What is the name of your state? Texas
I live in Texas. My two cars, 2015 BMW and 2017 Honda Accord, were heavily damaged during the hail storm on June 6th 2018. Both of them had less than 7000 miles on them and were in brand new condition before the hail. On June 7th, the estimator from the insurance company(Geico) came out and inspected the vehicles. The BMW was quoted $6381 for 12 repair days, and the Honda was quoted $6347 for 15 days. The inspector gave me the official estimate and the checks made out to me and the lienholders. The estimator told me I would not be able to cash out the checks without the endorsement from the lienholders.
I contracted a hail repair service called "THD". “M” came out and picked up my cars on June 9th 2018. I handed them the estimate documents and unsigned checks. I did not think they could cash them out without my signature on the checks, but later I found out that I signed contract giving them power of attorney to endorse the checks. "THD" promised 2-3 weeks of repair time. They also promised me paid deductibles, free rental cars, satisfaction guarantees, lifetime warranty, $200 referral bonus for giving them two cars, and $300 for only getting one rental car since my mom who uses one of the cars was out of the country for one month.
After one month of waiting, when I contacted THD, they told me the cars would be ready within the next couple days. They told me PDR works have been completed, but since the damages were too extensive, some body works had to be done at auto body shops. They subcontracted body shops and states they sent the BMW to higher end body shop, and sent the Accord to some place cheaper. Neither of the cars were fixed on time and my mom came back to the country. I took Uber to work for days. Every time I called "THD", the response was that the cars will be ready within the next couple days. I used Uber to work for two weeks believing that the cars would be ready as they promised. When I contacted the Hail Depot once again, I got the same response that the cars will be ready in few days, but they would provide me the rental car until I get my car back and will still honor $300 promotion.
Two months has passed and still did not get my cars back. Since it was taking too long, I was getting worried something might have happened to the cars. I got the names and address of the body shops from "THD". The Accord was at "Body shop A", and the BMW was in "Body shop B". On August 4th, 2018, I visited those shops to check up on the cars. the owner of " Body shop A": told me the car just needs paint and would be ready within a week and the car will look like brand new. Tim, the office manager at "Body shop B" said they had the car for few weeks, but did not start any work because "THD" would not approve to get the work started. He said he will take care of it and said the car can be ready within a week.
I spoke to "M" on August 13th and was told the Accord will be ready on August 15th, but the body work on BMW hasn’t begun since "THD" and "Body shop B" could not agree on the price. "M" and I agreed that if the BMW is not fixed by August 25th, I will be taking the car to the body shop of my choice and "THD" will pay for the repair.
After waiting for over two and a half months and numerous phone calls, text messaging, and false promises, I finally got the Accord back on August 15th 2018. The car was in unbelievably horrendous condition. Paint chipping, paints on plastic parts, paint stains on the interior, scratches all over the car, side molding not aligned correctly, window calk falling apart. I took photos and sent to "THD" immediately. They admitted the job was shoddy, and blamed it on the body shop. I requested to get the BMW back immediately, and was told the BMW is still at "Body shop B".
I went to "Body shop B" on August 16th during lunch to pick up the BMW. Only minor PDR work has been done and the car was sitting at the shop for about a month without any of the conventional body work being done. The shop refuse to release the car saying "THD" owe them money for the repairs. A guy name "G" showed up to "Body shop B". "M" referred him as a regional manager, but he introduced himself as the CEO and President of "THD". We wrote and signed on a piece of paper that "THD" will be responsible for the repair of the Accord at the shop of my choice, and he promised to fix the BMW by August 29th. However, after listening to "G" and the staff at "Body shop B" arguing about the payment issues within themselves, I decided to take the car somewhere else and "THD" will be responsible for the repairs. "G" verbally agreed, but did not sign the revised agreement. "Body shop B" still would not release my car, and I had to come back to work. "G" promised to deliver the BMW to my house personally himself that day by 6pm.
He never showed up, but texted me on August 17th saying he was able to retrieve my BMW, but will be out of town for the weekend. I told him I wanted him to personally deliver the car and sign the agreement that I rewrote. He said he would call on August 20th to arrange the car pick up, but never contacted me. I called "G" on August 22nd to arrange the car pick up. He was getting very angry that was I not letting him fix the car. We agreed we would meet at his office where the car was parked at 6pm that day to discuss the arrangement and let me take my car. When I showed up, the BMW was parked outside and key was left in the car. I waited for 30 minutes, Gerrod never showed up nor picked up my call.
