[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: This is a matter of law and all other comments are irrelevant. They made an error and "disposed" of the part in violation of Virginia lawVirginia Automobile Repair Facilities Act 59.1-207.4, item states "the repair shop must offer to return to you any parts removed from the vehicle and replaced during the process of repair"In addition, "The customer retains the right to inspect requested returned parts even if custody is refused". Furthermore, section 59.1-Enforcement; penalties states, "Any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a prohibited practice pursuant to the provisions of 59.1-and shall be subject to any and all enforcement provisions of Chapter (59.1-et seq.) of this title." Also, in violation of Virginia law- I allowed an estimate -A repair is only authorized after an estimate is given and authorization occursThe same day I was given an initial estimate, I was then given the news that a repair was not possible and the insurance company declared the vehicle a "loss" due to the revised estimated repair cost (which was more then % of the original estimate given earlier)I asked if Falls Church Auto Body would repair the vehicle, and what it would cost, and they refused. I then told them I would have another shop repair the vehicle, and it was removed from the custody without all of the parts tendered.Again, I am out of pocket currently $(Plus tax) for the bumperIn addition, I need it to be painted to match the rest of my vehicleThis would not be necessary if they had returned the part as required by lawI am happy to provide an estimate for the paintIn addition, the "hypothesis" of Falls Church Auto Body that the bumper was unusable has no basis in the law which is what we are discussingWe are not discussing conjecture or opinion. Without the part, that cannot be determinedI was told by the shop that repaired my vehicle that they could have re-used my bumper (and it would not have needed to be repainted). I am also out of pocket for my time and research on this matter (approximately hours)This needs to be resolvedFalls Church Auto Body had the opportunity to provide me with a replacement bumper when I called to complain, and they did notIf this is not resolved, I will have no choice but to go to court and recover my out of pocket costs for their refusal to return the part (including having the bumper painted at a yet undetermined cost), legal fees, time, inconvenience, etc.Once the business can take responsibility for breaking the law and compensate my losses I will accept their response
Regards,
*** ***
This is in reference to your fetter of August 9, 2017 stating you have received a complaint from a former customer and the case has been assigned the IE) of the reference.We would like hereby to state a couple of facts we feel are needed in order to understand the way the shop addressed the...
situation with this vehicle while in our facility. After reading the customer statement she seems not to be familiar with this procedure even though we have previously explained it when responding to her complaint to the Office of the Attorney General at the Commonwealth of Virginia in two separate opportunities. Our shop has one of the highest ratings in quality and customer satisfaction in the DMV area and of course will always work to keep it that way.First, vehicle came to the shop and original estimate for $5749.49 was written by [redacted] Insurance Company not by our shop. Tear down is performed per insurance request and customer approval in a vehicle to allow [redacted] in this case to see hidden damages and when a vehicle is hit the way this vehicle was, most of the damage is located behind the bumper cover, The additional damage found is clearly itemized on the supplement written by [redacted], not the shop, being most of it on the rear body panel of the vehicle that is underneath the bumper this proves that the damage to it was not just minor or cosmetic but structural and also we did not, as customer states, claimed the car was totaled, again it is the insurance and only the insurance who can deem a vehicle à total loss. Once that part is removed off the vehicle the part is not reusable since is plastic and brackets are broken; different than the quarter panel which also was severely damaged but did not need to be removed to see further. Another reason quarter panels are not removed is because they are welded to the roof so to perform a tear down on a quarter panel will involve cutting in the roof metal. In the picture of the bumper, the damage is to the quarter panel but also to where the rear bumper meets the quarter since the rear bumper goes all the way to the side. Customer states the picture shows the bumper attached to the car but after tear down is performed bumper is not attached to the vehicle anymore and as explained before it is trash since it's a plastic and breaks once you remove it. s Another important fact is that customer states that if the bumper was saved this could have been reused by the shop who fixed it however if you look at the [redacted] estimate you can see clearly the insurance company and not the shop determined the bumper needed to be replaced due to the damage on it therefore it was not reusable. It is also important to mention customer writes about violating the Virginia Law when saying "The facility shall offer to return all replaced parts except warranty, core charge or trade-in parts required to be returned to a manufacturer or distributor. One more time the part was not replaced therefore statement is not applicable.e Third, the authorization to repair signed by customer states on the first line "I HEREBY GRANT FALLS CHURCH AUTO BODY PERMISSION TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE TO PRE ACCIDENT CONDITON' however customer states she never "allow for shop to repair her car". Also just for the records the bumper approved on the [redacted] estimate is not an OEM but an Aftermarket bumper cost $253.00 plus tax.a Fourth customer states that "insurance company even deducted salvage fee for her retained vehicle” and It's true however this is standard procedure for a total loss vehicles retained by a customer since she is buying it back from insurance they will deduct the salvage value and applicable deductible off the settlement amount.a Fifth our shop does not under any circumstances reuse or re-sell parts we take off vehicles for estimate of repair purposes and this work is performed for estimating purposes in all cases. When a vehicle is a total loss the shop does not make any profit on the vehicle as suggested by the customer,We hope these answers her concerns we do not feel we owe for a $600 bumper plus paint on a vehicle that first was 3 total loss and second the insurance company has written an estimate to have that bumper replaced and third she would like for us to pay for paint when the picture she submitted on her previous complaint shows an unpainted bumper. We do not know which shop she took the vehicle to or its reputation, we can only go by the insurance estimate that stated the damage on the bumper justified for it to be replaced therefore it was not re-usableif any additional information is needed please do not hesitate on emailing me or calling me at any time. Thank you,Sincerely Curtis *. U[redacted] PresidentFalls Church Auto Body, LTD
