Lemon Squad Used Car Inspectors |
| United States, Minnesota |
|
|
Consumer reviews about Lemon Squad Used Car Inspectors |
|
Warren S
|
Feb 7, 2012
|
Bad Business Ethics
I spoke with the owner of Lemon Squad, and this turned out to be a misunderstanding, due to poor communication by the owner of the truck that they had inspected for me. She coincidently sold the car to someone else the day after the inspection. I tried to contact her by phone, text, and email, several times with no response. Since the truck was being sold for $thousands below book value, and the truck was listed for sale for weeks before this, I natrually suspected something. But, after speaking to Mr Dabbs I am confident that his company was not involved.
|
|
Steven Paul
|
Mar 4, 2012
|
Bad Business Ethics
This is the sort of thing that can happen when a national auto inspection company uses contractors in outlying areas. If you are ever looking for a vehicle and want direct 1-on01 communication with the inspector & owner of the company at the same time... Stop by http://www.testdrivetech.net as Steve the owner performs all pre-purchase inspections himself in St Louis, Southern Illinois & Springfield. If Steve can't get to it.. We don't do it.
|
|
Stonybroke
|
Mar 10, 2012
|
Bad Business Ethics
I am Rodger from New Zealand.
Steven Paul, I think you hit the nail on the head.
If the man you pay the money doesn't do the inspection, personally, you could be like me, thousands of $ out of pocket.
I used Andy Dabbs Lemon Squad, he employed one of his inspectors to look at a Classic truck in N.C. for me. Special request, no bondo, no rust.
The report recorded no defects, just a query about a rough surface on chassis, which he later clarified, was not a problem, which was correct.
Described as "Show condition, one of the best they had seen" and plenty of photo's that all looked fine.
But when I got the truck it had plenty of bondo and rust, all clearly visible, so not a cover up job by seller. Just a really sub-standard inspection. No photo's taken of 3 worst effected area's and underneath photo's taken just inches away from evidence that would have prevented my purchasing truck .
In the Lemon Squad Inspection photo's they have a photo showing the paint gauge with a good reading just below the door glass. If the inspector had looked 2 feet above this photo, he would have seen exposed bondo, large cracks in it, visible from 10 feet away. Below paint gauge photo, same, bondo ripples in paint, on sill top, new rocker panel welded at rear end, fitted with front end held on by bondo only and drops away an inch out of alignment. Also visible from 10 feet away at least. Bondo and rust in outer edge of floor. Cab support frames from cab mounts, all four, are new, belong to a different model Chev, I believe, bolted to rocker panel end, held with one self tapping screw at cab mount end and because they belong to a different model, they are 4 to 6 inches short and are not welded to mount support. This is because the old frame/crossmembers are rusted out, almost completely, nothing to weld them too. The new ones fit over the top, but again, stick your head under the truck and easy to see, where the old met the new and one shiny self taping screw.
Photo's of coil springs taken by inspector look fine, but they are not, all damaged and different shape and heights, no matching pairs here. Easy to see, I took photo's from a different angle and emailed to Andy, very different from to inspection photo's.
When I emailed Andy with my concerns when the truck arrived, he offered my inspection fee refund.
But I said no, this is serious and it is going to cost me plenty to fix.
He sent a nice little message to the inspector, telling him I had a problem, and to be careful with future inspections.
So I bought a digital camera and sent him photo's of the seriousness of the misssing information in their report. He said he fired the inspector at that time.
I have for months now been trying to get fair compensation from him. He said he was a victim too, and I should take some responsibilty, and if I want to, seek compensation from the inspector not. him. I bave no contract with his inspector, just with him. And he did say, if I pursued his inspector there was no way he should pay anything. Can't win, even though he has sent me an email saying he is sorry for letting me down. Understatement, for sure.
He did send me $1500, { far short of the $8.500 cost expected for bondo and rust removal, buy and fit, springs}, but added he didn't have too, as the disclaimer clause in the purchase an inspection form with Lemon Squad, according to him, means they are not liable for any compensation, other than refunding the fee I paid, regardless of how inaccurate their report is.
I have taken the time to write this in the hope that all you offshore buyers will read it and realise, if Andy Dabbs is correct in his interpretation of his Disclaimer, { I assume he is, it is his company}, they except no responsibility for any ommissions or errors in their report if they get it wrong. In our country, we have fair trading and consumer law that would see me compensated for services or products not provided as advertised.
Now here is a list of the things I have taken responsibility for, {NZ disclaimer law}, I had :no problem with the costs of: Replace Alternator, remove and repair radiator, repair leak in transmission cooler, replace stall converter, replace rear brake drums, all wheel cylinders, master cylinder, brake shoes and some of the piping., rear driveshaft cross, front wheel bearings. About $3000 worth .. A thorough inspection would have noticed, no efffective handbrake of rear brakes, front bearings, I am sure., but I have that in my happy to pay $3000
The inspector even said it was fitted with seat belts, but it wasn't.
The report and the photo's taken was very much in favour of the seller, but I ordered and paid for it... I have an opinion, I am sure anyone reading this does too.
From the firewall forward, with the exception of the radiator, close to show condition, also the tray, but the rest, nothing like it..
I hope this message is not deleted, , as it is meant to better inform overseas buyers in particular of the risk of using a pre-purchase inspection company that has a disclaimer clause that can result in the same result that Andy Dabbs Lemon Squad left me with.
Given up the idea of seeking compensation, but if I can save one other person from making the same mistake, that would be great..
|
|
Stonybroke
|
Mar 10, 2012
|
Used car pre purchase inspection
I am Rodger from NZ.
Yes Andy, you may use mechanics, but as we both know, the one you used to do an inspection for me in NC. failed to follow your advertised proccedure, incorrectly ticked boxes, photographed the good and completely left out the bad defects. All easy to see, even 10 feet away. A report that said truck truck was "show condition, one of the best", when it actual fact half of it was good and half was so bad. Left me thousands out of pocket, due to Andy informing me their disclaimer clause excluded them from any liability, even though he admitted they let me down. They sure did.. He even stated he was as much a victim as I was. You got to be kidding. So pre-purchase inspection seekers, BEWARE the DISCLAIMER clause.
I have no idea how disclaimer clause works in US, but I take Andy's word for it, that it means he has no liability regardless of how inaccurate the report was. Overseas buyers, you may not have the safe guards in MN. that we have at home.
Andy, to his credit, after much prompting, did wire me $1500, {a very small portion of what I will finally have to pay to make good}, saying he did not have to, just his generosity and goodwill, and I should take responsibility for this. Are you kidding me???
I thought using Lemon Squad was my insurance against buying a Lemon, , but how wrong I was.
|
|
markm123
|
Oct 29, 2019
|
Total Scumbag Scammers
Do no use these scumbag scammers called Lemon Squad. They cancelled my inspection due to a technician having personal issues. Then they refuse to refund the amount. Only give a credit. They also make no guarantees as to when the inspection will take place. So they can take a month to inspect your car if they want to. Its all buried in their terms and conditions. I even tried to dispute the charge with my credit card company and no luck since Lemon Squad buries this in their terms and conditions. A totally dishonest company. These cowards don't even have a real address. They use a PO Box. Avoid these scammers at all cost!
|
|
Previous 1 Next |
|
|
