are changing again!! Consider yourself aware.
They now call themselves DOWNTOWN DETAILING. I think they meant DOWNTOWN DERAILING ...
At all costs, avoid the auto repair facility on the corner of 8th and Munson.
Thanks to one of our mutual victim friends for pointing this out to us.
This domain name would be for sale, but we know as well as you do that nobody in his right mind would want anything to do with the decaying sludge that owns the associated business.
Whether they've called themselves Fast Freddies, TC Towing, 8th Street Automotive, or Downtown Detailing, they still haven't learned that you can't make your problems go away by changing your business name over and over. Like my dad always said, "You can't polish a turd."
We've posted some good, honest-to-goodness stories about the collective filth that calls itself Fast Freddies Discount Auto Plaza. Hey, considering I got shafted for thousands of dollars' worth of work (including web design right here that I had to take down), I figured if I had to pay for a year's hosting and registration, we might as well notify the public, right? That is, of course, the remainder of the local public that isn't aware of these guys yet.
Been screwed by these guys? You are most certainly not alone. We'd like to hear about it! See our stories page with actual, honest-to-God testimonials of individual dealings with Fast Freddies. If you'd like to have your experience included on the site, end an email to fatfreddiesvictims@gmail.com. All we ask is that whatever portion of your own particular account that you wish to share is 100% truthful. With what we've heard from all over town already, I don't think any embellishment should be necessary to appropriately convey what needs to be said.
Update: May 22, 2010
New stories! Check 'em out.
Update: October 28, 2009
So now it's time to share some of the actual stories. Each of these stories are unabridged (unless gathered from a phone call, where I've had to improvise) and sent to me via the e-mail address above. Several of these fellow victims spoke with me on the phone, and, needless to say, there's a candid collective interest in putting these SoBs out on the street where they belong. Well, we don't really want them there, either, or our kids' environment becomes less safe; let's work together (says the common consensus) to get this disease out of our town and make sure the rest of the country is aware of them so they'll end up being forced to establish their own village in the northernmost reaches of the Klondike.
"One of our toolmen told me to check out the site. I have a story to share about our mutual friend. Fred came in one day and identified himself and said that he'd tow anything locally for $25. I figured that a tow is a tow, so I gave him a chance. Of course, soon the price started going up, but he was still lower than the norm ..." read full story
"This correspondence is to express my deep concern in regards to Fast Freddies. My name is Sarah*. I am a single mother of two young boys. I am a victim of Fast Freddie’s. I am absolutely disgusted and furthermore dismayed in regards to the work ethic or lack thereof. I have a (vehicle) that I bought here to Traverse City ..." read full story
"Fred was arrested about 3 weeks ago for writing bad checks. He was also kicked off the peninsula fire dept, after he was filling his vehicles up off of their fuel tanks and got caught. That was about 2 years ago. Bob* is the head guy on the peninsula fire dept, I'm sure he would fill you in on the rest. He has also been taken off of the central dispatch ..." read full story
"Almost a month ago the ball joint went out on my car. The guy who stopped to help told me he knew of a towing service his body shop works with. Lo and behold - it was Fast Freddies. My car towed to the garage - and $500 was my cost for repairs + towing. Recently, my car has been having problems - I drove it to a car garage and the guy ..." read full story
Update: September 19, 2009
A number of people (honestly even more than I assumed) have come forward and shared stories with us concerning our mutual friends - some by e-mail, others by phone. It's astonishing what these people have been getting away with for the last couple of years in Traverse City. The stories will be posted very soon - if you've got one to share, be sure to do so! It shouldn't take too much effort to notify the public.
Some interesting information came our way in the last week. Fred Beger not only was fired from the Peninsula Township Fire Department a few years ago after being caught for gassing up his own personal vehicles using the department's (read: your tax dollars') fuel, but in late August the man (for lack of a better word) was arrested by the municipal police for writing too many bad checks. What bank would give this guy a checking account in the first place? It's biting them now, for sure.
Again, keep those stories coming. It's not on account of a personal vendetta that we need to share this information; we need the public to know who they're dealing with ahead of time so as to promote the avoidance of it happening to anyone else. Be sure to share it with your friends!
For the common good,
Webmaster guy who got shafted for his development and hosting fees
* Names are fictitious for reasons obvious even to Fred and his scaly minions.