Wally's Collision Center

Dear Sir or Ma'am:    I am responding to the customer complaint filed by [redacted]. After reading the complaint, it appears that Ms. [redacted] has many concerns, some of which I am unaware of, and others that have been discussed with her, but no reasonable...

solution could be reached. Within my response, I will address the issues that I am aware of, while keeping my verbiage to a minimum.    Unfortunately, Ms. [redacted] found herself in a predicament regarding her accident, and the fact that she was under-insured. Our initial contact was by phone and email. On April 27, 2015, Ms. [redacted] asked me to estimate the cost of the repairs for her 2008 [redacted], based on a few pictures that she sent via email. At that time, she explained that no one was willing to take responsibility for the damages to her car, as she felt that the [redacted] was responsible due to the fact that she was driving on a city maintained street when the accident occurred. Additionally, she requested lowered rates and whatever help that I could offer because she was going to have to pay for her repairs on her own. I did all that I could do to offer her the best estimate for repairs, as well as paying for her towing and storage bill up front, which a copy has been attached. I explained to Ms. [redacted] that normally the collision center policy is to mark up all sublet bills 25%, but that I would waive that fee for her so that she would only pay the tow bill at cost. These facts have been noted only because I believe that I have been extremely sensitive to her needs.      After I arranged for the vehicle to be towed to our facility, Ms. [redacted] began calling the shop daily, and sometimes several times a day, and walking right into the repair area to check the progress on her car, and to ask if we could perform the repairs for less money. On several occasions, I have asked her to not enter the work area due to the liability, but that request was ignored. Very soon after the vehicle arrived at our shop, and having had several long dramatic conversations with Ms. [redacted], it became apparent that I needed to document everything. Moreover, Ms. [redacted] requested that additional work be done to the front bumper, hood, and left rear door, which I explained would lengthen the vehicle's time to repair, and would require us to have the vehicle in the shop for additional days. We agreed on a price for the additional work, and she was made aware of the time that these repairs would take. Soon she began complaining that the repairs were taking too long, in her opinion, and she wanted to know if I would pay for a rental car. I only mention these facts to give some idea of the incessant attempts, by Ms. [redacted],  to reduce the cost of repairs by complaining.     The issues, as stated in the complaint, will be listed below, with the response to each issue:1: Ms. [redacted] states that she was worried that [redacted] was following a [redacted] video to repair the car.    (Response) Wally's Collision Center pays monthly for a subscription for operating and data software involving vehicle repairs. [redacted] is not a customary source of instruction. Ms. [redacted] did state that to me when I returned from [redacted], but it was followed with another request to reduce the cost of repairs since we were not repairing her car professionally. [redacted] admits that they had a conversation about a starting issue, but denies having told Ms. [redacted] that he was going to watch a [redacted] video to repair her car. I was notified about the starting concern while I was in [redacted], and because I worked for [redacted] for 17 years, I immediately knew what to do, and the concern was immediately addressed and fixed. The Hybrid system is quite tricky, and dangerous. I explained to Ms. [redacted] that the Hybrid system needs to be disabled and enabled in a certain sequence, which was easily corrected with no damage to the system.2: Ms. [redacted] states that she was advised that we kept her car another week because of a pinched wire, which is not what [redacted] told her.    (Response) We did have the car an extra DAY to drop the headliner again to look for the cause of her dome light not working. We did find a pinched wire, as a result of her roof being crushed by a tree, which supplied electricity to the dome lamp, and it was repaired. I tried to explain to Ms. [redacted] that we would not have known about the wire until the interior was reinstalled after the repairs, and the dome light hooked up. Again, she attempted to discount the repairs due to her insinuation regarding our lack of knowledge. I could not get her to understand that the issue with the Hybrid system was completely unrelated to the pinched wire issue. However, because she does not understand how a vehicle works, she insisted that the issues were related, and insisted that the cost of repairs should be discounted.3: Ms [redacted] states that I lied to her about her registration sticker in the windshield.     (Response) When Ms. [redacted] picked up her vehicle she asked for her stickers. Because the re-delivery of the vehicle was tense, at first I wasn't sure what she was referring to. After realizing that she was referring to the stickers on the old windshield, I asked the glass installer about the stickers, and I was advised that they were not salvageable because the windshield completely shattered when it was removed from the vehicle which made it dangerous and impossible to retrieve them. Again, Ms. [redacted] insisted that we did not do all that we could to save the stickers, and that we should pay for them to be replaced, and I was called a liar when she pulled up a picture of the car after the accident and the stickers were in tact. However, the stress of removing the windshield made it shatter and the stickers were no good at that point. There was no reasoning with her about the stickers.4: Ms. [redacted] states that we chipped the paint on her rear bumper.     (Response) Ms. [redacted] came by the shop after our conversation over the phone regarding the "pinched wire" issue. She came into the office and continued to push the issue that I was lying to her, and that we should give her further discounts. I asked her to give me a minute to answer the phone, and that is when she went into the shop again. She spoke with [redacted] who took her to her car, to show her the progress on her repairs and to try to calm her paranoia about the repairs. At that point, she stated we scratched her bumper. [redacted] showed her where the paint was peeling off of the entire bumper, and that it was not a scratch, but he would touch up the worst areas at no charge for her. 5: Ms. [redacted] states that an emblem and panel are missing from the vehicle.     (Response) Because Ms. [redacted]'s behavior throughout the repair process warranted proper documentation, I have attached the document that she signed upon picking up her [redacted] from our shop. I felt that it was necessary to have her sign off on the repairs to protect the interest of the collision center. Please notice that all electrical components, interior components, engine, and exterior body were checked by me, Ms. [redacted], and her friend, at the time of delivery, and she signed that all components checked out to be satisfactory. Now, three (3) weeks after taking the car back into her possession, all of a sudden we should be responsible for missing parts. This same document also states the areas of the car that were repaired, and the emblem that is missing is from the left fender, which was not repaired.6: Ms. [redacted] states that we are responsible for a water leak at the tail lights.     (Response) Again, the documentation shows that the quarter panels, where the tail lights are housed, were not repaired. There would be no reason for us to remove them for the repairs that we performed. I am not disputing the [redacted] technician's diagnosis, nor did I threaten anyone's job. The diagnosis, as far as I am concerned, just further clears Wally's Collision Center of liability for the water leak. I am not going to pay a body man to remove tail lights if it is not necessary to repair the roof. We did try to identify the odor on the last two occasions that Ms. [redacted] returned to our shop, but were unable to do so without having the ability to pull it into the shop. She wanted it done in the parking lot, in 100 degree weather, which was unreasonable.      In summary, I believe that the entire staff at Wally's Collision Center went above and beyond to satisfy all of Ms. [redacted]'s concerns, even though they are unfounded, in an effort to avoid what is happening right now. I have offered to install her "missing" parts for free if she purchased them. We have spent nearly an hour, on two different occasions, trying to find her water leak; first starting from where we performed repairs, and then in the interior, and were unable to. I have referred her to the [redacted] Dealer that I had confidence in because I was 100% sure that it was not a result of our repairs. I believe that nothing short of taking ownership for everything that goes wrong with Ms. [redacted]'s [redacted] from this time forward will satisfy her, as stated in her resolution. Ms. [redacted] states that she cannot sell her car in good faith, but when we removed her front bumper cover to repair it, we found the front bumper reinforcement and left frame rail crushed in from a prior accident. She declined repairs stating that it was a "REBUILT" vehicle. Because I was not familiar with that terminology, I asked if she meant that the car had a "salvage title", and she took great offense, and restated with conviction..."IT IS REBUILT!" Nevertheless, I advised her that the front bumper reinforcement and frame rail damage is a MAJOR safety concern, and perhaps she should focus on repairing that before selling the vehicle. I believe that because she was unable to push me around, and make me pay for things that the collision center is not responsible for, we are now in this position. That being said, if Ms. [redacted] purchases the missing parts, I am still willing to install them at no charge, as long as she agrees to wait in the designated waiting area, and not in the shop, which creates further liability.