CARSTAR Quality Collision Service - W.T.F?

[Cardinal Fang]

So on April 28, 2007 while driving on the 404 north my windshield was broken due to construction debris. Shortly afterwards, I went to see Jeff at Mazda of Toronto to see what my options were. After a brief discussion I decided to contact my Insurance Company to see what would and would not be covered.

I was surprised to see how accommodating they were with me. They informed me that my windshield and roof of my car would be repaired and it would all be covered under my comprehensive policy. This would translate into me paying the $300.00 deductible.

Fang does a happy dance at this point.

Fantastic! My front windshield replaced and the roof of my car repainted! I was about to tell them I would like my dealership to do the repairs considering that the rain sensing windshield is under warranty and that I didn’t want a third party farking up the installation of this somewhat sensitive feature of my car. My insurance company kindly informed me that the repairs would be done by one of their qualified repair shops.

Fang’s happy dance stops…

I begged and pleaded like Ray Barrone wanting sex from Debra but the insurance company assured me that there was nothing to worry about because the work would have a lifetime warranty and if any mistakes were made they would be corrected at no cost to myself. I reluctantly agreed and I drove my car to Carstar Quality Collision Service on 1221 Finch Ave West.

These guys were really nice and gave me a break down of what was going to happen. They would remove and replace the windshield, remove the shark fin antenna and the roof rack tabs and repaint the roof. I was to drop off my car on Monday, May 7, they would give me a rental and on Friday, May 11 I would get my baby back. Well the week goes by and I don’t here anything so I call them on Friday. Nick Grecco (the guy who did the estimate) told me the guy who does their window installation would be in on Saturday and my car would be ready on Monday now. Weekend comes and goes and I drive the rental car back to the shop.

By the way…. the rental car was a Pontiac G4. Let me say now that the car sucks. Broli has more balls than this car. There were times where I actually wondered whether or not I should feed the hamster that I thought was under the hood powering the car.

So I confidently walked into the shop and told them I was here to pick up my car. Then the mad shuffle started. Guys were running around trying to find the paper work and then trying to find Nick Grecco. Finally Nick comes in and greets me and looks at the guy at the front counter. Here is an excerpt of the conversation.

Nick: Why isn’t the windshield installed?
Fang: My windshield isn’t fixed?
Guy behind the counter: His windshield wasn’t installed?
Nick: I wouldn’t be asking you if it wasn’t installed now would I?
Fang: So my windshield wasn’t installed on Saturday?
Guy behind counter: His windshield wasn’t installed?

At this point I don’t know what pissed me off more. The fact that these guys didn’t do the work they promised or that the farkwad behind the counter kept repeating everything I said! After some very troubled looks and more shuffling of papers ( I honestly believe people do this to give you the impression they are on top of the problem that is invariably on top of them) I was told my car would be ready at 8:00 am Wednesday (today). I sure hope the hamster can survive another two days.

So today was the day. I miss my baby and I’m sure she misses me. I arrive at the shop and Nick is there to greet me with this fake smile. He confidently goes to the back and brings out my just washed car. She looks great! The windshield is fixed. The roof shines like glass.

Nick: Well? What do you think?
Fang: That’s great. She looks fine! Now tell me what in God’s name possessed you guys to install the antenna backwards?
Nick: It’s backwards?
Fang: It’s the opposite of facing the way it should face. That’s backwards in most people’s books.
Nick: Are you sure?
Fang: Quite.

They role the car back into the garage and 30 minutes later it roles back out. The antenna is on correctly and centered. I start the car and scroll through the radio stations. Excellent! I know have five different types of static pre-programmed. I calmly get out and another conversation begins.

Fang: By chance did you guys connect the wire inside the antenna to the stubby on the roof?
Nick: What do you mean?
Fang: I have nothing but static on the AM dial.
Nick: We had to disconnect the battery when we were doing work so you may have lost your preset stations.
Fang: It has nothing to do with that Nick.
Nick: Are you sure? I think you need to reset the code on your radio. Do you have the code?
Fang: OH COME ON NOW YOU’RE JUST REACHING! The preset stations are there you just didn’t attach the wire.

