The Leaegailesolo and Fata families have been left without their vehicles, and are out thousands of dollars, after a car painting job went wrong.
In 2020, both families took their utility vehicles to an auto painter named Nelson Prasad. He worked for Scientific Motors and Body Repairs Limited, then based in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland.
Little did these families know what they were in for.
The jobs that were only meant to take a couple of weeks, turned into an almost two-year struggle to get answers. In the end their Utes were never painted and left at the Scientific Motors garage, trashed.
Violet Fata says her husband Villa’s Ute was left with “rubbish everywhere”.
“The engine’s in pieces, and parts are missing”.
Sauiluma Leaegailesolo and her husband Vagatai say they’re “heartbroken” over the ordeal.
“That guy (Nelson) has no remorse whatsoever,” Sauiluma says.
Both families have been through the courts over the dispute and have won, but have yet to see the money that is owed, so they came to Fair Go.
Villa Fata found Prasad on Facebook Marketplace. Both he and Violet admit they should have done more research, but Prasad was offering a quick job at a reasonable price.
“It was the way he explained everything,” Villa says.
“He was talking more like an experienced person that does cars, and you just fall for it”.
They had also seen some of Prasad’s work online and had visited his garage.
The Fatas were first quoted $1500. This was to cover the re-painting of their car, and the fixing of a few dents. They paid the whole amount within a couple of days.
The Leaegailesolos found Prasad on Facebook too. They were first quoted $1500 for the paint job, but Vagatai wanted his ute lowered, and a new suspension system added, which Prasad said his garage could do. Their new quote was $3500.
They paid $2000 as a deposit, but then paid an extra $1000, when Prasad requested it for the parts he needed.
Vagatai’s ute was to be done by July 2020. It wasn’t.
“When I confronted him,” Vagatai says. “He goes look, I'm really busy”.
Prasad told him to come back to the garage on the 11th of September 2020, and the job would be finished.
But come September, and it still wasn’t done. It was the same story with the Fatas. Their job was pushed back several times. Nelson kept asking for more money and they kept giving it, trusting he knew what he was doing.
In the end they forked out almost $7000 more, on top of the $1500 they had already paid.
“I felt like we were being taken advantage of,” Violet says.
“I said look this doesn't feel right he just keeps on taking our money but nothing's being done”.
This is the kind of thing that Neil Pritchard is wary of in the automotive repairs industry. He’s the General Manager of the Collision Repair Association.
He says: “Don't go for the cheapest price, cheap is not always best”.
“Good collision repair work is more expensive than people think, even re-painting”.
He also advises that its important to get someone who’s been recommended, not just someone who has the gift of the gab.
“Always go for a Collision Repair Association member,” Neil says. CRA members always have a big red sign showing they’re a member.
“They have to have certain types of equipment, training levels, everything to keep up with collision repair in general”.
In October 2020 the situation escalated for the Fatas, when they got a call from the police telling them to move their Ute from Prasad’s garage.
“We had to ring around for a tow truck that would tow it because it was just left there,” says Violet.
In the same month the Leaegailesolos got a text from Prasad’s partner at the time, that Scientific Motors was closing and moving to Papatoetoe. They say Prasad asked for more time to do the job. Vagatai put his foot down and picked up his car.
But he wasn’t prepared to see his ute left on the hoist, missing parts and left trashed.
“I was crying on that day,” says Vagatai.
“That car was my dream and there was a lot of money and time spent on the car”.
“What breaks my heart even more, is that Mr. Nelson refuses to own up to it,” his wife Sauiluma says.
The Fatas decided to take the company Scientific Motors and Body Repairs Limited, to the Disputes Tribunal, while the Leaegailesolos took Nelson Prasad.
In the Fata’s case, the Tribunal ordered Scientific Motors to pay nearly $18,000 by March last year. Nothing, so far, has been paid.
Prasad never showed for the Leaegailesolo’s case, but the Tribunal found against him anyway and ordered him to pay $9000 by January 2021. They also haven’t been paid.
Fair Go's been working behind the scenes for months now, trying every way possible to get in touch with Nelson Prasad, Scientific Motors and its three directors.
Finally, Prasad got in touch.
He acknowledges that some of his business dealings didn’t go to plan and says, “we've owned up to it”.
He also points out that, “not all business has a 100 per cent track record of customer satisfaction” and urged Fair Go to get in touch with the owners of Scientific Motors.
Fair Go tracked down one of the directors of Scientific Motors, Mohini Devi, who is also Nelson's mother.
Fair Go also spoke to the other two directors, Nelson's sister-in-law, and Nelson's ex-partner, and they pointed Fair Go to Mohini Devi.
In a phone conversation, Mohini Devi told Fair Go that she is no longer a director of the company, because Scientific Motors has been closed for some time.
While on the phone, Mohini’s husband, identifying himself only as Mr Prasad, told Fair Go that the situation isn’t Mohini’s problem, and that we should get in touch with Nelson.
When asked if they’re willing to sit down with both families to discuss paying what is owed, Mohini said, “I have to talk to others and then let you know about it”.
The Fatas say Prasad did get in touch with them to apologise, but both families say there's been no sign of any payment.
The Leaegailesolos salvaged what they could and had to sell their broken ute for parts.
While these families hope for a potential meeting, they're desperate for their stories to be a warning.
Villa Fata says Prasad, “needs to be stopped before he rips more people off”.
“The court, the law is not really strong enough for people like them, ripping people off like that”.
Enjoy this story? Follow Fair Go on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
SHARE ME