MAACO Collision Repair and Auto Painting, Swansea IL.

Vehicle was towed to our location on 2/without noticeThe customer contacted their insurance company and an adjuster came out on 2/to complete the estimateBeing an insurance claim, we take the information submitted by the insurance company and enter it verbatim into our system, and then any differences or changes are entered as a supplementI inspected the vehicle and the estimate written by the adjuster and found no discrepanciesParts were ordered per what was quoted by [redacted] ***, and work was started once we received the authorization from the customer a couple of days laterThe customer came to our shop several times, unannounced, between 2/and 3/to inspect the progress, and had no questions or concernsHowever, on 3/when the customer came in to look at the vehicle, we had the vehicle partially repaired and the replacement decklid (trunk) was loosely installed so that the quarter panel and rear body panel could be fitThis replacement decklid had not yet been stripped or painted, and still had it's original spoiler and emblems on itThe customer saw this decklid and immediately began yelling about it being the wrong part and that they were not going to accept their vehicle with this part on itI attempted to explain to the customer that the decklid itself was actually the same, but that the emblems and spoiler are interchangeable between the different trim levels, that we had all new (correct) emblems and their existing undamaged spoiler to install on the decklid once it was paintedI was unable to reason with them and get them to understand that the part is EXACTLY the sameThey became combative so I directed them back to [redacted] for clarification, as I was following insurance protocolThe customer then went to a local Toyota dealership to get prices for a brand new decklid, spoiler, left quarter panel, tail lights, etcand came back to our shop to tell us that they wanted us to order those partsI explained that I ordered the parts purchased by the insurance company and again directed them back to [redacted] with their questions about why they couldn't have these new partsAt one point I overheard the customer on the phone with the insurance company and the person they were speaking with was saying "Sir, we would not be buying a new OEM decklid for your car when there are quality replacement parts available.", and the customer kept saying "It's not a new decklid, it's from 2008!" [redacted] would then try to explain that if the part has never been painted or installed on a vehicle, it's a new part, and he just kept repeating "It's not new, it's from 2008!" They refused to accept any used parts, regardless of conditionThey again told me that they would not accept the vehicle with that part on it, so I told them I could not work on the vehicle until they authorized the parts we hadFor a week the customer went back and forth with [redacted] ***, and our shop was caught in the middleThe insurance company could not successfully convince the customer that the parts were the same and eventually folded, wrote a supplement for an OEM decklid and spoiler (which was never damaged to begin with) and issued payment to the customerAt that time, the customer called to say that I needed to pay for their rental car, since we installed the wrong part on their vehicleI declined, again attempting to explain that it was not the wrong part, but the customer began yelling at meI then told the customer that they would just need to go ahead and pay us for the work we had completed and remove their vehicle from our premises since we couldn't seem to come to an agreementFirst the customer came to our shop and said they would not be paying us because we did not finishI told them we would not be releasing the vehicle to the tow truck until it was paid forThey then tried to say that they never authorized repairs, but I reminded them that Denise had authorized repairs by phone and that they had been here or times since the vehicle arrived and if they didn't "authorize" repairs then why didn't they speak up when they saw the rear end of their car cut offThe customers finally paid what was owed for the work completed and parts installed and the vehicle was removedThis is quite literally the most ridiculous thing I have ever dealt with in my career estimating vehiclesI even forwarded the customer to another Toyota dealership for clarification, but I do not think they ever contacted themThis shop will not be paying for any rental charges, as the customer had ten days between the day of the accident and the day of drop off at our facility, and because we followed protocol and never ordered the wrong part to begin withWe will also not be refunding any payments made, as the customer was only charged for work completed and parts already installedIn reality, the customer should have been charged for several hours of admin time, as they wasted nearly ten hours of my time in five days attempting to get this cleared up between them and [redacted] ***In my opinion, the complaint should have been filed on [redacted] ***, as they did not do their due diligence with this customer and they only succeeded in escalating the situation to the point of no return

