[Profile] Ikethegreat

[ikethegreat]

Update:

The body shop called me today and asked if I received the check from the insurance company yet.  I told them yes and they asked me to drop it off.... uhhhh what?  I told them I wasn't going to pay until the work was finished and done to my satisfaction.  Well the owner of the shop was not happy about that and told me he I should trust him and that he would have never accepted the job if he had known I wasn't going to pay first.  Seriously?!  Who pays for car repairs BEFORE the work is done?  He called me back a few minutes later and told me he decided not to do the work if I wasn't planning to pay first.  Needless to say I'm taking it elsewhere.  Sigh...

[Silver Bullet]

Wow that's shady. I have never heard of a shop that operates like that. Definitely take your car elsewhere.

[Mike]

It's actually common in autobody repairs. The cost of the parts and materials is more than 60% of the total so they want money up front for the cost they have to pay.

[gargantula99]

Seriously Ike. He's got to buy parts for your car to replace. Hold back like 20 or 30 percent if you want to.

[timot_one]

I'd call around other shops that do body work in your area and find out what their policy is. Ideally, you may want to give them money for the parts only and wait to pay the rest (labor) after the work has been completed to your satisfaction.

[Mike]

You can disagree with the work even though you paid up front. Think of it this way generally if there is a lien holder involved the check gets sent to the shop not to the owner of the car. It's just how they do business

[ikethegreat]

He wanted the whole check or nothing at all, which is something I was not confortable with.  Once I pay him, all my leverage is gone.  Whats to keep them on schedule?  Whats to make sure the work is done to my satisfaction?  I contacted my insurance company and my lawyer and they both advised not to pay upfront. 

I ended up taking my car to a bodyshop around the corner.  They actually laughed when I told them that the other shop expected to be paid in full before working on the car.  They said he was probably having money problems and didn't have any credit with his part suppliers.  That sucks for him but it's not my problem.  Turning down a
$10.6k job isn't the way to get out of your money problems.

Oh well, I'm much happier with the new bodyshop.  They have a much larger shop and have tons of luxury and sports cars being worked on there so I'd imagine they are pretty good.  

[CrackerTeg]

Keep tabs on them though. Who's to say that 10.6k price tag doesn't go up and total out the car?

[ikethegreat]

That is actually what I'm hoping for.  I asked them to go over it very thoroughly and make sure the previous estimate was accurate before they did anything. 

[CrackerTeg]

Good call.

[gargantula99]

Best of luck Ike.

[Icebox]

Keep tabs on them though. Who's to say that 10.6k price tag doesn't go up and total out the car?

if the previous shop was aware of the limit to total the car, they may have estimated low so they could get the work. did your insurance company send an adjuster to write his own estimate?

[ikethegreat]

Yeah the adjuster looked at the car twice. 

[Icebox]

then the price that the shop is quoting is irrelevant since you will only have to pay your deductible and any additional funds will be worked out between the shop on your insurance company.

[gargantula99]

^ this.