Body Shop Lied and Messed My Car Up Worse

[Bluefavorite]

State: KY
Lomg story short.
Garage door closed on and scratched my trunk deck lid into the metal. I needed that re painted.. My Challenger has stripes that needed to be put back on. It would cost more to have my body guy I use do it so I turned it in. Yes I know I can pick the shop BUT I never had issues with thr other place Geico used and figured who can mess up this simple task?

Looks good upon pickup except stripes are.terrible. Shop admits they cannot do big stripes, I am OK with that, they re order stripes to be sent to a shop I have used for detailing, the owner of the shop they say will apply decal is 100% legit bur does not do a lot of decals (honestly the decal is not a concern it can be done a thousand times until it is right, it does not hurt my car). And I see my paint looks fine so I pay the deductible.
Stripes are ordered and wrong color. Auto shop tried to argue it but it was just wrong, period. They tried to say mine were faded. That was when I started feeling gaslit and like the company was shady. Dark wine is not bright red and I know mine did not fade. You cannot tell me these lies and get me to believe it.
Correct stripes come, I go to pick up car and find out under my spoiler the paint is missing and flaking and such a mess the guy putting on my stripes is at a loss for words. Also some other odd things wrong.

Call adjustor and she says another caliber collision center can do the work, and I can use my own personal vinyl decal person. I look up Caliber and nation wide they are horrid. My local shop had 3 negs and 200 pos so I was ok with it. But the BBB dropped them. At this point I don't want them doing any work. I told my agent all this.

What are my chances Geico may use a whole other company? Or can? There is proof they did not take my trunk off as agreed and showed me the photo. Geico said they were told to take it off! They painted it on my car. With the plastic spoiler attached!! And I could not see under my spoiler so I mean I can only inspect so much. People cannot start disassembly of a newly assembled car after repair to look, these are things the company should be doing right.

Imo I can bite it and go to another caliber and sit with the manager and go over all the issues and request daily updates. I can hope Geico deals with the fact this company lied to them and me and take pity and let me use my trusted guy. Or I can say nope, I am paying out of pocket and using my guy and what? How could I possibly sue for at least my deductible back? I can open small claims but on what merit I don't think "Your honor their nation wide reviews and my experience (much of it i am not leaving here...it has been BAD) made me afraid to let the whole outfit touch my car.". I don't think a court would rule in my favor.

At least it is cosmetic but it does not matter, rust can kill a car. And I deserve and have a right to have it fixed. I am not asking for a miracle. It is a simple paint job and vinyl stripe on a trunk! Claims adjustor said she never used this shop and was unsure why they came up to be a choice. But had successfully used Caliber Collision. She is in another state. This was such a small job she is also shocked.

 

[adjusterjack]

You're not going to get anywhere arguing with shops and/or your adjuster.

Take the car where you want to take it and get the work done properly. Take photos of the disassembly, re paint, and installation of the stripes. Pay for it if you have to and submit the bills to the insurance company. If the insurance won't pay for it, report back here for additional discussion.

 

[Bluefavorite]

You're not going to get anywhere arguing with shops and/or your adjuster.

Take the car where you want to take it and get the work done properly. Take photos of the disassembly, re paint, and installation of the stripes. Pay for it if you have to and submit the bills to the insurance company. If the insurance won't pay for it, report back here for additional discussion.

I stopped talking to the shop. Already asked for a quote today. Looks like I will be paying OOP. I will make a last ditch effort to get them to pay for another shop. They can say yes or no. But..yeah.

 

[Zigner]

You need to give them the opportunity to correct the defective work.

 

[Bluefavorite]

You need to give them the opportunity to correct the defective work.

What if they make it even worse? I have not uploaded photos of the damage or the full extent of everything they have done in 6 months time. And not all damage can be proven. If they are negligent and damage a critical component they will deny it. That is how bad their reputation is. In most all cases I would have no problem letting a different location do it. The adjustor does not want the same location working on my car. If that says anything.

I would be willing to meet with that sites mgt and go over all the issues and get daily updates with photos of the correction. If I felt comfortable with the manager I would play ball.

I want this over as much as anyone. But I have to protect my asset. I cannot afford a new car, I was looking all in December and in no way should a deeply scratcged trunk lid repaint be this much hassle. If they get in there and mess up a wire harness or my shocks I would trust my body guy to admit it. He has! But when they tell me the color of a stripe is bright red and it is wine, and accuse my cars stripes of fading and repaint a car with the plastic bumper still bolted halfway on, I don't trust them to be honest or correctly feed my fish. Not to mention they loudly proclaimed they did the opposite of what Geico asked.

What is your thought on turning them into the AG? I don't expect them to litigate for me. But certainly this is some sort of consumer protection situation. What if what they messed up was a safety feature? You never know about companies who lie with no regard.

 

[Bluefavorite]

You're not going to get anywhere arguing with shops and/or your adjuster.

Take the car where you want to take it and get the work done properly. Take photos of the disassembly, re paint, and installation of the stripes. Pay for it if you have to and submit the bills to the insurance company. If the insurance won't pay for it, report back here for additional discussion.

I took it to my reputable shop and they take Geico
Geico is having them document all damage and do an estimate, and said to me "We may have Caliber Collision" pay for the repairs.

Either way I or they are paying but shouldn't Geico pay for the damages the body shop they chose did to my car then hash it out with the inadequate shop? It is so bad the lost bolts from my spoiler may require a whole new spoiler as they cannot always order the bolts alone that fit! They lost 2 of them. smh. That is not accounting for actual damage!

I am doing as you suggested and putting my foot down. Geico seems open to play ball. Does this seem normal or standard?

 

[clarasantiago986]

It's unfortunate that you've had a challenging experience with the repair process. Given the issues and your dissatisfaction, communicate your concerns clearly to Geico and express your preference to use your trusted professional. Provide documentation of the discrepancies and insist on a resolution that meets your satisfaction.