Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Carson City Sheriff's Department deputies talk with unhappy customers after being called to H&S Motorcycles on Tuesday. Deputies have been called several times about the shop not returning property to customers.
H&S Motorcycles had a $1,400 payment for his all-terrain vehicle more than a month, so when Adam Williams picked up the vehicle, he never wanted to see the store again.
"We had some not-so-nice conversations up until that point," said Williams, a 30-year-old insurance agent. "If you know what I mean."
According to Williams, the business at 5480 Highway 50 East had promised to have the vehicle ready weeks before he finished paying owner Steven Jones the full amount.
The owner would say the vehicle was ready, then say it wasn't, and then ask for more money, Williams said.
"It was multiple times of going back and saying, 'Is it ready yet?' 'Is it ready yet?' 'Is it ready yet?'"
So Williams brought a sheriff's deputy with him when he picked up the vehicle April 28. He was happy to be done with the store.
His vehicle was still broken, though.
"I'll put it to you this way," Williams said, "I'm one step short of standing out front of their store with a picket sign telling people not to go in."
But Williams' complaint isn't the first against the sales and repair shop. The Carson City Sheriff's Department has received at least eight complaints since Williams called.
The Northern Nevada Better Business Bureau has received 10 complaints about H&S and lists it as having an "unsatisfactory record." Though the bureau doesn't list details about complaints, it said they had to do with repair, delivery, contract, customer service, guarantee/warranty and refund/exchange issues.
The business opened in March 2005.
Kevin McCoy, Carson City code enforcement officer, said he got eight or nine calls last week about H&S, which is "quite a few" for one week.
He said the average business might get one or two complaints a year, but for him to do anything about customers' concerns, they would have to write formal complaints.
Hershel Jones, father of Steven Jones, acknowledged the store has had problems. He said it's because he is the one who does most of the repairs and has been sick the last five months.
"It's not that we're trying to take advantage of anybody or (create) any hard feelings," he said.
The elder Jones will probably be able to return work soon, though, he said, and hopes to catch up.
On Monday, another H&S customer, Carla Kennedy, called the sheriff's office for a second time in the last few months, accusing the business of not letting her pick up her dune buggy. She said she brought in the vehicle for a link repair Feb. 12 after buying it from the store for $2,100 in December.
She said she went to the store more than 50 times before she got the buggy back.
In July, Robert Martin called the sheriff's office to have a deputy come with him to the store. He said he paid $80 for repairs on his all-terrain vehicle and then waited three weeks for repairs. Like Kennedy, he said Jones kept promising to have his vehicle repaired then would push back the date.
"He's says you just can't pick it up and I said, 'Yeah I can. It's my property, Stephen. The repairs are paid for.'"
But Martin said the vehicle wasn't fixed when he got it, so he brought it to Emrock ATV in Reno for repairs.
Greg Emerson, general manager of Emrock, said he wasn't surprised. He said he's dealt with several "very dissatisfied and very unhappy" H&S customers before.
"I'm not in the business of bashing anybody, I just feel they do not understand how to run or operate a business properly," he said. "Perhaps their ways - their ethical conduct - may not be in line with what people expect."
Emerson said H&S used to be one of his dealers but he ended its agreement with H&S.
"They're great storytellers," he said, "I must say."
• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.