Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/12/08) */
Mr. [redacted] was not assured at any point that his vehicles' paint job was going to be spot on a dead match. When he came in for an estimate he mentioned that the paint code he had was green and his car is orange. At that time as he was...
arranging for drop off, he was told we would try to get the color as close as possible and he was fully aware of that. In order to get a true color match on any automobile especially one you don't have a paint code for you would need to paint the whole car. Mr. [redacted] knew that was the case because after he wanted to know what it would cost to paint the whole car and we told him he was looking at least $5,000.00 on top of what his insurance company was paying for.
After the vehicle was dropped off we contacted our paint store because Mr. [redacted] did not provide a paint code or paint. They then came to our shop to profit the color (meaning to match the color as close as possible to the one on his car) Mr. [redacted] did not have a factory color or a correct paint code. With the code from our paint store and toners we then sprayed cards to see how the color looks next to the car.
When Mr. [redacted] picked up his car he noticed the lower part of the left quarter panel that we did not paint was off in color. We did not get paid to paint or blend the left lower quarter panel. We did not have extra paint leftover to try and blend that panel for free. The color we mixed was just enough for the original job. If we would have had paint left over we could have tried to blend the additional panels at no cost to him.
Since Mr. [redacted] was not happy with the repairs we contacted the insurance company not because we were implying there was a problem but because we wanted them to look at the work that we felt that the work was acceptable. Hagerty Insurance did not want to come out to see the car because they already paid for the job and we needed to deal with Mr. [redacted] ourselves we were told.
We did offer Mr. [redacted] the option to re paint the car with a slight cost to him not because we were agreeing it was a bad job but because we wanted to make him happy but before we could go any further with the pricing he said no.
Our hourly rates that are posted at our shop clearly says $90 not $95 as he states and it says in bold letters "On Most Year Makes and Models" His insurance company was charged $125 an hour because his vehicle did not fall under most makes and models.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/12/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Very disappointing to hear the shop sticking to their story when they are blatantly lying.
1) So I was wrong, their posted shop rate was $90, not $95. So an even greater spread between what they advertise as their rates and what they think they can get from an insurance company. Ethical? You decide. Yet they quoted my insurance company $150 an hour before settling on $125. If you are going to charge that kind of a premium on your standard rates, shouldn't you actually do a good job?
2) [redacted] from [redacted] explicitly told me that using the blending process, I would not be able to tell the difference between the old paint and the new paint. That was the one and only reason why I ultimately selected Symmons for the work, despite their overall estimate being so high. [redacted] explicitly told me that if the match was not satisfactory they'd re-do the work.
3) Their response that they did not get paid to blend the left lower quarter panel does not make sense. If it should have been blended, then they should have included it in the original estimate.
4) Another lie is their statement that they "offered me the option to repaint the car with a slight cost to me". They never made any offer whatsoever to do anything to make this right. If they made that offer, where is it? I would have actually been open to that as a suggestion. I begged them to give me any options whatsoever, as substantiated in my e-mail on November 19th to the owner, who never responded to me.
5) I have since received a written statement from a well respected body shop in the area stating that: 1) "it is my conclusion that the repairs were not completed correctly due to the following: 1) Incorrect color match 2) Overspray on trim that was charged to be removed 3) Trim billed to be removed was not installed correctly 4) Left tail lamp was not installed/aligned correctly 5) Rear upper body hooks were installed backwards. I will be happy to produce this letter at the Revdex.com's request.
6) I asked Hagerty insurance to come out and inspect the car and received the report today which states: "The shop completed full refinish on the luggage lid so now the paint clearly does not match when viewing the right quarter/luggage lid area. The shop did not blend the right quarter and the tones are clearly off so this is a mismatched vehicle. In addition, the left lower rear skirt (bolts on to quarter) was not blended so the mismatched paint is also visible on this panel as well." They go on to make several more points that concur with the findings of the body shop. I will be happy to produce this letter as well at the request of the Revdex.com.
7) I've had a consumer protection agency also inspect the car and they came to similar findings. I am waiting to receive their report in the next week.
8) The point about paint matches here is that Symmons is not responding to the issue of paint blending. Nobody expected the paint match to be perfect. The expectation was that, particularly at their price premium, they would employ experienced technicians to perform a paint blending process to minimize the distinction between the old and new paint. The primary damage on the trunk lid was right on the drive side edge of the trunk. Yet they painted the entire trunk lid uniformly, so that on the passenger side of the trunk lid, the distinction between that paint and the passenger side quarter panel is ridiculously poor. Why didn't they instead perform blending across the trunk lid? There has been no response to this.
9) At this time, I have no confidence or trust in Symmons Auto Body and have made arrangements to have the entire car re-painted at a reputable facility.