The morning of 6/8/17, I contacted Mr*** and informed him that his trailer would be ready for pick up at 3:that afternoonHe asked what time we closed, and I told him 5:00pmThat evening, when the clock in our office said 5:00pm, I locked the front office door, went out to the shop and
pushed Mr***’s trailer back into the building (since he hadn’t shown up) and walked into the back of the shop to start my closing proceduresA few minutes later I had to return to the front portion of the building to retrieve keys to a vehicle, and had stopped to close the front garage doorI then went all the way out to the rear of our lot to get a vehicle, pulled it in, puttered around for a moment and then started walking back towards the front of the buildingAs I was walking along the side of our paint booth, a man I did not know came out from behind the other end of the booth and startled meThere was no reason for this person to come from this area, as there are no doors on that side of the buildingI asked him if I could help him, no doubt with confusion and defensiveness in my voiceHe said he was here to get a trailerI said “Ok…but how did you get in the building?”He tells me he entered through a side door (which I later discovered was the door to our back office)I usher this man back into the main office, as the door he came through clearly said “Employees Only” and “Do Not Enter”, and I went to find one of two other employees who were still in another part of the building to have them get the trailer back outside so that I could take this guy’s paymentI return to the office to find Mr*** waiting with his friend who had startled me in the back shopI am trying to process his payment and he says something rude to me that I do not recall, to which I responded “Sir, you entered a closed business, after hours, through an unmarked side doorHow would you like me to feel about that?”He continued to tell me how wrong I was and that he could do whatever he wanted here because his property was hereMr*** is the one who was doing the cursing and the name calling, he even stopped on his way out the door to say moreI admit, I followed him outside, but I held the door open and said to him “I hope you don’t have any daughters or sisters or a wife who someone treats this way”He smirked and kept saying “I do, I do” and was flipping me off like a child as he got into his vehicleI went back inside and locked the door and it wasn’t until they already had the trailer hooked up and were getting back in their vehicle that I came back up front to get his license plate numberThe whole situation disturbed me seriously, especially being a female who was here alone with one other female and a very young manDisturbed me so much that when I left for the day I stopped at the local PDI was told by an officer that Mr*** and his friend had committed criminal trespassing and that I could sign charges against themI told the officer that I was not one to make waves where they were not necessary and that if he could make Mr*** understand how what he did was wrong, then I was OK with dropping it, BUT, if he wanted to be a jerk then I would have no problem signingThat officer called me about minutes later to inform me that Mr*** and his friend were actually a local pastor and minister, that they told him that was totally out of character for them, and asked the officer to apologize on their behalfI accepted and dropped the situationBut apparently, Mr*** thought more about it and decided he should call our customer service department the following day, when he may have gotten into a verbal altercation with a representative there (I am awaiting call audio at this time)He must have then talked to someone else who took a statement from him that was quite outlandishHe claims that we slammed the door on him and that the side door that he came in through was wide openThat I cussed them both out and they never said a word to meThat I stood there “cussing” them out the entire time they loaded the trailerIn his statement, he also claims that another customer came while he was there and that I “very calmly told her to come back tomorrow” and then went back to cussing them out, yet he told a very different story here.And that is the real problemNearly every part of Mr***’s Revdex.com claim is untrueThe story continues to become more and more outlandish every time he tells itHowever, the only story that matters is the truth- which I have on camera and Mr*** apparently did not considerThe footage shows me locking the office door and going into the backIt shows me coming back up front and closing the garage door, unbeknownst to me, at the exact moment Mr*** pulled into the parking lot, out of my sightIt shows me returning to the back of the property while Mr*** and his friend walk around the side of the building and appear through the back office (the friend first, with Mr*** following behind by several secondsWhat he was doing in there, I do not know), and then his friend opens a closed door marked “Employees Only” and enters the back shop areaIt shows all of our interaction in the office and out frontNever did I “slam the bay door” in anyone’s face or “run to the office and lock it”Never did I scream or curseNever did I get “nasty” with the cop, and the officer claims he never said thatThe cop also says that Mr***’s wife was in very good spirits when he was there, laughing and joking around with himShe most certainly did not require hospitalization, as she was not even present when he picked up the trailer.I understand that Mr*** may be embarrassed or upset because the police came to his houseWhat he doesn’t understand is that it is a criminal offense to knowingly enter a closed business after hours, through any doorBeing a female in a man’s business, I am AT ALL TIMES ready to defend myself, and this could have ended much worse than it didMr*** will not be receiving a refund of any sort, as his wife was not hospitalized and he is the one who caused all of the trouble he is complaining aboutI think Mr*** and his friend should be grateful that I have, so far, found it in my heart to decline pressing any criminal charges, and move on from the situationIf he continues with this nonsense, I may have no choiceMr*** should also be reminded that he claims to be a pillar in his church, and that his God and parishioners would likely frown upon the lies he has been telling about me and this businessWe gave Mr*** a quality paint service at an amazing cost and I do not think he can dispute that.Also, we are currently having an issue with clocksOur computers, credit card machine and time clock have different times from our personal cell phones and an “atomic” clock I haveI tend to operate off of the atomic clock, but times can differ to minutes between devicesTHAT is why Mr***’s receipt incorrectly says 5:01pmAgain, I have camera footage but cannot attach an .mpfile here

