36 days and counting....

[greatgenghost]

So, July 2nd I was hit... August 7th and still my car is at the body shop. "In order to save you and the other insured parties money we will use RECYCLED parts to keep costs down" said the letter from the insurance company. Well, 3 RECYCLED doors went through the body shop, costing me over 2 weeks of wait. That is 2 weeks of rent car at $27.99+ a day, 3 sets of delivery/shipping charges, 3 incidents of paying people on their end to locate the part. There is ABSOLUTELY no savings there. I asked my rep at the body shop- "How often do you actually get to use the RECYCLED parts?" to which I was told it was less then 10% of the time they would actually meet the standards. Although he did tell me that low class body shops will use them without regard for their integrity/safety though so the insurance company saves a ton of money on people who frequent them. His next "generalization" was somewhat disturbing when you think of the implications (and as he is a professional in the field I will trust his observation) as he indicated that the majority of the people who fall into that category are low-income. "No one takes an old clunker to a good body shop- the perception is that either we are too expensive, which should not matter if the insurance is paying OR that we will not accept their car." Coupled with the fact that a lot of people do not realize that even cars 12-15 years old still have "new" parts available for them in warehouses it means that yet again, the lower income person gets screwed over. This time parts that do not meet up to standards of durability or safety are used to put their car back together. Now, I can hear some of you saying "who cares?" and I find that a little disturbing. We all should care. Insurance companies have enjoyed record profits for many years. But, we continue to pay outrageous premiums because we have no choice. YOU MUST HAVE INSURANCE IN MOST PLACES! So, you pay what they tell you to pay. Who cares if the other guy gets screwed over? You should- it could be you next time.

UPDATE! Car is going to be this afternoon! Hurray! Of course the insurance is refusing to pay for the windshield saying that the 2 rock chips caused it to crack... not that they are close to the crack, etc. but they OBVIOUSLY destroyed its structural integrity. Lucky for me there is a settlement in a Class Action Lawsuit over the Element's windshield... I can get it replaced for very little... need to do that ASAP.