What do we do in this situation with this autobody shop? Lawyer?

[Anonymous]

We had significant hail damage to our car back in April (~$7k worth of damage). So we went and took our car to a local autobody shop that we've used in the past and has great reviews in our local community. We dropped our car off on May 8 after getting the estimate approved by our insurance and they told us it would be 2 weeks to fix. Two weeks later my husband called to get an update and the autobody shop told us they are running behind due to this that and the other and they would start work within the next week. Then we called back a week later to get status and they told us they still hadn't started the work but that they need to go back to insurance to get more money and once insurance approves they would start the work and it would be another two weeks once that happens. In the meantime, we were communicating with our insurance adjuster and our adjuster said that the autobody shop didn't reach back out to them for an adjustment until May 30th and the adjuster came out on May 31 to approve, so the shop was just letting our car sit on the lot for a whole month during this time.

So end of May the shop tells us it will be another two weeks to do the work now that insurance approved the new cost (after blaming our insurance company for the delay even though we know that wasn't the case). So now it's been another two weeks (6 weeks totoal) and they STILL haven't started working on our car! We already lost the loaner car becaue insurance only covers 30 days per year and we've surpassed that.

So on Monday this past week they told DH they'd be starting on Tuesday. So he called Wednesday to see if they've started and NOPE, still haven't started. So DH told them we are going to take our car off the lot and bring it to another shop and we aren't paying any restocking fees. Welll, guess what, the car has been sitting for 6 weeks and been neglected on their lot and now they are saying the car won't start because the starter is dead! And they are telling us they will need to order that part and 'hope' to have the work done Monday....

OMG what do we do in this situation?? What recourse do we have? If we call Monday and they have some other excuse as to why they can't fix the starter and get the car running, do we call a lawyer? What kind of lawyer?

Our car was in great shape when we dropped it off (other than the hail dents) since we had just done 2k+ of maintenance on the car a couple months prior including a brand new battery.

Does anyone know if a car is neglected in the posession of an autobody shop, are they financially responsible for any issues that result? I'm worried that now if we tow the car off their lot (which our insurance will cover) then they can claim not responsible for any issues.

WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Call your insurance company, tell them their recommended damaged your car.

[Anonymous]

Starters can fail but they don’t just “go dead.” More likely the battery, which particularly in newer cars is in constant use even when the vehicle is parked.

Get a booster box at the auto store and fire it up. Or call a towing company. If these people treat you this way now, imagine what it will be like if something needs more work after they declare the job finished.

[Anonymous]

Leave a review for sure.

[Anonymous]

I’ll bet your car sat with the interior dome light on, the battery is most likely dead. You really can’t win and there’s no damages to recover, you can only get your car back and start over again somewhere else.

I’ve had near identical experiences with two vehicles over the past two years, a Range Rover that sat at the body shop for 18 weeks while they waited for some parts and another car that had additional damage discovered and my insurance company dragged their feet inspecting and approving it.
Both vehicles had a rental included so I didn’t really care that much.

[Anonymous]

They’re a terrible body shop but come on, you don’t let it go two weeks after dropping it off without any status reports—and then you still left it there?


DCUM is full of a lot of really dumb smart people.

[Anonymous]

It's not the starter. It probably just needs a jump and they know it. They are probably very short on labor right now and didn't want to turn away the work. If the car doesn't start with a jump, get it towed out of there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re a terrible body shop but come on, you don’t let it go two weeks after dropping it off without any status reports—and then you still left it there?


DCUM is full of a lot of really dumb smart people.

I don’t think that’s fair. They were strung along, so the expectations kept shifting and went from kind of annoying to unacceptable. Plus it’s a lot to take your unfixed car and go find a new place, especially when insurance is already involved.

[Anonymous]

Name and shame for starters

[Anonymous]

Call a tow truck and get it towed to a dealer or repair shop to get it started again and find someone else to do the work. Call the insurance and let them know.

[Anonymous]

Are you in Montgomery County?

Call Office of Consumer Protection. They light fires under businesses' backsides all the time in cases like this.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ocp/

[Anonymous]

First, call a tow truck and get the car out of there.

Then you can see what recourse you have but you’re probably out of luck. You should have moved it when you realized they lied to you. That business is failing.