Tom Shockey Collision

I originally had my car fixed after a front collision and they did great work. With p[redacted] I had the choice to go to a dealership or a local auto body shop and I chose the local to support local businesses. After picking up my car I noticed new chips off the paint on my back bumper that I believed were not there when I dropped it off originally. I called them the next day and the gentleman at the front desk said to find some times to bring it in and they will take care of me. I dropped it off on he 12th, got a call the 13th from a woman saying they didn't know what was being done to my car....I explained the situation and she said everyone was on vacation or off that I spoke to so thats why they didn't know what was being done and they someone would call me the following day if there were any issues. I waited a week and called on the 19th to se what was going on with what should just be a quick paint job. No one seemed to know what was actually going on with my car I was placed on holed twice. Actually spoke to Tom Shockey and he said he was reviewing cameras to make sure they were at fault. He said he would call me the following day. I waited till the 23rd because I understand people get busy and watching cameras is a time consuming activity. I spoke to someone who said that Tom was not in and that he would leave him a message. I never received a call from anyone letting me know what was happening and where they were in the process. I eventually just went and picked up my car on the 27th and they happily gave it to me. I don't care that it never got fixed because it was so small but I think their way of doing business with how they communicated to the customer who was without a car for 2 weeks is completely unprofessional. I am a business owner and if a customer claimed one of my associates did damage or something in the same criteria in my restaurant I would put every effort towards finding out what happened and make sure none of my associates were at fault and happily communicate to the customer that I reviewed camera and can't see anything or what I see if not their account of the story. If they did it or not just going to spend my money at a dealership from not on!

Review: Recently I had collision repair done on my car. It took 3 months; the car sat for 6 weeks until I threatened to take it elsewhere and they finally started work on it. I told them I was moving and had to have the car by June 27. They kept promising 'it will be done next week’ but it kept turning into another week. I had to move without the car but insisted they supply me with a loaner car at no charge. I finally got the car on August 23 (Exhibit A); I insisted the owner bring it to me as I was not going to drive all the way back up to their shop when it was no fault of mine it wasn't done before I moved. The owner stated he wanted to check it in a few weeks to be certain all was well on it and I said I would call him to get that scheduled.

On August 31st I noticed the car was making a grinding noise when stopping or turning, especially right, and a creaky noise when going over even the slightest bump. On September 3rd I called and stated the problem and asked them to pick it up to check it. He said he could not do it that Friday but would on Friday the 20th. He agreed to pick it up and I verified he had the number of the work location I would be at that day. As the week progressed the noise got worse and worse to the point I was afraid to drive the car. I called on September 9th and asked if they could get it sooner but they claimed they did not have the time. On Friday the 13th I was so freaked out (and it takes a lot to freak me out) about the grinding and the difficulty turning and braking I took it over to my ex’s house. When he drove it he already knew where the problem was and when he jacked it up he immediately started cussing. He was really [redacted] off. One of the bolts holding the wheel frame (?) and/or suspension assembly to the subframe was almost completely out of its socket and the only thing preventing it from falling out was the spring itself. (Exhibit B) That was the grinding noise; every time the springs compressed they were running into and crushing the bolt. He said at any point the pressure of the natural movement of the springs could have snapped the bolt and the entire assembly would have busted. While I was on the highway at 70mph heading to or from work. He told me if he could not fix it I was not going to drive the car any longer. Fortunately the bolt screwed into a prethreaded hole (instead of a nut on the opposite side of the frame, which would have required dismantling the front end) and he tightened it as much as he could. He also checked the other side and had to tighten that bolt as well. Additionally, he noticed the bushings and gaskets on the spring system were rusted and rotted. He was [redacted] about that as well, as the car only had 40K miles on it and was garage kept. He thinks they took the good ones off and *perhaps* resold them or who knows; either way, there is no way they looked like that before the accident and he said I would need to get those replaced within 1000 miles and I should not have to considering how well I always took care of the car.

My ex went to speak with the owner of the body shop about the problem he fixed and also about replacing the bushings etc. He also stated he knew the car would need a new alignment and possibly tire balancing since I had been driving it while the problem existed. This was on Monday the 16th; the owner did not seem that concerned about it but verified he was picking the car up the coming Friday and wrould realign it and check it again. Neither the owner nor any employees of the shop showed up, and they never called. Wlien I called in to the shop that afternoon when I finally figured they were not coming to get it, they claimed the owner was not there that day.

This morning I took the car to an alignment shop (one I had used previously and was comfortable with) close to my job and asked them to do a realignment and/or rebalance the tires and/or anything else they deemed necessary; I also asked them to thoroughly check the suspension assembly and all bolts etc. The car did need to be realigned and have tire balancing. Furthermore they found a front tie rod boot ripped. This boot is very important as it keeps the lubrication clean; if dirt gets into the joints it does not allowr the joints to properly operate and will eventually break the tie rod. They also determined there were several loose bolts and they tightened everything they saw.

Desired Settlement: When work is done to repair a vehicle, including bodywork, the finished work should be like new. While I understand the replacement parts on this vehicle are aftermarket parts, there is no excuse for rusty, rotted, or tom parts to be installed in the rebuild. There was barely a week between getting the car back and noticing the problems so it is not a result of lengthy driving.

I would like the shop to replace the parts in question with good ones, but at this point I do not trust them to do a proper or timely job. I am also afraid they will retaliate in some way for me taking it to the Revdex.com. Therefore I would like to have the work done elsewhere and the shop pay for it.

Furthermore, I already attempted to give the body shop the chance to fix this problem and their answer was to completely ignore me. I want the body shop to have to pay for the bill I incurred at the alignment shop as it was necessary work that had to be done for the safety and longevity of the car, and the necessity for that work was a direct result of the shoddiness of the job originally done.

I did not receive the promised ‘written warranty for repairs’ but the estimate claimed I would be provided one for "one full year following completion’ of the wjork.