I just want a refund of what was paid to Symmons auto body at this time. Frankly, they have caused me so much frustration and time spent unnecessarily, they should reimburse me for my time too. I just want to get this over with.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 15, 2015/02/03) */
Body shop was approached by the Bureau of Automotive Repair to mediate the dispute. The body shop agreed to provide me with a full refund if I removed my negative review from Yelp, which I did. I have now received a full refund and this dispute is closed.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/12/08) */
Mr. [redacted] was not assured at any point that his vehicles' paint job was going to be spot on a dead match. When he came in for an estimate he mentioned that the paint code he had was green and his car is orange. At that time as he was...
arranging for drop off, he was told we would try to get the color as close as possible and he was fully aware of that. In order to get a true color match on any automobile especially one you don't have a paint code for you would need to paint the whole car. Mr. [redacted] knew that was the case because after he wanted to know what it would cost to paint the whole car and we told him he was looking at least $5,000.00 on top of what his insurance company was paying for.
After the vehicle was dropped off we contacted our paint store because Mr. [redacted] did not provide a paint code or paint. They then came to our shop to profit the color (meaning to match the color as close as possible to the one on his car) Mr. [redacted] did not have a factory color or a correct paint code. With the code from our paint store and toners we then sprayed cards to see how the color looks next to the car.
When Mr. [redacted] picked up his car he noticed the lower part of the left quarter panel that we did not paint was off in color. We did not get paid to paint or blend the left lower quarter panel. We did not have extra paint leftover to try and blend that panel for free. The color we mixed was just enough for the original job. If we would have had paint left over we could have tried to blend the additional panels at no cost to him.
Since Mr. [redacted] was not happy with the repairs we contacted the insurance company not because we were implying there was a problem but because we wanted them to look at the work that we felt that the work was acceptable. Hagerty Insurance did not want to come out to see the car because they already paid for the job and we needed to deal with Mr. [redacted] ourselves we were told.
We did offer Mr. [redacted] the option to re paint the car with a slight cost to him not because we were agreeing it was a bad job but because we wanted to make him happy but before we could go any further with the pricing he said no.
Our hourly rates that are posted at our shop clearly says $90 not $95 as he states and it says in bold letters "On Most Year Makes and Models" His insurance company was charged $125 an hour because his vehicle did not fall under most makes and models.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/12/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Very disappointing to hear the shop sticking to their story when they are blatantly lying.
1) So I was wrong, their posted shop rate was $90, not $95. So an even greater spread between what they advertise as their rates and what they think they can get from an insurance company. Ethical? You decide. Yet they quoted my insurance company $150 an hour before settling on $125. If you are going to charge that kind of a premium on your standard rates, shouldn't you actually do a good job?
2) [redacted] from [redacted] explicitly told me that using the blending process, I would not be able to tell the difference between the old paint and the new paint. That was the one and only reason why I ultimately selected Symmons for the work, despite their overall estimate being so high. [redacted] explicitly told me that if the match was not satisfactory they'd re-do the work.
3) Their response that they did not get paid to blend the left lower quarter panel does not make sense. If it should have been blended, then they should have included it in the original estimate.
4) Another lie is their statement that they "offered me the option to repaint the car with a slight cost to me". They never made any offer whatsoever to do anything to make this right. If they made that offer, where is it? I would have actually been open to that as a suggestion. I begged them to give me any options whatsoever, as substantiated in my e-mail on November 19th to the owner, who never responded to me.
5) I have since received a written statement from a well respected body shop in the area stating that: 1) "it is my conclusion that the repairs were not completed correctly due to the following: 1) Incorrect color match 2) Overspray on trim that was charged to be removed 3) Trim billed to be removed was not installed correctly 4) Left tail lamp was not installed/aligned correctly 5) Rear upper body hooks were installed backwards. I will be happy to produce this letter at the Revdex.com's request.
6) I asked Hagerty insurance to come out and inspect the car and received the report today which states: "The shop completed full refinish on the luggage lid so now the paint clearly does not match when viewing the right quarter/luggage lid area. The shop did not blend the right quarter and the tones are clearly off so this is a mismatched vehicle. In addition, the left lower rear skirt (bolts on to quarter) was not blended so the mismatched paint is also visible on this panel as well." They go on to make several more points that concur with the findings of the body shop. I will be happy to produce this letter as well at the request of the Revdex.com.
7) I've had a consumer protection agency also inspect the car and they came to similar findings. I am waiting to receive their report in the next week.
8) The point about paint matches here is that Symmons is not responding to the issue of paint blending. Nobody expected the paint match to be perfect. The expectation was that, particularly at their price premium, they would employ experienced technicians to perform a paint blending process to minimize the distinction between the old and new paint. The primary damage on the trunk lid was right on the drive side edge of the trunk. Yet they painted the entire trunk lid uniformly, so that on the passenger side of the trunk lid, the distinction between that paint and the passenger side quarter panel is ridiculously poor. Why didn't they instead perform blending across the trunk lid? There has been no response to this.
9) At this time, I have no confidence or trust in Symmons Auto Body and have made arrangements to have the entire car re-painted at a reputable facility.
I just want a refund of what was paid to Symmons auto body at this time. Frankly, they have caused me so much frustration and time spent unnecessarily, they should reimburse me for my time too. I just want to get this over with.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 15, 2015/02/03) */
Body shop was approached by the Bureau of Automotive Repair to mediate the dispute. The body shop agreed to provide me with a full refund if I removed my negative review from Yelp, which I did. I have now received a full refund and this dispute is closed.