The practicality of all this is that he lost a good customer, I have 3 M'Benzs. I will explain to my friend who referred him why Nico is scum and how he screwed me. I will badmouth him to everyone I know with a M'Benz. I have already filed a complaint with the Better Busines Bureau. (He was constantly hanging up on me when I wanted to talk it out.) I even told him that if he paid the $350, I would let him rebuild the front end for $500. He still wouldn't pay!. All for a measley $150, he's business stupid. And yes, the BBB has a bad rating on him for a previous unsettled complaint, "Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to an unanswered complaint."

Now or all you guys who want me to sue him: First you have to file in person, plus your $35 fee. You have to take a day off work to go to Small Claims Court. Even if you win your judgement, the SCC does now enforce him to pay, You still have to pursue him with more fees and filings to garnish his pay or attach assets, or pay a sheriff to pay him a visit. You also ca NOT sue for penalty, pain or suffering. All of which is IMPRACTICAL unless I was unemployed! So he knows this and he screwed me!

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

In the ol' days, you would just bring your 3 biggest friends and bust up his place until he forked over the money, and I can see how one could empathized with people who use violence against these scumballs because there is no other PRACTICAL avenue to get back what is rightfully yours. But hey, I will live with this and I will forget about it and I will not use him again or will anyone I know use him if I have any input. And yes I will make his life miserably by telling the truth on boards such at this. So I am out $150 and 2 weeks of anguish and that's that...but i will guarantee he loses more business than $150 over the years.

Ok, this probably isn't the best time for this plug, but next time go to Tony's Imported Auto Service.... www.tonysimportedauto.com

__________________
#dieselFLEET
---------------
'97 E300
'99 E300

Again, bad form. I have to tell the truth, this all sounds childish to me. Asking everyone to call him and threaten his work, blocking him in with your car, "your word is no good, you f**ked me...", and talking about "3 biggest friends and bust up his place."

By taking the $150 you let him win and get away with what he wants. 300SDLLLL had the right idea. It would likely take the same amount of time to picket his work than to scream and yell at him.

If it was me, I would have paid the $350 to the body shop and nagged him every chance I could get. Phone calls, Visit him during busy hours while there are lots of paying customers there. Stay calm and don't let him push you around. But then again, I'm not in your position.

And yeah, when I picked up the car the first time, Nico said it had trouble starting that morning at his shop. He thought that I needed a new starter. When I got home, I tested and replaced one glow plug for $11! Please STAY AWAY from this scum.

edge, was that the sunoco up on high ridge by the parkway ?
if so yeh that guy has a bad rep. if you need someone who is honest , a first class mechanic, and will accept customer supplied parts just say the word - i have a friend in new canaan that can help you in the future.

__________________
1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I don't know how many of you have used small claims court, but I have. There is not enough room here to tell you all the details, but it took three years, seven trips to small claims court, and a tremendous amount of tenacity to finally get $640.00. I won the case the first day in court. The other five trips were to try to enforce payment. On the last trip the defendant finally said in court what he had said to me on several oaccasions; "I am not paying you!". The judge then told him that , in fact, he was going to pay the judgement and he was going to do it immediately. The judge attached his bank account until I received payment. I can't tell you the amount of work that went into receiving that money. It is necessary to get bank account info, property info, and employment info among several other things to present to the judge. I could have earned five times that amount in the time it took, but a principle was involved. I was not going to be cheated. I would do it again, but hope to never have to.

__________________
Mike

2000 SL500 22,000 miles
1981 300CD 188,000 miles
1979 450 SEL 266,000 miles
2005 Cadillac CTS 25,000 miles

<>
Yes, Bob, that's exactly the Sunoco I would like people to know about. Please tell me about your New Canaan guy. I use a Port Chester, NY guy who is straight with me but didn't do that type of work.

That's right, 82-300td. Childish?...have you been screwed lately? I removed that piece about calling him (so don't use that in your argument), if I didn't embarass him in front of a lady customer, he would not have relented in giving me squat. I INADVERTANTLY blocked the lady, it was an available spot. If I had to do over, I would have remained until he paid me the whole amount. And I did NOT bust up his joint , I was VENTING, again is that alright with you? I'll leave it to you to deal cordially with a**holes, harass him for 3 years to retrieve $150.

