I first took my 1992 Mercury Sable into “Mufflers and More”, located at 490 North Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, Michigan 48390 on September 18, 2009 to get an estimate on replacing the entire exhaust system. After quoting me what seemed to be a reasonable price and telling me that they had an experienced “pipe bender” on staff whose job it was to keep costs low by custom fitting exhausts, we decided to have them replace our exhaust system and dropped our car off in their parking lot on Sunday, September 20th after dropping the keys and a note in their drop box. They called me the next afternoon to let me know that the work had been completed, at which time they informed me that there was a fluid leak in the rear brake system, and asking if I also wanted that repaired. Since I had been under the car numerous times in the past week examining the exhaust system without noticing any fluid leaks and had just driven the car there with no brake problems, I told them that I would check it out when I picked the car up, assuming it was nothing major. Upon arrival at “Mufflers and More” later that day, I paid for the exhaust system and told them I would check out the new brake problem. When I looked under the car I noticed a severe leak coming from two different brake lines; at this point the fluid was pouring out of the tubes onto the asphalt. I noticed that the damaged lines were within an inch of part of the new exhaust system, and concluded that the two lines had been damaged either through the removal of the old parts or the installation of the new ones.


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When I talked to the service representative, I told him that since there had been nothing wrong with the brake lines when I brought the car in, they were obviously damaged during the installation of the new exhaust system. He already knew all about the brake situation and told me that, although the lines were not broken when the car arrived, when their mechanic was bringing the car inside for the work I authorized, the two brake lines just happened to burst when he stepped on the brake pedal. He also told me they noticed the lines had rust on them, which, given the age of the car, was not surprising. Upon speaking to the mechanic, he claimed he never touched the brake lines and would assume no responsibility for the new damage. I conceded that although I knew there was undoubtedly rust on the lines; since the breakage of the two lines were in identical bends of the lines and within close proximity to the work they had just completed, it was highly unlikely that both lines just happened to have burst at the same time. He was adamant that they would not assume the cost to repair the damage; however, they would complete the repairs for an additional $400. At this point I asked to speak to the owner, Kenny Walters. He also maintained that the damage to the brake lines was not their fault but just my bad luck. Since the car was now undriveable, I left in another vehicle to reevaluate the situation.

Before returning the next day I spoke with a relative who was has been a brake engineer on Ford passenger cars for over 40 years. He told me brake lines are made of rolled steel, and even rusted, would not just burst, especially two lines at once, except in exceptional circumstances like a direct hit such as that sustained in an accident. He also told me there was the strong likelihood that the damage was either accidental and occurred during the work they did, or it was intentional in order to generate more work and money for the repair facility.

Upon my return the next day I once again talked to the owner, Kenny Walters, to see if he would assume any costs for the repair, and although he said he would “work” with me on the price, the damage was completely my responsibility. Since he would not even consider the possibility that the mechanic had some culpability in this damage, I decided this was, at the very least, an unethical business practice, and possibly even a criminal one, and no matter what kind of deal he proposed, I refused to do further business

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with him for damage his employee had undoubtedly created and for which he claimed no responsibility.

On our own, we felt frustrated and powerless to find justice and fairness in our dispute with this business establishment and wanted to bring this situation to the attention of someone who has the insight, integrity, and authority to monitor unethical business practices and to keep other consumers from being victimized. Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Sincerely,


Michael J. Michalski
1874 Poppleton Drive
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48324
(248) 681-9771