Neil's Auto Body, Inc.

Review: The absolute worst customer experience I have ever had to deal with. I was in a simple accident that damaged the front end of my car back in May (bumper, hood, fenders etc.). Unfortunately, I brought my car to Neil's. Two months later I still didn't have my car back. I called everyday for three weeks and every time there was a different excuse: the painter was on vacation, it was too humid to paint (this is Connecticut, you don't have a room for the 9 months out of the year when there is moisture in the air?), they ordered the wrong parts, they ordered the wrong parts AGAIN... this went on for weeks, everyday they told me to call back the next morning and the woman at the front desk brushed me off as if I wasn't important, she even laughed at me once. When I did finally get my car back the parts that had been replaced were absolute DIFFERENT colors than the rest of my car (not to mention the paint job itself was terrible), the bumper wasn't secured properly, the airbag light was on (which did not deploy in the accident), the hood wasn't aligned properly/could barely be opened, the fenders didn't line up with the car, the front headlight was scratched, and there were three new dents on my rear passenger door that were not there before brining my car to Neil's. I was honestly astonished that they would even try to return a car to an owner in such poor shape. Because my insurance company had already paid them a large lump sum, we were forced to bring my car back and allow Neil's to try and correct the mistakes they had made. A week later I received my car back with very few improvements. The paint color is still mismatched and the ** dealership found that they had not even replaced certain internal parts that were broken in the accident (fans, undercarriage pieces, etc.). Needless to say, I am infuriated that these people are even still in business. They completely took advantage and cut corners wherever they could. I have wasted $500 in car payments and a $500 deductible while they had my car.

Product_Or_Service: Car repairDesired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

I want the $500 deductible that was charged to my father's card to be refunded. I want $258 for a month's worth of car payments because I feel that it was extensive and they held on to my car in order to rack up money they were getting from the insurance company. Other repair shops would have been able to have it back within weeks. We also paid $75 for a rental car through [redacted] that I would like refunded and however much it will cost to have the problems with my car rectified properly.

Business

Response:

I received your letter on 9/3/2012. I promptly read it and would like to address M[redacted] complaints. First, I'm concerned about her car and her bad experience at my shop.Her car was towed to our shop on a weekend from her house to the shop,it was here for 3 weeks before we heard from anyone about the car. Her mother called and asked if she needed to start the process. We told her she needed to sign a repair order and we could begin to work on it.It is required by the state. We then brought in the car to start repairs. The car was disassembled and parts were ordered per insurance co estimate. We waited for parts to come in. Some of the parts came in. The front bumper did not. The insurance co. paid for aftermarket. They were still waiting for it to come in. It was coming from [redacted], would be in in a few days.Waited for a week and received the wrong bumper.Reordered again.Vendor called back after 2 days and said they were not able to get it. So we ordered from ** dealer.We then found fans and the shroud were broken so we also ordered that from the dealer.We waited several more days for those parts to come in. M[redacted] stated that the fans were broken,but we replaced them, we have the old broken ones here at the shop.The hood opened with no problem, pulled hood latch and the hood popped up,release,release safety catch and lift open.I agree that the fenders where not lined up correctly. We realigned both fenders. Also we replaced the [redacted] headlamp with a OEM headlamp. If there are scratches on it we can get another one from the dealer.When she picked up her car she called that same day after hours because she could not open the gas door.She wanted to know what we did to it. We firstly did not work on the rear of the car. My night tow truck driver met her to check out her problem.The vehicle was locked so the fuel door will not open.The vehicle must be unlocked for the fuel door to open. It had nothing to do with us. She also complained about the color match which we took car of by blending the adjacent panels. We also repaired two dents in the right rear door. The lower valance was not broken when the car came in the first or the second time. The insurance adjuster sent use a list of the problems and we went through each and every one of them while paying for a rental for them. As for the secretary in the office, she has never treated anyone with any disrespect. Always have gotten high praise for her attitude. She has always been very helpful.I spoke to her about this and she has no idea what she may be talking about.We have not been paid by the insurance company for all that we did do to this vehicle. Items were to be supplemented. We have addressed issues with their car and would be willing to take care of any other issues.As for having to pay car loans, when you sign up to buy a car that is your obligation to do so. If you have a collision and it's your fault you bear the consequences that may mean losing the use of your car and increased insurance costs. The length of repair time does not increase the amount I receive for the repairs, it actually reduces the amount I make on the job.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Since the auto body shop tried to fix the car twice and did a grossly inferior job, the insurance agency has since reviewed the car and has agreed that the car needed to be brought to an authorized ** auto body repair shop, to fix the car correctly.