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 11:11 AM with the headline "Customer shocked by car repair bill, kindness of stranger."