Performance Paint & Body Sneaky, Deceptive and Poor quality of Work Summerville, Georgia

Crooked Auto Repair Shop. Read below: By the way thanks for the shoddy paint job on the car, Performance Paint and Body. I hope you reap what you sew.

The accident happened on the night of September 13, 2012 at 10:21 p.m. The police, State Farm, and a wrecker were called. I was going to have the car towed to my mother's house in Floyd county, but the wrecker driver Gary suggested that we allow him to tow the car to Performance in Summerville because he offered storage and rental service. We agreed to let it be towed there for those 2 stated reasons.

 The next day (Sept. 14th) I left work early, my nana picked me up and took me to Performance to go get a rental car. She and I both looked at my car and Vic came outside to talk to us. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a grey t-shirt that had Performance screen printed on it in blue. He was talking about the damage to the car then we started talking about a rental car. He said my mom had called earlier and he told her he had a blue ford focus ready for me to drive.

 There was also another ford focus sitting beside the blue one that was dark silver/gunmetal color with a nicer interior trim. I went over to look at it and I was satisfied with the blue so we went inside for me to sign to get the car. I was saying that I hadn't gone through this before and he started talking about how he had been in this business for over 40 years. He told me what he thought the damage of the car would be by looking at it, but that it was rough guess because he couldn't know until the adjuster came to look further inside and past the exterior parts to see what had happened. He asked me if I would like for him to fix the car and I said I wanted to wait and talk to the adjuster first and see how everything went with the estimate.

 He then began to tell me how he's the best, the highest but the best. I told him that I had heard from a few people around that he did good work and that I probably would use him but that I wanted to wait before anything was done and talk to the adjuster first. He told me that he could fix it to where I would never know it had been wrecked and went on to tell me his testimony of how he lost everything that he had at one time and a man came along and told him that he would get back everything he lost and that it would all be restored. He said that the man was right and that it happened just like the man said. We decided to go ahead and get the keys to the car and he said I had to sign for it. I asked him how much it would cost and he said he would charge me whatever the insurance company pays for it, all I had to do was sign the rental car agreement. I signed the paper and he gave me the keys. I asked if there was anythign else I needed to do and he said No, so we made our way back outside.

 Nana and I looked at my car again and got some of my belongings out of the trunk of the car, and once again Vic started talking about how good of work he does on cars and told us about a truck that he had restored that he said had $14,000 worth of damage to it and he dared us to find anything wrong with it. He said don't worry I'll get you fixed up, and I said I want to wait and see what happens first.

 I got in the rental car and left. Nana left as well.On Saturday we were going to get pictures of the car but when I went the car was not outside, same thing on Sunday. I started back to work on Monday and never heard a word from Performance or State Farm all the way through the week (sept. 17-21).

My mother had called State Farm and the adjuster trying to find something out to see when the estimate would take place. My mother called me the night of Sept. 21 to tell me that she had decided to go online and see if she could find anything out on State Farm's website. She told me that there was an estimate for my car showing up on the website that had been completed on Sept. 20, 2012. She read me parts of the estimate and emailed it to me. The weekend passed and I went into work on monday.

 I received a text message from my mother at 12:20 that said " you need to call the man that has your car " I also received another at 1:00 p.m. that said " you need to go down there they are working on your car ". I called my nana and asked her and my papa to meet me there on my lunch break because I wanted to know what was going on and why my car was being touched without my permission. They went ahead down there and waited on me.

When I got there I talked with my nana in the parking lot for a moment and then she and I went inside. When I walked inside Vic and my papa were talking. I said I wanted to know what was going on with the estimate. I informed him that I had not been notified about anything on that estimate, that it came from online, and I wanted to know about it. He said that he walked around with the State Farm adjuster while the adjuster was doing the estimate.

 I asked about where it said it had frame damage and he said " oh that isn't what that means" I said " Well it says frame/unibody repair " He said " oh you wouldn't understand that, that's just insurance jargon, we put that on there to make everything add up " I said " you sound like a used car dealer to me " I said I wanted to see the car and we all went through the door from the office to the shop area.

 The car was on a frame machine, and he had taken all of the damaged parts off of the car and they were in a pile off to the side of the car on the passenger side in the floor with my atlanta braves tag still intact on the front bumper. To the right of the car was some boxes and car parts that had been purchased for my car that had not been put on yet.

 The driver front fender had been sanded down, the front passenger fender had been put on, there was no bumper on the front of the car, he said he installed a new radiator in it, the passenger door had been sanded along with the panel that runs along side of the door/windshield, as to any other repair it was not evident.

 I asked about the frame repair and he pointed out a place behind on the frame under the hood between the radiator and passenger right fender that he said he had repaired and straightened the car up. I said " why did you go on ahead and start working on the car when I told you to wait ?" He said " I was comfortable enough with our converstation, I went on and got started " I said " But I told you I wanted to wait and see what the adjuster said and see what happens ".

