Northwest German Car Repair

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: As far as the actual damage from the rat is besides the pointI will say Andy my insurance agent and also the shop that did the interior work has made comments stating what great shape the interior of my car seemed to be before all the damage, it's a and not even butt prints on any of the seats! The main issue here is the day I went to look at my car after receiving notice of all the damage, I never once said I would be making an insurance claimI was still in shock that this happened and that I would be responsible for paying the deductibleI told the shop that I would look into it because I was going to have to pay for the engine work done on my car that wasn't covered under the warranty as well as a $deductible which I did not have the money for seeing how this happened right before ChristmasThis information was a lot to take in and I didn't want to make a decision at the timeAs I said before I never gave verbal or written permission that a claim would be madeThe shop decided on their own to order and instal the part without my knowledgeI should not be charged for something I did not approveThe shop should have waited for confirmation about where the money was actually going to come from to pay for thisI have emails form my insurance agent stating that the $was NOT included in the paid out amountNorthwest German Auto jumped the gun in this situation by instilling something into my car wishing having clear knowledge as to who was going to be responsible for paymentI should not be responsible for their quick deductionsI also went into the shop very requesting all the documentation including when the part was ordered and when it was installedThey refused to give me any information that could possibly make this situation easier to figure out

** *** Audi was towed to our shopIt was diagnosed with engine failure, needing a new engineHer warranty company took alot of time to come out and inspect the vehicle and then make their decision on the approvalThe Audi was parked outside of the rodoors, in the parking spaces, next
to the other vehicles - where all of our customer vehicles are alsoWhen the engine arrived, we pushed her Audi into the shop and found that a rat has been living inside her vehicleHer vehicle had alot of food inside her car, oranges and old food in tupperwareThe rat had been living in her car long before it was brought to our shopWhen we vacuumed her vehicle, we noticed there was some pieces of a rats nest hanging out of the dash by the glove boxWe partially removed the glove box, only to find that the entire dash was full of the rats nestIt had been in there previously for who knows how long! Once it ran out of her left over food to eat, it ate apart the gear shifter assembly and there was also some chew marks on other parts of the interiorI contacted ** ***She came down to the shop and took a look at the damageWe agreed that she would make an insurance claim and most likely take her vehicle elsewhere to an upholstery specialist to repair the rest of the damageI ordered a new gear shifter assembly and the technician installed itWe placed rat poison and a rat trap in her Audi and caught the rat.We installed the engine, test drove the vehicle and performed a final QC of completionThen ** *** came to pay and pick up her vehicleI gave her copies of the invoice for the gear shifter assemblyShe said she has already talked with her insurance agent and she would give the copy to him so he could send us a check
On January 6th, ** *** called to tell us that PEMCO had issued a check to us and it was in the mailWe never received the check and proceeded to leave messages - trying to contact ** ***
After many phone calls back and forth for months - I even spoke directly with her agent - Andy at PEMCOHe said that ** *** said that she had already personally already paid the bill to Northwest German(Although she had not paid us and the balance was still outstanding.)
By this time, her Audi was at ***, the upholstery shop.Her agent wrote a check to ** *** and *** togetherAndy said the money for the gear shifter invoice was all inclusive in that check and ** *** was suppose to reimburse herself.Unfortunately ** *** spent all the money at *** and did not allocate the money that was owed to Northwest German
This is the first time that ** *** was upsetThis issue should be between ** *** and her insurance agent Andy, at PEMCOShe was paid the money that was owed to Northwest German
Andy from PEMCO said that if ** *** simply would have said that the bill was NOT paid yet and still outstanding, then PEMCO would have written Northwest German a check for the gear shifter that was owed FIRST and then written the remaining check to ** *** and ***
** *** is upset that she did not understand PEMCO and did not allocate the funds correctly
This is not the fault of Northwest German

