Taking Action: Truck maimed by car repair man
You pay money to have your car repaired, but instead, he makes your car worse? The call came to ABC 4 from an American Fork woman who says she was scammed. So, taking action for you, we investigate.
Have you ever been approached at a gas station or parking lot by someone claiming to be able to fix a cracked windshield or small dent in your car? Well, before you hand over your money, you need to watch out for a few things.
“They did a horrible job,” says Lisa Angel. The rear end of her truck looks awful. There’s paint chipping and cracks everywhere. And this is what it looks like *after* Lisa paid to have it repaired.
Lisa says the panel already had several dents when she was approached by a man who said, for $500, he could fix it.
"He pounded out the dents and then put some kind of product on it,” Lisa says.
But now, the truck looks worse than before and the man responsible has disappeared.
“It's been a frequent problem,” says Shad Ceci who runs Dent Patrol. Dent Patrol is a legitimate dent fixing business in American Fork.
Shad says he hears stories like Lisa's all the time. And he says these guys aren't just ruining people's cars. They are ruining his business.
Shad says, these guys will steal his promotional cards from displays he has around town. Then they will use them to dupe unsuspecting people into thinking they work for Dent Patrol.
"They hand them my card,” Shad says. “They do the job…then I get a phone call from a really angry customer."
Shad says he'd like to help those people but by the time the call gets to him, the damage is beyond what he can fix.
As for Lisa, she's filled out a police report...but she has little hope they will ever catch the guy who maimed her truck.
"I think it's sad that you can't trust anybody,” Lisa says.
So, how can you protect yourself? There are a couple of warning signs:
Be wary of anyone who only accepts cash. Legitimate businesses often take credit cards.
Also, you can ask a technician to see a copy of his business license. Legitimate technicians will be licensed and insured.
