When Dan?s Radiator wouldn't take a credit card, insisting on cash up front, I should have gone somewhere else. I was desperate for air-conditioning because I had a 12-hour drive back to Michigan.
To accommodate him I got a bank transfer from Newport Fed (that?s another story) and came back with cash.
He charged the AC for 45 min. $120 seemed steep, but he had told me the price up front, and I paid it. He never offered a receipt--another foreboding signal. The AC worked fine for a while. Within 2 weeks it broke again. By this time I was 4 hours away in the Bronx.
On Labor Day I headed out on the NJ Tpke but the AC just never kicked back in. I stopped at Sears where they worked on the car for 2 hours. Turns out Dan?s Radiator had only partially charged the AC. I was furious. The delay incurred an extra motel bill. Since I had no receipt, Eddy Callahan and Cozy Cab helped me locate Dan?s number.
When I threatened the man who answered the phone to write a bad review on Car Talk's site, I got a return call from the mechanic who did the work. Tony (if that's his name) talked a mile a minute -- bad mouthed Chrysler -- (I love my Jeep and NEVER have had a problem with it) and talked and talked my ear off.
He promised to refund my money but wanted receipts and a letter from me vindicating him because he said the AC would break again. (Why didn?t he say that in the first place?)
My sister was still in Newport. She takes her dogs to the park across from the shop. I called 4 or 5 times, left messages (another omen) asking to confirm that she could save us time and trouble and pick up my refund.
When she went to the shop he refused. He said my AC worked fine all summer (???) and insisted on a letter and receipts from me. I offered to fax a letter and receipts but his behavior was such she would not go back.
I?m sending a certified letter with receipts from Sears. If I get my refund I will post it here in my review.
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