money « Journals of Journeys

8Aug/10Off

Chuck Albert, Rob Jeffries, Michelle Jeffries, Accurate Auto

Did that get your attention people? Think you can flag a Craig's Listing post and have it simply "disappear"? Think again! Once on the web, it's there forever. And here, for the rest of you who might have missed out:

chico craigslist > community > general community

Accurate Auto - beware (Chico)

Date: 2010-08-07, 10:18PM PDT
Reply to: comm-bw3tp-1886874066@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]

This is a warning for everyone in the Chico area. Accurate Auto at 2246 Esplanade, Suite A, Chico, CA 95926 (the old Big O tire store) is not the customer oriented auto repair shop they advertise and jeopardized my sons' and my life due to their negligence. Don't risk your life by entrusting the care of your car to them.
On March 19, 2010 I took my 2005 Hyundai Sonata in for the manufacturer's recommended 60K mile service. They were fast and efficient - or so I thought.
Fast forward to Saturday, June 19, 2010 when I was on a road trip with my sons down in Death Valley. We were due back late that evening, but as we came up over the pass, 5000 feet above sea level, the check engine light came on and the car stalled. Knowing that being stranded in temps exceeding 116° that day, our lives were at risk. Coasting several miles down to sea level at speeds that exceeded 80 mph at points, I coasted into the Stovepipe Wells General Store and Fueling station parking lot. We spent several hours on the pay phone outside the lodge across the street before we could make arrangements for a tow the following morning.
On Sunday (Father's Day, which we missed out on celebrating with my husband, sadly), my sons and I were towed down to Harbor Hyundai in Long Beach, the only location I could find where the service shop would be able to get us in first thing Monday morning.
Shortly after 9 am Monday, July 21, I spoke to the Harbor Hyundai service advisor who said that the crank shaft motor sensor had gone out. Thankfully it was covered by the extended warranty I had the foresight to purchase and they would have the car fixed by early afternoon. Shortly after lunch, the service advisor called back saying that the timing belt assembly needed to be replaced. That was what should have been done when the car was serviced back in March when Accurate Auto serviced the car. He went on to say that the balance shaft belt (shown below), one with rubber teeth on it, had deteriorated, some of the teeth falling off, which caused the sensor to malfunction. While the sensor was covered, the timing belt replacement was not. He felt that I might be able to make it back, but it would have to be replaced soon. Since it was labor intensive job, it would cost even more to do it later than if they were to do it while the area was open for the sensor replacement. I authorized the repairs and picked the car up at the close of business.
Since it was rush hour, I waited it out until the roads weren't gridlocked with commute traffic and several hours after dawn Tuesday morning, arrived home.
On Thursday, July 8, 2010 armed with my owner's manual, the invoices from when Accurate Auto serviced the car in March and Harbor's invoice from a few weeks prior, the towing invoice (over $1300 as the tow was over 280 miles - the towing company was kind enough not to charge me for both ways), and the parts that were replaced by Harbor Hyundai, I went in to Accurate Auto and talked to the service manager, Chuck Albert. I didn't have to introduce myself, he remembered me from when they serviced my car back in March. I showed him their (Accurate Auto's) invoice where it said that the timing belt assembly was checked and that the belts were listed separately beneath as "ok", then pointed to the page in my manual under the 60K mile service section and showed him where it showed the belts were to have been replaced. He excused himself and went to check with the shop's All Data database which he explained most mechanics refer to. Sure enough, All Data showed the belts should have been replaced at that time, too. I then showed him the cracked v-rib belt (shown below) that was checked off as "ok" and he admitted that even if the belt was "ok" back in March, the cracks seen in the belt (see below) could not have been as numerous in the period between March and when Harbor replaced them in June. I also showed him the deteriorated balance shaft belt with some of the teeth still intact, others frayed and at the bottom of the bag Harbor put the parts into. I relayed what the service advisor at Harbor Hyundai told me, that if the timing assembly belts had been replaced, that balance belt would have been replaced, too, and the breakdown I experienced in the desert would have never happened. Mr. Albert agreed, admitting that they were responsible for the problems I experienced and additional expenses.
I had provided him with an itemized invoice for all additional expenses I incurred as a direct result of the breakdown. They were not unreasonable, I did not include loss of wages or emotional distress, simply the towing bill, lodging, and the additional expense of dining out over what I normally spend for groceries, as well as the additional miles I had to drive because of the repairs. He took copies of the paperwork and said that he would give everything to the owner, Rob Jeffries, within the next day. The following afternoon, Friday, June 9, 2010, Mr. Albert called to inform me that he had taken the paperwork and information to Mr. Jeffries who also expressed concern Thursday evening and that Mr. Jeffries would be in contact with me anywhere from within the hour to a week.
On Friday, July 16, 2010 I had not heard anything and called the shop. Mr. Albert was surprised to hear Mr. Jeffries had not contacted me and stated he would again relay my message to have Mr. Jeffries contact me immediately.
The following Friday, June 23, 2010 I called the shop and asked for Mr. Jeffries. The service employee that answered the phone asked for my name and then put me on hold. A few minutes later he came back on the line and said that Mr. Jeffries was no longer there. I then asked to speak with Mr. Albert. When Mr. Albert came to the phone, he claimed he had not seen Mr. Jeffries for "a few days". I happen to know for a fact that on both counts, this information was a fat lie. Regardless, I informed Mr. Albert that since Mr. Jeffries had failed to make any attempt to resolve this issue, that I would have no choice but to pursue legal action.
Immediately after the call, I sent a formal letter of demand and a second copy of the initial invoice requesting reimbursement for expenses. In the letter, I gave Mr. Jeffries until the close of business Friday, July 30, 2010 to contact me and make arrangements to settle this matter or would be filing a law suit.
On Friday, August 6, 2010 the USPS website showed that the certified letter had been refused by the addressee at 12:10 pm that day and was being returned to the sender. As a result, the Bureau of Automotive Repairs (BAR, the California licensing agency), NAPA Auto Parts and AutoCare of which Accurate Auto is an affiliate, and numerous online websites of similar nature have been contacted and formal complaints filed.
Side note: On July 23 after 3 in the afternoon, I posted a negative review on the Accurate Auto Facebook page. As of August 6, the feedback section of their business page on Facebook was hidden. However, the page is still on the internet, copies of it are posted in a number of areas, including my blog located at http://ejourn.net/journal under the entry for August 7, 2010 where further updates on this matter will be posted until it is settled.
I was referred to Mr. Jeffries years ago when I was having problems with an imploding gas tank on my Camry which has since been donated to an automotive repair program. He was referred by a former mechanic for a very large auto dealership in the area who said that Mr. Jeffries was the "last honest mechanic in town." Sadly this no longer seems to be the case. Whether this is because Mr. Jeffries has since taken a step back from the day-to-day operations which are now handled by his brother-in-law, Mr. Chuck Albert, or he has turned the ownership over to his wife, Michelle Jeffries (who is shown as the current owner), I don't know. What I can tell you though is that this negligence is potentially dangerous to you, fellow motorists, and your family. If Mr. Jeffries and his staff are sincere about their commitment to customer service as they state on their website and listing on the Napa AutoCare Center's site, then why have they not taken the steps to settle this matter satisfactorily?

