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Customers Say Franklin Park Auto Body Shop Has Held Their Cars Hostage For Over A Year

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Several people say they've paid thousands of dollars to get their cars fixed, and that was months ago -- in one case, more than two years ago. The owner said this is all a misunderstanding but one that keeps happening over and over and over?

Stefan Kovachuv has been waiting two years and four months; Carilu Santiago has been waiting a year and a half; and Jose Landaverde has been waiting 12 months.

They all say that Mark Carbone, owner of Mac Auto Experts, took their money and promised to fix their cars.

After months of excuses, they want their cars repaired or their money back.

Santiago even had her car towed back with the help of Franklin Park police Friday morning.

"It's devastating. It really has taken such an emotional toll on me that I have no words," Santiago said.

"They keep it for two years. What good is it having a car if you can't even use it?" Kovachuv said.

Carbone says Santiago owes him money and that Kovachuv and Landaverde didn't pay him. They paid the previous shop owner before Carbone took over the business in the middle of 2017.

But both Kovachuv and Landaverde made their checks out to Mark Carbone personally.

Carbone declined to be interviewed but walked in front of CBS 2's camera while Landaverde was being interviewed.

Carbone later admitted that he took over the business in late 2016. He said each of these cases involves a misunderstanding and he will fix the cars once he's paid.

If Carbone looks familiar, it's because he was the subject of another complaint that CBS 2 Investigator Dorothy Tucker followed up on in February.

That's when we told you about how the Better Business Bureau gives Mac Auto an "F" rating. The attorney general's office has received four complaints in the last two years.

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