Car Broken into at Car Repair Shop

[agmcallister]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I left my son's car at a reputable car repair shop that is national in scope. They had had it earlier in the day for repairs and found additional work that needed to be done. I drove to the shop and authorized the work, but was told the part would be in tomorrrow and that they would like the car to stay there for the night. I asked the manager if the car would be kept inside and was told, yes. I reiterated that if it was not I would drive it home and return tomorrow and was told it would be left inside. This was approximately 5 PM and the car had been dropped off at 1 PM and was in their possession during the entire time frame. When I left it was in a bay and up on a service rack. Sometime after I left the car was taken off the rack and taken to the parking lot. The employee closing tried to get the car back in but is telling his management it would not start. He did not try to hot shot it or push it into a bay. He left it in an unguarded lot with no security system in place. The car was broken into that night. Is the repair facility responsibile for repairing my car and replacing what was stolen? Isn't there agreement to keep it inside considered a verbal contract that they broke? Both the manager and repair technician state that they had agreed to keep in inside for the night. Don't they have any responsibility for taking minimal steps to ensure that cars left in their care are kept safe?

[You Are Guilty]

Did this unguarded lot have a fence around it? Any lighting? Guard dogs? Infrared motion-sensing taser guns? ICBMs? Anything?

[teflon_jones]

Was your vehicle locked at the time of the break-in?

Did the garage owner's negligence cause the theft?

[racer72]

Where were you on the night of November 17th?

Originally Posted by racer72

Where were you on the night of November 17th?

At McDonald's, lurking this forum on my laptop. I have witnesses who will swear to it in court.

[agmcallister]

They had no fence, no cameras, no security service. There is one light. My insurance is handling as a comprehensive claim, but that forces me to pay the deductable. Even though mye insurance company doesn't seem overly concerned to get their money above the deductable amount - guess they will just write it off - I want my deductable reimbursed. Since the Manager promised the car would be stored inside and it was not - then I feel they broke a verbal contract to attempt to keep my car safe. I amnow just wanting them to reimburse my out of pocket expenses. Do I have a legal case or must I depend on their corporate goodwill?

[Lynx 36]

Originally Posted by agmcallister

They had no fence, no cameras, no security service. There is one light. My insurance is handling as a comprehensive claim, but that forces me to pay the deductable. Even though mye insurance company doesn't seem overly concerned to get their money above the deductable amount - guess they will just write it off - I want my deductable reimbursed. Since the Manager promised the car would be stored inside and it was not - then I feel they broke a verbal contract to attempt to keep my car safe. I amnow just wanting them to reimburse my out of pocket expenses. Do I have a legal case or must I depend on their corporate goodwill?

If your insurance co. feels they have cause to subrogate the shop to get their money back including your deductable then they will subrogate. If they don't then there is no cause. If you sue the shop you will take away your insurance co. right to subrogate the shop. Let your insurance co. handle it. If you get in the way by sueing expect them to raise your rates as you will take away their rights if any to get their money back.