ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Brittany Zaldin took her car in for simple repairs more than two months ago. After that, she says her car got worse. It wasn’t until she took it to another shop and they looked under the hood, that she realized the disaster that she was dealing with. “That’s how it all started,” Zaldin explained, “with a traction light, and a check engine light.” A small beginning to what turned into a huge nightmare for Zaldin, who is an ICU nurse in Naples and needs her car. She is a lifelong Firestone Complete Auto Care customer, so when she saw her dashboard flash warning lights a couple of months ago, that’s where she took her car, to the location on Pine Ridge Road near Collier Boulevard in Collier County. Zaldin said, “At this point, I’m worried about how to get to work and how to make sure that I can get there on time.” The vice president of communications for the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, Trish Serratore, said Zaldin was smart to go with a shop she felt comfortable with and recommends drivers to do research before getting work done on their cars.” “Check with friends and neighbors,” Serratore added. Saying you should ask, “Who’s had good experiences? Who has cars that are similar to yours? Do your research before you need the shop and do a little research in your neighborhood.” Records show Firestone re-attached skid pads and replaced a spark plug, battery, and radiator, but Zaldin says the issues continued weeks after she took her car home. Zaldin said, “They checked the car again and they said, ‘oh yeah, I can feel that something is wrong.'” This is where she said the real issues began. Records show Zaldin took her car back to Firestone three more times until she realized the issue still wasn’t fixed, so she took her car to a different Firestone shop. “He was so embarrassed,” Zaldin recalled. “He used the word egregious. He said ‘I’m so ashamed.'” Her boyfriend Scott Burton walked us through the work: Scott: “It’s just being held together by zip ties.” Scott: “They showed us this metal bracket. During the initial service, they stripped a bolt off and broke it. Instead of telling us, they just cut a piece of scrap metal and bolted it to hold this coil in place.” Zaldin said the second Firestone location told her they couldn’t do any work and that she had to file a claim with Firestone corporate. She said the second shop claimed her car had been damaged by the initial repair job with scrap metal attached to the engine. Zaldin said they told her “At this point, because of all the damage that was done, you need a whole new motor.” We reached out to the second firestone location for more information about the car’s condition but they declined to comment. Serratore said it’s rare for shops to do damage during repairs but it can happen. “We are all human. Mistakes are made. Doctors make mistakes, and technicians make mistakes too … Cars are complicated, right?” Zaldin said her engine was leaking fluids and not functioning properly. Even worse, a new engine would cost more than $10,000 and she had to drive a rental car for weeks. “My car was fine before the engine light came on. If they hadn’t perpetuated the damage, then I wouldn’t have a problem.” Zaldin claims. “It’s been a horrible ordeal.” She filed a claim with Firestone corporate but couldn’t get anyone on the phone or find any progress to follow up through email. “I didn’t get a timeline, nobody was reaching out to me, nothing. And I thought that was really weird,” she said. That’s when WINK News stepped in. We visited the initial Firestone location but the manager wasn’t in and didn’t call after we left our information. However, just a few hours later we did get a call from their corporate team. Within a day, Firestone and Zaldin were in contact. By the end of the week, they’d reached a settlement. “Most facilities, because they want to keep your business, they don’t want a bad review … They’re gonna do what they can to make it right,” Serratore explained. “That’s what good shops do.” Zaldin isn’t allowed to discuss her settlement, but Firestone sent me a statement saying: “We aim to be the most trusted provider of tire and automotive care in every neighborhood we serve, and customer service is one of our top priorities. We are pleased to have partnered with the customer to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution.” As for the initial Firestone location, we never heard back from their manager. ASE recommends you look for their Blue Seal of excellence before you get work done. You can click here for a Blue Seal shop locator. The seal means that means your technician has been certified for quality care. According to ASE’s database, the initial Firestone location did not have this seal at the time they worked on Zaldin’s car.