Talk2raffi
05-05-2003, 07:37 PM
I got a stereo installed at a place that really screwed stuff up. I wrote up a letter to mail them, and will be calling my bank to dispute the charges in the morning. Below is the letter which I'll revise a bit, but I will also include in the paperwork I fill out for the dispute.
Is there anyting I should/shouldn't say to the bank to try and guarantee my victory in this dispute?
Any help would be really appreciated guys.
Letter below:
Dear xxxxx
I am forced to write this letter and proceed in the following fashion because I have not been able to get in touch with you. I called on May 1st and spoke to bbbb. I told him that nnnnn and I would be coming on May 3rd, nnnnn to replace his broken capacitor and me to speak with you. He neglected to mention you would be closed Saturday. I also called numerous times on May 5th to talk to you, but you were constantly unavailable. I am going to be disputing the charge to my Visa card, and upon completion of that will mail you a cashers check for what I deem to be fair, or what we agree upon.
I am very disappointed with the level of work I received from xxxxx. There are many things we discussed that you either did not do, and there are some things that are broken/inoperable. Below is a list.
- You had my car for 7 days, did a poor job and put 60 miles on my car.
- From the first day I got my car back I noticed in the evening that the lights on my head unit were not working. Seeing as how I had to come back to get a new capacitor I decided it could wait till then to get fixed. Needless to say I never did come by because I got busy with school and a pending MCAT exam.
- I also noticed 3 or 4 screws and a few clips and plastic caps lying around the car that were not reinstalled properly.
- When I pulled the head unit to try and fix the lights myself I noticed that the speaker wire from the trunk terminated behind the head unit and used the stock wiring from there. The speaker wire was not run into the doors like I had asked.
- The rear driver side door will not open from the inside.
- The rear speakers were not working when I picked the car up, which shows me the level of quality control in your shop. Your installer had left one of the RCAs not completely plugged in, and I cannot believe that he wouldn’t listen to make sure the speakers come on.
- I gave you 4 pairs of RCA cables to run a full 6-channel setup. For some reason only 2 sets were run instead of 3. I even stated, and restated that I would pay for any extra wiring if my wiring was not enough, damaged, or too short.
- We also discussed sound dampening the trunk. I expressed my concern about using the silver reflective material I had, and asked about black colored sound dampening. My concern here was having the silver reflective material on the inside of a black trunk and how it would look, yet for some reason your installer went ahead and used the silver material on the inside of the trunk, and did not even do a neat job about it.
- Another concern I had was that my vehicle, being a sports car, would be subjected to quick turns and quick acceleration. I did not want everything sliding around in my trunk. I already had a box for my subwoofers, but I was willing to spend the extra money to get two new boxes built that could be mounted down to the car to prevent them from sliding around. This also did not happen. Every time I open my trunk everything is shifted around.
- The same goes for the amplifier rack that was built. It too does not stay in place.
- The negative and one of the positive power wire connectors that were on the capacitor slid right off of the wires.
- The amplifiers remote turn on lead is connected to the ignition and not the stereo, therefore the amplifiers are always on when the car is on. This is not right, and is a very amateurish way of wiring amplifiers. A simple automotive relay could have been wired to the stock head units’ power switch, which would in turn give the 12-volt signal to turn the amplifiers on.
The following is what I was charged per my receipt:
- Installation $220
- MB 5.25 RSC components $200
- Tru T4.65 $400
- Diamond M35li $100
- 2 Boxes $160
- Amp Rack $35
- Capacitor $100
For a total of $1215, plus the 3% which brought it to $1251 of which I paid approximately $200 cash and $1045 charged to my card.
The following is what I expect:
- I expect a refund for the $160 I paid to have the boxes built because they were built and supposed to be bolted down. They were not, hence there is no need for them, I could have just kept and used my old box.
- I also expect a $35 refund for the amplifier rack because it too moves around.
- Lastly I expect the $220 installation charge to be refunded. Nothing was done as I expected, and I need to go in and reinstall most, if not all of the wiring.
The total refund I expect is in the amount of $415
With this refund amount I am willing to overlook the $50 extra paid for the MB RSC components, the fact that the display on the capacitor doesn’t work, the fact that my head unit lights don’t come on, the fact that the rear door will not open from the inside, the fact that the rear seat was reinstalled improperly, and the fact that there are screws and clips that were not reinstalled. I will also, very unwillingly, overlook the extra mileage put on my car and the possible damage to my clutch, brakes, transmission, etc that may have been caused.
Upon completion of my dispute, I will mail you a cashiers check in the amount of $600, which is $1251 minus the 3%, minus the $200 cash paid, minus the $415 refund.
I really do not wish to make another trip out to your shop (seeing as how I had to make that extra trip when I was told my car would be ready but it wasn’t), but I do not want to be looked upon as a thief. If you want your boxes and amplifier rack back, just write me a letter and I will gladly bring them back to you.
