Hosed - What can my friend do now? (long)

vMaster0fPuppet · 08-14-07, 01:30

A friend of mine got into an accident in his black 2000ish Honda Accord a couple months back and took it to a body shop he knew to get it repaired.

The shop took about a month to "finish" the repairs. They had to replace a door and his rear fender, to fix the body damage. They then painted this to match the color. I have to day that they matched the black pretty well.

The rest of the job, however, is absolutely horrendous.
Theres bubbles in the clearcaot. It looks like they maybe didn't wetsand enough. Theres a small section on the rear bumper that looks like it was only half wetsanded. On top of that they didn't polish this area at all.

The entire passenger side is covered in either sanding or swirl marks. This includes half the hood, half the bumper, and the whole passenger side of the car. The car was heavily marred to begin with, but this new paint has them as well.

On top of this, the area they did hit with a polisher is a disgrace. It's covered in holograms, micro marring, and swirl marks. They didn't polish sufficiently to remove the sanding marks, and they failed to break the polish down producing holograms over the whole passenger side of the vehicle.

Now the really shady part.
The body shop gave him the car when they were closing at night, so my friend said he couldn't see how bad it was until today. They charged his insurance $8K for the repairs, and apparently waived the deductible, allowing him to just take the car.

I told him to go back there and demand they fix it, but I don't know if they technically have to after he removed it from the shop. I also told him to call his insurance company and tell them not to pay, but they already paid the shop. Though it is not my car, this actually angered me because these hacks call themselves professional. If they refuse to fix this, what advice can i give him?

Jakerooni · 08-14-07, 01:38

Yes. Absoultly they have to. Tell him to contact his insurence company and get an adjuster back out to take pics of the shotty work. Then call up the body shop let them know that you have contacted your insurence company and they will need to make good on such shotty workmanship. If they give you any flack whatso ever simply tell them if not 100% staisfied you will be filing a full complaint to the better business bureu.

757motoring · 08-14-07, 03:45

I work at a collision repair shop doing paint work and they 100% have to take the car back and fix it he has the right to say that its not fixed to his standards. definitly get the insurance involved they have the power to get it fixed right and immeditely. Its his vehicle and there a professional shop that got paid to do the job that way.

David Fermani · 08-14-07, 06:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by 757motoring

I work at a collision repair shop doing paint work and they 100% have to take the car back and fix it he has the right to say that its not fixed to his standards. definitly get the insurance involved they have the power to get it fixed right and immeditely. Its his vehicle and there a professional shop that got paid to do the job that way.

Plain & simple: If this guy picked this shop to do the repair, the insurance company has no business, responsibility or leverage to help this guy out. The only way they can is if this shop was one of their Direct Repair Shops. Your only option is to work it out directly with the shop or document the heck out of your case and take them to court.

Scottwax · 08-14-07, 09:23

My brother ended up suing the body shop that trashed his truck. He ended up getting a $10,000 settlement.

David Fermani · 08-15-07, 04:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

My brother ended up suing the body shop that trashed his truck. He ended up getting a $10,000 settlement.

Was it an insurance company paid repair through a damage claim or just side work? How much did shop originally charge him for the repair? I assume the $10K was the cost to correct the initial repair + punitive damages?

94BlkStang · 08-15-07, 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Plain & simple: If this guy picked this shop to do the repair, the insurance company has no business, responsibility or leverage to help this guy out. The only way they can is if this shop was one of their Direct Repair Shops. Your only option is to work it out directly with the shop or document the heck out of your case and take them to court.

If you have a quality agent and have a good relationship with your insurance company they can often be of great assistance and leverage during these stituations regardless if it's at one of their preferred shops. It's one of the main reasons I have been with State Farm and the same agent for 37 years and my dad even longer than that. Agents can often be very persuasive.

jimmie jam · 08-15-07, 12:48

why would ANYONE take a vehicle from a repair facility at night after hours when they couldn't see the work?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

vMaster0fPuppet · 08-15-07, 01:18

Thanks for the replies guys.

It turns out I was a little hasty in assuming that they shop would refuse top fix thier work. The sneaky way of giving him the car back at night gave me a bad feeling about the shop.

The shop agreed to repair the work immediately, and apologized. I just can;t believe they gave it to him an such terrible condition in the first place.

757motoring · 08-15-07, 01:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Plain & simple: If this guy picked this shop to do the repair, the insurance company has no business, responsibility or leverage to help this guy out. The only way they can is if this shop was one of their Direct Repair Shops. Your only option is to work it out directly with the shop or document the heck out of your case and take them to court.

Insurance agents reinspect cars all the time if a customer has complaints to see if they are legitimate and if they forked out 10 grand they would be on that shop to make sure they do a quality repair.

David Fermani · 08-15-07, 03:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94BlkStang

If you have a quality agent and have a good relationship with your insurance company they can often be of great assistance and leverage during these stituations regardless if it's at one of their preferred shops. It's one of the main reasons I have been with State Farm and the same agent for 37 years and my dad even longer than that. Agents can often be very persuasive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 757motoring

Insurance agents reinspect cars all the time if a customer has complaints to see if they are legitimate and if they forked out 10 grand they would be on that shop to make sure they do a quality repair.

Your Agent/Adjuster/Appraiser/Claim Rep/Reinspector has NO leverage in a non-Direct Repair Shop situation. We (I'm a Sr. Appraiser) can't make a shop do quality work, we can only pay them to do the quality work. If I paid a shop to replace a 1/4 panel and go back a week later and catch them repairing it (filling it with obseen amounts of bondo), I am not allowed to deduct, change or penalize them for doing so. Unless they are a DRP. Insurance companies are in the business of paying fairly on claims, not repairing vehicles. Reinspectors are primarily used to help internal quality control with appraisers and give help in technical situations. They mediate complaints within the DRP network only.

Say for example your customer brings you their car because they got paint overspray on it. They make a claim with their insurance company and the insurance company paid you directly to repair it. The customer picks up their vehicle and they aren't happy with your work and complain to their insurance company. You tell them to go pound sand and to take you to court if they want satisfaction. Would it make any difference if their insurance company called you to work it out? No way!!

94BlkStang · 08-15-07, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Your Agent/Adjuster/Appraiser/Claim Rep/Reinspector has NO leverage in a non-Direct Repair Shop situation. We (I'm a Sr. Appraiser) can't make a shop do quality work, we can only pay them to do the quality work. If I paid a shop to replace a 1/4 panel and go back a week later and catch them repairing it (filling it with obseen amounts of bondo), I am not allowed to deduct, change or penalize them for doing so. Unless they are a DRP. Insurance companies are in the business of paying fairly on claims, not repairing vehicles. Reinspectors are primarily used to help internal quality control with appraisers and give help in technical situations. They mediate complaints within the DRP network only.

Say for example your customer brings you their car because they got paint overspray on it. They make a claim with their insurance company and the insurance company paid you directly to repair it. The customer picks up their vehicle and they aren't happy with your work and complain to their insurance company. You tell them to go pound sand and to take you to court if they want satisfaction. Would it make any difference if their insurance company called you to work it out? No way!!

You might be surprised what a good agent can accomplish. If the shop is a reputable one they usually want to stay on the good side of insurance companies even if they aren't on their list of preferred service centers. Like I tell my kids, it never hurts to ask as the worst thing that can happen is the body shop lets it fall on deaf ears and does nothing so what have you lost? I'm not talking Geico, Progressive or any of the other discount places where personal contact is at a minimum. Like I said, I've had my agent for 37 years and has helped me through many situations that I didn't think possible. A lot will depend on the relationship you have with your agent. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.