Two months ago I was hit by a texting driver (Another long story), so I decided that I wanted an authorized Honda repair shop to do the work.
I needed the rear bumper replaced, drivers seat frame replaced and front bumper repainted. I photographed and video recorded my entire car inside and out (This will be KEY later !).
I dropped my Acura off back on May 14 - I just got a phone call on June 21 (Over FIVE weeks later!) telling me it was finally ready!
I went to pick up my car only to find it COVERED in dirt. sand, dust and over spray! Then I opened the door to find my dash board cracked, door sill damaged and various
scuffs and door dings, both of my taillights were scratched, and to top it all off my AC wasn't working! Mind you its 100f this week in Florida!
The shops response? "I don't know how that happened."
The shop is not claiming any responsibility for anything right now. The Manager is on vacation until next week.

What would you do next?

 

While the dirt, door sill damage and other miscellaneous issues can clearly be dropped in the lap of the dealership, the cracked dashboard may well have been from the car being left out and locked up in a high temperature environment.

Long story short, go for all of the repairs, and if they balk, you may be able to negotiate everything but the new dash board.

 

If you can confirm with pictures and video that the damage you described happened while it was in the possession of the repair shop wait for the manager to return and see what his/her response is to your demand/offer. If you aren't happy with the response you can either talk to a lawyer or just pursue it in small claims. It is sort of annoying to immediately jump into threatening/taking legal action but that is unfortunately usually the quickest way to escalate and get some type of remedy.

 

I'd never leave my car with anyone for 5 weeks. Good luck, OP. Keep us updated...

 

AGREED! I was/ am not happy about leaving my car in a parking lot for a month and a half! This mostly due to GEICO dragging their feet about approving the work! It took them TWO WEEKS for the first adjuster to even look at my car after the incident!
Anyway I spoke with the service writer who said I would have to take this up with the manager. Its so frustrating when the car was in mint condition, not a single crack on the dash or any damage on the inside, and I keep her garaged and under a car cover as often as possible. What also frustrates me is just the sloppiness and carelessness of the technician who did the work, and then after damaging my car not saying a word. Ugh.