Complain to the insurance company...they can and should get it fixed. Tell them you are going to switch insurance too.

BTW!!!! You guys can take it to any shop you want!!!! You dont have to go to the shop that your insuance reccomends!!!! Just because they use that shop doesn't mean they are good...just means they dont have to pay as much...thats all!!! SHOP AROUND!!!!

-freddie
Journeyman Auto Painter

 

The insuance company is responsible wherever you take your car!!! How much money do you give them x the amount you actually use them??? They should handle it no matter where you go.

Anyway, complain to them!!! Also, tell them that you want to go to another shop and they can cover it since thier reccomendation sucks sooo much!!

Milpitas Auto Body is great too. On Main St. By the Great Mall. Ask for Neal. Tell them I sent you

-freddie

 

call your insurance company back. Ask to talk to a supervisor. Creativekustoms is 100% correct...and George/Elizabeth should know..they deal with this stuff directly.

You have a satisfaction right when you're getting your car worked on. The insurance company sent you to this place. They must deal with this until you are happy. Keep on the insurance company. Ask them why they are more concerned with making the body shop happy than they are in making the customer happy. You are with a good company and probably paying a good penny. They need to take care of you.

I'd also file with the BBB against both your insurance company and the body shop. And start looking into small claims court as a last resort. DO NOT take your car back to tommy's.

It's clear that they are lazy and don't give a ****. That spot in the pictures doesn't look like it's been prepped at all. No primer. You could get a better job at Miracle or whatever the hell that $200 jobby place is called.

So either get the money to fix it back from the body shop or get the insurance company to let you pick a place you like. Then take it to George at Creative Kustom. Pick it up shortly after and be happy with it.

I've been to george a couple of times for a couple of different things. Their work is top notch. They are insanely busy with everything from small insurance jobs to full on custom work like a viper that's getting a fully custom airbrushed graphic hood and a 64 impala that's flat pimp. And even as busy as they are...you get attention to detail and incredible service.

Ray

 

We've been going in circles with the insurance company for a while. As I say, the local office thinks we should be able to take it somewhere else, but the regional office says no, we have to take it back to Tommy's or pay out of our own pocket.

 

no you don't.

I am dead serious. Talk to a lawyer...have the lawyer call. That's probably all it will take. They are pulling a power move on you. Talk on the phone directly to the head folks and give them the laws posted in this thread and whatever else you can dig up.

If they blow you off again....call the lawyer.

This is horse****. They are responsible for the people they send you to.... they chose them.

 

Another suggestion-to CYA in case you do need to pursue a lawsuit. Document everything in writing- ie phone calls between you & the insurance co & Tommy's. Also, possible write a letter to the Regional Office & cc the local office. Make it clear that you will pursue it as far as necessary & include pics.

The more documentation you have the better covered you will be in court.

Good luck, and if you need any help with the letter let me know.

 

I have yet to find a law that specifically says we should be able to take it to another body shop. That seems like a reasonable way to interpret what I have read, but I have not been able to find anything that says this specifically.

We've gone up a few levels of supervisors now, the last my wife spoke with today, he was at least polite unlike the last two, but again asked us to give Tommy's one last chance -- they have called Tommy's several times now, and Tommy's is asking for another chance and claiming they will do a good job this time (at the same time they are telling us they will give it back to us the next day). Tommy's also says they will pay for a rental car or provide a loaner or something (of course they are assuming it will only be a day). The State Farm guy said they would send an inspector to lean on Tommy's to do it right this time or refund the money, and says we definitely don't have to go back to Tommy's a 5th time if we are unhappy (gee, thanks, like 3 tries wasn't enough). Do I trust them? Probably not, but my wife wants to go through with it and see what happens. I've carefully documented the problems and prepared a specific list for the insurance company, and I want to find another shop to inspect the work when it's done. I'll let you know how it goes. My guess is that they will at least try to make it look nice, and in about 3-6 months the paint will start to peel again.

If anyone has a lawyer to recommend, let me know.

 

You've got PM.

The bull**** has got to stop...

Fight it!

 

I will check with the attorneys at my work for a referral & get back to you

 

Well, this is getting so absurd it's almost funny. Tommy's broke a seatbelt this time. Well, not broke, but put back together in such a way that it no longer works. The insurance inspector insisted that they take out the right rear window in order to paint it correctly, and I guess when they put it back together they messed up something about the seatbelt, so it won't retract now unless we push on the panel over it and feed it. I only noticed because it was swinging loose and hitting stuff -- so they had to know it wasn't working and they left it like that anyway.

It's been raining since we picked it up, so I haven't really been able to check out the paint. But as usual, it comes back from Tommy's needing more work to be done.

Any guesses what State Farm will say this time?

Update: Since I'm getting close to selling this car, I thought I should actually update this! For the seatbelt State Farm told us to take it to a dealer and get it fixed, and they paid the dealer directly. Other than that, on that last visit the State Farm inspector was really hard on the body shop, pointed out all the ways they had screwed up (not prepping the bumper correctly or even priming it, not removing the window so that they got the paint right, etc.) and made several specific demands about how they were going to do the job this time. It was kind of funny because they complained about how much more work doing it right was going to be than what they billed the insurance company for. Anyway as far as I can tell, under threat from the insurance company they actually did do it right that last time, the only problem I've noticed since is that a trim piece next to the window occasionally pops out a little, I think some plastic retaining clip got broken or worn when they took out the window. It pops right back, and I always forget to ask the dealer to fix it when I take it in.