Location: Chico
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1886874066

Filed under: 2010, Article, Discussion, Family, Here's Your Sign, Important, Information, Just Wrong, Rants, Review, Reviews, Slam, Tech Problems, Twisted, Warning, money, services
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26Aug/09Off

Back-to-School Shopping – Part Two

I love shopping for school supplies. Hundreds of spiral notebooks, thousands of pens in every color imaginable. Gadgets for fastening, adhering, sealing, flying, pushing, pulling-- Maybe I should stop there.

Yay! School Supplies!

If you're responsible for hiring at somewhere like Office Depot or Staples, you'd be wise not to process my application, I'd go out of my head being surrounded by all these yummy things day in and day out!

So when the kids are getting ready to go back to school, as much as I try to get them to give me very specific lists in an earnest attempt to curb my overwhelming need to take all those homeless items back with me, the kids don't quite get the importance of being specific. And whose to blame them? The lists they come home with from their teachers seem to grow to a ridiculous size whenever the budgets go wonky.You can probably imagine just how crazy the lists are now, given how strapped the school's resources are with the massive budget cuts.

This year my husband stepped in to save the day, offering to grab up what they needed provided they came up with a list. Did I happen to mention how they're not very good at that? Yeah, I think a bit of my adoration for the stuff has rubbed off on them, too. You'd have thought they were writing out their wish list for a birthday or Christmas by the time they were done!

