It was a NIGHTMARE. My car ended up at Coon Rapids Caliber Collision on Tuesday, July 15, just one day after hitting a deer for the first time in my life. I picked Caliber off the list of recommended dealers provided by my insurance company, based off of proximity to my home.
I first went in to the shop on Thursday, July 17th to speak with the service advisor and do a walk-around on the damages. We discussed the various issues (hood damage, grill damage, side mirror, etc), and on the list was a cracked windshield. I quickly pointed out that there was no crack in the windshield when it left the scene. I even showed him pictures on my phone of the windshield with no crack. He told me that it must have cracked while sitting in the lot, due to the heat, taking no responsibility for it. I brushed it off and moved on, thinking that it will get fixed with insurance anyway.
I left that day with assurances that the estimate would be completed and sent to my insurance company. At this point, the portal on their website for my case suggests a completion date of Friday, August 1. I'm not sure how long they took to get an estimate to my insurance company, but later events make me wonder how swift they were.
I finally get a decision from Farmers on Wednesday, July 23, that they are going to call it a total loss. After talking with the service representative at Caliber, I decided to salvage and fix the vehicle. He estimated we could get the work done for a reasonable price, and gave me a soft quote of $9100, which was above the top end of my budget. We decided to take the windshield off of the quote to save $750. Keep in mind, this windshield became cracked while in their possession. So we got the number down to $8300 or so. He did tell me at that point that the number could change, once they got the bumper off and the car disassembled, if they saw any damages that weren't visible else wise. He cited specifically some cooler system parts. We decided to continue moving forward with the process.
I didn't hear from Caliber again until Tuesday, July 29th, now two full weeks since my car arrived at their shop. I received an e-mail apologizing for taking so long to get me a final quote. "I've been out sick." Was the excuse given. The quote was the same as we had discussed five days earlier. I immediately respond, via email, telling him to go ahead and get things started (although I thought we had done that already).
I didn't hear anything after that, so I emailed again Thursday, July 31st, asking for a status update; no response. I called the shop on Friday, August 1 (the initial estimated date of completion) and was told that they were waiting by for parts. The grill would be in Monday and the hood would be in Wednesday, then they could get things to paint and wrapped up, hopefully be the end of the week (August 8)
Flash forward through the weekend. Tuesday, August 5, I call the shop to ask if I can get my sons's baseball bag out of the trunk; Game Night. The receptionist checked to make sure the car wasn't in paint or somewhere inaccessible. It was not. I got a ride up there, to be greeted by my service rep. "Ok, now don't flip out, but your car is going to look like it hasn't been worked on."
Sure enough, it is sitting in the back lot, seemingly untouched. I'm given a flimsy story about some emergency, that the tech assigned to my car had to leave that morning. Also another story about problems with the parts order being only partially delivered. This doesn't explain why it's been three weeks and my car looks exactly the same as when it got there. No, worse than when it got there, if you factor in the windshield. So I grab the baseball gear and leave, not happy.
Wednesday, August 6, I receive a call from my service rep around 3:00 PM. He proceeds to tell me that they got the car taken apart and the bumper off. Sure enough, those coolers we talked about are going to be a problem and that my bill was going to be $1300 more. This is where I lost my mind. 22 days after my car got to their shop, they have it disassembled and are still changing my estimate. Meanwhile, I am getting Ubers, cashing in every favor I have with everyone I know, just to get to and from my two jobs. I'm being creative with my time with my kids as a single dad, not being able to drive anywhere.
After cooling off, my rep tells me that he is going to "massage the numbers" and get back to me. An hour later, he calls back to tell me he is going to be able to keep my bill at the original Quote. However, now they need to order more parts. Eventually, I'm told they are hoping for the end of the following week (August 15).
I finally get a call with positive news on Wednesday, August 13. My rep tells me everything is finally there, they just need to get things to paint, where there is no backup, so it should move quickly. out of room. finished August 18, 34 days after being dropped off. NIGHTMARE read more
