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When you take your car in for repairs, you expect it to come back in better shape — not worse. But for Olivia Hayes of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a simple fix turned into a months-long nightmare. In 2024, Hayes brought her 2010 Volkswagen EOS to a mechanic, hoping to finally repair the convertible top she’d been saving up to fix. Instead of a quick turnaround, her car sat undrivable in a garage for months as delay after delay piled up.
Four weeks passed with the car taken apart and little progress. Each time Johnson followed up, the mechanic had a new excuse. Then, he blocked her altogether. Johnson had paid $600 upfront for the repair, but after all the delays and dead ends, the mechanic only agreed to refund $400…