Hailstorm damage!

Thanks for checking.

 

You're right but I'm afraid it's too late. I should never have accepted it to begin with.

 

I am going to write to the insurance co but unfortunately they've already paid everything and I was an idiot for handing over the deductible and the original insurance check in order to get my car back. When I went to pick it up the first time I didn't notice the color difference because of the bright sunlight, just the liner. I didn't know how long it would take to fix the liner and he wouldn't let me take the car without full payment. I contacted ins co once I realized my mistake. The other problem is that it was the ins co that told them to replace the hood instead of repairing it and the shop told me that the ins adjuster personally made sure the color matched. The

And yes, it's hard to argue with professionals. When I had my car serviced, I asked the service manager for his opinion and he thought it looked good. When I asked a sales rep, he at first didn't see a difference but then conceded when I pointed it out. It's probably 95% matching and you won't notice it unless you're looking for it. I'm pretty sure it's because of the different build up of layers.

 

Since everyone has already been paid, and I've argued until I'm blue with both shops, I don't think there's much recourse except to post bad reviews on Yelp, Angies, and Wasington Consumer Checkbook.

 

I've given up on the color issue since most people can't see what I'm seeing and I don't know how it can be fixed anyway without a complete strip and paint. But I did go by a collision center and got an estimate for replacing the headliner. Here is the full email I sent the shop who messed it up (insurance adjuster and agent copied):

You told me you would replace the headliner if necessary but that it was unavailable from Toyota, so all you could do was clean it. When I asked for $500 in compensation, saying that I expect it would cost a lot more to replace, you told me that it wouldn’t cost that much and offered me just $200 dollars. Tired of arguing, I stupidly settled on $250, which, by the way, I STILL have not received.

Yesterday I went to Darcars Collision Center and asked them to give me an estimate on replacing the headliner (attached). As you can see, the part alone costs $1,432 and they told me that this is the actual amount the shop would be charged. Since they were able to obtain the cost, the part is obviously available, although they didn’t know whether it was on back order.

My car was brand new when I brought it into your shop. You returned it to me looking like crap, with dirt all over the headliner and fuzz where someone had apparently tried to clean it. Even after you “cleaned” it, the fuzz of course still remains, maybe even worse than before because it now extends along the entire edge next to the moon roof visor, and not all the stains are completely removed (see attached before and after pictures). Also, the seam between the headliner and the right side beam liner is not flush. You told me you spent $300 on detailing – I don’t know why it would cost $300 to clean a brand new car. I spent $50 to detail my 6-year/112K–mile car inside and out and people thought I had a new car!

You have a good reputation and I really wanted to believe you would do a good job. Sure, the dents were fixed (as far as I can tell – obviously I can’t see all the dents that were found under the lights) but I couldn’t believe your shop would be so careless in the handling of my car – especially a brand new one! Not only did you mess up the headliner, you also broke the window during the repair. Of course, you did fix the window, but did you really think I wouldn’t notice the dirt and fuzz on the headliner? The paint didn’t match either and even Avak at the paint shop admits that it looked really bad the first time – you didn’t notice it? (I still think there is a slight difference but I’ve given up on that.)

So are you going to replace my headliner if I give you back the $250 (assuming I ever receive it)? I’m sure your reputation is very important to you and the one way you can salvage it with me is to do the right thing and fix what you have messed up.

Please let me know how you plan to address this.

Thank you.​

 

Update:

A week or so after sending my letter asking how they were going to remedy the situation, I phoned the shop. After a bit of wrangling, they agreed to order the headliner and replace it for me. A few days later, they said the headliner had been ordered but they didn't know when they'd get it in.

Several weeks go by and I had all but given up hope when I received a voice message from the owner (whom I hadn't met or talked to previously). He told me that the headliner had arrived and apologized for the delay, as well as for having messed it up in the first place. When I returned the call, he was very polite and apologized again. He then gave me the option of having the headliner replaced or of just taking the money for the cost of the headliner - which he believed was about $1100. Since I didn't want to run the risk of having something else go wrong during the installation, I decided to accept the money and picked up the check (which was actually about $1000) from him on Monday. He also said that I could keep the $250 they had originally reimbursed me. I was happy to get decent compensation and I'm sure he was happy to not have to spend more money on the installation.

Incidentally, since I made a few hundred bucks after the insurance deductible, which I won't be spending on trying to restore the car, I donated a portion to Louisiana flood relief and other charities. I think they have far worse problems than a messed up headliner in their cars!