"fhrblig" (fhrblig)
04/10/2015 at 10:47 • Filed to: None
5
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"fhrblig" (fhrblig)
04/10/2015 at 10:47 • Filed to: None | 5
| 8 |
I have been super busy at work this week, and my partner's job is causing a crisis so I haven't had time to post about this until now. This is the story of what happened when I agreed to take my car to a body shop suggested by my insurance company.
Back in February, I was rear-ended while waiting at a stop light. The woman who hit me (in a Toyota, naturally) said she was dealing with something in her eye and didn't see that we were stopped. I did happen to look in my rearview mirror just before the impact and I can at least confirm she was not on her phone, so at least there's that. This happened right near a mall, so we pulled into the lot to exchange info and check the damage. Her damage was worse than mine.
Basically, the damage was limited to the black plastic grille inserts and scratches to the paint. Fortunately she had already started to brake when she hit me, so it definitely could have been worse. I'm just thankful that for once I was hit by someone who had insurance.
I called my insurance and asked if I needed to be going through them or through the other person's insurance, and they said they'd take care of it. Actually, I would recommend going through the other person's insurance; my insurance wanted to charge my deductible several times with me having to explain to them the other person was at fault, they should be getting 100% of the money from the other driver's insurance. Eventually they did, it was just annoying to have to keep telling them.
My insurance said I could take it anywhere for the estimate, but if I selected one of their preferred providers the paperwork would go faster, repairs could be done sooner, etc. I had a body shop that had done work on my Ranger a few years back, but the shop they suggested was significantly closer to my home, so I decided to give it a shot. I took it in for the estimate, got the estimate quick, and called the insurance and they gave me the go-ahead to set it up.
Setting it up took two weeks. Every time I called I was transferred to his voice mail, and would not get a return call. When I finally talked to him, he made excuses about the phone system, etc. Making excuses would prove to be something he was good at. I finally set a time for the appointment and they emailed me paperwork I needed to sign. It took me a while to get the paperwork because I don't have a working printer at home, and I couldn't print it from work because their email had web elements blocked by my work's IT department. I finally had them fax it, then they couldn't receive a return fax or an email. I had to actually drop off the paperwork in the end.
The appointment day arrives, and the work was supposed to take 1-2 days max. I get my rental car, the awful previous-generation Chrysler 200. Later that day at work, I get a call saying they found some more damage they had to fix under the bumper cover, nothing major, but it would now be closer to 2 days. Fine, that wasn't surprising. I told him because of my work schedule I wouldn't be able to pick it up until Saturday morning so they did have some extra time. The next day, the estimator called me again. He told me that Fiat did not have the 2 grille inserts in stock (no big surprise), and he'd have to order them. He could put in the old ones for the time being, then when they came in I could bring my car back and he could swap them out and it would take maybe 5 minutes. This sounded perfectly reasonable to me, so I said that was fine.
After I got off the phone with him, apparently Fiat found some grille inserts and delivered them. Great! Unfortunately, the estimator was a complete dipshit. He got it in his head that if he rushed the repair and told me that it was ready Friday that I would be super happy and impressed. Remember where I said I wouldn't be able to pick it up until Saturday morning because of my work? Yeah, he didn't. So he rushed trying to put the inserts in and in the process, fucked up the clear coat which was not set. He called and told me this. I was dumbfounded. Now the earliest I could get my car back was the next Tuesday. I was so pissed off I didn't even know how to respond, so I just said "Ok" and went back to work.
I wasn't about to be sentenced to a Chrysler 200 for 4 more days, so Enterprise was nice enough to swap it for a new VW Beetle. Huge improvement, and it did make me feel a bit better.
Tuesday morning comes, and I head for the shop to pick it up. The estimator takes me out to the car and shows me the repairs, and this is what I see.
I was incredulous. Did he expect me not to see this? I pointed it out to him and he mumbled something about not being there the day before for a doctor's appointment. At no point did the words "I apologize" come out of his mouth. (FYI, it is not paint, I think it's some residue from the sanding process.) This shop is in Aurora, I work in Lakewood on the other side of the metro area. I have no time to make them fix it so I just said I'd deal with it later and left.
WTF? How do you fuck up someone's clear coat, delay the return of their car, and then not make every effort to ensure that there's nothing else that could upset them? Who does their QC? I just got madder and madder as I drove to work. I called my insurance, and the rep I spoke to was shocked and she promised to put me in touch with a local rep that would address my concerns. The guy who called me made me want to punch a baby. At first he seemed sympathetic, but he made excuses for the shop and said that things like that happen a lot. He did at least ask the shop manager to call me.
In the end, the shop manager called me and apologized and is giving me a $30 gift certificate to a local hand car wash. I am willing to accept that apology, and I'm just going to close the door on this and move on. Lesson has been learned though. I will always choose my body shop from here on out.
MonkeePuzzle
> fhrblig
04/10/2015 at 11:04 |
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This shop is in Aurora
I have identified the problem
jariten1781
> fhrblig
04/10/2015 at 11:06 |
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At first he seemed sympathetic, but he made excuses for the shop and said that things like that happen a lot.
It's true though, haha. The body shop I use (and I get to use it a lot DC drivers and all) does absolutely top notch work, but their post work clean-up is always ass. Multiple times I've gone in to pick up and I couldn't even make a judgment on the repair because there was grease or sand or whatever covering it. Quick chat with their manager (who eventually gave me his card and told me to call him if I have a car in...their point men are less than worthless) and it gets cleaned up. Too bad too, I'm sure they've scared off lots of customers by screwing up that minimal detail, because their paintwork/attention to getting panels on perfectly/documentation (they seriously take a before/after picture of every step) is beyond any other shop I've ever used.
CaptDale - is secretly British
> fhrblig
04/10/2015 at 11:11 |
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That is a ridiculous amount of dipshit! Its funny, when the estimator does his job, the shop the time frame to get parts from their local dealer... Sounds like a terrible shop
MarquetteLa
> fhrblig
04/10/2015 at 11:16 |
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So, uh, what body shop was it so I can avoid it as well?
Svend
> fhrblig
04/10/2015 at 12:10 |
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If it is polishing or sanding residue a scrub with some panel wipe of isopropyl alcohol then a wipe down should do the job.
Agreed the job should of been quality inspected for finish by the person doing it and then signed off by the bodyshop manager.
The plastic area should of been fully masked off when painting and polishing the repair.
Hell I avoid at all cost getting polish, etc... on the plastic when I polish a car. Something like this.
JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
> fhrblig
04/14/2015 at 13:50 |
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Im so sorry about the hell you went Through
we went through similar hell fixing our honda pilot after hitting a deer. Went to the insurance recommended place. They first fixed the car with non oem parts. So panel gaps were noticeable and the grille was a little off. We also noticed on the paperwork they used the wrong color. Our pilot was Nimbus Grey. it looks greenish but isnt sage green (what they wrote and used). We got the bits like the grille and headlight oem fixed... but they couldnt do anything about the bumper or fender or ac condenser. So we have one like new light, the other all cloudy. The bumper hangs a little low. And its the WRONG DAMN COLOR UNDER LIGHT!
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fhrblig
> JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
04/14/2015 at 13:51 |
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Wow, that's ridiculous.
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JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
> fhrblig
04/14/2015 at 13:55 |
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the only nice thing was we got a brand new pilot as a loaner and they finished like 3 days early. No bs picking it up or anything.