A government agency takes action as a direct result of a Contact 13 investigation. Viewers reached out, angry with a Las Vegas auto body shop. And digging for answers, we were led to a second business.
"All you guys like is the juicy lie. That's it. You guys don't like to air the truth," George says.
He and Mark are employees with Desert Auto Body and Paint on Wynn Road, near Desert Inn Road. They weren't too happy to see us when we stopped by to ask about some recent customer complaints.
This all started last November. Mark and George were working at M&M Auto Body and R.V. Repair on Dean Martin Drive, near Tropicana Avenue.
"Right now. Get the (expletive) out," said Mark during last November's confrontation.
We were kicked out when we stopped by with our initial complaint. The very next day they apologized for their behavior and said the complaint that spurred our initial investigation was a lie. But it wasn't long before Contact 13 heard from other unhappy customers.
"I felt violated because I've given this guy $4,000, and it seems like he just walked away with it," says Linda Sisko.
She says M&M Auto Body got an insurance check back in February to fix her 2014 Nissan Altima. But she claims the car was in worse shape after the repair work was done.
"The portion of the trunk where it latches was totally out of alignment ... a new bumper was put on ... but you could pull out pieces of it where it wasn't secured," Sisko says.
Contact 13 started doing some digging and found M&M Auto Body isn't properly licensed with the DMV. So we paid them another visit.
We learned they had been evicted from the property. But it wasn't long before we got a complaint at the new body shop where they work, Desert Auto Body. We stopped by to get answers, but George and Mark told us they're not to blame.
We tried to track down the owner listed on the Secretary of State's business license. But couldn't find a home address, phone number, or so much as an email address. So we asked George and Mark, the only people we know connected to the business, about Sisko's car.
"I have no idea about that... at M&M Auto Body, when I was working there we worked on close to 1,000 cars. And out of 1,000 cars, how many complaints did you get," George says.
Now it's true we've only had a handful of complaints, but we uncovered another major problem regarding the DMV registration.
George pointed to state and county licenses on the wall. But just like M&M Auto Body, the DMV tells Contact 13, Desert Auto Body isn't properly licensed. That means they shouldn't even be open for business.
So here's the Contact 13 bottom line. After our visit, the DMV says it issued a $1,500 fine to Desert Auto Body for operating as an unlicensed body shop.
Remember the DMV licenses almost every business in the auto industry including repair shops, car rentals and dealerships. If you have a complaint with an auto-related business, you can call the DMV's Compliance Enforcement Division at (702) 486-8626.
