Kyle's Problems..

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

> From: Kyle D Ledford <r3kdl@dax.cc.uakron.edu>
[list of woes and slightly patchy story omitted...must have been very 
late when Kyle wrote it...]

Kyle, you have two separate problems.  First is the failure to correct the 
damage from the accident.  Second is the shop damage to your car.
Your story is somewhat convoluted, and whether some of the damage you 
talk about actually existed before the accident is not clear.

My suggestions - first, get your story straight.  Sort out what 
heppened BEFORE and AFTER the shop got their hands on the car.  Sort 
things out in linear fashion.

Then, talk to the insurance adjuster and tell the whole story.  if 
the company is going to total your car before paying for more 
repairs, most of the other damage is moot.  You need to know what 
their probable action is - because they DO need to pay for your car 
to be repaired, up to its value.

If they're going to hang in there and get it fixed, you need to work 
on paper to keep things on the record.  

1)  Get a letter from someone OTHER than stating that systems XY and 
Z all worked properly before the car went to the shop.  (The 
insurance adjuster may want this at the time you have your initial 
talk.)  
2)  Send a copy of that letter to your insurance adjuster along with 
a very specific letter explaining which systems were damaged by the 
repair facility.  Explain that the original problem was also not 
corrected.  Keep these two things separated in your letter, and be 
very businesslike, w/o calling names.
3) Take a copy of the friend's note and the letter to the adjuster to 
the repair shop, ask to see the manager,  sit down with him and 
explain the situation.  You have two things to be dealt with - first, 
correcting damage from the accident.  Second, the damage done 
to your car by the shop.   You will have evidence that damage was 
done.

If the shop won't correct their damage, my guess is that you'll have to 
take 'em to small claims court and bring your friend in to testify to the 
before/after situation.

Don't so this stuff on the phone.  Do it on paper and in person.  
Phone calls don't mean *squat* in this kind of a tangled situation.  
Hope you can get it sorted out.  I don't think you should contest the 
repair bill on your credit card unless the repairs were NOT done 
properly.  If you have another beef with the shop, you may not be 
within the law contesting the bill, but I'm no lawyer.  This is one thing 
you can check by phone - call the credit card company and ask them 
to walk you through the specific conditions under which you can 
contest the bill.

Hope this response isn't too muddled....



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Al Powell                           Voice:  409/845-2807
Ag Communications                   Fax:    409/862-1202
107 Reed McDonald Bldg.             Email:  a-powell1@tamu.edu 
College Station, TX  77843-2112
W3 page - http://agcomwww.tamu.edu/agcom/rpe/alpage.htm

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