Circle Auto Body Inc.

Review: I recently had my truck involved in an accident where I was not at fault. It was struck while parked unoccupied on the side of the road.

I had it towed to Circle Auto Body because it was nearby, and seemed easier than being towed over an hour away to a shop nearby my house.

The first call received from Circle Auto Body was from their estimator, and said the initial estimate was going to be about $4800, but he still had to get it up on the lifts in order to get a complete estimate. I made it clear that at this point, neither insurance company was accepting responsibility and to call me with a final estimate before any work was started, as I was unsure who was going to be paying for the repairs at this time.

While I was out of town on business, Circle Auto Body calls and speaks with my mother, and tells them repairs have been started, and gave an estimated finish date. At this point, I still had not authorized any work to be started other than an estimate, and was still unsure which insurance company would be covering the costs since it was still "pending investigation."

When the truck was completed, the owner calls me and tells me it's ready to be picked up, and he would need my $2,000 deductible for my insurance company to cover the bill since it was on the record as a collision which put me at fault. I explained to him the situation, and that I was not at fault and therefor should have a $0 deductible, and offered to come in and sign any papers and gave him my word that I would pay him the full amount once the insurance companies were finished with their investigation. He declined this offer stating that "he has a shop to run."

Over a month later, the at fault parties insurance company finished their investigation and authorized payment. They e-mailed me a copy of their "Authorization to Repair - Direction to Pay" form, which states "I have received a copy of the repair estimate written by the above named [redacted] Auto & Home Guaranteed Repair Program participating shop and hereby authorize said facility to commence repairs upon my vehicle."

Now the repair shop is threatening to start charging me "storage" fees as they hold my vehicle because I refuse to pay for work I did not authorize.

Also, according to the Code of Virginia, section 59.1-207.3, Circle Auto Body appears to be in violation of many of the articles about repair work being completed and written authorization being required.

I have requested on multiple occasions that a repair order be e-mailed to me detailing the cost of parts and labor, and have yet to see this as well.Desired Settlement: Unless Circle Auto Body can provide evidence that the repair work was authorized, I will offer to cover the cost of parts only.

Business

Response:

9/26/2013

To Whom It May Concern,

Reference the complaint lodged by **. [redacted], ID #[redacted]:

**. [redacted] (referred herein as "the Owner") arranged for his 2004 ford ranger to be towed into Circle Auto Body on 7/1/2013. We received a direct repair assignment from [redacted] Insurance (the Owner's insurance company) on the same day. We spoke with the Owner on 7/1/2013 regarding the estimate on his vehicle and explained that we would be able to give him a better idea of the estimate after we inspected the underneath of his car, which would possibly require disassembling some of the parts, get his car up on the lift, to enable us to see all of the damage. The Owner was told at this time that he would need to sign an Authorization form. The Owner said at that time that he would not be able to sign the form due to the fact that he was going out of town; however, he did give verbal conformation and authorization to begin the estimate process. We called him with the estimate and the Owner told us to continue with repairs at this point. The Owner did say that he was going through his insurance ([redacted]) and had a $2,000.00 deductible. He also stated that he was trying to get [redacted] Insurance Company to accept a claim for his vehicle, but for Circle Auto Body to continue with repairs.

On 7/23/2013, the Owner said he wanted to stop repairs until the Insurance Company's dispute was resolved; however, he then stated for Circle Auto Body to continue with the repairs and he would call [redacted] to discuss again, so we continued. On 7/23/2013, [redacted], from [redacted] called Circle Auto Body and confirmed that he spoke with **. [redacted] and [redacted] would pay all repair costs except for the $2,000 deductible and for us to continue with the repairs.

We called the Owner throughout the repair process to provide status updates. Circle Auto Body notified the Owner that repairs where complete on 7/31/2013, the Owner stated that he was still working with [redacted] and [redacted] over coverage issues & that he does not have the $2000.00 to pay the deductible. The Owner then said that he would call [redacted] again and call back to Circle Auto Body. The Owner never called back to our company. We called on 8/2/2013 and left a message that the truck needed to be picked up. On 8/23/2013 [redacted] Insurance called Circle Auto Body and said that they have accepted the claim and would send a representative out to collect all paperwork and the final bill. On 8/26/2013 the [redacted] Insurance representative came to Circle Auto Body and was given the final bill information.

[redacted] Insurance Company issued a check for repairs to **. [redacted] in the amount of $5,410.14. I called the Owner to tell him that [redacted] Insurance Company had sent the check to the owner, for the full amount. The Owners mother told us that the Owner had put the check in the bank and would be here to pick up the truck once the check cleared.

On 9/18/2013, **. [redacted] came to Circle Auto Body and refused to pay the repair bill in full. He said that he never authorized repair but would give the shop $3,000. And we could "call it even". We then told **. [redacted] that the shop needed to be paid in full before releasing the truck. He then started cursing and said he would not pay any more than $3,000.00. The Owner did not make any payment to Circle Auto Body and left the premises.

**. [redacted] had his truck towed here, verbally authorized repairs (due to being out of town) and was notified throughout the repair process of the status of his vehicle repairs. Not once did the Owner request for repairs to be ceased or attempt to remove the truck from the shop to stop said repairs. In fact, **. [redacted] advised Circle Auto Body to continue with repairs even though his issue with [redacted] & [redacted] was not yet resolved. The Owner was then advised that he could either pay his repair bill of $5,410.14 in full to pick up his truck or pay the storage fee of $50.00 a day starting at 7/1/13, as he is responsible for having his truck towed to our facility in July.

Now that the repairs have been completed, **. [redacted] claims that he never should have had the vehicle repaired. **. [redacted] has received payment from the Insurance Company for all the repairs/labor/parts, which Circle Auto Body preformed; however, no payment has been received to date from the Owner. Circle Auto Body deserves to be paid for the work completed on **. [redacted]'s vehicle, yet the funds are still in the Owner's possession. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,