BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County man tried for a year to get his money back from a company he says ripped him off.
News 6 learned the company had a court order against it and still didn't pay.
When Pat Kiehl was rebuilding his 1995 Acura Legend, the first transmission he bought from an online company was defective, so the company sent another one.
The company required it to be installed by one of its authorized users.
The only authorized user in the Cocoa area was J&B Transmissions, according to Kiehl.
The first time we spoke to Bruce Hunt, the owner of J&B Transmissions, it was by phone. He promised to send Kiehl the hundreds of dollars he owed him.
But weeks later, he still hadn't. "I don't want this guy to continue getting away with doing what he's doing," Kiehl said.
Kiehl took his Acura Legend to J&B Transmissions in Cocoa in May of 2016, according to receipts.
He paid $650 for labor up front.
Months later, the transmission company reimbursed a portion of that, but instead of sending the money to Kiehl, they sent it to J&B Transmissions.
"He knew that he was supposed to return that difference to me because that's just the operating procedure that they go through," Kiehl said.
The $440 check was dated Aug. 12, 2016, and cashed three days later.
Kiehl says he called and tried for months to get the money, but never saw a dime.
"He kept making excuses," Kiehl said. "I said I'm going to have to resolve this in court, and he said fine take me to court."
Kiehl did take the company to court and won. Court records show a judge ruled "based on the evidence presented to the court," J&B Transmissions was to pay Kiehl $440 plus court costs for a total of $570.
However, the company still didn't pay, according to Kiehl.
"He still dismisses everything. It's like he doesn't pay attention or just doesn't care," he said.
News 6 approached Hunt on the company's property.
"Get out of my face," Hunt said. He then invited Investigator Louis Bolden into his office to talk without a camera and microphone.
Bolden declined, and minutes later Hunt called Bolden and said he wanted to make things right with Kiehl.
Kiehl came to the business and a short while later walked out with a smile and his check.
"I probably should have called you instead of going through the court system in the first place," Kiehl said. "I want to thank Louis Bolden and the Channel 6 investigative news team for coming through and helping me settle this after all this time."
Even if an insurance company or warranty company requires you to use a certain provider, do the research.
Kiehl says if he had, he likely wouldn't have used J&B Transmissions.