Car roles back in and comes back out 30 minutes later. This time everything looks and works well. I stare at the windshield and something just isn’t right. I can’t put my finger on it but there is something missing. Anyways….I was late for work so I take my car and head on out. When I get to my office I see another Mazda3 hatch so I immediately head on over to the windshield and there it was. The original Mazda3 windshield has a solid black shield sealed to the glass that covers the point where the rear view mirror is glued to the glass. In my case you can see where the metal and glue comes into contact with the glass as well as the inner workings of the plastic cover plate you see from the inside.

Fang does his angry dance.

I take a picture of the original windshield and drive back to Carstar. When Nick sees me he immediately starts to frown. I tell him I’m not happy and explain to him that what they installed may not have come from Mazda as they promised. That there window installer may have picked up a generic window for my car. When I show him the picture of what the windshield should look like he turns to me and looks puzzled. He promises me to make some phone calls and find out exactly what’s wrong. I’m about ready to cock-punch someone right now. The point of all this is that if the solid black backing is part of the windshield they are going to have to replace the windshield all over again.

I want my car returned to the way it’s supposed to be.
I want it to look like when it was before the accident.
I want my farking $300.00 deductible back for my troubles.
At what point do I contact my insurance company to let them know about all this?

[majic]

At what point do I contact my insurance company to let them know about all this?

yesterday..

i laughed and i cried.. and then laughed some more.. i mean G5 is the replacement of a sunfire.. there's this one member on here who still owns one.. his name has something to do with a rodent... much like what you described powers the G5..

[Fuman]

wow that sucks fang... sounds worse than my old mechanic.

good luck man!

[MPS]

ROLF WW :chuckle


yesterday..

i laughed and i cried.. and then laughed some more.. i mean G5 is the replacement of a sunfire.. there's this one member on here who still owns one.. his name has something to do with a rodent... much like what you described powers the G5..

[Cardinal Fang]

If this whole thing wasn't so comical in a Monty Python sort of way I'd be so angry. At this point I'm just annoyed.

[KenYork]

I wouldn't have the patience to write all this up. After the Echo was in the collision. Lyon's autobody was two weeks late on delivery always with an excuse. It took almost a month to get the car back.

[Caz]

Get on the phone to the insurance company and rip someone a new arse. Why didn't they just let you go to the dealership? They have to pay for a rental for an extra week by the sounds of it.

[MPS]

some how i think ur insurance will go up after this claim

[majic]

Get on the phone to the insurance company and rip someone a new arse. Why didn't they just let you go to the dealership? They have to pay for a rental for an extra week by the sounds of it.

how else would they justify hiking our rates?!?!?! :flaming :loco

[S.F.W.]

I would contact your insurance company ASAP. Your insurance company screwed you by forcing you to use Carstar. When I recently had my sunroof replaced my insurance company said if I didn't use one of their palces I would have to wait 72 hours for an adjuster to inspect the car. That was a price I was willing to pay.
Anyhow, I would contact your insurance company, and don't deal with the agent, escalate immediately to the customer service supervisor. If that get's you no response, then escalate to the Ombudsman.

[Cardinal Fang]

some how i think ur insurance will go up after this claim

This was covered under my comprehensive. No rate hikes as a result. But I am out of pocket $300.00 and for it I received and Abbot and Costello routine from the Collision shop.

[Cardinal Fang]

UPDATE #1

Got off the phone with Nick. Even though he promised to call me back within the hour I had to call him after 3 hours had passed without hearing anything from him.

CARSTAR's position is that they and the window installer did nothing wrong. They noted on the estimate that went to my Insurance Company that the windshield was a "NAGS FW2464-GT" and not a "MAZDA" windshield. Therefore, they could not change or replace my windshield without the permission of my Insurance Company.

He informed me that he would call the Insurance Company directly and find out what could be done. Again...I'm supposed to wait for his call.

UPDATE #2

Having had enough of waiting for Nick to get off his ass I decided to call my Insurance Company Adjuster directly and explain to them what had happened. They were more than helpful. They called CARSTAR directly and informed them that because of the age of the car (1 year) and the type of coverage I had I was entitled to have a MAZDA windhshield installed. No substitutions or questions asked. My insurance company said that Nick should be calling me to set up my appointment including a new rental car. I'm now waiting to see if that clown actually calls me.

Score one for the annoying asshat in the red robe.

BOOOOYAAAAAAA!

