Ok so heres my problem. My car was in an accident back in june. I took my car to my friends body shop, he only works there, not the manager or owner. Ive taken my car there before for little things, but nothing this big. So i take it there, the insurance adjuster comes and gives me and the shop an estimate of around 9500 bucks, then cuts us a check a few days after. The shop takes the check, Im then told it would take maybe a month or two to get it done. Ok, a little longer than i expected but ok. So i leave it there and forget about it for about a month and a half.

When i come in to see how everything is going, to my suprise, nothing has happened. My car was still the same way it was since i took it in. I ask my friend whats up, he tells me his boss, (the owner) hasnt ordered any of my parts yet, and the boss isnt in so i dont get a chance to talk to him. A few weeks go by, i come back in, and find that my car has gone to the frame shop and come back since i stopped in last, so the frame is back to normal. Ok, theres some progress. This is around the end of september, beginning of october. So i talk to the owner, ask him about the status of the parts he was suppose to order, he tells me that he still had to order them. Im a little pissed, but i saw a bit of progress so I let it slide for now. Now, a few more weeks go by, I come back in and talk to my friend. He tells me that his boss hasnt ordered the parts yet, and is going on his honeymoon for the next week, so i dont get a chance to talk to him. Now im getting pissed.

Ok, so now its the weekend before thanksgiving. I come in and see his boss. He asks me if ive seen my car yet, thinking i havent seen it since it was back from the frame shop. He takes me down to the shop and shows me my car looking the exact same way it did the last time i saw it, which was about a month before. Im pissed. So then i ask him if all the parts are ordered yet, at which point he tells me "yes", and that he will have my car done by monday after thanksgiving. So i say ok, and i leave.

Monday rolls around, and no phone call. I let it go and i gave him the benefit of a doubt since it was a holiday week last week.

Now heres the good part. Last night im over at a friends house, whose also friends with my friend who works at the shop. He then tells me this: "hey man, im not suppose to tell anyone because i was asked not to, but since your my friend and its about your car, i have to tell you" He goes on to tell me that my friend that works at the shop found out that his boss, the owner, had taken MY insurance money, and paid off some of his shop bills with it, and then was counting on one of his other clients to pay him, then use that money to back my parts with, but, that client hasnt been coming through, . As soon as i hear this, I am furious. Mostly because his boss lied to my face, and went ahead and used MY money, to pay off his ******** bills.

Now what im here to ask you guys is, what are the steps i should take to deal with this shop? If it my choice, I would be going in there tomorrow and beat the **** outta him and take all my money back, and get my car outta there to a real shop. But what i want to do is mainly get my car outta there, and get all my money back. Then after all that, screw up all his business by telling everyone about what happened. So please give me some input on what to do. If all doesnt go well, im going to have to get legal action against him. I was thinking about calling the BBB and informing them to see if they could also do anything.

Thanks for the help in advance

 

Lawyer

 

Yeah that was gonna be one of my options if dealing with him by myself doesnt work out

 

Get lawyer and make sure to sue for the cost of lawyer. Thing is that puts you in more stress. I'd try to sue for more, in order to pay for a rental car. Sounds like the shop owner doesn't know how to manage a business.

 

I wouldn't even try, I have a feeling the owner will make up excuses, deny whatever you're accusing him of, and be a complete dick towards you anyway.

 

 

damn!!! +1 on lawyer

 

i was thinking about goin in there first just to see if they even did anything yet, if not, i was gonna play if it off like nothin and just go get a lawyer.

Is that the best thing to do? How would i prove anything other than the fact that my car has been there since june?

 

The same thing happened to a friend of mine. Someone new a guy who owned a body shop would pad the bill for the insurance and do some extra work on the car. Long story short the car was in his shop for 6 months the work he did was average and he did no extra work on the car. You pay someone ahead of time for a job and it will never get done.

 

Get a Lawyar, contact the BBB, get a statement in writing fom the friend who told you what he knows. Ask your lawyer what to do from there. They will know the best course of action. Don't even bother going in to deal with this jackass again.

 

Just to add on this. The insurance always pays out on the job before any work gets done. It is policy with most body shops. I used to paint automotively.

 

+1, Im in insurance.

 

What you have is “he said - she said” hearsay. Its worth nothing.

The fact is that that you gave them the car in June, and 6 months later its not done!

You have two ways to get the car out of there:
a. Hire a tow truck to move the car to another shop. In this case the money is gone.
b. Hire a lawyer.

 

I would try working with your insurance company first. They probably won't like the fact the owner used their money to pay off his own bills first before even touching the car. Let them know it is taking way too long to get your car back.

 

Well, for now, the first thing im gonna do is go in there and see how its goin. For all he knows, im just coming in to check on my car. If its not done, which is most likely, im gonna have to say this is ridiculous, and that i want to see my parts that shouldve been ordered months ago. If he says he doesnt have them, i can ask why, then we'll see where it goes...

 

From past experience I had a problem with a body shop too and was getting ripped off. So i took him to small claims .. to make it a short story a year comes by and i finally win but it was a long and hard hassle with lots of paper work. I was beat and even though i won i didn't get the money because like i said.. once you finish one thing.. there is another .. thats how court cases are.. i wish i gotten a lawyer... SO GET A LAWER!!!!!!! And by the way.. he sold his shop and never seen again..

 

and the BBB

 

BBB is a big hurt for any type of company. So file a claim.

 

yep, lawyer and BBB

 

Yeah, lawyer or mabe contact your insurance company. It's kind of their responsibility to get your car fixed (even if that means going after the shop that is supposed to be fixing it). Plus, they are probably paying for a rental car for you so they'll want to stop that as well. (Unless you've already hit your max).