Body shop intrigue. Any experts?

Thanks for the thoughtful post.

I called the Geico guy who works out of an office on the shop's premise. Fascinating conversation.

So the shop guy was bullE36 M3ting me, but not quite like I was guessing. They put the right front bumper on the car second time around, and fixed the dent caused by the tow truck driver. What he did not tell me yesterday eve was that they ended up spraying and trying to install a sedan bumper to the rear of the car and it did not fit. So they were really waiting for another rear bumper from Volvo, not polishing or whatever he said, and the car is going to be in the shop another two days.

I asked the Geico guy about the lien, and he tried to say they had a right to keep the car until paid, but quickly retreated when I said I had not been informed of the work untill it had started, did not signed off on it, and had nothing to do with it. He loosened up a bit and said that the shop is expecting me to file a claim with Geico if the tow truck driver does not pay. I said I would not under any circumstance authorize another claim and would be picking up the car tomorrow close of business.

Yes, unfortunately, I might need to rattle the lawyer saber. Thankfully my business partner is lawyer, but I hate to bug him with stupid non business stuff like this. Hopefully (ouch) everything smooths out from here.

BoxheadTim wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: If the OP wants to pay the shop the bill, the body shop will certainly release the car to him.

The problem I see with this is twofold: - The OP didn't authorize these repairs - It's not the OP's debt to the bodyshop.

foxtrapper wrote: To me, it sounds like the body shop is actually fighting the OP's battle for him against the tow truck driver. Fine if the body shop and OP are happy together with that.

If they had discussed this with the OP beforehand and told him they couldn't release the car before they had the cash from the tow truck driver, but they'd take care of the whole mess and the OP agreed to that, I'd applaud them. But that's not the way I read Shaun's post. Yeah, I know, armchair lawyers and all that, but if the OP didn't agree to the above it makes a massive difference in this situation.

Oh yeah, if you have a lawyer within easy reach, this would be a good time to get him to scare some folks straight. (They like doing it every once and a while, don't let them tell you any different.)

Happened on the shops property, not your problem.

Withdraw my comments, I didn't read down through the thread to where the OP clarified that the work to repair the tow truck damage was started/done without his consent. I thought he had authorized the work, as is SOP for repairs.

Kinda bizarre that the shop actually did that. It's recipe for non-payment of work performed.

Insurance adjuster on site? I smell fish, somebdiesgonnagetscrood.

TRoglodyte wrote: Insurance adjuster on site? I smell fish, somebdiesgonnagetscrood.

And I smell a guy who has no idea WTF he is talking about. But thanks for posting.

The lizard, as do many other companies, have contracts with select body shops usually referred to as "direct repair" programs. The lizard is a little unique in that they have a staffer on-site that does all the estimate writing vs the usual practice of having the shop do it and upload it for an office drone states away review it for accuracy. The fish smell probably is from my Filet-o-Fish I had for lunch, since I'm stuck at the shop all day when I have to do that duty.

As to the original post, I didn't realize no authorization was given by the car owner. That changes the dynamic completely as pointed out by others. It all seems mostly moot now anyway since the shop is mostly using that as an excuse for their inept parts person.

And to clarify...I don't hate Volvos as cars, I only despise them on a work related level. I'd still rather deal with a front hit on a Volvo over any VW/Audi product. The latter I secretly wish would burst into flames while parked overnight at the shop so my only task would be writing off the charred remains. Mercedes are on par with Volvos. BMWs are slightly better unless you are talking the uber expensive ones. Range Rovers are the same as VWs. Jaguars, depends on the model (X-types are the cars that mechanics sent to hell must work on for eternity). I don't know why European cars have to be so complicated when it comes to body assembly.

ddavidv wrote: I don't know why European cars have to be so complicated when it comes to body assembly.

That's because us Europeans are so sofistikated .

Shaun, any news on the car?

Man, what is it about idiots knowing when a car has just been repaired. I picked up my Miata after a front bumper and hardtop repaint last night. On the way to work today, someone started crossing into my lane as they were passing. This is when I found out my horn didn't work. Thank God there was a shoulder and not a Jersey wall.

On the plus side, my insurance (State Farm) and body shop were great to deal with. I refused to take it to a "recommended" shop, opting for a family run one my brother and the Internet had good experiences with.

If the adjuster has an office on the premises why didn't he slither out when the tow truck driver hit your car ?

TRoglodyte wrote: If the adjuster has an office on the premises why didn't he slither out when the tow truck driver hit your car ?

Let me count the reasons: no claim created, thus no claim assigned. If we don't have an assignment, we can't write it on our laptop. Additionally, the way our work is scheduled, there is NO TIME in the day to take on another project like this. We're lucky to get everything we are assigned at one of those locations done in a normal day. You should see the (impossible to achieve) flow chart they have for us.

Squeezing employees and customers for every penny. I just think the insurance companies should remember why we pay premiums. Thanks for the insight ddavidv

Everything worked out. I picked it up Friday eve and flew to see the folks Saturday 6 am, hence the delay with this post. The shop was quite happy to see the car leave, it had definitely become a pariah and they were spooked. The work looks good, the paint match is good, and they used volvo everything.

The tow truck driver paid the shop, volvo paid the shop something for the rear bumper screw up, of course geico paid the shop, and the shop definitely were willing to try and keep my car if anything did not go their way.

Thanks for the info, based on what I learned here I had a clear understanding of which way the mop could flop and was a reasonably informed consumer.

I am sure running a body shop is as least as difficult as running any other service businesses, and nevertheless, I did not like that the shop stated that they would try and lien my car when I had no part of the issue they had with the tow truck, it's driver, his employer, and everybody else's insurance but mine.

It's a dog eat dog world.

ddavidv wrote:

TRoglodyte wrote: Insurance adjuster on site? I smell fish, somebdiesgonnagetscrood.

And I smell a guy who has no idea WTF he is talking about. But thanks for posting. And to clarify...I don't hate Volvos as cars, I only despise them on a work related level. I'd still rather deal with a front hit on a Volvo over any VW/Audi product. The latter I secretly wish would burst into flames while parked overnight at the shop so my only task would be writing off the charred remains. Mercedes are on par with Volvos. BMWs are slightly better unless you are talking the uber expensive ones. Range Rovers are the same as VWs. Jaguars, depends on the model (X-types are the cars that mechanics sent to hell must work on for eternity). I don't know why European cars have to be so complicated when it comes to body assembly.

Thanks for all the good info. Funny enough, when I read your post about not liking to work on Volvos, my immediate thought was "but, but, but,... what about VW/Audi?".

Cheers!