Working with 290 Autobody was by far, the worst customer service experience I've ever had in my life. My vehicle was in their shop for 42 days. I had to borrow cars, take time off from work, send countless e-mails to the owner; I was never kept in the loop about what was being done. Every time I tried to call the store, the secretary would say "only Justin knows that information" but Justin would never be available to talk to me. As a customer, it's unacceptable to not be kept in the loop about a service that's costing upwards of 10k. When I asked questions, Justin also disregarded me as "someone that has a hard-time understanding things" & stated, "never has [he] had a customer that asked so many questions." As a paying customer, I have the right to ask questions and be provided clear answers, but during this entire experience, I was kept in the dark about repairs, pricing, & communication between him and my insurance company. Justin was also very intentional about providing extremely vague responses by e-mail that never directly answered my questions.
CONTRACT: The shop's contract has a "waiver" selected that allows the shop to make whatever repairs they deem necessary without your approval. There was a 3k difference in Justin's appraisal vs. the insurance company and I was extremely stressed about having to pay for a difference. Once I noticed this clause in his contract that allowed him to repair whatever he wanted without notifying me, coupled with their lack of communication, I was extremely distressed that I would be left paying a difference of 3k. After countless phone calls between the shop and the insurance company, I asked Justin to please only do the repairs that the insurance company approved because his estimate was beyond what my insurance company would approve or what I could afford. At this point, 3 weeks into my dealings with the shop, they finally begun repairs and thus, had to return my rental because of all the time wasted going back-and-forth. I had considered taking my shop out of their facility, but their contract also charges $100/day for "storage fees." At this point, I would've been charged thousands if I decided to leave, so, unfortunately, I didn't have any choice because I was stuck in a contract.
LACK OF RECORDS: 290 Autobody also isn't a fan of providing paperwork. 20 days after my car had been in their shop, realizing I had no record of their appraisal, I asked them for it by e-mail. My first e-mail went ignored. I sent a second e-mail two days later, and finally, the first appraisal was sent to me. It was actually timestamped the same day and a few hours before it was sent. When I went to pick up my car, the only paperwork they gave me was a one-page document that listed "left rear damage" and "right rear damage" with one bottom line number of the total cost. There was no itemized breakdown of the work that they did. When I requested this, they said they would never do this for customers who ask to "complete repairs that the insurance company approved." After about 15 minutes of me advocating for my right to have a complete bill, he took the insurance company's estimate, erased the heading, and typed in "290 Autobody" & gave me that.
FINAL POINTS: Fast forward towards the end, I was told that my car would be ready for pick-up on a Friday. The day before, I drove by and saw my car parked out front, all repaired and ready-to-go. I called them first thing the next day to see if I could pick it up and they told me no because "the paperwork wasn't ready." Given that the shop didn't provide me any authentic paperwork of the repairs they made, this was really unacceptable. The least they could've done after 42 days of torment was tell me I could pick up my car a few hours early.
Two weeks later, I got a call from 290 telling me that I owed them money for a battery. On the day of pick-up, my car was dead and the mechanic had to grab some sandpaper to remove the corrosion on my battery in order to jump it because it was so rusted. I couldn't believe they were asking me for money for a battery that was never installed without any type of record or documentation. I made several calls to 290 requesting paperwork or proof that this was completed and again and none of my calls were returned. Nearly 2 months later, I'm still getting notifications from my insurance company who's receiving supplement requests they've been waiting "weeks" for the shop to send. This shop made $8k off of me and stole 42 days of my sanity and are still collecting money two months later because they're just now finalizing their paperwork for my car that was in possession for nearly 2 months
I urge everyone to please take your business elsewhere. This company is extremely unprofessional. They don't communicate. They don't provide documentation. They push their work on you. They make no effort to answer your questions. And if you ask too many questions, they'll make degrading comments about you. read more