I have not spoken to them since then.
I brought the Accord to Honda approved Body shop to get an estimate. The estimate was $5487.15 in order to fix the car to acceptable condition including replacing knockoff windshield and back glasses. I brought the BMW to BMW approved collision Center and the estimate was $13844.00.
I was told by Geico that both checks were cashed out ($6381.18 for BMW and $6347 for the Accord) on June 13th without any request for supplement. I contacted the lienholders that the checks were made out to. Both Honda financing and BMW financing claimed they never endorsed those checks, and possibly they were cashed out fraudulently.
I called Geico multiple times to fix the problem, but the only answer I was getting was that it is my fault for choosing that shop and they will not do anything about it since the checks have been cashed out. They advised me to contact the Department of Agriculture to resolved the matter.
On August 30th, I received a bill from Hertz asking for $1508.44 for one the cars that "THD" provided me, and I believe they would send me another bill for the other car which I believe would be significantly more than the other car.
The BMW Collision Center is still negotiating with Geico, but told me the best case scenario would be receiving the supplement. ($13844.00-$6381.18=7462.82), but doubt the insurance company would do anything. I had to pay BMW $160 for diagnostics/estimate.
As of now, on September 7th, 91 days have been passed since "THD" took my cars on June 9th. My Accord is in terrible shape, and they did not even begin to fix the BMW. "THD" cashed out $12728 fraudulently without the endorsements of the lienholders. I would need $19331.15 to repair the car. I was billed $1508.44 for one of two cars that "THD" rented me and expecting to receive another one. I will be responsible for the rentals while those two cars are actually getting fixed. "THD" is an middleman agency without physical shop. I am afraid they just might disappear even though I know the full name of the staffs there.
Ideally, I would like for "THD" to pay for all the repair and take back the rental bills, but from the action I have been observing from them, I doubt they would make this right. I need help in properly requesting those payments. If I need to go to the court to resolve this matter, I would ask for the full repair cost, the rentals I need during those repair, compensation for my lost time ( I spent approximately 10 hours for this matter, and I produce $500/hr at my job), psychological stress, and depreciation they have caused for my cars.
Anyone have idea how to proceed from here? I have been trying to find a lawyer to help me, but many of them are hesitant to help me with this case saying the case is too small for them.
I live in Texas. My two cars, 2015 BMW and 2017 Honda Accord, were heavily damaged during the hail storm on June 6th 2018. Both of them had less than 7000 miles on them and were in brand new condition before the hail. On June 7th, the estimator from the insurance company(Geico) came out and inspected the vehicles. The BMW was quoted $6381 for 12 repair days, and the Honda was quoted $6347 for 15 days. The inspector gave me the official estimate and the checks made out to me and the lienholders. The estimator told me I would not be able to cash out the checks without the endorsement from the lienholders.
I contracted a hail repair service called "THD". “M” came out and picked up my cars on June 9th 2018. I handed them the estimate documents and unsigned checks. I did not think they could cash them out without my signature on the checks, but later I found out that I signed contract giving them power of attorney to endorse the checks. "THD" promised 2-3 weeks of repair time. They also promised me paid deductibles, free rental cars, satisfaction guarantees, lifetime warranty, $200 referral bonus for giving them two cars, and $300 for only getting one rental car since my mom who uses one of the cars was out of the country for one month.
After one month of waiting, when I contacted THD, they told me the cars would be ready within the next couple days. They told me PDR works have been completed, but since the damages were too extensive, some body works had to be done at auto body shops. They subcontracted body shops and states they sent the BMW to higher end body shop, and sent the Accord to some place cheaper. Neither of the cars were fixed on time and my mom came back to the country. I took Uber to work for days. Every time I called "THD", the response was that the cars will be ready within the next couple days. I used Uber to work for two weeks believing that the cars would be ready as they promised. When I contacted the Hail Depot once again, I got the same response that the cars will be ready in few days, but they would provide me the rental car until I get my car back and will still honor $300 promotion.
Two months has passed and still did not get my cars back. Since it was taking too long, I was getting worried something might have happened to the cars. I got the names and address of the body shops from "THD". The Accord was at "Body shop A", and the BMW was in "Body shop B". On August 4th, 2018, I visited those shops to check up on the cars. the owner of " Body shop A": told me the car just needs paint and would be ready within a week and the car will look like brand new. Tim, the office manager at "Body shop B" said they had the car for few weeks, but did not start any work because "THD" would not approve to get the work started. He said he will take care of it and said the car can be ready within a week.
