Folks, need some advice re: an insurance claim on my B7 A4.
My wife was hit by a lorry back in Feb earlier in the year and we got the car fixed by the approved repairers. I was insured by Aviva at that time (renewal in March), and their repairers are; Liam Kenney who are approved Audi/MB/Jag repairers in Oxford. It was a no-fault claim and all sorted now.
The insurance work was done on the driver-side rear door and the panel (pics attached).
Non Insurance Related work
Car Pick Up Day
The insurance work is or perhaps spotless until I noticed something yesterday, which I will cover in a minute. But here is to what happened between my last visit to them and as of yesterday.
On the day I picked up the car I noticed the front bumper and the side panels didn't match. When I asked they said it is plastic, which is difficult to match and therefore I should give it good couple of months and it will. This was completely different to what they told me initially and said that the bumper would match. I accepted their explanation and came back and gave it good couple of months but the colour difference is still the same. Again, pics for your reference - I am sure you'll be able to see the difference in colour between bumper and the side panel. It is the same on both sides however, if you look from the front the colour blends in.
So, I called them back in June as I wanted them to have a look. When I got their they agreed that there was a difference and wanted me to pay them another £150 to blend the colour, i.e. bumper and panels. My argument was that this is something they should have done as the price I was quoted included the blending and they denied it. And I am afraid I don't have any written records of this apart of the telephone conversations that we had, which the guy couldn't remember. His argument was the my car was too old for them to do the blending and there would always be difference no matter what.
Alloys
Just around the same time while I was washing the car and hit the alloys with Megs Wheel cleaner and started rubbing them with CYC detailing brushes I noticed the colour come off. I mentioned that to the guy at LK Motors and asked about the refurbishment process as well as why the colour was coming off.
To this, his reply was; they pushed the tyres back and lacquered front and half-an-inch of the inside of the alloy, let it dry, filed the tyres back at original tyre pressure and job done. I was SHOCKED.
We started arguing about the refurb processes and his view was that this is exactly what refurb was and that I was lying about paint coming off and that my wife had kerbed them. Called customer a liar; some might argue that he was entitled to but I don't think he was. You don't call your customer a lair even if they are - and trust me guys I am not lying.
So, I then made calls to couple of places in front of him from my mobile phone (search refurb places on my phone and dialled) and even when they explained he was adamant everyone had a different view on refurb and that he what he did was what they at Liam Kenny called as refurb. So, I called them unprofessionals and ones who con their customers to get the business and once they do - screw them! At that point the owner came and asked me not to talk to his employees rudely to which I pointed out that it was his employee who called me liar which I found rude and offensive and therefore I had every right to talk to him as much rudely as he was talking to me. Anyways, I returned as they were simply not willing to do anything re: the alloys as well as the colour difference unless I paid them extra for the colour to match.
And I wasn't going to do that, at all!!!
Back to Problem with Insurance Work
So, yesterday I spent nearly 7 hours on the car doing a 2 stage correction and found out that the area they painted inside the door panel where you have the hook for the door lock has got small bubbles. My view is that it is due to the quality of paint or .... And I ****** want it perfect. They charged £1500 for the work they did on the car (off course I didn't pay but insurers did) and you don't expect the bubbles to start appearing. Clearly looks something has not been done properly.
Now what I want to ask you guys is where do I stand with them. Should I go back to Aviva and tell them abut the work as I am sure there must be warranty on the repair works or shall I go back to them directly. Also, rather than going back to them, can I call Aviva and tell them my experience and ask them I want to go to anyone but them. What would you guys suggest?
Would appreciate your help with all of the above matters. Thanks.
Tash
My wife was hit by a lorry back in Feb earlier in the year and we got the car fixed by the approved repairers. I was insured by Aviva at that time (renewal in March), and their repairers are; Liam Kenney who are approved Audi/MB/Jag repairers in Oxford. It was a no-fault claim and all sorted now.
The insurance work was done on the driver-side rear door and the panel (pics attached).
Non Insurance Related work
- At the time, I also asked them to paint the front bumper as someone in one of the supermarket parking lot decided to reverse into the car and I wanted to get it fixed while the car was in.
- The alloys were kerbed so I thought why not get all of it done in one go.
Car Pick Up Day
The insurance work is or perhaps spotless until I noticed something yesterday, which I will cover in a minute. But here is to what happened between my last visit to them and as of yesterday.
On the day I picked up the car I noticed the front bumper and the side panels didn't match. When I asked they said it is plastic, which is difficult to match and therefore I should give it good couple of months and it will. This was completely different to what they told me initially and said that the bumper would match. I accepted their explanation and came back and gave it good couple of months but the colour difference is still the same. Again, pics for your reference - I am sure you'll be able to see the difference in colour between bumper and the side panel. It is the same on both sides however, if you look from the front the colour blends in.
So, I called them back in June as I wanted them to have a look. When I got their they agreed that there was a difference and wanted me to pay them another £150 to blend the colour, i.e. bumper and panels. My argument was that this is something they should have done as the price I was quoted included the blending and they denied it. And I am afraid I don't have any written records of this apart of the telephone conversations that we had, which the guy couldn't remember. His argument was the my car was too old for them to do the blending and there would always be difference no matter what.
Alloys
Just around the same time while I was washing the car and hit the alloys with Megs Wheel cleaner and started rubbing them with CYC detailing brushes I noticed the colour come off. I mentioned that to the guy at LK Motors and asked about the refurbishment process as well as why the colour was coming off.
To this, his reply was; they pushed the tyres back and lacquered front and half-an-inch of the inside of the alloy, let it dry, filed the tyres back at original tyre pressure and job done. I was SHOCKED.
We started arguing about the refurb processes and his view was that this is exactly what refurb was and that I was lying about paint coming off and that my wife had kerbed them. Called customer a liar; some might argue that he was entitled to but I don't think he was. You don't call your customer a lair even if they are - and trust me guys I am not lying.
So, I then made calls to couple of places in front of him from my mobile phone (search refurb places on my phone and dialled) and even when they explained he was adamant everyone had a different view on refurb and that he what he did was what they at Liam Kenny called as refurb. So, I called them unprofessionals and ones who con their customers to get the business and once they do - screw them! At that point the owner came and asked me not to talk to his employees rudely to which I pointed out that it was his employee who called me liar which I found rude and offensive and therefore I had every right to talk to him as much rudely as he was talking to me. Anyways, I returned as they were simply not willing to do anything re: the alloys as well as the colour difference unless I paid them extra for the colour to match.
And I wasn't going to do that, at all!!!
Back to Problem with Insurance Work
So, yesterday I spent nearly 7 hours on the car doing a 2 stage correction and found out that the area they painted inside the door panel where you have the hook for the door lock has got small bubbles. My view is that it is due to the quality of paint or .... And I ****** want it perfect. They charged £1500 for the work they did on the car (off course I didn't pay but insurers did) and you don't expect the bubbles to start appearing. Clearly looks something has not been done properly.
Now what I want to ask you guys is where do I stand with them. Should I go back to Aviva and tell them abut the work as I am sure there must be warranty on the repair works or shall I go back to them directly. Also, rather than going back to them, can I call Aviva and tell them my experience and ask them I want to go to anyone but them. What would you guys suggest?
Would appreciate your help with all of the above matters. Thanks.
Tash