Car Repairs Gone Bad: When a Shop Refuses to Pay for Damages

in Legal

Car Problems

My husband and I are having a bad week. Our car that we took to get repaired has an inch of water on the inside and doesn’t start. The repair shop is claiming they’re are not responsible, so we now have to figure a way through this. The agreement was for the shop to call us when they finished replacing the clutch, as it was expected to take longer than a day. We’ve been to this shop before and never had a problem with this arrangement.10145-w185.jpg

This time they did not call us on Saturday when it was done. Instead they took it off their property and moved it to a city street. The rain accumulated on the street and water got into the car. They say it was an ‘act of God’.

We say it was their negligence of not calling us and then moving the car off the shop (which is elevated). It didn’t go well this morning, so here’s what we did so far.

Trying to Right a Wrong

1. Contacted BBB to file a complaint. I filed a complaint with my local chapter to get this on file. I tried to be as specific as possible. Here’s a snippet of what I submitted to them:

It was approximately an inch thick inside the car. The mechanic told my husband that the engine and clutch were fine and it merely had to be dried out. The car started and after no more than 1/4 mile from the station it died. The engine would not restart. Immediately my husband called the mechanic and they assured him that it would be fine if he let it ‘dry out’. Later, we tried to start it again (I had gotten off of work and went with my husband). It didn’t start. I called the shop( still 7/30/07), but the cashier said the manager and the mechanics were not in. I was told to check in the morning if I wanted it towed to their shop.

This morning (7/31/07) both of went to the shop to speak with the manager. He was belligerent and completely disregarded our concerns. First he said that the water would not cause the engine damage and then when I pointed out that there was still water in the car, he changed his reasoning. He said he’s not responsible because it was ‘an act of God’. After I pointed out that the whole thing could’ve been avoid by just calling us, he refused to answer anymore questions regarding his insurance. He was hostile and didn’t want to discuss anything further.

All we wanted was for them to tow our car back to their shop (at their expense) and fix the problem. Please contact us as soon as possible.

2. Called our insurance company. I basically had to answer the same questions, but it was much less stressful, believe it or not. The customer service representative was cordial. I’m not waiting for the claims adjuster to call back.

3. Contacted the local media. I’m preparing the paperwork necessary to submit this to one o our local news stations.

4. Keeping all paperwork and notes in one file. This incident has to be documented completely. We’re not taking any chances on this situation.

There’s a couple of other options that we are investigating and as they either come to fruition or not, I’ll post the results on the blog. Any suggestions, please leave them here.

Update: We won our court case and we got the money reimbursed.

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