That has been mentioned at work, the paper is only a threat that can’t be enforced but if you refuse to pay you will be unemployed, some have quit before a deduction could be made from their pay. I have paid for a broken tail light, grill and a window that I was responsible for, it is not worth fighting about.
Right On! This is a civil mater the attorney will get it done for you they have already admitted to fault. Now its just getting their insurance to pay up you might even get a accident attorney to take the case on consignment and he can make their insurance pay court cost and fees.
What’s going on . . . ?!
Any news . . . ?!
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I would suggest consulting an attorney immediately. I would think an attorney would be in the best position to advise you of your best course of action.
Small claims court is great for getting a judgement, but you’re on your own to collect it. I believe mechanics generally operate using checks or credit; it might take forever to do a till-tap.
Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the feedback and comments. I went to a 3rd party collision shop who had estimated the total damage to be $3.9K. Adding in a car rental, I told the OG shop, who ruined my car, that the damage totaled $4.5K. They refused to believe that my car surmised that much damage. They said 3/4th of the written estimate was not related to the accident that happened in their garage. “You know, your car ONLY fell off a lift. This is too much damage and it wasn’t because of us. Your car is old and this damage was all there prior.” Yeah, my unibody was completely pancaked into my car prior to the accident…eye roll.
So with that, I called my insurance and they are dealing with it now! I gave the shop the benefit of doubt and tried to let them fix my car via cash. I now have a car rental and I’m fully covered, especially since I am 110% not at fault. I’m hearing that the shop’s insurance will likely increase a lot? Even with my little knowledge of cars/insurance, I’m guessing cash would have been the easier way out for this business. Kinda dumb on their part of put up a fight. What’s $4.5K to a business like that?? They own 3 shops & a gas station.
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About a years worth of payroll deductions for the kid that dropped you car to which they won’t be able to collect after he quits. Are the upper managers and owner aware of this accident?
BTW, after an accident like this normally the person involve is sent for a drug test and suspended pending the results. For this reason the shop foreman may be trying to keep this from the owner.
If the oil pan was punctured there would have been oil all over the place. I sure wouldn’t trust them to work on the car once they lied.
We don’t know what the OP meant by “oil tank”. She would have mentioned the oil spill in the shop and wouldn’t be able to drive around to get estimates.
I would not be surprised if the shop is self insuring themselves and rolling the dice on a claim like this not ever happening. Sometimes you roll and crap out.
Four and a half grand is a lot of money even to a place with 3 shops and a gas station The operating expenses for any auto shop are very high and near 5 grand is a healthy dent in the asset side of things.
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Here in California, I would be surprised if they don’t have a law for this businesses forcing them to have insurance or a back up collateral with the city/state.
glad to hear it’s working out. without reading back through the entire thing, i’d also consider reporting this business to the state attorney general or regulatory/licensing office (or both)
get an attorney and notify their insurance like yesterday
Tex , the original poster turned his problem over to the insurance carrier back in February , 24 2020.
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how does a guy drop a car of the lift… never mind i dont want to know.
Ron White said it best “You just can’t fix stupid”
that car will have issues for the rest of its days they may as well scrap it
A car falling off a lift is not always the fault of the mechanic so it cannot be blamed on stupidity.
In the example I mentioned the mechanic had been complaining that his double post lift needed to be fixed for 6 months and the company would not fix it. In the building I worked in 80% of the overhead lights were burned out and they would not fix those either.
Eventually a car fell off the lift when the rear post suddenly jerked and dropped about 4 inches which led to the car going over on the roof and making a total out of it.
The mechanic (a good one) was fired 10 minutes later.
The next day a service company came in and not only fixed that lift but went over all of the others too.