Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Repairing Trust: San Jose Auto Care Inc., 2250 Lincoln Ave., in Willow Glen, has agreed to pay more than $50,000 to settle a civil lawsuit with the District Attorney's Office without admitting liability.
WG auto shop settles repair fraud case
San Jose Auto Care pays more than $50,000, doesn't admit wrongdoing
By Kate Carter
A Willow Glen auto repair shop last week agreed to pay more than $50,000 to settle a civil lawsuit brought against it by the District Attorney's Office without admitting its liability.
The state Attorney General will also be taking action against San Jose Auto Care Inc., 2250 Lincoln Ave., a franchise of Precision Tune Auto Care, for defrauding auto owners who brought their vehicles in for repairs. The action could result in the shop losing its license, said Bob Machado, program manager of the state's Bureau of Automotive Repairs.
"We are out to protect the citizens of this state," Machado said. "If we allow him to continue to stay in business, what's to say he won't do this again?"
The terms of the July 9 settlement require the auto shop to pay a $50,000 fine to the District Attorney's Office. The company must also pay $2,339 to three customers who claimed they were defrauded and cease illegal activities of falsely telling customers their vehicles need repairs, overcharging customers for repairs, charging customers for repairs not done and not describing work done, among other activities.
The lawsuit charged that San Jose Auto Care had engaged in those illegal activities. Supervising Deputy District Attorney Al Bender said the charges were based on "several dozen" consumer complaints and an undercover investigation by the state bureau, completed in June of last year.
The bureau's San Jose field office sent three undercover vehicles to the company between August and October, 1999, for automotive work, Bender said. The auto company charged the undercover officials nearly $2,000 for unnecessary auto work and didn't report work that had been done, he said.
Bender said some customers reported company officials told them their cars were unsafe to drive if they didn't get repairs that then turned out to be unnecessary. The settlement did not require the business to admit wrongdoing, he said, although the injunction was against actions the company was believed to be conducting.
"It doesn't mean a bit of difference in terms of sanctions," Bender said. "It's a face-saving thing. They were doing a lot of things that were very bad. It was pretty serious, really."
Auto shop owner Bob Hedayati didn't return phone calls.
The suit was filed the same day the settlement was approved by Superior Court Judge William J. Elfving. Bender said the district attorney from the office's Consumer Protection Unit had already negotiated the settlement with Hedayati through his attorney, Frank Ubhaus. The early negotiations are common, he said, to avoid a court trial and verdict.
Bender said several other customers had already received settlements from the company. The three individual settlements in this case were chosen because they were among those who had filed complaints but hadn't yet received any money.
Machado said the attorney general's case against the shop could be heard or settled sometime later this year. A settlement would likely require the shop return its license and pay the costs of the investigation, he said. Whether or not the shop is able to apply for another license after a year would depend on the terms of a settlement or court decision, he said, as well as proven rehabilitation during the interim.
Machado said the state bureau filed 171 auto fraud cases with different counties between July 1, 2000, and May 2001, 167 of which were also filed with the attorney general.
The Consumer Protection Unit files about four auto repair fraud lawsuits yearly, Bender said, because the investigation of each is very time-consuming and in-depth. The undercover cars sent to the shop under investigation are inspected by the bureau's mechanics and every part is new or like new except those, which the shop is supposed to repair. Each part is "aged" to appear used and given a code for identification. After the shop visit, the car is then reinspected and parts compared to the identification, he said.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
