You will have to excuse me - this is lengthy testimonial but worth reading...
A body repair that should have taken 3-4 days to fix - took 4 weeks!
I have recently gone through an extremely frustrating and disappointing experience with the Dilawri Collision Centre in Agincourt/Scarborough (Markham and Finch).
Someone hit my parked car while backing out of their driveway. I contacted my Acura dealership and they advised me to take it to the Dilawri Collision Centre - as they are also owned by the Dilawri Group of Companies. This was an insurance claim - appraised at around $2000 - not very extensive damage.
I took my car to the Dilawri Collision Centre - the insurance company had appraised the damage. They advised me that I could take my car and bring it back as they had to order the parts. In early January 2018, I received a call from the collision centre stating that I can bring in my car for repairs to commence. They arranged for a car rental. Everything was fine up until this point.
A week had passed and I had not heard from them - I called and was advised that they were still working on the car.
Another week had passed and still no call - so I called again and was advised that the car was being prepped - I assume for painting.
After almost 3 weeks, I received a call from the centre advising me that my car was finished and ready to pick up. I went to pick up my car only to find that they did a very poor job - there was a large gap between the bumper and headlamp/fender area. The customer service advisor indicated that they can take care of it in about 15 - 20 minutes. I waited - for almost 2 hours. Upon subsequent inspection, the bumper now had a gap in several places, the fender was not aligned with the hood - and there were more large gaps between panels.
They advised me that they would take care of it and I could pick it up the next day. Well, the next day came and no call - so I called them in the afternoon. The service advisor indicated that it would be ready the following Monday.
I then brought up the issue of the rental car - as the limit for my insurance company rental coverage will soon be reached. I asked the advisor what will happen if the cost of the rental exceeded the max amount - he indicated that they would speak with my insurance company.
I have asked to speak with the manager of the collision centre several times. I have not yet been able to speak with him - I have always been advised that he has either stepped out or was in a meeting. I have left messages for the manager to call - never received any call backs.
I finally had to resort to contacting the manager at my Acura dealership - he offered to help as much as he could - as he is not directly affiliated with the collision centre (other than the same owner). I have been a loyal customer of the Markham Acura dealership for over 25 years.He advised me that the collision center will probably not pay for the car rental expenses. However, he offered to lend me one of their (dealership) loaner vehicles so I would not incur further expenses - he was under no obligation to do so.
Finally, after 4 weeks, the collision centre called stating that my car was ready. I went to pick up the car the next morning. I finally got to speak with the manager of the collision centre - for the first time. I made it clear that this should not have happened and that he was responsible for not communicating anything to me.
The manager of the Dilawri Collision Centre indicated that they were short staffed due to illness - or some other excuse. If this were the case, they should have called and advised me that they were delayed and to take my car until they were ready to work on it.
Upon initial inspection, the car appeared "acceptable" - however, there were some areas that could have been fixed better and the paint hue is noticeably different, but I just did not have the patience any more to deal with these people. I just left with my car. They provided me with a lifetime guarantee - so when my lease comes to an end and the car is inspected - if they find anything wrong with the front-end, I will give the inspector the warranty papers.
There still remains the issue of the rental car expense - being exceeded. Something to ponder: MY VEHICLE RENTAL COST MORE THAN WHAT IT COST TO REPAIR MY CAR!
I did contact the Dilawri head office - I was advised that my "concern will be conveyed to the appropriate manager and any further communication will be forthcoming from their office". That was over a month ago. I have not heard or received any communication from them - had someone reached out to me, I would not have posted this online.
By the way, while I was at the collision centre to "pick up" my car the first time, there was another customer (also with a late model Acura) - who also seemed upset about his car. He stated that he had waited 3 weeks for his car to be fixed He left the collision centre - visibly upset. read more