If they give me that Pontiac G5 again I'm going to loose it right in front of them. I'm going to ask that they give me something with a little more spirit......like a SMART Car.

[Nextmod]

I feel sorry for you but LOL when reading that

hope everything turns out okay.


By the way…. the rental car was a Pontiac G4. Let me say now that the car sucks. Broli has more balls than this car. There were times where I actually wondered whether or not I should feed the hamster that I thought was under the hood powering the car.

the car was that bad lol

[MPS]

lol Smart car = Stupid :)



UPDATE #1

Got off the phone with Nick. Even though he promised to call me back within the hour I had to call him after 3 hours had passed without hearing anything from him.

CARSTAR's position is that they and the window installer did nothing wrong. They noted on the estimate that went to my Insurance Company that the windshield was a "NAGS FW2464-GT" and not a "MAZDA" windshield. Therefore, they could not change or replace my windshield without the permission of my Insurance Company.

He informed me that he would call the Insurance Company directly and find out what could be done. Again...I'm supposed to wait for his call.

UPDATE #2

Having had enough of waiting for Nick to get off his ass I decided to call my Insurance Company Adjuster directly and explain to them what had happened. They were more than helpful. They called CARSTAR directly and informed them that because of the age of the car (1 year) and the type of coverage I had I was entitled to have a MAZDA windhshield installed. No substitutions or questions asked. My insurance company said that Nick should be calling me to set up my appointment including a new rental car. I'm now waiting to see if that clown actually calls me.

Score one for the annoying asshat in the red robe.

BOOOOYAAAAAAA!

If they give me that Pontiac G5 again I'm going to loose it right in front of them. I'm going to ask that they give me something with a little more spirit......like a SMART Car.

[Wild Weasel]

Pfft!!

I'm pretty sure you're allowed to take your car to your dealer if you insist. The insurance company just won't guarantee the work if it's not one of their approved shops.

[Cardinal Fang]

UPDATE #3

Nick didn't call me...what a surprise and I phoned him. He said that he had spoken with my insurance company and that yes that would be replacing my windshield with a Mazda windshield. He has ordered one and when he can confirm that it's the right one visually he will call me to come back in for the replacement.

[Triplebogey]

Pfft!!

I'm pretty sure you're allowed to take your car to your dealer if you insist. The insurance company just won't guarantee the work if it's not one of their approved shops.

Yes, you can insist to take it to a shop of your choice...just no guarantee. So you would be SOL if this ever happened at one of your own shops.

Hope all goes well Fang!
Who knows, you might get lucky and get a shiney red Hyundai accent as your rental car :chuckle

[Cardinal Fang]

Ok that was a really really hurtful comment Triplebogey. Man you guys are brutal.

[ds2chan]

damn.. sorry to hear about all the misfortunes.. but after it's all done you should call Nick out about not calling u.. if u call him out before he does the work who knows what he'll do to your car..

[bubba1983]

subscribing to this thread..its an intresting read!!

[PlatMS6]

damn.. sorry to hear about all the misfortunes.. but after it's all done you should call Nick out about not calling u.. if u call him out before he does the work who knows what he'll do to your car..

Personaly from what I read the guy already seems peeved by you, who knows maybe he charged the ins for the Mazda Screen and got the 3rd world crap in to make more $$$, and you just put a kink in his chain... I would tell the Ins co to have it done properly at a Mazda shop eos.

I would also be thinking if they already got so many things wrong, and tried to BS you so many times...how will the paint look in 2-3 years time...

[Triplebogey]

Fang,

Got an update? How was the accent:chuckle

[Cardinal Fang]

That's not funny Triplebogey.

Update #3

The clown aka Nick didn't call me. I waited exactly one week and called him back. The guy sounded surprised to hear my voice. Said he was about to call me. This was on Wednesday. He told me that he would call me within an hour to confirm the day I can bring in my car. One hour comes and goes. As a matter of fact more than 24 hrs passes and I was ready to rip him a new a**hole.

I called CarStar up and played dumb. Seriously, for those of you who know me this isn't a stretch for me. I asked whether or not the glass guy has been scheduled to replace a Mazda3 windshield. They said no. At that point I calmly asked for the manager to speak to me. When I got him on the phone I explained to him my problem with Nick and his lack of enthusiasm for fixing my problem. I calmly told the manager that if this was how I was to be treated that I would have no problem calling my Insurance Company and explaining to them the levels stupidity their recommended collision shop engages in.