I thought it was way too much and began comparing what was on their list to the list their teachers had handed out and what I knew we had on hand. It went something like this:

Stuff on Their Lists	Stuff on Teachers' Lists	Stuff We Have on Hand	A Glimpse of Mom vs. Son Conversation
Notebooks	Journals/Notebooks and/or Loose Leaf Paper	Notebooks, Loose Leaf Paper	"Mom, I am not going to take that Tinkerbell notebook into class!"
Scientific Calculator	Scientific Calculator	Scientific Calculator	"I haven't seen it since Christmas last year." -Z. Dude
Pencils - lots (Ry-guy)	Pencils and/or pens	Pencils, Pens, Crayons, Markers, Sharpies, pin to prick finger so you can write with your blood	"You keep stealing our pencils, Mom." Me: "I have straight pins if you prefer."
Graph paper	Graph paper for later in the first quarter	Rulers and lined paper for a fun, DIY project	"You can not be serious." (If you're envisioning a roll of the eyes at the end of that, you've nailed it!)
Locker Buddy stuff	Three scans later, nothing at all was said about locker "gear."	Drawers full of fluffy pom-poms from a 2nd grade project, glue sticks, colored wooden popsicle sticks from a 4th grade science project, beads and string from some Christmas gift projects a couple of years ago, and much more.	"I'll use my own good grade money you still haven't coughed up and buy my own." Momzilla's response: "Negatory, rubber ducky, that 'good grade money' was lost when the bad messy room didn't become sparkling clean."

They came back with notebooks, mechanical pencils complete with extra 'lead' and erasers, and I believe I saw two bright yellow highlighters. It was just the silly string that kept me from permanently assigning the hubby to the task next time.

But I might reconsider. I got these:

Eight New Notebooks!

from their trip to the store.

Happy back-to-school supply shopping, y'all!

Filed under: 2009, Education, Family, General, Journals, Just Wrong, Kathie, Parenting, School, Thoughts, Twisted, money No Comments

23Aug/09Off

Back-to-School Shopping – Part One

Early this morning the boys and I went back-to-school shopping.

When I was a kid, my parents figured out while they were still responsible for my care which included buying clothes for me, that back-to-school shopping should be done a week or two after school starts. The reason is simple. The clothes my mother and I thought were "cute" or "cool" or "fashionable" on the racks turned out to be quite the opposite among my peers and were quickly relegated to live a life of exile at the very back of my closet. Waiting a couple of weeks (they weren't terribly cruel, they did buy us one new outfit before the start of the school year) gave us the opportunity to check out our classmates, see what the fashions were, what we could get away with wearing on a fairly regular basis.

The R. Kelly Experiment - Stay in that closet

I'd do the same with my own kids, but they're boys. They don't care and there's only so much you can do with jeans and t-shirts. I suspect that'll change soon. It'll be all about the labels. Little do they know how adept I am at removing labels or tacking them onto a second-hand shirt picked up at a nice little thrift shop down the street.

Oh wait. They do know how to read. Ha, like they'll be reading their mother's blog.

But that doesn't mean I'm completely out of the mother-child bonding ceremonial rituals. You forget, I'm my mother's child. I learnt well.

A few years ago the kids were going to a school that raised their own vegetables and fruits. The meals where very healthy, prepared exquisitely and thus we happily forked over the money to let them buy lunches (and breakfasts too!). However, they're back to a school where it's a bunch of #10 cans, watered down syrupy fruits that haven't seen fresh since 1982, and packaged crap. So we've instituted a new routine. We go grocery shopping for a week of school days, each kid allotted the amount that they'd pay for school breakfast and lunch and any savings they could scrape out of it while still putting together healthy, filling meals goes towards extracurricular trips, retreats and so on.

It's a wonderful experience because the kids are able to apply math skills, develop a sense of nutrition and health, and actively contribute to the household finances while learning how to budget as well as trim expenses in an effort to save money for something else. Adding to this, we're now establishing a new bonus round. If you opt to take out the items a bit too high in sugar carbs and/or fat and replace it with something far more balanced (not that they can get away with Ho-Hos, Ding-Dongs, Twinkies or crap like that), three more bucks are added to whatever savings they had by the time we're done with the shopping trip.

bak2skool

See? Here's a kidlet weighing some bananas he opted to get over a box of Twix cookie snacks (that barely scraped by the 'healthy food item' list) and figuring out his grand total as he worked his way towards earning an added $3.00.

