I was involved in an accident in June 2009 (no insurance companies etc involved).
Upon the day of the accident I was contacted by Dave Mangold of Auto Bodyworks, he was at the towing company where the vehicle had been towed. He indicated that towing companies charge exorbitant storage costs, and he was willing to move the vehicle to Auto Bodyworks, and store it for me FREE OF CHARGE, pending the outcome of legal proceedings with the person who hit into my car. This is the last I have heard from Dave himself until this week, although the last time I visited Auto Bodyworks in October, his staff member, Robert, also indicated there was NO STORAGE COSTS when I asked (I feared that this would happen). (I have a witness to this).
I have been given the go ahead by my lawyer to sell the vehicle – as it is scrap – so I got a good price from Plastic Rebuilders. Upon contacting Auto Bodyworks to get the vehicle released to Plastic Rebuilders, I was told that they were wanting to charge R 27 000 storage. After a brief discussion with Dave Mangold, he came back to me with a charge of R 20 000 – which is the amount offered to me by Plastic Rebuilders for the vehicle.
I got my lawyer to call and explain the situation to Dave Mangold, and he got agitated, and indicated he had phoned me two or three times to discuss storage of the vehicle – this is a blatant lie, and I am not impressed that a businessman in the PE area can lie so!
Dave Mangold then indicated he would “forget” about the storage costs and pay me R 6 000 for the vehicle.
I have never signed any documentation with Auto Bodyworks, nor have I received any invoices or statements for these “storage costs”.
The actions of Dave Mangold lead me to believe that this dishonest man, ideally would like me to just accept his “offer”, and walk away – hence he gets a vehicle worth R 20 000, and gets away scot-free with his dishonest behavior.
I am writing this letter in the public interest, as it is time unscrupulous businessmen like Dave Mangold learn that you cannot walk over everyone/the little people.
The matter will not rest here, I will be reporting Auto Bodyworks, and Dave Mangold to the National Consumer Forum, and I am also contemplating laying a charge of fraud/theft against the parties involved.
Surely if you have offered FREE STORAGE, and subsequently you do not make me believe otherwise, and added to this there has been no correspondence from Auto Bodyworks, then surely you cannot just load the innocent consumer with a fictional storage cost of R 20 000???