Sooo, daughter was in a car accident 45 days ago. Minor damage.

[haele]

Some guy busy watching a pedestrian pulled out of angled street parking and hit her 2004 Saturn.
No biggie, but a nasty dent, paint scratches, and the check engine light came on after he hit her. Insurance gives her a rental car, sends her to a collision place she had been at two years before when an idiot on his phone decided to merge into her lane at 65mph. That damage then was fixed no problem.

They take the car in. We don't hear anything for 40 days. The Insurance agent is trying to get ahold of them, because the adjustment department kept telling him there was some sort of computer issue.

Seems that instead of using the door frame VIN, this time they used the dashboard VIN, and the two didn't match. DMV registration and insurance both have the same number as the door frame - along with the engine firewall stamp. Also, apparently, the repair shop couldn't verify the VIN for that model, when they ran the dashboard VIN, it came up with a totally different year and model, a coupe instead of a sedan. But they still went with the dashboard number, screwing up the whole claim, which is computerized, of course. It's still messed up and no work has been done, even though the insurance agent approved it 40 days ago.

Duh, a previous owner replaced the dashboard and didn't change the VIN plates.

We all finally found this out today. 43 days after it went into the shop. And 2 days before insurance stops paying for a rental car.

Oh, sure, we can bring it back in once all the computer issue is cleared up, yes, then they will fix the car...but that's not going to fix the more than 30 days of rental car cost to the insurance companies for this totally avoidable delay. And I doubt our insurance is going to pay for another week of rental car if we bring it back in.

Mind you, insurance has sent both daughter and me to this very same shop twice previously due to accidents, and even though they were slow, they did good work. But this cluster f*** of stupidity is totally unacceptable. If two VINs are the same, and one that's just riveted to a very removable part is different, then you go with the VINs that match, right?

And they have a new shop manager since the last time we were there. Not for long, I hope.

Rant off.

Haele

[Bev54]

1. 45 days? that is outrageous.

I am in Canada and while my insurance pays for rental, it is the autobody shop that provided replacement while they fixed my dents from someone hitting my car. They needed only 5 days to fix and let the paint dry, because of course they would like the next customer to have their courtesy car.

[Fla Dem]

2. I think after 2 weeks I would have looked for another shop.

For them to stick with the dashboard vin# instead of the door vin# WHICH THEY USED THE LAST TIME is ridiculous. They have caused you inconvenience, time and possibly an insurance payment.

You should have insisted they use the door vin# as that is the car's true #.

[Emile]

3. A car that old, I'm surprised the insurance company just didn't

totaled it.

[haele]

4. Deductable was $1k. Repairs would have cost $680.

And rental car should have only cost $300, if not for that mistake.
She's a starting out food service store manager, she can't yet replace the cheap used car she currently has with a newer one, and she doesn't want to drive around with a bent up rear passenger door, especially with kids in the back seat.
The insurance company won't salvage it unless damage was $750 above the deductible, so she wouldn't even get enough back to buy an equally old Craigslist car.

Haele

[Emile]

5. I don't know why, but I was thinking on the amount of time

it was going to take to repair the vehicle there was a lot of damage. The body shop down the road could repair that in one day. Of course they would keep it an extra day to look it over and allow the paint to cure.