Phrosttz0

wow bro i feel your pain, wow is all i can say, i would def get in contact with a lawyer about getting you a new car, and dropping that car all together.

San-AnT

more pics:
is it normal for my hood to swirl like that?

curls

That is absolutely the WORST buffing job I've EVER seen. There is NO WAY that a hood should swirl like that. It should be like glass and nothing less.

Are they actually "done" with the car according to them? If so, wow... that is unbelievable. If not, get it moved to a well-respected shop ASAP and I agree your letter looks great.

Good luck man.

o3jeff

That is just terrible work. Thay actually called you and told you that the car was done and gave you that?

CJams

total I think I could build a TSX from the ground up in 1/2 the time. An extra 1000 miles? Sounds like someone utilized your navigation system during their Families summer vacation. There should be no more than 10-20 miles on it, if that. Hail damage should not require a vehicle test drive what so ever. Get a lawyer! Something aint kosher.

joerockt

Dude! I just noticed in the first pic your missing the reflectors???? WTF???

And those buffing marks are crap. Fuck this letter BS, just get a lawyer now and take care of this. Unacceptable on every level.

Now I know why they had your car for so long, someone was using it on a daily basis. You know what, check the Navi and see if there are any last destinations you never went to.

curls

That's a great idea!

hrj

iTrader: (1)

... gosh ... u need to ask for a new car or at least used car with excellent condition

TSXnOPKS

San_AnT...did you take possession of the car and take it home like that? why?

They'd probably come up with some excuse that you did this damage and removed the reflectors after you took it home. (highly unlikely considering the bad bondo looking curled paint cracks).

TSXnOPKS

Show us a picture of the wheel with the gouge in it. Also....If you don't smoke, does the car smell like it does? Have you checked the oil for metal shavings, coolant, etc...they might have abused it really hard. Check under the seats for personal belongings that you don't recognize like fast food receipts, etc., during the dates that you didnt have the car.

jwhite4

A minor point, but the government personally owner vehicle (POC) reimbursement rate is I think 44c/m. You might use that as a baseline for what to ask in terms of reimbursement.

I just had most of the left side. hood, and roof of my 06 TSX RBP refinished due to vandalism. I'm seeing similar swirls in the hood. This was done at the dealers bodeshop (owned by dealer, not contracted out). Unfortunately I'll need to take it back to have damage from a hit and run (I'm having horrible auto luck this year), so I'll mention it to them and see what they say. I'm hoping a buff/rewax can correct it.

I'm not sure if it was addressed by anyone else yet, but one thing you should start to think about is what restitution do you want? For example, do you want all the pieces cleaned (not sure if you can ever completely get out grease), or do you want them replaced? Do you just want everything correctd, or are you looking for some additional (punitive) compensation? At the least, you should bring it to your Acura dealer and have give you an estimate.

Good luck with your problem.


Jeff

San-AnT

i got a call from geico on friday and an email on saturday. i have been assigned a new consultant who will contact me on monday. since i sent the original fax to the local office - which is next door to red mccombs - and got no response, i decided to fax it also to the national office. i got 2 emails and a phone call within 30 minutes.

curls

It's a start!

chuson

San-AnT, we will never know how piss you were w/ those A-hole, good luck on repair. One more thing, I guess once they realize how bad you unsatisfy w/ your car, and sent letter to BBB or the lawyer thing, they might start to apologize or compensate you w/ something. DON"T fall into their shit trap like, "We will take care of your car from now on, cleaning up this and that before return the car back to you", you know what they will do next~!! Just take the car and fix it elsewhere.

San-AnT

i am considering some possible resolutions: 1. reimburse me for the total cost myself and my insurance has paid, including rental car (over $6k now). 2. pay for all repairs to be performed at another shop that all three of us agree on (geico, red mccombs, and myself). i think the reimbursment should be enough compensation for me. i dont think that asking for a new car is resonable or fair, but i will consult with both the geico representative and the university law center (i have a few friends there) before talking with red mccombs.

any other reasonable suggestions are more than welcome.

curls

I agree with everything there except them (Red McCombs) having to agree on the next shop to repair the car. They should have no choice in the matter now.

jwhite4

I also agree with curls, no reason to even offer to have the original shop have any say in what happens next (other than to pay for it). They seem to have demonstrated they are clearly irresponsible. I would have whatever facility you choose do as full as inspection as possible. I'd be concerned about what may have happened to the car during the time they seemed to have been driving it personally. Unless they can justify that (which is seems like they can't), that's where I'd try to hit them up for punitive damages. At the least you can consider it compensation for any future issues you may discover later on.

Jeff

iamhomin

Wow..I'm totally speechless.

I hope everything works out well and it seems like you have everything pretty much covered. Keep us updated as frequently as possible, I'd like to see how this one concludes..

San-AnT

i have noticed in the last 2 days that there is a noticable but inconsistent squeak somewhere near the right front pillar (the roof was replaced). it sounds like when the dash shifts on the older plastic car dashes. it very infrequent, but seems to happen most either when shifting in low gears or turns (torque/bending?).

A Cake On

If you don't get a call from the new GEICO rep on today by 2pm, place a call and ask for the guy that has picked up the claim. If this happens remind them nicely that someone on their end needs to place a higher sense of urgency on this issue. Keep pushing them and try to muscle them as much as possible to make as much headway as you can before having to engage a lawyer and pull money out of your pocket.

