[bartman32]

I'm having a hell of a time with Spectrum Auto Body. As some of you know I had a mishap backing out on my way to the last meet at the District. I put a bit of a dent into my rear bumper.
I decided to get the M-Tech Bumper from MWLewis. I had the bumper sent to Spectrum directly. Seems the part between the bumper and diffuser is missing. Spectrum says they never got it and MWLewis says he's sure he sent it. So I'm paying the extra $75 to get the last piece. I'm not really happy with either of them on this one. The only person that never touched it was me and yet I have to pay for another piece AND wait another 3 weeks to get it. Shame on both of them for not sorting this one out.

Meanwhile it's taken Spectrum over 2 weeks to get replacement parts for parking distance control. Today they finally decide that they are going to put the bumper on even though they don't have the replacement PDC part (I didn't think there was anything wrong with it anyway) and if something is wrong they'll take it back off and replace when they get it in. Okay no big deal.

I get there and first thing I notice is that their paperwork shows an amount I owe. As I paid for the bumper I was expecting money back! Apparently they forgot that I paid for the bumper and wanted me to pay the deductable. They owe ME money! The sales guy appologizes and says I can pick up a check tomorrow but first they want to charge me the deductable to show the money trail. Without making the payment we decide to go see the car.

The first thing I notice as we are approaching the car in their garage is that the dash lights are on and the Nav is on and the key's not in the car. He gets the key starts it and then shuts it off. Everything seems okay but that was weird. Perhaps the last guy popped the clutch and didn't shut it off all the way? I did notice a battery sign when he started it. Does that mean my battery is going bad?

Next while it was there I had them do some work to hide a little scratch on the hood. There are now adhesive lines on the hood from my clear bra that they took off but they didn't fully take off the adhesive and now their are new scratches all around where the old scratch was. Not on it or where it was but just below it on the hood! My rep appologized and says they shouldn't have done that and that the car was supposed to be ready.
So I decide that I'll leave it there for them to fix and as we are about to walk away he informs me that while the car was sitting there with the bumper off it rained and the rain shorted out the amplipher and they replaced that too. He assured me that it was a BMW OEM part that it was replaced with and that there shouldn't be any problems and that it would be covered under the normal warranty. But in all honesty I'm not very happy at all with all of this!

I can't say I'm too happy with Spectrum right now! It's been over 2 weeks now for a very minor dent! In addition I think they've messed up as much or more than they fixed!

What are your thoughts and what would you do from here?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

[lvlolvlo]

wow that's pretty terrible Randy. I hav had my car in there twice... once for the rear bumper cover and and the second for a quick front end fix and both times they took care of it beautifully no problems.

strange... who is your contact there?

[Bimmer335i]

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience...I guess I probably would stay away from them if i need exterior repairs...I have minor scratches now on my hood (after a shredded tire flew up and hit my windshield too). Hope you get your car back soon.

[2e9x's]

Randy,

Honestly I would get my car out of there ASAP and take it someplace else. Have the other shop finish the work, fix the damage and send Spectrum the bill.

Also, have the other shop verify that a new amp was installed and it is a correct part. They should double check for other unreported damage as well.

Sorry!!! This sucks!

[bartman32]

Originally Posted by lvlolvlo

wow that's pretty terrible Randy. I hav had my car in there twice... once for the rear bumper cover and and the second for a quick front end fix and both times they took care of it beautifully no problems.

strange... who is your contact there?

Yeah it sucks when they are the only "Certified BMW repair" place in the country! They are owned by Shelly/Irvine BMW. My contact there is Gary.

I did get a call that the car is now complete and the check is cut but I'm having them check the battery as well before I pick up.

Hopefully it's all ready to go! I think I'll ask to see the old and new Amp together and make sure its the same part.

[bartman32]

Update!!!

Last night I picked up the car. More problems though. When I got there the stuff from the night before was all fixed. Hood looks good now and it seems that the battery is fine. But now the trunk lid looked like shit! All kinds of swirl marks all over it! Apparently they hadn't removed wax on it. My advisor has their detailer take it around back and rewax it. I get there when he's done and it looks good except for some light scratches all the way across the lid. I show them to my advisor, Gary, and he starts in about how "I know you you feel about your car but all cars have light scratches even show cars aren't shown under florecent lighting", etc, etc. Fine! I just want my car! I took the car and I'm just happy to be done with them. I will say this. Their detailer SUCKS! Even when I brought it home I still see all kinds of streak marks etc. It's gonna take a good wash, wax, polish for me to get the car back to the shape it was in before I gave it to them!

The paint matches and it will look good when I'm done with it but one just shouldn't have to go through that. I certainly wouldn't recomend them to anyone else though. And if you do take your car to them make SURE that you don't let their detailer touch your car!

In all honesty accidents happen (blown amplifer) and people make mistakes (not prepared with my check) but overlooking making sure the car isn't in tip top shape, detailed, etc even for the layman is simply inexcusable!