The consumer states that she was told repairs to her truck would take a week, when in fact, at the time of estimate, she was told that repairs of that nature usually take seven to ten work days, which does not include Saturday or Sunday. The consumer states that she left several messages but did not receive a call back. The issue was that I was stuck in jury duty and had left my employees with explicit instructions on how to proceed. When the consumer refused to speak to anyone but me, there was little my employees could do for her. She did speak to me on the morning of 8/12, when I told her that her vehicle would be ready in approximately 30 minutes, as they were working on getting it cleaned up for her. She did not ask me any other questions or indicate that she had something she wished to discuss when I spoke to her at that time. Apparently, when she came in a few hours later to retrieve the vehicle, she became irate with my employees because I was not available for her to speak with. Had she indicated she needed to speak to me when I spoke with her on the phone several hours prior, we could have made the appropriate arrangements. But, unfortunately, I was on a conference call when she arrived and was unable to immediately drop the call upon her request. At no time was I “behind closed doors, watching and listening”. My employee says that she never told the consumer that the scratch wasn’t there when she washed the truck. The scratch was actually noted on the repair order by the technician who did the repairs. When he pulls a vehicle into his bay, he first compares the repair order to the vehicle before inspecting the vehicle for other damages. We record all additional damages that are present when the vehicle arrives, in order to prevent any blame being placed on us for those areas. (Unfortunately, due to the nature of our business, we have learned the hard way and adopted this practice out of necessity.) In addition to the scratches on the door, there were also some prior repairs to the front end of the vehicle noted, which were of sub-par quality, as the paint was dull and full of texture, and you could see areas where repairs were attempted but not finished properly. The consumer neglected to mention the other scratches on the same door, within a four inch radius of the scratch she was concerned about. She actually admitted to my employees that she had caused the other damage, but said that this one little scratch (between the other scratches) was not caused by her. My employees attempted to explain our processes to her, with respect to the inspection done when the vehicle arrived, but the consumer instead chose to curse and threaten my employees, and refused to listen to what they were attempting to explain to her. She was offered a touch up of the paint to those scratches at no charge, but she refused. When we make repairs to the rear end of a vehicle, and the consumer arrives and makes a bee line for the front end and immediately begins pointing out damage, you have to wonder about their intentions. All of the repairs we did to this vehicle were in and around the two rear wheels, and no where near the front of the vehicle. The damages were noted at the time that work began. This shop will not be held responsible for existing damages that are present upon arrival, nor will we cater to consumers who chose threats and intimidation as a means of communication. While I am responsible for most daily activities, including estimating, I am not able to be here at all times and deal with everyone at the moment they request, which is why we recommend that they make an appointment if they are needing further assistance- so that I can make sure they have my undivided attention when they arrive. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that I will be available to assist them. There was absolutely nothing I could do about jury duty, as they forced me to be there, and for this consumer to infer that I wasn’t being professional because I wasn’t available is completely ridiculous. The consumer filed a complaint with our Customer Service Department and was contacted by one of the representatives within the specified time frame, and the case has since been closed. This complaint is unsettling, especially since our shop went above and beyond with the repairs and paint to this vehicle and the one prior, and this customer was given discounts totaling $439.91 between the two vehicles. We attempt to make all of our customers happy with the service they receive, but it simply is not possible, and for that, I am truly sorry

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/10) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted], MANAGER
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@yahoo.com
On 7/6/15, the customer brought his vehicle in for an estimate. The estimate was written for a replacement front bumper cover...

