Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/01/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I requested body work to be done on my 2015 ram 2500 pickup the owner of thornton collision agreed verbally the cost of repairs would not exceed $3,000 and work would be complete in two weeks. After 20 weeks my vehicle was finally done but the bill came to $5,440 and within 24 hours of completion the owner demanded full payment and used the excuse hes only one person thats why it took so long. agrrees the price went over but said i have to pay full amount or he would have me charged with theft of services. my vehicle was taken appart less than 24 hours after dropping it off only to sit there for 18 weeks longer than agreed forcing me to use a vehicle with not as good fuel mileage or towing ability to move my equipment from job to job.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/02/2024

  Thank you for giving our chance to tell our side.  Lets start from the beginning. The first verbal estimate given was Aug 20th 2021 for the estimate for tailgate repair and bumper replacement ( see exhibit #1) that totals about $2400 See photo for date on top of picture. Yes the time frame for first estimate was about 2 weeks. When ******************* dropped off the truck October 2023 he added more work to be performed,( see exhibit #2 & 3) both parts of the truck was left and right side panels and heavy rust on front bumper, also he wanted to add color to front and rear bumper to match the truck, he did ask on a rough estimate then  but because of the rust we need to open up the repair to allow to get a better idea of what needed to be done. He agreed to start the repair, We never gave a time frame be cause of the rust. Once opened up we found heavy rot to both side panels and after we stripped the paint off front bumper it needed to be sand blasted to remove the heavy pits of rust. We sublet  a company to do this for us. Still at this time we need more time to repair. because he added more work than the first estimate the time frame became more.  The extra work he added was more cost than the first estimate, so its easy to say I want it done but not easy to accept that it take more time to do, and more cost. He is correct and he knew before hand that I do work alone in the body shop and still run the complete shop as to day to day operation. ******************* has been coming to our shop for years and I have personally known him for about 30 years,  We try very hard to please all of out customers and give the best quality of repair that we can. Our charges for repair are fair and very comparable to other shops, and use the best of products that we can get.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/05/2024

   
  Complaint: 21368278
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/06/2024

  The estimate shown on *****'s email dated sometime in 2021 was never given to me and i don't believe it was ever written up the pictures were definitely taken then of the tailgate and bumper because i wanted to submit an insurance claim. after over a year of asking for the estimate i never received it and i had changed carriers by then so my fault for not bringing it to someone else. After the time had passed i decided to do the tailgate and bumper repair as well as address the rust in rear wheel *****. This job was to be a $3,000 job paid in cash the was agreed on verbally with ***** saying as long as i can have two weeks to do the work and fit it in with other jobs no problem we can do it. I asked several times over the 20 week period my truck sat there for an estimate continuing to state don't hand me a bill for $4,000-$5,000 after all this time and not expect issues because we agreed on $3,000 not until the day before the truck was finished did i see a bill with fabricated dates on it as well. After calming down and seeing how the truck looks I asked if we could settle at $4,500 and i would continue to bring my six vehicles there for any needed service i was told that's your choice if you don't want to come here anymore but i don't write bills to change them. I used ***** above referencing our agreement because ***** and I have known each other for over 30 years I would never expect this kind of deception from a stranger never mind someone I've know this long. I am in the construction business dealing with large projects with large dollar amounts I have never blindsided someone with a bill for work done that's nearly double the original agreement and i never would especially after dragging out the time frame to 10 times the original agreed on time frame.Facts are I never received a paper estimate at the beginning of this project and certainly never was notified of any changes in price verbally or written as were shown in files from Thornton collision with fabricated dates on them Deceptive practices is the best way to describe those fake estimates.

  thank You

  *************

  Business Response

  Date: 03/09/2024

  The part of deceptive practices is a false statement  made by ***********. The part he fails to mention is the day we finished the vehicle was parked out front of the shop, locked and keys brought in. We left for the day just after closing time. When we arrived back at work the next day I noticed *************** Vehicle was gone. Now the day before we gave him a copy of the final invoice and also said take the ************, go over it, if you  see something that doesn't add up please let me know and we can go over it together. You can imagine how I felt when we did not go over the invoice and the vehicle was gone off our property. I reached out to him at around 11:30 am that same morning and gave him until noon to pay for the service provided. I did tell him that if he does not come over, we will have to report the Theft of service because he took the vehicle without paying anything. He called, then came over and tried discounting the invoice. I already discounted the invoice before giving it to him. We had much more time invested  than we charged for also giving him a $35 per hour off from our posted rate.
  Verbal Estimate given back on Aug 21. The bumper and tailgate repair wound up being about $2400. I broke down the Final bill that was given.

  
  Rear bumper and tailgate billed:   $2342.00
  Right Bed Side ******************* with materials $ ******* ( ****************** added)
  Left Bed Side ******************* with materials $ 886.00  ( ****************** added)
  Front bumper ******************* with sublet and materials $ 1000 ( ****************** added)
  Misc Charges $164.00
  Invoice total $5440.00

  
  Just labor alone came to $3250 which leaves $ around $2200 parts and materials.
  He keeps on mentioning that he gave me a $3000 budget to take away the parts that leaves $800 for labor and at billed 50 labor hours that is around $16 per hr to pay shop expenses and employee wages. Like I said in the first response We never gave a verbal estimate on the extra work he wanted us to do, and there is no way to tell how bad until we start the repair. He keeps saying about two weeks to do it, again false . I would have never agreed because I was leaving on a trip within the two weeks that was booked long ago. If you Take 80 hours, Two weeks, multiplied by shop rate $98 = $7840.  He said he is in the construction business  which I'm pretty sure most co. bill time and materials with added rental cost of equipment,  his claim to BBB does not add up. This is a case where he wants something for nothing.