This customer drove their Mercedes-Benz into our Shop without the belt on the engine. The belt had broken off and was missing.The customer requested that we replace the belt ONLY, per their request.NWGCR explained that we needed to do an inspection to determine why the belt came off originally
and if there was any further damage that may have occurred from driving the Mercedes withOUT the belt on the engine.The customer declined and refused to authorize or pay for an inspection, to determine why the belt came off originally and to ensure that it wouldn’t just happen again.NWGCR installed the new belt ONLY, per the customer's requestWe visually inspected the belt system and sent the customer on their way with a disclaimer, per their request.A few days later the customer towed the vehicle back into the shop because the belt had come off againWe inspected and found that the idler pulley would intermittently fail, causing the belt to “walk” off the edge of the pulleyWe found that the belt was damaged from the failing pulley.We explained that he needed to pay for a new pulley and we would install a new belt under warranty, for customer satisfaction(Even though this was not a warranty concern, because the idler pulley damaged the beltThe belt was not defective and did not fail on its ownThe idler pulley failed and damaged the new belt)We spent a significant amount of time trying to help the customer.We even installed a new belt and brought the customer out to the Shop to show him that the new belt was walking off the edge of the failed pulley.The customer still declined paying for a new pulley.The customer decided to drive the vehicle without a belt and take it to the Dealer.NWGCR called the Mercedes Dealer to alert the Service department of this vehicle that was about to show up there.We explained that the customer needed to pay for the pulley and we could warranty the belt here, in house.We never heard from the customer again, until he wrote this complaint.I feel we did everything possible to try to help this customer

** *** Audi was towed to our shopIt was diagnosed with engine failure, needing a new engineHer warranty company took alot of time to come out and inspect the vehicle and then make their decision on the approvalThe Audi was parked outside of the rodoors, in the parking spaces, next
to the other vehicles - where all of our customer vehicles are alsoWhen the engine arrived, we pushed her Audi into the shop and found that a rat has been living inside her vehicleHer vehicle had alot of food inside her car, oranges and old food in tupperwareThe rat had been living in her car long before it was brought to our shopWhen we vacuumed her vehicle, we noticed there was some pieces of a rats nest hanging out of the dash by the glove boxWe partially removed the glove box, only to find that the entire dash was full of the rats nestIt had been in there previously for who knows how long! Once it ran out of her left over food to eat, it ate apart the gear shifter assembly and there was also some chew marks on other parts of the interiorI contacted ** ***She came down to the shop and took a look at the damageWe agreed that she would make an insurance claim and most likely take her vehicle elsewhere to an upholstery specialist to repair the rest of the damageI ordered a new gear shifter assembly and the technician installed itWe placed rat poison and a rat trap in her Audi and caught the rat.We installed the engine, test drove the vehicle and performed a final QC of completionThen ** *** came to pay and pick up her vehicleI gave her copies of the invoice for the gear shifter assemblyShe said she has already talked with her insurance agent and she would give the copy to him so he could send us a check
On January 6th, ** *** called to tell us that PEMCO had issued a check to us and it was in the mailWe never received the check and proceeded to leave messages - trying to contact ** ***
After many phone calls back and forth for months - I even spoke directly with her agent - Andy at PEMCOHe said that ** *** said that she had already personally already paid the bill to Northwest German(Although she had not paid us and the balance was still outstanding.)
By this time, her Audi was at ***, the upholstery shop.Her agent wrote a check to ** *** and *** togetherAndy said the money for the gear shifter invoice was all inclusive in that check and ** *** was suppose to reimburse herself.Unfortunately ** *** spent all the money at *** and did not allocate the money that was owed to Northwest German
This is the first time that ** *** was upsetThis issue should be between ** *** and her insurance agent Andy, at PEMCOShe was paid the money that was owed to Northwest German
Andy from PEMCO said that if ** *** simply would have said that the bill was NOT paid yet and still outstanding, then PEMCO would have written Northwest German a check for the gear shifter that was owed FIRST and then written the remaining check to ** *** and ***
** *** is upset that she did not understand PEMCO and did not allocate the funds correctly
This is not the fault of Northwest German

