If you’re gonna conduct business in a shady manner, all I can say is that you better be prepared for payback one day…
And this story is a perfect example of what I’m talking about!
Check out what happened to a shady mechanic who tried to hold a customer’s car hostage.
Auto Repair Shop Shut Down.
“There was a small mechanic shop a few blocks away from where I lived ran by a man who I will call P.
My mom had been going to this mechanic for as long as I can remember, I would say at least 15 years.
I was 17 when this went down and was looking at getting my first car.
I would have considered P to be a family friend at this point, so when he heard about me looking for a car he offered to gift me a car he had sitting on his lot for a while.
Around this time my mom was wanting to also fix up her 1989 hardbody Nissan pickup truck.
It was valuable due to its dependability but had been just sitting around for about a year.
I don’t remember the exact timeline, but it would be safe to say my mom brought in the truck and he offered to gift me the car around the same time.
What’s the hold up?
For a few months he always had an excuse for why the truck wasn’t ready yet or why he hasn’t gifted me the car yet.
When it came to the car, it was always something like “the car has just been sitting around for a long time and needs work done on it. I will get to it when I can”.
And when it came to my mom’s truck it was “I have been really busy around the shop, so I haven’t got to it yet” or “I’m waiting on parts to come in.”
Since we had trusted P, we didn’t think much about it since we knew his shop had a very good reputation in the area and was always busy.
Also, I mean he was giving me a car for free, so I wasn’t going to keep pushing him for something he doesn’t have to do.
I would estimate this started around November and it wasn’t until around February or so that we felt it started to get out of hand.
My mom started contacting him at least once a week to see when the truck would be ready but was given an excuse each time.
At this time, I knew I wasn’t going to get a car from him anymore, but I wanted my mom to get her truck back.
This was getting out of hand.
I researched who to make a complaint to if you are having an issue with an auto shop.
In California, there is a department called the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) who licenses and governs all auto repair facilities.
In the process of making a complaint, I had to look up the auto shop’s license.
This is when I landed on a gold mine; his license had expired the previous September.
So, I threw the report out the window for now and decided to confront him.
Now, I have never been confrontational.
When I must confront someone and get “heated” I start having an anxiety attack with a shaking high pitch voice and the whole nine yards.
So, imagine a 17-year-old with a high pitch shaky voice screaming at this guy to give my mom her car back.
He kind of brushed me off and I didn’t get anywhere, but as I was walking out I said to him something along the lines of “have fun with the BAR when they find out you don’t have a license” and walked out.
He asked for it!
The next thing I did was report him to the BAR for the whole situation including him still operating when he shouldn’t be.
Over the next week, my mom was communicating with the person assigned to the case and within a couple weeks we were marching back into P’s shop to pick up the truck.
After a very awkward situation where my mom paid for the services done and I was standing behind her still trying to act like I am in control, we left with the truck and were good to go.
I don’t really know the exact timeline of when everything happened after this, but I know I passed the shop a couple of months later and saw that it was closed.
When I am writing this now, his Yelp is obviously reported as closed and I have found a citation posted on the BAR’s website that corroborates the timeline from my memory.
When my mom and I look back on this, we are sure that he was trying to steal my moms truck.
Anybody who knows about old pickup trucks knows that a 1989 hardbody Nissan pickup truck is a great truck and can run forever.
She has owned the truck since 1991 and it is currently at 250K miles while running the same engine and major components.
She still gets offers for cash on the spot to this day.”
Check out what folks had to say on Reddit.
This person had a lot to say.
Another Reddit user chimed in.
Another individual shared their thoughts.
Another individual weighed in.
And this reader spoke up.
It’s best to be on the level when you’re doing business.
Especially if you want to stay in business.
If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.