  
  As far as he is blaming us for not putting a claim into his insurance, we had no part of that filing. We can not file a claim period. 
  
  *****
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 21368278
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  At the end of the day since I first started to talk to Thornton Collision about the repairs to my truck there was never anything but a two week time period discussed. I did however to to people in the community and the all around answer I got about having the work done there was don't do it you will never get your vehicle back and it will never stay on any budget that is discussed verbally, like a fool I said I've known ***** since he moved to the area he won't pull that with me so I guess its on me. I'm done trying anything here the laws always seem to get behind the dishonest business owners I realize now its been 2 years of bringing vehicles there to be inspected and other auto repairs some of the inspections done by just scratching off the old sticker and putting a new one on. I live life with honesty and integrity and never have i left a customer unhappy with my performance and 98 percent of work that i have done is always a set price and it stays set no matter what. I dont have to pay for materials to get them delivered and i don't have to be dishonest with people to pay my bills. The budget was always $3,000 and any number other than that is a lie I'm pretty sure the work that was done would not have taken any shop in the state 20 weeks to complete considering my truck sat out in the snow most of the time.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business Response

  Date: 03/14/2024

  This is the last time I will say this, I'm going to list facts and we  can backup the facts below:

  
  Fact- There was never a budget on the additional work or time frame
  Fact- He never mention how nice his vehicle looks after the repair
  Fact- He Told us to do the extra work on the other three panels
  Fact- After new parts and materials needed to repair his vehicle, that left as he claims $800 to do all the labor and refinish, this was never possible. And I would have never agreed.
  
  We had nothing to gain from this, we never asked him for any deposit up front, we did not need the work, had no reason to give out our labor for free, yes the vehicle was here longer than expected but while it was here it was being worked on, maybe not all at one time. The way he puts it, we never touched it for eighteen weeks, but all of a sudden it was done, crazy to think that just like that, it's done without working on it. 
  He keeps replying that I'm lying, he calls me dishonest  but his claim keeps changing, like he says at the end of the day, He told me to fix his truck and this is what I want:

  
  I want a new rear bumper and painted to match the truck
  I want my tailgate fixed and painted 
  I want the Left and right Bedside wheel ***** Fixed and painted to look like it was never there
  I want the rust fixed and painted on the front bumper, the same color as the truck.

  
  The only thing I say is he likes to want but doesn't want to pay. Our invoice to him is for only things he wanted, nothing additional was added or charged for. There are things I would like  also, like going to the grocery store and getting a week full of groceries for $100 or filling my truck up with gas for $25. We did an excellent job at a very fair price, like more times than not not charging for things we did to make sure it would last. We have no control to stop rust but really try hard to slow it down.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 21368278
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: Now this has become a back and forth with he said she said ***** doesn't want to admit all the conversations we had through out this repair that's fine. About a month before this job was completed I said to ***** after having my truck all this time don't hit me with a bill that's north of $4-5 thousand dollars,the only response i got was no problem its not going to be like that. The only other thing I would hear is don't get mad I know its taking a long time I;m only one person. This is the shop owner playing victim all the time every job goes bad all customers are out to get him as well i told him multiple times if the truck isn't going to be ************** put it back together and i will bring it somewhere else. now its being compared to going to the grocery store and getting free stuff its more like here's a comparison. If I took on a job of changing all the windows in someones house and said it will be done in two weeks so i take all there windows out and put one back in a week for twenty weeks and said I'm sorry I'm only one guy oh yeah and here' a bill for almost double the original estimate. I never once said dishonest I said deceptive practices with the fake times put on bills making it look like my truck was only there for a couple of weeks. Without saying any names I know I'm not the first person that has had this same experience or even having to get legal involved just to get there vehicle back. This is my last response on this next will be from legal. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/24/2024

  I'm tired of reading the lies trying to cover up facts I have never tried to get something for nothing from anyone talk about how great the truck looks its ok now the tailgate trim has come off on one side and the rear park sensor still says needs service so real quality work. The color match bumper was offered and ***** said it costs the same I have to paint it anyway. I was raised on moral values that means honesty and integrity not everyone in the world is the same way. I couldn't care less about getting money back on the work and now seeing problems with the work already ***** would probably say oh he told me to do bad  work. I know now the job was rushed at the end so the shop could get paid for it probably because without that money they couldn't make payroll for the week. The only reason any of my vehicles went to Thornton collision for mechanical work is convenience not quality or fast service they had the same truck to do ball joints on it and it took three times shop average to complete and its not done properly because the tires are still wearing. The fact is it cost me thousands of dollars in fuel over the twenty week period hauling my equipment around with a gas engine truck instead of my diesel. so quality work no fast service not even close honesty ? no ****** learned to anyone that reads this do your homework and get it in writing before doing any business at Thornton collision center. Any *************** I've done business will schedule things properly not say drop it off Friday and it will be done in two weeks take it apart on the day it arrives then tinker around on it for twenty weeks and make up a bunch of lies as to how the transaction took place they say drop it off in two months and it will be done two weeks after that, so that's all tailgate trim loose and probably going to fall off and park sense not installed correctly or something like that so not quality work and not on time that's the advertisement fitting for Thornton collision center.