Aug. 4, 2016—Twenty-two Firestone Complete Auto Care locations throughout California were placed on two-year probation after the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Automotive Repair uncovered fraudulent billing, according to a Press Enterprise report.
Undercover Consumer Affairs investigators were billed for parts that were not replaced and services that were not rendered, according to a 64-page complaint against Bridgestone Americas.
The auto care centers must report to the Bureau of Automotive Repair each quarter “on the methods used and success achieved in maintaining compliance with the terms and conditions of probation,” according to the report.
All 22 locations will be subject to random inspection and must allow the Bureau of Automotive Repair investigators unrestricted access to the facilities. The terms also call for the company to reimburse the Bureau of Automotive Repair $83,000 for the cost of the investigation, according to Tadayon.
In response, the Automotive Defense Specialists, a California Law firm of attorneys defending against Bureau of Automotive Repair citations, accusations, and letters, announced on July 22 that it has updated its page on Bureau of Automotive Repair citations to be used by the general public.
“Many technicians and station owners struggle even to understand the obtuse language used by the Bureau of Automotive Repair in its correspondence,” said William Ferreira of Automotive Defense Specialists. “Our updated page is a gateway to a very basic discussion of these latest citations, and contains a new link to our blog category so that interested persons can read the latest posts to our blog on citations.”