only. There was also substantial damage to the passenger fender where it meets the bumper, but the customer declined repairs and a note was made in the estimate that the bumper may not fit correctly without fixing the fender and that the customer had declined repairs. The customer was also told that if he paid for the part up front we could order it and paint it before he dropped the vehicle off, and then we would only need the vehicle for half a day to install the bumper cover. He declined and left.
On Tuesday, 7/21/15, the customer came in with the vehicle to drop it off, yet he had not made an appointment for repairs or paid for the replacement part so that it could be ordered. He also decided that he would like to have the damage to the fender repaired as well, and his repair order was adjusted accordingly. The customer was told it would be several days since we weren't able to order the part before drop off and he was adding work. He was fine with that. When the damaged bumper was removed, it was discovered that there was some additional damage in the form of broken plastic brackets, as well as some previous damage that was either not repaired or repaired incorrectly. The vehicle has several damaged areas and upon further inspection, has been wrecked multiple times. There are other replacement parts on the vehicle and some parts were being held together with shoe strings (yes, shoe strings) and zip ties. Customer declined additional repairs. Vehicle was ready for pickup on Wednesday, 7/29/15, but the customer did not pick up until the following day.
On 8/4/15, the customer returned with the vehicle stating that the bumper was not replaced because it wasn't attached correctly. Customer was informed that we did actually purchase a bumper for him and install it on his vehicle, and he was also reminded of the other parts needed. Customer did not feel like he should be responsible for paying for these parts or the labor associated with it because he was given an estimate. It was explained to the customer that an estimate is not a final repair order and that there is no way to assess all damages without removing panels sometimes. Customer became irate and was directed to our Customer Service department, where he lodged a complaint. Customer was told by Customer Service department that MAACO does not perform free labor, nor do we give away free parts. Customer then called the shop again and was again irate because he says we told him we could fix his car for the said amount. I again attempted to explain to the customer that it was an estimate and there was no way for us to estimate damage that was hidden. He continued to yell at me and call me a liar until I ended the phone call.
The customer is more than welcome to come by our shop during normal business hours and pick up his old, damaged bumper cover, as we still have it in our possession. As I told him, I am more than happy to provide him with a copy of the invoice from the bumper purchase. He will not be given a refund for the work completed, but if he would like to pay the additional amount needed to repair the vehicle correctly, we would be more than happy to assist him with this.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/08/04) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted], MANAGER
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@yahoo.com
Customer did return with warranty concerns. I inspected her vehicle and it was determined that the cause of the peeling was...

rock chips. There are small pock marks from contact with the rocks that break the paint surface. Once the surface is broken, water and other contaminants begin to get underneath the paint and will start to loosen the surrounding surface. This process will continue indefinitely once it has begun. It was also quite obvious that the customer had been using high pressure water to remove the loose paint prior to coming to our shop. Photos were taken of the vehicle, showing the small rock chips, missing paint and pock marks left from the rocks in the areas with no paint remaining. The customer stated she was going to attempt to file an insurance claim, and I warned her that I had not yet seen an insurance company pay out for rock chips. Customer forwarded a letter from [redacted] Insurance several days later, stating that the vehicle had been inspected and that it was determined that the damage was caused by faulty workmanship. Our office attempted to contact the adjustor listed on the notice to inquire about how he reached his determination, but the phone number was not in service. Our office then called our customer service department for assistance with contacting the insurance company, as we were unable to get information from [redacted] without finding the adjustor. Our customer service rep was told that the adjustor would need to answer any questions, since he was the one who inspected it. Neither this office or our customer service department have ever been able to reach the alleged adjustor, which is not typical for an insurance company. Since there are visible pock marks in the paint surface and we have been unable to contact the adjustor involved, we had to close the claim as not warranty related.
Customer should be advised that our customer service department logs and records all phone calls entering and leaving the center, which means that all correspondence between the customer and our customer service rep have been tracked. The customer service rep assigned to this case has stated that she has not received any additional contact from the customer since the customer was told that the rock chips on the vehicle would not be covered under warranty.
There will be no refund available, as rock chips and other additional damage to the vehicle once it has left this shop would not be covered under our warranty. I also believe that the alleged insurance adjustor was not skilled in paint issues and since the customer removed a large portion of paint herself with high pressure water, this affected the appearance of the actual issue and prevented the adjustor from making an educated inspection. The customer was given an estimate to repair the paint, which was discounted heavily, but she declined the offer. I do not believe there is any thing else this office can do for this customer at this point.

On 2/7/17, the customer and his mother came into the shop to inquire about peeling paint on the rear bumper. The car was very dirty and the area had to be cleaned in order to be inspected. Upon inspection, I discovered an impact point at the lower left corner of the license plate pocket, near the...

center of the bumper cover. At the impact point, there is a chunk of paint missing, surrounded by the tell tale spider cracks that are indicative of impact. I asked [redacted] if he had possibly backed into something, as this is the most common cause. He quickly looked at his mother and then vehemently denied having hit anything with his car. I explained to [redacted] and his mother that the spider cracks seen branching out from the impact point are from the bumper cover flexing more than the paint, causing the cracks. I explained that while they are difficult to see at first, since the paint surface has now been broken, water and other contaminants are now allowed to get under the paint, causing the loss of adhesion. [redacted]'s mother expressed concern over him parking in "student parking", and I informed them that while new damage is not covered under any warranties, I could repair and repaint the rear bumper for $180 plus tax, as we are currently having a sale. They asked about touch-up paint and I explained that we do not sell touch up paint, as we mix paints with hardeners and do not stock containers to distribute touch-up paint in. I did provide them with the paint code and directed them to the local [redacted] Automotive store, where they could purchase a small amount of paint if they elected to not have the bumper repaired and just wanted to touch it up. I wish I could remember every single customer that I deal with. However, I am the only person who runs this office and cannot possibly remember every customer by name or face, especially after nearly a year....There is no sign displayed at any point on our property that states all paint jobs come with a 5 year warranty, nor do warranties cover additional damage. The paint service [redacted] purchased was one of our mid-range paints, which includes a 4 year warranty, but again- additional damage is not covered.[redacted] contacted our customer service department, at which time he was again told that warranties do not cover additional damage. I attempted to contact [redacted] after his customer service and Revdex.com complaints, in order to obtain photos of the damage, but he is not returning my messages.