Thank you, Mike123, to reveal the harsh realities of the Small Claims Court system. Yes, getting a verdict is only halfway there, at best. I admire your perserverence, tenacity and restraint. I knew I couldn't go that stretch going in to this bulls*it. Nico's knew it also. That why he screwed me. i won't be the first or last one but I hope to save some people the agravation.

" harsh realities of the Small Claims Court "
The things said about this system are true...
BUT.....
They pale to insignificance compared to what your situation would be had this idiot physically attacked you there in his shop...
I got my Permanent Peace Officer license in 1980... and have worked in prisons and in jobs where people are often just angry in general... and since I have never been touched by one of these people consider myself good at verbally diverting angry people.. but you can not count on verbal skills with some people... some have naturally faulty chemistry, some have never learned to control their anger, some strike first out of fear....so even though the court system has all the items mentioned... had he attacked and hurt you those features would look downright inviting and comforting...
That is why I gave the suggestions I did above.... starting the paper trail and using the facilities afforded by your tax dollars and doing it without direct confrontation.... it may have partially worked for you this time.. but I suggest others think twice and use the system....

Your option to sue in small claims court is now non-existent; You settled for $150. Whether or not you should go to court is no longer relevant. Unless you make more than $350 in one day, missing one day of work would have been worth it. I had to take a former landlord to small claims court. It was $50 to file and took about 3 months to get on the docket. I won, but the Judge awarded me less money than I wanted. In my opinion, the laws of the State of SC provided more, so I filed a motion for an amendment to the damages, and if that motion were to be denied, a new trial with a different Judge. I went back to court, and the award was amended to nearly 3 times what it was originally. I left the courtroom with my check which I promptly cashed. The system works, but it requires patience.

Anyway, you learned a cheap lesson. Next time call the BBB before you do business.

__________________
1982 Mercedes-Benz 300CD
1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D - stick

Will do, I'm sure the friend who refered Nico to me is embarassed, he hasn't returned my call. I moved on, Nico is like Fredo. As Al Pacino said in the Godfather #2, "Fredo is dead to me."

Edge: You have received some good advice from several of the posters to this thread. There is a very good chance you would have gotten only half of the cost of repair to you car in court anyway. You had no witness to the damage, no pictures, etc. The judge may have awarded half the cost of repair and you would have invested far more in time and energy. I had an excellent case and the defendant admitted he was wrong the first time in court. He simply refused to pay and told me point blank that he would never pay me. I was fortunate that the eventual outcome was different. I see the individual a few times a year on the street. He will cross the street if he sees me. He will no longer speak to me. I would speak to him, but the fact that he was forced to pay me what I was due seems to stick in his craw. I would suspect that Nico is upset that he had to pay anything on your damage. Take solace in that fact and try to let go of the hurt. Difficult perhaps, but justice is hard to find.

__________________
Mike

2000 SL500 22,000 miles
1981 300CD 188,000 miles
1979 450 SEL 266,000 miles
2005 Cadillac CTS 25,000 miles

Thanks, Mike123, I understand and appreciate your comments...."Nico is dead to me now..."

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

When dropping off a car for repairs at the
dealer,indie or even a friend,TAKE PICTURES
while the person in charge is standing with you,
so he sees that you took pictures.
Make sure you capture the name of the business
in one of the pictures.
Always have a camera with a date stamp or a digi
camera,which I think also has a time stamp(not
sure because I don't have one).

When picking up your car,check it before you
accept the keys.
If you see damage,take pictures,again make
sure that you have the business name in one
of the pictures.
If the owner agrees to fix the damage(if you
have a honest person that should be no problem)
get it in writing and have them bring the car to
where ever they are going to have it fixed.
DO NOT LEAVE the property with the car,once you
leave you'll have a hard time proving their at fault,
even with pictures.


Also the moment you take pictures you're
putting the person on notice that if he
screws you,you mean business and you have
pictures to back up a claim in court if needed.

If the person protest the fact that you're taking
pictures,LEAVE and find someone else.

Louis