I demanded following:

1. My car to be fixed on Monday.
2. To not have to deal with Nick on this matter again.
3. To not have Nick come within 20 feet of my car.
4. To have a rental car that can move faster than Christopher Columbus's ship that crossed the ocean.
5. A date with Catherine Zeta Jones.

They agreed to items 1, 2 and 4. Item 3 was unrealistic and number 5 was a pipe dream in their opinion.

In some weird warped sort of way I'm kinda hoping something else happens so that I can press for item 5 one last time......either that or my deductible back.

[Caz]

Holy shit, this still isn't taken care of.

[bubba1983]

gezus christ...

thats all im gonna say..

[majic]

you'd either make a good comedian or a story teller.. or both.. but you'll never be a good date for Zeta ;)

keep us posted.. this is ridonculous.. once it's fixed write a formal complaint to your ins co anyway..

[justin]

By the way…. the rental car was a Pontiac G4. Let me say now that the car sucks. Broli has more balls than this car. There were times where I actually wondered whether or not I should feed the hamster that I thought was under the hood powering the car.

HA HA HA!!!! Now THAT'S funny...

I feel your pain though... When I had our Subaru stolen, I had new-ish Sebring for a rental, which was nice... then the car rental company sold that, and gave me a Cobalt. It was the biggest POS I've ever driven.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I hope you get it worked out soon!

[Cardinal Fang]

Update #4

Droped off my car this morning. Nick greeted me but never offered and apology or even acknowledged what had transpired. The guy behind the counter took my keys and my rental car arrived. Driven by a vary attractive women who at best was 20 years my junior. I'm tempted to post a review. The car was a Hyundai Elantra.

Shit

I was actually going to ask them to see the wind sheild they wanted to install to make sure it was the right one but at some point you have to allow people to do their work and not hold their hands through it. My car is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow. Any predictions on what I might find?


you'd either make a good comedian

My wife says I'm funnier when I'm serious.



or a story teller..

That's because I was never read to as a child. I'm compensating.....



or both.. but you'll never be a good date for Zeta ;)

HEY!


keep us posted.. this is ridonculous.. once it's fixed write a formal complaint to your ins co anyway..

I emailed my complaint this morning to the Owner of that CarStar shop and cc'd it to Economical Mutual Insurance.

[S.F.W.]

I would laugh, and cry if they put another non OEM windshield in.

[bubba1983]

as a reader...i kinda wish they would.....as a car enthusist, i wish they don't!

[majic]

Driven by a vary attractive women who at best was 20 years my junior. I'm tempted to post a review.

let us know how the woman was.. maybe we'll go to the collision center just for that :chuckle



I was actually going to ask them to see the wind sheild they wanted to install to make sure it was the right one but at some point you have to allow people to do their work and not hold their hands through it. My car is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow. Any predictions on what I might find?


condoms in the back seat.. :gone and when you fog up the windows you will read "you missed out on Zeta in your back seat" :bang

[Triplebogey]

An Elantra!

WOW, you got the cadillac of the rental fleet :)

I agree with Bubba, This thread would definately be more interesting if the non OEM windshield is installed.

Could you just imagine if that did happen? Picture if you will a couple of the guys removing a perfectly good non OEM windshield and then proceeding to replace it with the identical one........ hmmmm "looks good to me" :whoa

Too funny, yet a little sad. But mostly funny:chuckle

[Cardinal Fang]

condoms in the back seat.. :gone and when you fog up the windows you will read "you missed out on Zeta in your back seat" :bang

*Marks up majic 2 pts.*

Why can't the rest of you guys give me material like this?

[doughboyr6]

as a reader...i kinda wish they would.....as a car enthusist, i wish they don't!

he's so right...this is my first time reading this thread and i can't stop reading/laughing....

not at your situation, i feel for you...but your use of descriptive words and metaphors are halarious to read.

i work for an insurance company but not in claims and we too refer our clients to carstar...

but as stated, you can demand on where you want to take it to, but the work isn't guaranteed by your insurance company....but it usually is by the shop anyway.

