Don't complain about cheap work and how to deal with Icbc claims
 

So a few guys here know that I run a shop and I have a few pointers to give out to anyone who is looking to bodywork or for anyone that has a claim

If you have a claim and the shop already aha an estimate done and work is booked in, don't back out and reschedule or switch shop. I had my second case today switch out because I've $200 extra work ontop of a Icbc claim. If ur getting some work done for free, don't waste a shops and icbc time over this. Switching shops when everything is booked is a huge hassle and a lot of paperwork. Icbc also sees this and will keep record it and may take actions depending on how far it's into the process before was started. Today I had a case of someone switching out and the rentals and all the paperwork was done and booked. I had the same thing happen 4 months ago and that was a claim with a 300 deductible and 300 more work ontop. Owner wanted free work and I declined, so she took it to another shop where the work was done choppy. Not surprisingly the owner got back to me complaining of shitty work but my estimate was now over 2k because Icbc wasn't covering it this time. plus I told her that I don't want to work on her car because of the inconvenience it was to me.


Next, if you want cheap work, expected low quality repairs unless you know the shop personally. No shop is going to waste their time doing high quality work if they're not getting paid for it. I'm seeing too many posts and seeing too many people come in complaining about how a shop butchered their car only to find out that they WANTED cheap work. If the color doesn't match and body doesn't line up, pay that extra so the shop will actually care.

Also don't approach a shop with insane amounts of work for a car that's worth $500. I'm not bashing on cheap car, I own one myself. IM just saying that if you have a rusted out car Thats been hit from all corners and is 20 plus years old, don't expect a cheap and quick repair. I had a perticular crx come in that looked twice as bad as Stubbz car (sorry, I had to) and the kid wanted 1k to fix his whole rear end and repaint the whole car.

Yea no

/rant

I see it all the time.
Being in the automotive industry (in all 3 of the jobs I work), it is common practice. Everyone wants something for nothing.
I gave one lady a reasonable quote to have her Corolla detailed. It was one of the worst cases of paint oxidation I have ever seen, she did not want to do it because the price was to high "just to make the paint shine again".

I saw her one week later. She took it to a guy around the corner from me to have the work done. He charged half the price I quoted to do it......he tire shined the whole car. He did nothing to correct any issues, in fact caused a whole bunch more. She wanted me to do the job now but I refused to because of all the hassle and extra work now just to fix what was done.

You get what you pay for!

It has been too long since I have had an accident (yay for me, and let's keep it that way), so I don't remember the shop quote / repair process all that well. Typically, how does the repair process go?

Suppose I go into a body shop to obtain a quote. To me as a consumer, getting a quote on the repair is a non-binding process. The shop has certainly committed to perform the indicated work at the indicated price, but the quote itself is meant for the consumer's consideration. If the consumer is not satisfied with the quote for whatever reason (be it the price or the statement of work), I think it is entirely reasonable for the person to walk away and look for another business.

On the other hand, if the consumer has agreed to your quote, only to back out of it later on, that is totally unacceptable. As a matter of fact, I'd consider that a breach of contract. The way I look at it is, once there is acceptance of the quote, the contract becomes binding. The payment part is only an eventuality that has yet to happen, but is going to happen.

So this brings me to the question -- and please do not be offended because I am genuinely asking and not trying to troll you or anything -- when you said "the work is booked in", does that imply you have merely provided the repair quote and is booking everything everything else to expedite the repair? or does it mean the consumer has already accepted your repair offer?

Well the customer I had today literally booked everything this morning. He agreed to everything and I even had an rental ready for him. All the paperwork had gone through Aswell. I shit you not, he calls an hour later telling me that he switched shops.

Damn that's low. Fxxking unacceptable. I hope you won't get screwed by ICBC as a result.

The struggle is real :)

people backing out and switching shops happens all the time.. in any trade really. so many times i've completed a file, submitted the estimate to insurance co, setup the rental, ordered the parts, etc only to have the customer not show up at all on the appointment day. then when you call them they just kinda shrug it off and say they found another place that could do it cheaper/quicker. so what do you do? no sense bitching about it, at least your customer had the courtesy to call you before their appointment. if you can't take that reality, go work somewhere where people never cancel after the appointment has been set up. oh wait, that shit doesn't exist