Maaco Collision Repair And Auto Painting ripoff poor quality unprofessional rude flawed faulty crappy stupid rusty dumb Glendale Arizona

So youre stuck in Anchorage with a rusty bumper on your '04 truck? All is not lost. I am a retired former Maaco franchise owner living in Ohio and I know about situations like the one you are in.

Your replacement chrome bumper is probably one of 2 types: an original OEM Chrysler made bumper or a lower priced aftermarket bumper, usually made in Asia. Because of the rusting my guess is you bought an aftermarket bumper. Also the relatively low price of $350 suggests to me that it was not a factory fresh new bumper. Check your Maaco invoice or call the shop in Glendale if you don't know which one you selected.

My guess is that you selected an aftermarket bumper to save some money. That would have been a good decision if you intended to stay in Arizona. But the aftermarket parts just don't hold up that well with high humidity, gravel and salt on the roads in Alaska.

If your original purchase was a factory OEM part you may have some recourse through Chrysler, but even Chrysler won't guarantee replacement parts to be free of problems. The roads in Alaska also may be a factor, with gravel and salt to nick the bumper which would accelerate the appearance of rust.

If you selected the cheaper part, it isn't fair to blame Maaco for problems that occurred when you moved from dry AZ to wet AK. They didn't know your plans.

My suggestion is that you will be happier in the long run if you save up some money and just buy a replacement part, a factory fresh OEM chrome bumper from Chrysler. It will probably cost you a couple hundred more than you paid before, but if you plan to keep this truck, your life will be more pleasant and stress-free if you don't have to look at that rusty part every time you get in the truck.

As for the Maaco employees who handle customer complaints at the home office, I know a few of these people personally. This is not the world's easiest job, yet all-in-all they do a pretty good job of satisfying customers. If someone hung up on you it may be that you were possibly a little upset and may have been a little rude or unkind, or you just were not ready to hear what you were being told.

In any case, this isn't the worst thing that could happen to you. You are in Alaska, a beautiful and exciting place to live and work. Wages are good and you can save up to fix this problem in a few weeks. Be glad you aren't in Ohio where everyone is laid off and going broke.

I sincerely hope you find my insight and advice to be helpful.

Neil
Dayton, OH

As a licensed autobody technician I've read your claim and you are correct in deserving your money back for the part only. Most bodyshops offer at a least a one year warranty on workmanship and lifetime on paint. However I can't believe I'm going to defend MAACO, but the bumper they installed wasn't made by them. Your problem is with the aftermarket manufacturer in Taiwan. The quality of these parts is sometimes lower and I've seen my own plastic/chrome grille for my car turn green in just a few months. They should have returned the part and received a new one and maybe get reimbursed themselves for the installation time.