B & D AutoBody, LLC complaints

Mrs. Cochran scheduled a tire replacement for her left front tire and alignment on February 28th, 2022. Her tire was preordered and here to be replaced while she waited. Upon bringing Mrs. Cochran's vehicle inside, it was discovered that "donut" spare was not tightened all the way by the previous person to install it and had destroyed all the threads on the wheel studs making the car not safe for operation. Upon further inspection, it was discovered the front bumper was damaged in front of the left front tire and the tire that had go flat had worn itself past bald and into the steel belt causing it to go flat (see photo comparing worn tire to new tire) This was most likely caused by a large alignment issue in the left front. It was conveyed to Mrs. Cochran that it appeared that the cause of the tire was a misalignment caused be a collision with an object low on the road causing the damage to the front bumper as well as the misalignment of the front end. The right front tire had also worn unevenly do to misalignment and over compensation of the misalignment in the left front geometry. We advised Mrs. Cochran to utilize her insurance as the cost of the repair would be significant, and was caused by a collision of some sort. Her vehicle was not safe for operation. We allowed Mrs. Cochran the use of one of our shop loaner vehicles, free of charge, for the duration of the repair. Mrs. Cochran began her claim and was put into a loaner vehicle the same day. Once the claim was started, we mounted the new tire and completed an alignment check in preparation to review the damage with the insurance adjuster. All damages were inspected and reviewed by a GEICO adjuster and then approved for repair. All repairs were completed and all parts were replaced per the insurance estimate. After picking up her vehicle, Mrs. Cochran complained of additional noises. A ride-a-long test drive was completed as well as a visual inspection of the suspension. Many of the rear suspension components are worn and dry rotted, and the steering rack as a small amount of play. An estimate was given and Mrs. Cochran only asked to replace the rear shocks and that job was completed. Mrs. Cochran again called complaining of noises and had brought her vehicle to a different shop for a second opinion. That shop stated the strut mount/bearings in the front were also making noise. Mrs. Cochran demanded we fix for free. I agreed to look at the vehicle again to check the front strut mounts. Mrs. Cochran would call repeatedly to voice her concerns aggressively about not paying for any repairs and accusing our shop of not replacing parts that were billed for. She eventually returned to the shop with her son and we reviewed the repair, photos of replaced parts and invoiced for replaced parts. We reinspected the vehicle again in the air with Mrs. Cochran and her son showing her the new parts that were replaced as well as the worn parts that need to replaced as they have reached their life expectancy on a vehicle with 190k miles. I explained that GEICO is only responsible for what was damaged in the collision not for worn parts. We also found a tear in the left front CV axle which was more than likely also caused by the collision. I told her I would ask GEICO if they would pay for the additional repairs in the front (CV Axle and Steering Rack) and her son asked for a estimate to replace worn items in the rear as well as the strut bushings. GEICO said they would approve the CV Axle and Steering rack with 50% betterment pending an inspection. I have made multiple attempts to reach Mrs. Cochran, however her voicemail is full and we are unable to leave a message. We closed the file based on no response from the customer.

Read More

Read More