He repeated the same statement. I said " but i told you to wait, you didn't even call me to ask before you started " He said " That was State Farm's place to call you " I said " State Farm isn't the one with my car, you have my car, you were supposed to store it and give me a rental car "

He said " Anybody that gets a rental from me has to have the car fixed by me or my insurance wont cover the rental car " (I DO HAVE A COPY OF THE RENTAL CAR AGREEMENT AND IT DOES NOT SAY THAT I HAVE TO USE HIM TO FIX MY CAR!) I said " I told you to wait, you should've called me

" He said " I do things the way I always have, I've been in business for over 40 years I never call anyone " I said " But I told you to wait, I said I probably would've used you and even told you that but that I wanted to wait and see how things went first, I never gave you the ok to do so or permission " He said " Well I assumed when the estimate was done, I was ready to go to work

" Nana had walked out of the room and Vic and my papa walked out of the room as well, so I snapped 2 pictures of the car on my way out too. We walked outside because I said I had to go back to work and He said " well what are we going to do because it cost me thousands of dollars for that car to just sit there on that machine " I said " I don't know, but I told you to wait to start with before you ever touched it " He said " I don't know what you have to do with it, me and the adjuster had a deal "

 I said " It's not your car or his it's mine " He said " But me and the adjuster had a deal " I said " I should've known, it's MY car " He said " That's between you and State Farm not me, me and the adjuster had it worked out " I said "

 No, you're the one who has the car, no matter what, you should've called me before you touched it " He kept repeating that him and the adjuster had a deal and that I had no part in it. He continued to ask about what to do about the car sitting there and I said " I don't know, I have to go back to work or I'm going to be late, my mother is waiting to hear from State Farm

" He said " Well I have to know it's costing me money being in there on that rack " I said " Don't touch it until I tell you otherwise or I call and tell you, as soon as she hears from them, I'll let you know " He continued to repeat the same statement about how much it costs him to have it there, but I also continued to repeat my statement about not touching it until he heard from me. We left and I went back to work.

My nana and papa came to get the rental car from me at work because they said State Farm had said for me to turn it back in. We cleaned it out, and My nana drove it back and turned it in, getting Vic to sign a paper stating that it was in good condition when it was left. State Farm told my mother they would have the car picked up and taken to their approved facility in Rome and that they would pay Vic for what he had done thus far.

My mother called me back and told me that Vic had told State Farm that they could not come get the car becaue it was comeplete 90%. I knew this wasn't the case since I had taken the pictures of the car so I emailed them from my phone to my mother who sent them on to State Farm. I didn't hear anything back from State Farm so I did not call him back that day.

 I had to work on Tuesday and my mother was going back and forth with calls with State Farm agents, Brandon Burke, and the Insurance adjuster and my mother called Vic to ask him to figure up how much it would be to pay for what had been done to the car. I had my nana call first thing Wednesday morning while I was at work to ask Vic to give me an itemized statement showing exactly what had been done to the car, if parts had been put on it, I wanted to see a receipt for it, and the for the labor so I would know exactly what it would take to get the car out of there since I never told him to touch it to start with. She called me and informed me that he told her "

I don't give out itemized statements, everything I've done is what is on the estimate. I could tell you what I haven't done " My mother called back and asked again. My mother called me and told me that he had sent this to her and she emailed it on to me. I came home on my lunch break and printed it out along with the estimate. State Farm had come by her job and given her a check in my name minus the deductable that she was bringing up here from Rome, however her transmission in her car was acting up and she was unable to make it up her.

 My nana and I went on down to Performance so I could try to settle this matter and get it over with. When we got there I asked to see the car again because he told my Nana that he had went in early and started working on the car again, so I wanted to see if he had and why. When we got back there he walked me around showing me what he said he put on the car and the things that had been done to it that I previously described, showing me the old parts and the parts he had purchased for it. He asked if we had a truck with us to haul the parts because my mother had told him she had a truck to haul the parts with.

 I asked him to go over the statement with me becaue I couldn't read his hand writing on the paper. He went over it with me and I asked him " Do I have to buy the parts that are not on the car ?" He said " Yes I can't get money back for those or return them " I said " Why do I have to buy what isn't on the car, I don't want that, I just want to pay you for what has been done " " He told me I had to do it " I said " I don't think that's right because I didn't tell you to do it to start with,

 I was here in this chair and you were behind your desk and you asked me if I wanted you to do it and I told you that I wanted to wait and see what happened first before anything happened " He said " you don't have anything to do with it, you just sign the check " I said " but i never gave you permission, you took my right to choose anyone else away, you chose for me, you took my right to get any other estimate away, you chose for me, I didn't get to choose, you assumed when I told you to wait " He said " If you don't pay me all of it, I'll eat it up in storage at $50.00 a day, I'll get my money, and you can go on and get a lawyer and let's let the lawyers talk it out because I don't go to lawyers to ask questions, they come to me to ask the questions,

 I have an auto law book laying on my desk over there " I said " I never gave you permission to do it though, but I'll go ahead and pay you for what has been DONE and what is currently on the car " he said " I've tried to be Christian about this but Im done, I can't sleep at night, Ive had to eat stomach pills, you can pay me or I can eat it up in storage and you can leave, I'll get my money and you'll be stuck with a wrecked car " We walked out and left.

Basically we paid for something we did not want and he got all his money and our car is still not right and the paint is chipped and there is touch up paint all over it and it doesn't even match. We have before pictures and we have the ones of the wreck and we have ones from the day we got the car back. It's awful.