Part 2

May 5, 2014

            Here’s the latest on my epic legal battle with Matt Rowswell, the owner of two Mr. Lube franchises here in London.

            To recap: I took my VW Tiguan in for an oil change in January. The technician (loosely defined) stripped the threads on my oil pan whilst replacing the oil pan plug. As you might suspect, that’s not ideal and led to a gushing oil spill a few weeks later, the evidence of which is still on my garage floor. (For more details, read my previous post.)

            I filed my claim today at the London court house. It took about 45 minutes and cost $75. A very pleasant experience. The guy ahead of me in line was filing the last paperwork for his divorce and seemed jubilant.

            I took my officially stamped document over to Mr. Lube at 1149 Highbury Ave., the headquarters of the Rowswell empire, officially known as Cardoc Enterprise. There was no sign of Matt and no sign of his second-in-command Mike Morrow. I was sort of hoping to see Mike to make sure he was OK. Three weeks ago, he promised to call me back after discussing my situation with his boss, and since he hadn’t called I started to worry he might have suffered some kind of terrible accident or been stricken with a flesh-eating disease.

My VW Tiguan

Mrs. Rowswell's VW Tiguan

            In their absence, I gave the paperwork to store manager Jerry De Lyzer. He was very agreeable and took the envelope from me after making a quick phone call. I now have to file an affidavit with the court letting them know Jerry was the one who took the paperwork. It’s worth noting he didn’t seem the least bit surprised to be served with legal papers, leading me to wonder if that was part of his job description at Cardoc Enterprise.

            While he was outside having his clandestine phone call, a friendly employee not working on a car came over to chat me up. She saw my Tiguan outside and told me Matt Rowswell’s wife drives the same car. And then she told me they are “tricky to work on,” because they require special tools and such.

            Presumably, Matt is aware of that, given that he owns two Mr. Lube franchises and is co-owner of a Tiguan himself.

            Now, Matt has 20 days to file a defence. If he doesn’t, I file another claim and he’s found guilty. If he files a defence we meet in a settlement conference, followed by an actual trial if we can’t reach a settlement.

            I kind of hope we have a settlement conference. That might be the only time I get to meet matt face-to-face. I want to ask him where his wife gets her oil changed.