she needs to wait for me to finish and then she may say anything she likes. I am furious at this woman having the august temerity to deign to speak to me in that tone, and how dare she question me and it felt as though I was a bad child being chided by someone. I havent been so insulted in a very long time.  Heather says she will look into it and get back to me.  She does, and tells me that Jason will
get back to me later that day.  She tells me that she hopes that we wont have to speak again ( meaning, I believe that I will not need her as my car will be done and my experience so good that I wont need her again ).   I again, think to myself that she should be following up with me daily until my car is out of there, thats customer service what shes doing is McDonalds.  OK.

Jason calls and I apologized to him for throwing him under the bus.  He tells me that its his team and hes ultimately responsible, I remind him that no man is a mountain and that he can apologize however its FJ thats failed not he.  I also mention my conversation with Heather and tell him that I am NOT a fan of hers.  In any case, he tells me that the car would be out of the body shop that day and into service where Ed Hill will be in touch.  Thursday and Friday come and go and finally I get a voice mail from Ed Hill on Friday afternoon asking me about the sun roof. Which ( apparently ) had
broken completely while it was being painted and I thought Jason said he was going to take care of that as an apology for having the car so long.  So, the voice mail from Ed was confusing at best.  I called back and didnt hear anything back Friday early evening.

In conclusion, and I apologize for the size of this missive.  I finally decided to take a ride down today to speak to someone as this has reached in my book Epic status.  I spoke to Ron, he suggested I get this note off to you.  How many people touched my car, over how many days and communication flat out failed.  I told Ron that I expect my local mechanic to leave grease on the steering wheel while he is changing the oil, my expectations of FJMC are a bit higher.  In this case, sadly the only thing I can say is complete failure. Im speechless at this point, I know after all that above it is hard to believe. Can I get my car back , please?
  Regards,