This repair has been a nightmare. I should have trusted my instinct and just used my dealership.
Instead I went with one of the "preferred" providers my insurance company recommends for the convenience of not having to act as the middleman between the collision repair shop and the insurance company. Huge mistake.
It started out easy enough, I made an appointment for an appraisal and everything was prompt and to the point. The appraiser, who would be my claim rep for the shop, did the appraisal, entered it into the system and gave me and the insurance company the estimate. He said it would be a few weeks before they could get it into the shop for repairs, but since this was just for hail damage and the vehicle was drivable, I didn't mind. I made my appointment for the second week of June.
In June I bring the vehicle in and I'm given an estimated completion date of 5 to 8 business days. No problem as I would have it back in plenty of time to go on our planned family vacation the weekend of July 4th. Later that week I get a call from my repair rep saying they can't get the dents out of the hood and they need to order another. Fortunately there is one available locally but it's going to add a couple days to the repair. I state that's fine, I just need it back by the weekend of the 4th.
A few days later I get another call stating that the dents in the roof can't be removed and they need to order and install a new roof. This part, unfortunately, is not available locally and will need to be shipped in. The roof won't be received in time to do the repairs before the weekend of the 4th, but fortunately the body repairs have been completed and the hood hadn't been replaced yet. The plan was to get the roof in while I was out on vacation, have it and the hood painted and ready to install when I got back and when I brought it back in it would be moved to the front of the queue and a few days later all would be repaired.
I know they said day and not months, but so far it's been about two months since I brought the vehicle in for repairs. When I brought it back in I was assured again that it would only be a few days to get it back. After four days I called to check the status as I hadn't heard anything. I was told by my rep they had it in the shop and were working on it, it was just taking longer than anticipated. No details, just taking longer. The next week goes by and I don't hear anything. I call the following week and am assured they are working on it. My rep isn't there but it has a promise date of that Wednesday. I call Thursday when I still haven't heard anything and I'm told they are still working on it. I have my wife go up there to talk to the manager as I'm at work and can't make it that day, but I want answers. This is the last week of July and when she goes in and speaks with my rep, who again assures her the truck is in the shop and in pieces being worked on, she asks him to show her. He takes her to the shop first, but then takes her out to the back of the shop where the vehicles not being worked on are parked. Nothing had been done to my vehicle. At this point the rep promises to have the vehicle moved to the front of the line to keep my wife from speaking with the manager and did offer to cover the rental car charges we had been accruing.
Over two weeks later and I'm still without a vehicle. There still hasn't been any communication without me calling in or dropping in. The online tracker is showing that my car is being looked at and they will order any parts they need once the inspection is complete. The finish date listed shows the current date every day that I check.
This has been a horrible inconvenience and experience. I cannot recommend this place at all. No communication, broken promises and outright lies. I will update this when I finally get my vehicle back.
*UPDATE*
The general manager reached out to me and we had a conversation about my experiences with Service King. He was apologetic and stated that he would work to remedy the situation so that this doesn't happen in the future.
He also talked with me briefly when I came in to pick up my vehicle. Yes, I have it back.
I bumped up the review one star due to the manager reaching out and having the conversation. I sincerely hope that they can improve their communications process so this scenario doesn't play out again. read more