When i was in my big wreck, they pushed for carstar and were teling me the benefits, i didn't bite and demanded a mazda dealer fixed it....

i was rencently in a minor accident where someone bumped me....since dmg was so little, i thought how bad could they screw it up, they hardly have to fix anything. so i agreed to carstar doing the work...those ****ers mounted my licence plate bracket in the wrong postion. i'm not even sure yet if they drilled new holes...

[Cardinal Fang]

Final Update!

Today is the day I drive to CarStar to pick up my baby I had an unusual feeling come over me. It was a feeling that I normally don't get in the morning. I felt relaxed and strangely calm at the prospect of picking up my car. Almost as if the universe was conspiring in this cataclysmic event to return what had rightfully been ripped from my hands. A great love was returning to me after a long absence.

*Looks up at last sentence*

I really have to stop reading romance novels. I walked into the reception area and went to the counter. I'd just like to point out that the very cute young lady who rented me the car yesterday was there to pick my car up. She's was busy with another customer but I'd be negligent in my duties as an observer of the female form if I didn't mention that her "sexy" factor was quite high today given the length of her skirt. Actually....it was the length that was missing that did if for me.

*Shivers*

They hand me the keys and my car is driven out of the garage. I approach my car and proceed to inspect the work on the wind shield. And there it was. I almost forgot what it looked like. That distinctive blackness of the solid peace that's etched into the windshield designed to cover the connection point of the rear view mirror with the glass. Yes that's right......they installed a Mazda OEM windshield this time. I could feel my eye tearing up.

I get in my car and drive off hopefully never to set foot inside this place again. But before I leave the parking lot I make sure my none of my Barry Manilow CD's have been taken. They were all there.

*Looks around*

What?

What are you guys staring at?

The car was fixed correctly this time! That's it! Move along....






What are you guys staring at?








What like you've never listened to Barry Manilow? Oh come on! I have it on good authority that majic has the techno club rubadub remix of Coppacobana on his ipod but you guys aren't ragging on him for that.




You bunch of farking elitists punks! I suppose you're going to ride me for the one YANNI CD I have?




BITE ME!

[MPS]

lol so no more funny stories
DAMM !!!
im gonna miss that place

[Wild Weasel]

heh. That other thread about the worst album covers... that's actually all from your personal collection, isn't it!? :chuckle

[Cardinal Fang]

heh. That other thread about the worst album covers... that's actually all from your personal collection, isn't it!? :chuckle

Ah yes .....Well, that's the sort of blinkered philistine pig ignorance I've come to expect from you non-creative garbage. You sit there on your loathsome spotty behinds squeezing blackheads, not caring a tinker's cuss for the struggling artist, you excrement. You whining hypocritical toadies with your MazdaSpeed 3's and your turbo chargers and your bleeding secret handshakes. You wouldn't let me join, would you, you blackballing bastards. Well I wouldn't join your MazdaSpeed 3 subform now if you went down on your lousy stinking knees and begged me!

</Monty Python>

[MPS]

lol

[Wild Weasel]

Ahhh... he likes me! He really likes me!! :blush

[Caz]

Glad to here you finally are happy, I am sorry (for the rest of the members) that the stories about his place have come to an end.

[Cardinal Fang]

There will always be other places and other stories Caz. The word is full of fark-tards and it's my goal in life to shine a light on them and if I can get a date with Catherine Z. Jones then it's gravy.

*Sound of whip in the background*

Coming dear!

[Triplebogey]

So I guess there were no condoms in the back seat.
Given your musical tastes, I'm also guessing you'll never get a chance to fog up the windows. :chuckle

[MPS]

lol

[WLS ZMZM]

Honestly Fang you should really write short stories, or maybe even a review section for a newspaper. I laughed I cried..... but there were some holes that could use some filling, a) how bout posting some video links for the Happy dance, and the angry dance?? Kind of curious to see how those look.... and secondly.. a better description of the "sexy" young lady who works there..... especially since it gave you shivers when you were thinking of her short skirt...... :bang:bang I am glad to hear that everything finally got worked out... just sad how many dumb asses are out there... unfortunately when you look around they are all there :AH

[Cardinal Fang]

You guys are so farking picky!

My Happy Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrObV84tD8g

My Angry dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMKb8xpS2u8

And I'm not going to describe the young lady in question any longer. She's mine you can't have her. Get your own young play thing to fantasize about in a threesome. Her naughty bits are off limits to you pooftahs.