I recently had the unfortunate experience of dealing with this shop after a referral from State Farm (who I will be leaving for referring me to this shop). I was in a hit-and-run accident in which a driver crashed into me and sped away. I can safely say that dealing with Caliber over the course of the next four months it took to get my car back was much worse than the accident itself. This is the first negative review I have ever left online, and do so only so others could avoid the maddening frustration that comes with dealing with Caliber.
Trouble started when it took nearly two weeks to obtain an estimate. My car was banged up, but it wasn't in terrible shape. I was assured on several occasions that the estimate would be coming "later that day," only to be left waiting and having to follow up again. Finally, the estimate came, and I was given an estimated completion date towards the end of January--right around the time my rental coverage would run out. That date came and went, and I started following up (of course, no one from the shop called to say there would be a delay). For the next two months, I was promised the car would be ready "on Friday." As February went into March, and March approached April, this became a running joke among family and friends who saw my rental car after hearing weeks before I'd be getting my car back "on Friday."
I was given a litany of excuses for why the car was not ready after speaking with shop employees, managers, and even a regional manager. They frequently blamed the dealer for shipping the wrong part, not including a part, not including something they were supposed to, etc. I know that there have been supply chain issues going on, and would be sympathetic if they couldn't get parts for that reason, but I was never given any valid reason like that. They also apparently don't have a mechanic on premises, so there was always a lag when these supposedly incorrect or incomplete parts came in. All the while, I was well past my rental car coverage and was paying $25 everyday for my rental car. Caliber took so long, I wound up having to pay $1300 out-of-pocket for this rental car.
Finally, towards the end of March, I thought my dealings with them had come to an end when they said my car was finally ready. But no. My mirror was not attached correctly, they missed an obvious dent from the accident, and several other things were not correctly calibrated (e.g., the auto-unlock key function). After another week without my car, the mirror was still not attached correctly. The shop manager told me they had compared it with another Subaru they were working on, and had attached it correctly, so I could take the car to Subaru to check with them. After only 30 minutes at the Subaru dealer, they fixed the problem and told me that the mirror had not been installed correctly. Subaru didn't even charge me for it. It's quite unsettling to know that I am driving around in a car where at least one part was not installed correctly. I have little trust that this shop did not mess up other areas too.
To their credit, Caliber waived my deductible, but I am still close to $1000 out-of-pocket from their inability to fix this car in a timely manner--let alone the hours of time I spent on the phone with them and Hertz (renewing my rental). They offered a $300 gift card as well to help offset the out-of-pocket costs, but I have not received that. Instead, I recently received an email stating that I owed $300 as my portion of the deductible. Very organized shop.
Caliber Collision's slogan is "restoring the rhythm of your life." If the rhythm of your life is aggravation and false promises, Caliber will certainly restore that. If you just want to get your car properly fixed in a timely way, avoid at all costs. read more