My truck was hit in the rear passenger side on the morning of the Eagles Super Bowl parade. I took it to Artistic Auto Body in Prospect Park, PA to have it repaired. I was dealing with George Moore, the owner. Artistic Auto Body essentially replaced the rear bumper cover, in addition to other related work. Immediately upon picking up my vehicle, I asked George if he could come outside to look at my vehicle. I showed him where the rear bumper seam on the passenger side, where it meets up against the rear quarter panel was perfect, but the same seam along the drivers side (immediately below the gas cap door) was uneven, and it bowed out a bit.
George stated that it was the best they could do because the way Chrysler makes their bumpers/brackets. I asked him how does Chrysler get them perfect, as it was prior to me being hit? I cannot recall his exact answer, but it was non-sense. I reluctantly left with my vehicle because it was clear that George wasn't even trying to satisfy his customer - just deflect blame away from him and his shop. You can tell he has years of experience in avoiding responsibility and minimizing his customers concerns/complaints.
Within in week or so, I called George to let him know that the bumper cover was not put on evenly because my rear tailgate was scraping on the top of the bumper each time I opened and closed it. The paint was coming off where it was scraping. I dropped it off, and when my vehicle was returned, the space between the top of my bumper and my rear tailgate seemed to be fixed. However, the gap in the rear bumper seam on the drivers side kept screaming "look at me!!!" George and I disagreed on this issue, however, he ended up telling me to bring my vehicle back in and he would buy a new $30.00 - $40.00 bracket, and that would fix that issue.
A day or so later, my vehicle was ready again, and this time everything looked great. I was very pleased. That was until today. My vehicle is in another body shop for some other minor body work - unrelated to the rear bumper issue. However, they have to remove the rear bumper cover and then re-install it. This body shop e-mailed me (with photos) and explained to me that all the tabs on the rear bumper cover were broken off, and the cover was "hot glued" on. They went on to say that the passenger side is glued so much that they most likely will have to cut the bumper cover off - essentially destroying it and leaving me to have to replace it at my cost.
I called George Moore back and told him about this issue, and he stated that he had to glue it because all the tabs were broken off because "I kept making them remove and re-install the bumper cover." I told George that the rear bumper cover was removed and replaced a few times because I asked them to fix their mistakes. If the bumper cover was installed correctly the first time, maybe even the second time, then all of the above and what I'm going through now would not be an issue. Additionally, the shop it is in now told me there is a tool that is used for removing bumper covers that does no damage at all to the tabs - regardless of how many times they are removed and reinstalled. They said many shops just grab the bumper cover(s) on one end and simply pull/jerk them away from the brackets and this typically breaks the brackets. I'm going out on a limb in saying that Artistic Auto Body does it the faster way by simply "ripping" the bumper cover off instead of using the appropriate tool.
Long story short, George refuses to do anything at all for me and/or accept responsibility for his shops shoddy work. He then began to lie by saying the bumper cover was removed nearly a dozen times, when it was only three - maybe four times - again, because Artistic Auto Body could not get the job done correctly after several attempts. He again said that Chrysler cannot make parts that fit correctly onto their vehicles. George lied again by saying that he was nice enough to buy OEM parts and absorb the difference from what he paid and what my insurance company (USAA) reimburses him for them. This is a lie because when my vehicle was in for the estimate, he told me that he has an agreement with a Chrysler dealership where they sell him the parts for the price of what an aftermarket part would cost. The dealership agrees to this because George gives them a good amount of business.
When I said to George again that the bumper cover was removed several times, it was because they could not get the cover on correctly, which is no fault of my own. He then switched his attitude to saying that it was because I did not accept that it was the best that they could do. George also seemed to be implying that I knew that they glued the bumper to my truck. This is incorrect. So, here I am, most likely going to have to pay for not only a rear bumper cover for my truck, but also to have it painted and the labor to install it. read more