Customer shocked by car repair bill, kindness of stranger

A stranger helped ease the pain of another customer overcome by the cost of a repair at a car dealership.

Television stations WOOD, WZZM and WXMI report Centhia Fleming was shocked by a more than $800 car repair Thursday at Fox Saab in Grand Rapids.

Fleming is a social worker and single mother of two from Battle Creek, WXMI reported.

“They told me it would come up to about $800 for everything to be completed. Now I have no way of having that type of money. I mean, the holidays are over. My hours at work have just been cut down. I’m just like ‘Lord I have no way to pay for this,’ ” Fleming said.

Amy Kornoelje, of Grand Rapids, overheard Fleming’s plight.

“I felt something saying, ‘You need to help this person. You need to help this person. You’ve been here before,’ ” Kornoelje said.

She quietly approached Dewey Anderson, the service consultant.

“I said, ‘I don’t know her story, I don’t know what it is, but we’re all here on this Earth, and I feel like I need to help her out,’ ” she said.

The dealership cut the bill almost in half and Kornoelje took care of the rest – $430.

Fleming says she cried and agreed to heed Kornoelje’s request to “pay it forward” and help someone else when she can.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 8:11 AM with the headline "Customer shocked by car repair bill, kindness of stranger."