My car was hit in a parking lot while I was at my sons tball practice and the lady's insurance contacted me with a list of body shops & Priority Collision was the closest one to me.
Way back in January I had scheduled a state inspection and oil change through the dealership I bought my car from (not priority) because they offer these services for free to their customers. The earliest I could get in was May 18th. Last Thursday.
The body shop said they'd have my car ready Wednesday, May 17th. I informed them of my appointment and that I know it's going to be a close call but I'd really appreciate it if they keep it in mind. I also mentioned that of course I could get a state inspection anywhere any day, same with oil change, but if I keep my appointment I'll get it for free.
Wednesday comes. It's nearing the end of the business day and I haven't heard from the body shop so I called them. They told me my car wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, Thursday. But that they would bring my car in to the appointment for me. I was floored by this customer service. Very appreciative. I mean, what an offer right?! I thanked them and give them the name of dealership my appointment is at & the timeframe for drop off.
Thursday morning I call down to my dealership to make sure they made it to the appointment. Nope. No car. I had missed my appointment. I called Priority to see what's going on... they told me it's fine, once they're done with my car they will get the inspection and oil change. I pushed back & said no, it took me months to get this appointment and there's no way you're just going to be able to slip in for these services and their next appointment isn't until August...
Lady on the phone tells me not to worry because they have their own dealership they can get in any time for the services I needed - the way she said it sounded a lot like this had been the plan the whole time but if that's the case why would I have provided my dealerships location and time of my appointmen? Ok. I'm starting to get a little worried but still, they offer to help me out and the manager even told me they "will take care of me, no problem at all." And that my car will be ready today (Thursday), they just needed to do some paint touch up.
I never got a call Thursday that my car was ready. I waited all day Friday until close to 4pm and decided to call. He tells me they still need to reassemble my vehicle now and he has techs coming in over the weekend to finish it. He reassures me by Monday my car will be fixed, inspected, oiled & ready for pick up. I'm still being understanding because they did offer to go out of their way to help me, so yea a few extra days in the shop I can handle.
I get a text Monday morning that my car is ready with a bill attached for $96.95. I called to see if there was some mistake. The same manager I spoke with, Mike, seemed annoyed while explaining to me that oil changes and inspections aren't free. I explained to him why I had absolutely no idea I would be charged considering you offered to "take care of" me "no problem" and how many times I highlighted the importance of my free appointment on Thursday. He stands his ground explaining that the only way it's free is if I had purchased the car through his dealership (the exact policy my dealership had which tells me he knows exactly what I'm talking about). I also told him I was initially told by the woman on the phone that Mike would be bringing it in for MY appointment at MY dealership. He ends the call with "whatever, I'm not gonna argue with you over 100 bucks. I'll let you know when your car is ready".
I didn't get a text that my car was ready until right before 5pm and I was already shuttling kids to practice so I didn't get my car until Tuesday.
Never at any point was it implied, hinted at, or mentioned that I would be charged. The only implications I understood was that they were taking care of it for me since their delay caused me to miss my appointment I made months ago. Maybe this is how they do things but when I picked up my car they didn't even do a walk thru to show me the repairs done they just dropped the key in my hand and walked back inside. So I looked the car over myself and while the repairs seemed fine to me I hate the way I was treated. I worked in customer service for 10 years between waitressing, bartending, I even worked in a car dealership for a brief time. I know how rude and entitled customers can ruin your whole week and I strive to be easy going but I'm not going to get run over. I still feel frustrated by the whole thing even though in the end I didn't have to pay $100. I would never recommend this body shop to anyone. In fact I let Geico know about the ordeal and suggested they stop sending customers to Priority all together. It feels a lot like my free appointment was conveniently missed by their staff in order to tack on additional charges and services. read more