San-AnT

ok, check this out. the new adjustor that they assigned to me called in sick this morning. fortunately, the area manager called me back and told me that he had already contacted red mccombs last week and is going to sit in on our "meeting" on wednesday. i am forwarding him pictures of the car so that he can have a good idea of what to expect.

el chile grande

Good luck bro, keep us updated.

pimpin-tl

Wow man. I remember seeing a few issues when we met the other night, but I had no clue you had this many! Yea definitely good luck man. I have a friend that owns a body shop and he has done all my work on my cars. Excellent family owned shop. I can recommend him if you want. Just call me.

Hope to see you guys next Thursday. BTW, I got the new job! Start on Aug 7th.

peterjedi

I am adding myself to this thread. I really hope your insurance and Auto repair shop does the right thing. I had had a problem with auto repair on my old Integra. I know the feelings that you are going through.

Good luck on Wednesday.

yuhoo22

good luck and keep us posted. I hope everything works out, and that you get more than what you are asking for because frankly I think you are being too nice.

Kid 455

Red McCombs is going to be there??

joerockt

Honestly, if I were the owner, not only would you get your car back in perfect shape, but people would be fired as well.

Intrested to see what Red does. Is this really the same guy that owned the Vikings?

San-AnT

same guy. he's not going to be there. the general manager of the company is going to be there. and the regional geico rep. manager

curls

I had a windshield replaced on a previous car at a Ziebart location. Picked the car up 4 hours later and they had:

- ripped the headliner
- installed the wrong windshield (literally had gaps on all corners big enough to stick a pencil through)
- scratched off a lot of paint on both A-pillars as well as the roofline
- lost the moulding on the left side of the windshield.

Needless to say I screamed and yelled and luckily had pics of the car from a day prior as proof. They sent the car over to the dealership and had everything repaired 100%, plus refunded my money, plus gave me a free full int/ext detailing (never used it, don't trust them), AND THEY FIRED THE GUY WHO WORKED ON THE CAR.

He had been with them for 9 years. Never once screwed up. But, they pissed me off enough to get rid of the guy since that was a huge loss on their part $$ wise.

I hope the same happens in this case - everything fixed/replaced 100% somewhere else (dealer, etc...), and the ppl involved in the priginal "repairs" get fired.

San-AnT

bad news:

Complaint ID#: 90081806
Business Name: Red McCombs Collision Center

Thank you for contacting the Better Business Bureau regarding your complaint.

The complaint was received by the BBB on July 25, 2006 and has been assigned case# 90081806 in our files.

We regret to inform you that the Better Business Bureau cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed by one of our Complaint Specialists and was found to contain issues that are out of the BBB's purview.

It is our policy to process only those complaints that fall into the BBB's scope. Items such as landlord/tenant issues, criminal allegations, requests for punitive damages, employer/employee disputes, cases already involved in litigation, civil right violations, business to business collection issues, etc are not handled by the BBB.

A list of agencies that can help you with these types of complaints can be obtained by visiting the official State of Texas website at www.state.tx.us .

Thank you for contacting the Better Business Bureau.

Sincerely,

Nancy Kawata
Marketplace Relations Representative
nkawata@centraltx.bbb.org

curls

Not necessarily bad news.

Try re-wording it to get rid of the punitive damages / criminal use of car. Word it such that it addresses poor business practice and shoddy work, etc...

The BBB won't necessarily get your car fixed - it WILL, however, help get the word out to others that Red McCombs is a POS establishment. Also, getting a BBB complaint against them, even if it isn't 100% of what you're in a fight with them about, will likely help your leverage over them.

San-AnT

i know when i bill insurance companies, i just reword a rejected claim to get it to go through, but will this work with the BBB? i have an assigned claim #, so do i use the original letter and adjust it or start all over?

BRH

Instead of the BBB, try to find out the state agency that regulates commerce, and complain to them. Your Attorney General's office probably has a Consumer Affairs Department, plus there may be another agency that handles these types of complaints.

Here in VA, there's an agency like that. It's called the "Corporation Council" or something like that. (I can't recall the exact name).

BBB can also still be used by revising your original complaint to fit their criteria. The more complaints you file with various organizations, the better off you'll be.

Good Luck!

DGH

Didn't you have your big meeting yesterday?

How did it go?

(You got royally screwed, we're all rooting for ya!!)

San-AnT

turns out im not such a good negotiator. but geico rep is still fighting for me. they are talking today to work out details. i'll keep you posted. so far i got a new front bumper, new paint all around and full in and out detail (at another shop) after that we will all inspect and see what else needs to be done.

they are also fixing all of the points i made

curls

So far it doesn't sound like too bad of a deal for you. As long as ALL of this is being done at another shop, I'd say its a great start.

As far as compensation for the 1000+ miles on your car, that, my friend, is criminal and you should look at having Geico take Red McCombs to court for it.

studville

I dunno currently what the IRS has as their mileage rate for the business use of your vehicle, but it's somewhere between 30-50 cents a mile. I say you send them a detailed bill.

jerzpwr

the IRS mileage rate is 44.5 cents a mile

joerockt

Seriously...

Did you even ask them about this San-Ant? Cant imagine how the GM would respond to that other then saying you'll be compensated and someone is getting fired.

A Cake On

Yeah, you need to get on them about the mileage issue. I hope the mileage out of the shop was recorded as the mileage in was. I'm telling you, you need reimbursement from GEICO on the mileage and they should waive your deduct for this instance, because your car has to be in the shop for longer now. Doesn't sound like good claims service to me.