And just because you wanted to know, both boys saved over $8.00 and the banana man had swung the bonus money. Of course, they're using my lunch meat, bread, condiments and milk for the week, but that's okay, they're trying to save money to go on two fall church retreats. I'm hip to that. Down with that? Cool with it?

Yeah, you get my point.

So what do you do? Share, please!

Filed under: 2009, Cool, Education, Family, Journals, Kathie, Parenting, School, Thoughts, money, travel No Comments

21Aug/09Off

Homeowners Beware

American Home Shield offers a warranty that homeowners are probably most familiar with when purchasing a home. It's a nice little bonus realtors like to throw in to sweeten the deal. But for those of us who renewed when the year's end rolled around, we know that the human body can only handle so much sweetness before it gets violently ill.

You might rationalize that the cost of service alone is well worth the policy. You may even look at the reduced coverage on large appliances and other big-money items is worth the annual fees even when the premiums are increased. But if you look closely and carefully, you'll start to notice that the restrictions have doubled, then tripled and even quadrupled. Got a leak on the exterior faucet? Too bad. Not covered. Air conditioning conked out? Tough luck, you didn't perform the recommended prevention maintenance as we recommend. Got a repair service provider out that is a lazy bum and claims the two dollar soldering job done on your thermostat will solve the problem and a week later, your furnace dies? Not their problem, they'll tell you. "We're just going off of what the service repair person reported, who is the authority in this matter."

I really wish I could tell you that I got these examples from places like Consumer Affairs, but no, these are actual examples after talking with family, friends and our own experiences when using their "service" since 1995. In the years, we've even see the contractors that have been sent out, change. Spend any time waiting for an AHS representative to answer your call while listening to their recorded message loop around, and you'll understand they've become, more or less, a monopoly. They use Cleanmasters, Servicemasters, and have an umbrella of other services that include Terminex (and that in and of itself is scary if you spend any time looking into them for pest control services, gives me the eebie jeebies just thinking about it) among others. I don't know about your neck of the woods, but these aren't the people I want anywhere near my home, let alone tromping around to fix and service this or that.

A few years ago, when our policy came up for renewal, we decided to let it expire. Shortly after I received a call from an AHS representative. I explained that the lump sum they required was no longer affordable and we weren't so sure we needed the since watered down services they still offered. He was a damned good salesman. By the end of the call, we renegotiated the terms and he had my credit card information along with an arrangement to bill me monthly for a more affordable amount, no added fees tacked on and, as he explained, able to be terminated any given month.

As you probably know, when things roll over to a credit card, you tend to forget about the charges. Until the card is about to expire, they send you a "friendly email" and then you're back to reconsidering - do we really need this service? When's the last time we even used it? Is this an expense we can cut when things are as tight as they are? Can we make a claim against our homeowners policy if something big happened and exceeded our hefty deductible? That was us and we came to the conclusion, let it ride.

A couple of months passed and -wham- in comes a letter from a collections agency. It says that on behalf of AHS, their client, they're reminding us we still owe AHS several hundred dollars. They were even nice enough to include their client's billing address and phone number. Of course, it wasn't toll free.

As a homeowner, you're probably well aware of the importance of protecting your credit history. It's almost as precious as a baby. I phoned the number provided, waited a painful seventy-seven minutes to their messages that repeated so much I heard them in my sleep for days after, and finally was connected to a representative. I politely explained the situation, got the typical run-around that went along the lines of still owing money up until the policy was set to expire, which according to their records wasn't until November. I knew my rights, I knew their own limitations, and I made it clear that once we rolled over into the monthly billed amount, that these supposed "life of the policy" rules were no longer effective. That's when the representative said I had to call to another department and they would make a final decision. I stood firm. No, I fulfilled my end of the bargain, I chose not to renew my credit card information, they had no legal grounds to come after me, they were to immediately cease and desist with their attempts to collect and that if they continued, if there were any bad reports made against my credit history, I would sue them to the full extent of the law.

The representative said she would share this with the other department and that they'd have to call me to confirm the cancellation, so on and so forth. Good luck, I told her. I won't be around to take the call, I was heading out of town in the morning and could make it just as difficult for them as they'd made it for me. Regardless, the demand still stood, they were, I repeated firmly and made her repeat back to me, to cease and desist. She said she understood and would "relay the information."