Vehicle was towed to our location on 2/24 without notice. The customer contacted their insurance company and an adjuster came out on 2/27 to complete the estimate. Being an insurance claim, we take the information submitted by the insurance company and enter it verbatim into our system, and then any...

differences or changes are entered as a supplement. I inspected the vehicle and the estimate written by the adjuster and found no discrepancies. Parts were ordered per what was quoted by [redacted], and work was started once we received the authorization from the customer a couple of days later. The customer came to our shop several times, unannounced, between 2/27 and 3/17 to inspect the progress, and had no questions or concerns. However, on 3/17 when the customer came in to look at the vehicle, we had the vehicle partially repaired and the replacement decklid (trunk) was loosely installed so that the quarter panel and rear body panel could be fit. This replacement decklid had not yet been stripped or painted, and still had it's original spoiler and emblems on it. The customer saw this decklid and immediately began yelling about it being the wrong part and that they were not going to accept their vehicle with this part on it. I attempted to explain to the customer that the decklid itself was actually the same, but that the emblems and spoiler are interchangeable between the different trim levels, that we had all new (correct) emblems and their existing undamaged spoiler to install on the decklid once it was painted. I was unable to reason with them and get them to understand that the part is EXACTLY the same. They became combative so I directed them back to [redacted] for clarification, as I was following insurance protocol. The customer then went to a local Toyota dealership to get prices for a brand new decklid, spoiler, left quarter panel, tail lights, etc. and came back to our shop to tell us that they wanted us to order those parts. I explained that I ordered the parts purchased by the insurance company and again directed them back to [redacted] with their questions about why they couldn't have these new parts. At one point I overheard the customer on the phone with the insurance company and the person they were speaking with was saying "Sir, we would not be buying a new OEM decklid for your car when there are quality replacement parts available.", and the customer kept saying "It's not a new decklid, it's from 2008!". [redacted] would then try to explain that if the part has never been painted or installed on a vehicle, it's a new part, and he just kept repeating "It's not new, it's from 2008!" They refused to accept any used parts, regardless of condition. They again told me that they would not accept the vehicle with that part on it, so I told them I could not work on the vehicle until they authorized the parts we had. For a week the customer went back and forth with [redacted], and our shop was caught in the middle. The insurance company could not successfully convince the customer that the parts were the same and eventually folded, wrote a supplement for an OEM decklid and spoiler (which was never damaged to begin with) and issued payment to the customer. At that time, the customer called to say that I needed to pay for their rental car, since we installed the wrong part on their vehicle. I declined, again attempting to explain that it was not the wrong part, but the customer began yelling at me. I then told the customer that they would just need to go ahead and pay us for the work we had completed and remove their vehicle from our premises since we couldn't seem to come to an agreement. First the customer came to our shop and said they would not be paying us because we did not finish. I told them we would not be releasing the vehicle to the tow truck until it was paid for. They then tried to say that they never authorized repairs, but I reminded them that Denise had authorized repairs by phone and that they had been here 2 or 3 times since the vehicle arrived and if they didn't "authorize" repairs then why didn't they speak up when they saw the rear end of their car cut off. The customers finally paid what was owed for the work completed and parts installed and the vehicle was removed. This is quite literally the most ridiculous thing I have ever dealt with in my career estimating vehicles. I even forwarded the customer to another Toyota dealership for clarification, but I do not think they ever contacted them. This shop will not be paying for any rental charges, as the customer had ten days between the day of the accident and the day of drop off at our facility, and because we followed protocol and never ordered the wrong part to begin with. We will also not be refunding any payments made, as the customer was only charged for work completed and parts already installed. In reality, the customer should have been charged for several hours of admin time, as they wasted nearly ten hours of my time in five days attempting to get this cleared up between them and [redacted]. In my opinion, the complaint should have been filed on [redacted], as they did not do their due diligence with this customer and they only succeeded in escalating the situation to the point of no return.