The air in Judge Marilyn Milian’s courtroom was thick with a specialized kind of frustration—the kind that only arises when a car owner feels swindled and a mechanic feels insulted.
At the center of the storm was Benigno Edaria, a man who was convinced that TLC Auto Repairs had taken his $420 and given him nothing but a headache in return.
The Midnight Repair
The saga began on a late November afternoon. Benigno dropped his vehicle off at TLC Auto to have the front wheel bearings replaced. The shop was only three blocks from his house, a convenience that would soon turn into a curse.
Hours passed. By 10:30 PM, the shop was still humming—a testament to the grueling schedule of the mechanic, Billy, and the owner, Vicky Marone. Benigno picked up his car, but the “fix” didn’t feel right. The front end was still shaking; the tires felt like they were ready to stage a walkout.
“I gave them the benefit of the doubt for a few months,” Benigno told the Judge. “I figured the parts needed to ‘wear in’.”
Judge Milian stared at him, incredulous. “Nobody does that. If your car is shaking, you go back!”
The Sears Revelation
Three months later, Benigno took his car to Sears for an inspection. The report was damning: Both front wheel bearings need to be replaced. Said work was done 2 months ago. Doesn’t look like it.
Armed with this “proof,” Benigno stormed back to TLC Auto. He didn’t ask for the manager; he demanded one. In a moment of cinematic flair, Vicky Marone—who had been quietly enduring his shouting—performed a literal 360-degree turn.
“May I help you?” she said, locking eyes with him. “I am the owner.”
The “Apology” Ultramatum
Vicky and Billy insisted they had done the work. To prove it, they put the car on the lift right then and there. Billy pulled the components apart to reveal the bearings.
“They were shiny silver,” Billy testified. “Not rusted, not weathered. Brand new.”
Vicky, “hot under the collar” from being called a liar in front of other customers, issued a daring ultimatum: She wouldn’t put the car back together until Benigno apologized.
“He refused at first,” Vicky recounted. “So I told Billy to leave the car apart and let him go on his way.”
Faced with the prospect of a car without wheels, Benigno finally offered a “sincere” apology. In exchange, Vicky went above and beyond her 45-day warranty and replaced the bearings a second time, for free, just to settle the matter.
The Handwriting on the Wall
However, Benigno wasn’t satisfied. He returned to court claiming the second repair also failed, presenting a new Sears receipt. But there was a glaring problem: the official printout mentioned a “suspension evaluation” and a “broken stud,” but said nothing about bearings.
Instead, there was a handwritten note at the bottom: Left front bearing bad.
“I’m going to use this as a doily for my beard,” Judge Milian quipped, dismissing the scribbled note as useless evidence. Benigno had no proof that the second set of bearings was faulty, especially since he had watched them perform the work.
The Verdict
The law rarely sides with “he said, she said” when the paper trail vanishes. Benigno had been given a second repair for free out of the shop’s good will, and his new evidence was literally written in by hand.
“I rule in favor of the defense,” Milian declared.
Outside the courtroom, Benigno grumbled about the “Halves vs. the Have-Nots,” still refusing to believe the work was done. Meanwhile, Vicky stood tall—a female shop owner who proved that in her garage, the only thing shinier than the parts was her reputation.