I spoke to "M" on August 13th and was told the Accord will be ready on August 15th, but the body work on BMW hasn’t begun since "THD" and "Body shop B" could not agree on the price. "M" and I agreed that if the BMW is not fixed by August 25th, I will be taking the car to the body shop of my choice and "THD" will pay for the repair.
After waiting for over two and a half months and numerous phone calls, text messaging, and false promises, I finally got the Accord back on August 15th 2018. The car was in unbelievably horrendous condition. Paint chipping, paints on plastic parts, paint stains on the interior, scratches all over the car, side molding not aligned correctly, window calk falling apart. I took photos and sent to "THD" immediately. They admitted the job was shoddy, and blamed it on the body shop. I requested to get the BMW back immediately, and was told the BMW is still at "Body shop B".
I went to "Body shop B" on August 16th during lunch to pick up the BMW. Only minor PDR work has been done and the car was sitting at the shop for about a month without any of the conventional body work being done. The shop refuse to release the car saying "THD" owe them money for the repairs. A guy name "G" showed up to "Body shop B". "M" referred him as a regional manager, but he introduced himself as the CEO and President of "THD". We wrote and signed on a piece of paper that "THD" will be responsible for the repair of the Accord at the shop of my choice, and he promised to fix the BMW by August 29th. However, after listening to "G" and the staff at "Body shop B" arguing about the payment issues within themselves, I decided to take the car somewhere else and "THD" will be responsible for the repairs. "G" verbally agreed, but did not sign the revised agreement. "Body shop B" still would not release my car, and I had to come back to work. "G" promised to deliver the BMW to my house personally himself that day by 6pm.
He never showed up, but texted me on August 17th saying he was able to retrieve my BMW, but will be out of town for the weekend. I told him I wanted him to personally deliver the car and sign the agreement that I rewrote. He said he would call on August 20th to arrange the car pick up, but never contacted me. I called "G" on August 22nd to arrange the car pick up. He was getting very angry that was I not letting him fix the car. We agreed we would meet at his office where the car was parked at 6pm that day to discuss the arrangement and let me take my car. When I showed up, the BMW was parked outside and key was left in the car. I waited for 30 minutes, Gerrod never showed up nor picked up my call.
I have not spoken to them since then.
I brought the Accord to Honda approved Body shop to get an estimate. The estimate was $5487.15 in order to fix the car to acceptable condition including replacing knockoff windshield and back glasses. I brought the BMW to BMW approved collision Center and the estimate was $13844.00.
I was told by Geico that both checks were cashed out ($6381.18 for BMW and $6347 for the Accord) on June 13th without any request for supplement. I contacted the lienholders that the checks were made out to. Both Honda financing and BMW financing claimed they never endorsed those checks, and possibly they were cashed out fraudulently.
I called Geico multiple times to fix the problem, but the only answer I was getting was that it is my fault for choosing that shop and they will not do anything about it since the checks have been cashed out. They advised me to contact the Department of Agriculture to resolved the matter.
On August 30th, I received a bill from Hertz asking for $1508.44 for one the cars that "THD" provided me, and I believe they would send me another bill for the other car which I believe would be significantly more than the other car.
The BMW Collision Center is still negotiating with Geico, but told me the best case scenario would be receiving the supplement. ($13844.00-$6381.18=7462.82), but doubt the insurance company would do anything. I had to pay BMW $160 for diagnostics/estimate.
As of now, on September 7th, 91 days have been passed since "THD" took my cars on June 9th. My Accord is in terrible shape, and they did not even begin to fix the BMW. "THD" cashed out $12728 fraudulently without the endorsements of the lienholders. I would need $19331.15 to repair the car. I was billed $1508.44 for one of two cars that "THD" rented me and expecting to receive another one. I will be responsible for the rentals while those two cars are actually getting fixed. "THD" is an middleman agency without physical shop. I am afraid they just might disappear even though I know the full name of the staffs there.
Ideally, I would like for "THD" to pay for all the repair and take back the rental bills, but from the action I have been observing from them, I doubt they would make this right. I need help in properly requesting those payments. If I need to go to the court to resolve this matter, I would ask for the full repair cost, the rentals I need during those repair, compensation for my lost time ( I spent approximately 10 hours for this matter, and I produce $500/hr at my job), psychological stress, and depreciation they have caused for my cars.
Anyone have idea how to proceed from here? I have been trying to find a lawyer to help me, but many of them are hesitant to help me with this case saying the case is too small for them.