** *** did agree that she would contact her insurance agent and that we would get the gear shifter assembly installed, so that the vehicle didn't have to be driven with a damaged gear shifter.Washington State Law also states that the original estimate can be exceeded by 10% without the consent of the customer.In this situation, there was consent from the customer and from her insurance company, but regardless Northwest German is within these guidelinesThe customer was aware of the situation every step of the way** *** drove away with a new gear shifter assemblyShe was to submit the outstanding invoice to her insurance company so they would send us paymentI offered to speak directly with her insurance agent and help directly with this, to make sure the situation was taken care of correctly** *** was fine with the gear shifter assembly being replaced until she found out she hadn't allocated the funds correctly between herself and PEMCOI can provide the phone number for Andy at PEMCO, any other documentation that may be needed and he can confirm this and answer any other questions regarding this claim

[redacted] did agree that she would contact her insurance agent and that we would get the gear shifter assembly installed, so that the vehicle didn't have to be driven with a damaged gear shifter.Washington State Law also states that the original estimate can be exceeded by 10% without the consent of the customer.In this situation, there was consent from the customer and from her insurance company, but regardless Northwest German is within these guidelinesThe customer was aware of the situation every step of the way[redacted] drove away with a new gear shifter assemblyShe was to submit the outstanding invoice to her insurance company so they would send us paymentI offered to speak directly with her insurance agent and help directly with this, to make sure the situation was taken care of correctly[redacted] was fine with the gear shifter assembly being replaced until she found out she hadn't allocated the funds correctly between herself and PEMCOI can provide the phone number for Andy at PEMCO, any other documentation that may be needed and he can confirm this and answer any other questions regarding this claim

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: As far as the actual damage from the rat is besides the pointI will say Andy my insurance agent and also the shop that did the interior work has made comments stating what great shape the interior of my car seemed to be before all the damage, it's a and not even butt prints on any of the seats! The main issue here is the day I went to look at my car after receiving notice of all the damage, I never once said I would be making an insurance claimI was still in shock that this happened and that I would be responsible for paying the deductibleI told the shop that I would look into it because I was going to have to pay for the engine work done on my car that wasn't covered under the warranty as well as a $deductible which I did not have the money for seeing how this happened right before ChristmasThis information was a lot to take in and I didn't want to make a decision at the timeAs I said before I never gave verbal or written permission ? that a claim would be madeThe shop decided on their own to order and instal the part without my knowledgeI should not be charged for something I did not approveThe shop should have waited for confirmation about where the money was actually going to come from to pay for thisI have emails form my insurance agent stating that the $was NOT included in the paid out amountNorthwest German Auto jumped the gun in this situation by instilling something into my car wishing having clear knowledge as to who was going to be responsible for paymentI should not be responsible for their quick deductionsI also went into the shop very requesting all the documentation including when the part was ordered and when it was installedThey refused to give me any information that could possibly make this situation easier to figure out

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: As far as the actual damage from the rat is besides the point. I will say Andy my insurance agent and also the shop that did the interior work has made comments stating what great shape the interior of my car seemed to be before all the damage, it's a 2009 and not even butt prints on any of the seats! The main issue here is the day I went to look at my car after receiving notice of all the damage, I never once said I would be making an insurance claim. I was still in shock that this happened and that I would be responsible for paying the deductible. I told the shop that I would look into it because I was going to have to pay for the engine work done on my car that wasn't covered under the warranty as well as a $500 deductible which I did not have the money for seeing how this happened right before Christmas. This information was a lot to take in and I didn't want to make a decision at the time. As I said before I never gave verbal or written permission  that a claim would be made. The shop decided on their own to order and instal the part without my knowledge. I should not be charged for something I did not approve. The shop should have waited for confirmation about where the money was actually going to come from to pay for this. I have emails form my insurance agent stating that the $780.00 was NOT included in the paid out amount. Northwest German Auto jumped the gun in this situation by instilling something into my car wishing having clear knowledge as to who was going to be responsible for payment. I should not be responsible for their quick deductions. I also went into the shop very requesting all the documentation including when the part was ordered and when it was installed. They refused to give me any information that could possibly make this situation easier to figure out.