We took our BMW to 63 Auto Body to get the rear bumper and left rocker molding fixed. A small job all considered. Victor and PJ provided a quote for a total of $582 discounted to $550. The cost for repairing just the bumper was quoted 6.4 hours @ $50/hour for a total of $320. Strangely enough, they recommended not to fix the rocker, since according to them, it will get damaged again during the winter! Actually the damage to the rocker molding was caused by a garage attendant. They said they would touch paint the rocker and make it look nice again, which did not happen. Not clear why they even provided a quote for both the bumper and the rocker then.
Anyway, when we went to pick up the car, the bill was inflated from $320 to $400 just for the bumper and the rate was also inflated to $60 an hour. No indication of the amount of time spent, just the total and the hourly rate! On top of that they charged a credit card fee of 3%. I have reported 63 Auto Body to American Express about the fee that they gladly refunded it, and open an investigation in the process. The whole transaction was handled by my wife up to this point.
When I personally paid them a visit, Victor kept saying that it was not worth it to fix the rocker molding and other not so minor scratches that I pointed out. Never seen an auto body turning business away in this fashion. Furthermore, when I explained to him the funny math about the bill he tried to BS me about their system being complicated. It was at that point that this genius and his assistant got a piece of my mind about the bill and the credit card fee.
I would have gladly paid $550 for what it was quoted initially plus whatever would have cost to fix other minor or not so minor scratches and dents. These geniuses have accomplished instead to get a bad review on Yelp, being reported to American express and more trouble coming their way.
By the way, have you noticed that several 5 star reviews on Yelp for 63 Auto Body are written by users with only one review just for 63 Auto Body? Suspicious, isn't it!
Stay away from these geniuses!
Update 11/4.
PJ, you failed again to address the main points above:
Did you provide a separate written quote for fixing just the bumber, if you thought that it would have been different from the initial quote? No, you did not.
Did you quote, in the only quote we received, a cost of $320 to fix the bumber and then charge $400 instead? Yes, you did.
Did you also state in the quote that the labor cost is $50/hour and then charge in the invoice $60/hour? Yes, you did.
Did you provide a written work order, which is a normal practice, signed and authorized by the customer, where it is clearly listed the work that needs to be done and the cost? No, you did not.
Do you have any written document signed by my wife that have authorized you to proceed to fix the bumper for $400 plus 3% credit card fee? No you don't!
Did you arbitrarily charge a 3% credit card fee? Yes, you did.
Did you indicate in the quote that credit card payments are subject to a 3% fee. No, you did not.
Everything else is minutiae.
Update 11/30.
It got worse, if possible! After two weeks the repair job was done, a crack appeared on the top of the bumper, not on the back but on the top! I am attaching pictures. I read other reviews (among the hidden ones) of people complaining about cracks on the paint.
I went back to their shop and show to them how incompetent they are. They did not take responsibility for the poor job they did and instead they made up a story that my wife must have hit something with the bumper guard on, which is false, and it still would not explain the crack in the paint on the top of the bumper. I never had a crack on the top of any bumper of any car I owned, even when my bumper was hit and damage was caused on the back.
By the way, I asked the opinion from a very reputable and well-known BMW mechanic in NYC who also has a body shop. The verdict was that 63 Auto Body did a very poor job!
Just a place to stay away from!
Related bumper photos:
https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/yFwWs_Xc2hvN68G0K8VtDg/o.jpg
https://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/w8Wyl19SjVfl6CF9gthcEQ/o.jpg read more