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: This is a matter of law and all other comments are irrelevant. They made an error and "disposed" of the part in violation of Virginia lawVirginia Automobile Repair Facilities Act 59.1-207.4, item states "the repair shop must offer to return to you any parts removed from the vehicle and replaced during the process of repair"In addition, "The customer retains the right to inspect requested returned parts even if custody is refused". Furthermore, section 59.1-Enforcement; penalties states, "Any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a prohibited practice pursuant to the provisions of 59.1-and shall be subject to any and all enforcement provisions of Chapter (59.1-et seq.) of this title." Also, in violation of Virginia law- I allowed an estimate -A repair is only authorized after an estimate is given and authorization occursThe same day I was given an initial estimate, I was then given the news that a repair was not possible and the insurance company declared the vehicle a "loss" due to the revised estimated repair cost (which was more then % of the original estimate given earlier)I asked if Falls Church Auto Body would repair the vehicle, and what it would cost, and they refused. I then told them I would have another shop repair the vehicle, and it was removed from the custody without all of the parts tendered.Again, I am out of pocket currently $(Plus tax) for the bumperIn addition, I need it to be painted to match the rest of my vehicleThis would not be necessary if they had returned the part as required by lawI am happy to provide an estimate for the paintIn addition, the "hypothesis" of Falls Church Auto Body that the bumper was unusable has no basis in the law which is what we are discussingWe are not discussing conjecture or opinion. Without the part, that cannot be determinedI was told by the shop that repaired my vehicle that they could have re-used my bumper (and it would not have needed to be repainted). I am also out of pocket for my time and research on this matter (approximately hours)This needs to be resolvedFalls Church Auto Body had the opportunity to provide me with a replacement bumper when I called to complain, and they did notIf this is not resolved, I will have no choice but to go to court and recover my out of pocket costs for their refusal to return the part (including having the bumper painted at a yet undetermined cost), legal fees, time, inconvenience, etc.Once the business can take responsibility for breaking the law and compensate my losses I will accept their response
Regards,
*** ***
This is in reference to your fetter of August 9, 2017 stating you have received a complaint from a former customer and the case has been assigned the IE) of the reference.We would like hereby to state a couple of facts we feel are needed in order to understand the way the shop addressed the...
situation with this vehicle while in our facility. After reading the customer statement she seems not to be familiar with this procedure even though we have previously explained it when responding to her complaint to the Office of the Attorney General at the Commonwealth of Virginia in two separate opportunities. Our shop has one of the highest ratings in quality and customer satisfaction in the DMV area and of course will always work to keep it that way.First, vehicle came to the shop and original estimate for $5749.49 was written by [redacted] Insurance Company not by our shop. Tear down is performed per insurance request and customer approval in a vehicle to allow [redacted] in this case to see hidden damages and when a vehicle is hit the way this vehicle was, most of the damage is located behind the bumper cover, The additional damage found is clearly itemized on the supplement written by [redacted], not the shop, being most of it on the rear body panel of the vehicle that is underneath the bumper this proves that the damage to it was not just minor or cosmetic but structural and also we did not, as customer states, claimed the car was totaled, again it is the insurance and only the insurance who can deem a vehicle à total loss. Once that part is removed off the vehicle the part is not reusable since is plastic and brackets are broken; different than the quarter panel which also was severely damaged but did not need to be removed to see further. Another reason quarter panels are not removed is because they are welded to the roof so to perform a tear down on a quarter panel will involve cutting in the roof metal. In the picture of the bumper, the damage is to the quarter panel but also to where the rear bumper meets the quarter since the rear bumper goes all the way to the side. Customer states the picture shows the bumper attached to the car but after tear down is performed bumper is not attached to the vehicle anymore and as explained before it is trash since it's a plastic and breaks once you remove it. s Another important fact is that customer states that if the bumper was saved this could have been reused by the shop who fixed it however if you look at the [redacted] estimate you can see clearly the insurance company and not the shop determined the bumper needed to be replaced due to the damage on it therefore it was not reusable. It is also important to mention customer writes about violating the Virginia Law when saying "The facility shall offer to return all replaced parts except warranty, core charge or trade-in parts required to be returned to a manufacturer or distributor. One more time the part was not replaced therefore statement is not applicable.e Third, the authorization to repair signed by customer states on the first line "I HEREBY GRANT FALLS CHURCH AUTO BODY PERMISSION TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE TO PRE ACCIDENT CONDITON' however customer states she never "allow for shop to repair her car". Also just for the records the bumper approved on the [redacted] estimate is not an OEM but an Aftermarket bumper cost $253.00 plus tax.a Fourth customer states that "insurance company even deducted salvage fee for her retained vehicle” and It's true however this is standard procedure for a total loss vehicles retained by a customer since she is buying it back from insurance they will deduct the salvage value and applicable deductible off the settlement amount.a Fifth our shop does not under any circumstances reuse or re-sell parts we take off vehicles for estimate of repair purposes and this work is performed for estimating purposes in all cases. When a vehicle is a total loss the shop does not make any profit on the vehicle as suggested by the customer,We hope these answers her concerns we do not feel we owe for a $600 bumper plus paint on a vehicle that first was 3 total loss and second the insurance company has written an estimate to have that bumper replaced and third she would like for us to pay for paint when the picture she submitted on her previous complaint shows an unpainted bumper. We do not know which shop she took the vehicle to or its reputation, we can only go by the insurance estimate that stated the damage on the bumper justified for it to be replaced therefore it was not re-usableif any additional information is needed please do not hesitate on emailing me or calling me at any time. Thank you,Sincerely Curtis *. U[redacted] PresidentFalls Church Auto Body, LTD