cycas Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 (edited) I damaged my car on 10th April. It's supposed to be being repaired under the insurance policy, but the garage are *REALLY* taking their time. They told the insurance company it would be finished Weds, but rang me on Friday, not to say it was done - but to say that they would ring me again on Tuesday... Tuesday will be over a month they have had my car! Does anyone know if there is any kind of limitation on how long they are allowed to take over this, or if there is anything I can do about it? It took the garage 10 days to assess the damage and produce a quote! Because the accident was my fault and nobody else was involved, I am forced to use the insurance company's choice of garage rather than my own. Edited May 8, 2009 by cycas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 i had a head on collision in a country lane and they collected my car immediatly and returned it to me 3 weeks later, i didnt have to do anything, my insurance company took care of it all and kept me informed all the way are you fully comp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Yes. I think the insurance company are OK, it's just that the garage are being really, really slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Contact the insurance company and tell them about the delay. After all, if you are not satisfied you will not use them again, so it is their interest to use a garage that gives a good service. My sister did this when she had similar problems. The insurance company got on to the garage that day and, hey presto, the manager was on the phone with apologies and the work was done quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendbert Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Are they charging you for the hire car? Just wondering whether the garage and insurance company between them are trying to pull a fast one by dragging out the time taken to carry out the repairs and therefore charge you for the car When my car was hit last year the insurance company passed everything over to a company called Drive Assist and they sorted the garage and the hire car. Although it wasn't my fault and I was being charged a minimal charge for the car, the repair took a couple of weeks and the only delays were realy down to me not being available due to work shifts for when they needed to collect/return my car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 My insurance company offers a courtesy car, so I'm not paying for it - but I am wondering if the insurers are paying by the day for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) I just called them. They had told me that the car would definitely be ready on Friday, but surprise surprise, it has more damage than they thought so we are once again waiting for parts. Despite the fact that they've now had the car 5 weeks, they are still finding new things wrong with it, and apparently they were 'too busy' to phone me to tell me what was going on. I tried to phone the insurance company again, but apparently their computers are all down and they can't look anything up. I really wish they had written the bloody thing off from the start: I could have bought a new car by now. I'd be skint, but at least I'd have a proper car that would fit 2 hounds in comfort. The total cost of the work so far is £3700, and I'm pretty sure that the car can't be worth more than that. They tell me that the insurance company 'have to' authorise the repairs as they've already fitted other parts, but they can't assure me that they have actually spoken to the insurance company about this. I hope that they are right, that's all I'm saying. Edited May 14, 2009 by cycas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 How on earth are you keeping your cool with them, Victoria?? That is absolutely appalling service Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Thats shocking My car went in for a service on Friday.  Late friday afternoon I got a call to say that my car wouldn't start at all - they asked if it was ok to keep it in over the weekend and poke at it.  I still haven't got my car back, but the garage have called me each day to update as to what they've found, what they're waiting for, when they expect parts in, and when they think I should get my car back.  They've offered me a courtesy car each time they've called (which I haven't needed as we actually have 3 cars between the 2 of is ) and have generally been very apologetic and professional on the phone. For them to have your car for so long and for you to be the one who has to chase them up constantly must be so aggravating  And how can they have started fixing bits without knowing all the things that need fixing ?!? Have some in sympathy from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Well, the insurance company have now told me the repairs are all authorised, so that's something. I'm going to phone to speak to their engineer tomorrow, who can apparently give me more detail. I can understand that once they start fixing things, they might discover more things that need to be fixed, but given that they told me 2 weeks ago that they definitely now had all the parts needed, I don't understand why they have only now discovered that they need more bits. Surely they can't really have spent 2 weeks working on it without noticing that another major part was damaged? The garage does usually phone on Tuesdays and Thursdays with an update. The Tuesday update always goes 'we should have it sorted by Friday' and the Thursday one goes 'sorted next week'. They don't like you asking for more detail than that, their tone immediately becomes shirty. But this time they didn't even phone, even though they'd said it would definitely be done by tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Mark made me laugh: he suggested I get a sticker made up, to go above the big sticker that is on the courtesy car which says the name of the garage: " My other car STILL hasn't been repaired by..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeadyP Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Oh Victoria, it does seem to be terrible service. Is there a higher authority you can speak to? I do like Marks idea for the sticker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 seems highly irregular to me, can you ask to speak to the body shop manager and ask for a final date that your vehicle will be completed by?? make sure if they delay again after speaking to the manager you call him and let him know that they have let you down again and keep pestering him/ her if you get nowhere over the phone go down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted May 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) Just updating this to say that I still don't have my car back. They rang me today to say that they have just ordered in a tyre, and will call me on Friday to say how things are going. WHY WHY WHY did they not order the sodding tyre earlier? And it takes 3 days to get a tyre delivered and fitted on a common model of car now??? When they got the car, almost 2 months ago, it was apparent that the tyres had been damaged. I can't believe they have found another excuse for delay. In case anyone is travelling to Devon and Cornwall on holiday and happens to have a car accident this year, I strongly recommend that wherever your insurance company tries to send you for repairs, you refuse to have any work done at Exway Coachworks. Edited May 27, 2009 by cycas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 mine was exway coach works and they were great, couldnt be more helpful, mind you the workshop is in my village so i walked the dogs past there everyday occasionally popping in for a update, i think they got the message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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