Dated a week after my phone call that took an entire ninety-two minutes of my time (billable at $100/hour for a 3-hour minimum), another letter was sent from the same collection agency. I was informed that the clock started ticking when I received the first correspondence and had a mere thirty days to respond to their communication. It seemed vague about anything further than that, but the intent was loud and clear. That's when I began digging into AHS online and found hundreds of complaints filed against the company for a wide variety of things including this type of tactical (or maybe, tactless) maneuver in attempting to collect on debts that they really don't have a right to do.

I followed the advice on many of those complaint boards, went straight to the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) and filed a complaint according to their form driven website. Earlier today I received an email from the office that handles complaints about AHS and was told I would be hearing back from them soon.

A word to the wise, avoid American Home Shield. I can't suggest another warranty service that might be a better choice because I'm still dealing with this and haven't researched any, but given the headaches and the frustrations of dealing with this particular company, American Home Shield, which I've heard complaints have also come from many of the legitimate service companies AHS used to send out to service the policy, you're better off putting that money in a money market account and using that to make your repairs.

Filed under: 2009, Article, Discussion, Education, General, Harsh, Information, Journals, Just Wrong, Kathie, Rants, Review, Reviews, Slam, Thoughts, Twisted, Warning, money, services, websites No Comments

22Apr/09Off

Keep It Open: Butte County Libraries

From Susan Davis, Treasurer of Chico Friends of the Library.

I want to let you know just how the Butte County Supervisors' proposed cut in library funding will probably reduce the library's open hours to as few as 12-20 hours a week.

If this happens, the conference room simply will not be available for more than 75 clubs and organizations who use this room each month.

Please ... write, E-mail, or telephone any or all of the County supervisors asking them to reconsider their priorities. Although they have difficult decisions to make, they seem to forget the great importance of libraries to everyone, especially during difficult economic times.

Enclosed (follows) is a flyer the Friends are giving out which shows each Supervisor's mail and E-Mail address and their telephone number.
It's OUR library, please help keep it open!

Will your library be here after June?

Butte County Library funding is proposed to be cut in half beginning July 1
- From $3.1 million in June 2008 to $1.5 million for fiscal year 2009-2010 which starts this July
- From 39 staff to 13 staff (1 staff member per 17,000 county residents -- the worst ratio in the state!)
Hours will be reduced 71% - from a total of 219 hours to only 60 hours
- 12 hours per week each for Chico, Oroville, Paradise and Gridley, 6 hours each for Durham & Biggs
- Community meeting room availability will be limited to library hours or eliminated
Library services will be bare bones
- Elimination of reference desk, Literacy Coach, Bookmobile, Books by Mail and requests from other branches or library systems
- Restrictions in children's programs, online databases and computer access
- No budget for books, magazines or newspapers

KEEP IT OPEN!

Call or write to your Butte County Supervisor.
- Ask that library funding not be cut further than the current 23% and to restore funds a.s.a.p.
- Ask them to support a ballot measure that could provide stable funding for our libraries
Attend the May 19th, 2009 County Supervisor's Meeting (according to website, the meetings begin at 9:00 a.m. and agendas are posted prior which can be found here: http://www.buttecounty.net/Clerk%20of%20the%20Board/Board%20Meeting%20Information.aspx)
- Location: County Government Center, 25 County Center Drive, Oroville
- Wear red, speak up
- Bring every library supporter you know with you
Purchase and install a license plate holder - KEEP IT OPEN!
Support your local Friends of the Library group

Your tax deductible donation can purchase books, furniture, equipment and support special programs

BUTTE CO LIBRARY

Butte County Supervisors:
Dist. 1: Bill Connelly
538-6834
bconnelly@buttecounty.net
5280 Lower Wyandotte Road
Oroville, CA 95966

Dist. 2: Jane Dolan
891-2830
jdolan@buttecounty.net
196 Memorial Way
Chico, CA 95926

Dist. 3: Maureen Kirk
891-2800
mkirk@buttecounty.net
196 Memorial Way
Chico, CA 95926

Dist. 4: Steve Lambert
538-2514
slambert@buttecounty.net
3159 Nelson Road
Oroville, CA 95965

Dist. 5: Kim Yamaguchi
872-6304
kyamaguchi@buttecounty.net
747 Elliot Road
Paradise, CA 95969

It's always helpful to cc those you are supporting. Also, CFoL is selling the Keep It Open/Butte Co Library license plate holders. Further information is available at their Web site.

Chico Friends of the Library
PO Box 6952
Chico, CA 95927
www.chicolibrary.org