If you think I am being irrational then by all means write me and tell me your point of view, but I’m sure you realize my level of disappointment when I looked into nnnn’s trunk and the beautiful install job done there, then looked into my trunk and looked upon the travesty of an install that was performed in my car.
Is there anyting I should/shouldn't say to the bank to try and guarantee my victory in this dispute?
Any help would be really appreciated guys.
Letter below:
Dear xxxxx
I am forced to write this letter and proceed in the following fashion because I have not been able to get in touch with you. I called on May 1st and spoke to bbbb. I told him that nnnnn and I would be coming on May 3rd, nnnnn to replace his broken capacitor and me to speak with you. He neglected to mention you would be closed Saturday. I also called numerous times on May 5th to talk to you, but you were constantly unavailable. I am going to be disputing the charge to my Visa card, and upon completion of that will mail you a cashers check for what I deem to be fair, or what we agree upon.
I am very disappointed with the level of work I received from xxxxx. There are many things we discussed that you either did not do, and there are some things that are broken/inoperable. Below is a list.
- You had my car for 7 days, did a poor job and put 60 miles on my car.
- From the first day I got my car back I noticed in the evening that the lights on my head unit were not working. Seeing as how I had to come back to get a new capacitor I decided it could wait till then to get fixed. Needless to say I never did come by because I got busy with school and a pending MCAT exam.
- I also noticed 3 or 4 screws and a few clips and plastic caps lying around the car that were not reinstalled properly.
- When I pulled the head unit to try and fix the lights myself I noticed that the speaker wire from the trunk terminated behind the head unit and used the stock wiring from there. The speaker wire was not run into the doors like I had asked.
- The rear driver side door will not open from the inside.
- The rear speakers were not working when I picked the car up, which shows me the level of quality control in your shop. Your installer had left one of the RCAs not completely plugged in, and I cannot believe that he wouldn’t listen to make sure the speakers come on.
- I gave you 4 pairs of RCA cables to run a full 6-channel setup. For some reason only 2 sets were run instead of 3. I even stated, and restated that I would pay for any extra wiring if my wiring was not enough, damaged, or too short.
- We also discussed sound dampening the trunk. I expressed my concern about using the silver reflective material I had, and asked about black colored sound dampening. My concern here was having the silver reflective material on the inside of a black trunk and how it would look, yet for some reason your installer went ahead and used the silver material on the inside of the trunk, and did not even do a neat job about it.
- Another concern I had was that my vehicle, being a sports car, would be subjected to quick turns and quick acceleration. I did not want everything sliding around in my trunk. I already had a box for my subwoofers, but I was willing to spend the extra money to get two new boxes built that could be mounted down to the car to prevent them from sliding around. This also did not happen. Every time I open my trunk everything is shifted around.
- The same goes for the amplifier rack that was built. It too does not stay in place.
- The negative and one of the positive power wire connectors that were on the capacitor slid right off of the wires.
- The amplifiers remote turn on lead is connected to the ignition and not the stereo, therefore the amplifiers are always on when the car is on. This is not right, and is a very amateurish way of wiring amplifiers. A simple automotive relay could have been wired to the stock head units’ power switch, which would in turn give the 12-volt signal to turn the amplifiers on.
The following is what I was charged per my receipt:
- Installation $220
- MB 5.25 RSC components $200
- Tru T4.65 $400
- Diamond M35li $100
- 2 Boxes $160
- Amp Rack $35
- Capacitor $100
For a total of $1215, plus the 3% which brought it to $1251 of which I paid approximately $200 cash and $1045 charged to my card.
The following is what I expect:
- I expect a refund for the $160 I paid to have the boxes built because they were built and supposed to be bolted down. They were not, hence there is no need for them, I could have just kept and used my old box.
- I also expect a $35 refund for the amplifier rack because it too moves around.
- Lastly I expect the $220 installation charge to be refunded. Nothing was done as I expected, and I need to go in and reinstall most, if not all of the wiring.
The total refund I expect is in the amount of $415
With this refund amount I am willing to overlook the $50 extra paid for the MB RSC components, the fact that the display on the capacitor doesn’t work, the fact that my head unit lights don’t come on, the fact that the rear door will not open from the inside, the fact that the rear seat was reinstalled improperly, and the fact that there are screws and clips that were not reinstalled. I will also, very unwillingly, overlook the extra mileage put on my car and the possible damage to my clutch, brakes, transmission, etc that may have been caused.
Upon completion of my dispute, I will mail you a cashiers check in the amount of $600, which is $1251 minus the 3%, minus the $200 cash paid, minus the $415 refund.
I really do not wish to make another trip out to your shop (seeing as how I had to make that extra trip when I was told my car would be ready but it wasn’t), but I do not want to be looked upon as a thief. If you want your boxes and amplifier rack back, just write me a letter and I will gladly bring them back to you.
If you think I am being irrational then by all means write me and tell me your point of view, but I’m sure you realize my level of disappointment when I looked into nnnn’s trunk and the beautiful install job done there, then looked into my trunk and looked upon the travesty of an install that was performed in my car.