Council Bares Fraud By Local Repairman

In line with their policy, expressed last fall, of ferreting out and exposing unfair business practices in the Square, the Consumers' Aid Bureau of the Student Council recently unearthed a case against auto repairman. George Snell, whom it has accused of general fraudulency and intent to deceive while working on the automobile of an unnamed Cambridge resident.

According to the Consumers' Aid report, Snell, who operates independently although under the roof of the Gulf Super-service Station on Boylston Street, failed adequately to repair, and even in some particulars further damaged, the car which Miss "Not-Mechanically-minded" brought to his shop when she heard a peculiar noise emitting from under the hood.

Bureau Asked to Check

A member of the Consumers' Aid Bureau who had been asked to check on the transaction when Snell first delayed delivery of the car--saying the valves had to be ground,--took the automobile to an expert Lincoln-Zephyr mechanic for examination when Snell had finally finished with it. Here it was revealed, the report stated, that the cylinder heads had been seriously scarred when Snell's men pried them off, and that the repair shop had unsuccessfully attempted to conceal the effects of this damage by placing excess gasket-maker between the heads and the engine block.

In addition many other signs of negligence and abuse were discovered: four of the items enumerated on Snell's original bill were either not attempted or not completed satisfactorily; and the bill for parts was in excess of quoted Lincoln-Zephyr prices effective at that time.

To put the car in good condition once again cost its owner $61.15 more than she first paid Snell for his repairs, and this amount the Consumers' Aid Bureau of the Student Council forthwith threatened to sue the "automotive engineer," as he calls himself. The dispute was referred to the Boston Motor Corps branch of the AAA, which returned a decision that the repairman was entirely in the wrong. After consulting his lawyer, Snell finally agreed to pay the balance to the car owner as soon as he was able.

The Consumers' Aid report emphasized that from the beginning Snell stalled and attempted to interfere with efforts of its representatives to effect an adjustment; when Snell discovered, upon his delivery of the car to the house of its owner, that a Consumers' Aid agent was present, there, prepared to challenge his itemized bill, he struggled violently to escape in the automobile.

Casual inspection at this time revealed that the choke and throttle rods had been improperly connected so that it was impossible to run the motor, and that the damaged engine heads were leaking exhaust gas and anti-freeze. Furthermore, an external part was found missing from the air-cleaner assembly, and was later discovered in Snell's shop.

Valves Not Ground

When the car was gone over for the second time, by a reliable mechanic and the Consumers' Aid representative, it was found that most of the valves were stuck and had never been removed or cleaned, and that the cylinders were full of a mixture of dirt, pieces of carbon, and anti-freeze. This took place after Snell had charged $42.80 for general repairs which included grinding the valves, replacing certain of the hydraulic lifters, and thoroughly cleaning out the engine.

In its final report the Consumers' Aid Bureau summed up this matter in a statement in which they accused Snell, among other things, of attempt to deceive by the use of excessive gasket-maker to disguise the damage done to the engine head, by leaving the motor running upon delivery of the car to conceal the fact that he had worn down the battery, by suggesting a "motor-flush" cure-all when the engine still rau poorly after all his repairs, and by "general lack of respect for the intelligence of the customer or her agent."

Meanwhile the Consumers' Aid Bureau of the Student Council is continuing its fight against unfair business practices wherever it discovers them, and at present has an important case in court which should be decided shortly