scamm auto body shop rant

[Yuan]

I just want to warn everyone about Atlantic Auto Body at Mississauga, they are bunch of money suckers. to make this story short i had an little fender bender last week and my car had to be towed. The tow truck took me to Atlantic and i wasn't sure if i was going through insurance yet, so i told them not to touch my car yet. Anyways after many phone calls i decided paying out of my own pocket instad of going through insurance. so I called them told them i paying my own and I would like to take my car to another shop for repair, and they got all mad.(i know what they are up to, they wanna make money out of the insurance) Even hang up my phone!!! :evil: so i rushed there and insist me to go through insurance, and talked to me for 20-30 min. I told them i still want take my car out and told me they want $960!!!! to just get my car out of the lot.


anyways this is my rant.....

[XmsrpX]

maybe you should tell them that you would call the bbb and/or police.

[oceans_end]

if they havdnt taken your car inside the garage, you can get the keys back and just leave, since no work was done. Still i highly doubt any legit auto shop would "hang up" on their customer, hard for any of us to judge since this is only one side of the story.

[steve.m]

call or email Silverman? from city tv. He'll break their balls.

[wanna_be]

by any chance did an Atlantic tow truck haul you there?


Biggest slimeballs in the world TOW TRUCK DRIVERS from Mississauga and AUTO BODY REPAIR SHOPS!

Vultures, Vermine. SCUM

I have seen this lowlife turds hand business cards to people in critical condition at an accident. I have seen them tell people of age, people that are in shock or people that are easily intimidated that thier car is not driveable and MUST be towed, these were cars that had minimal damage. Rule of thumb always ask the cop attending the scene if he/she thinks your car is roadworthy.

Also these jerks are supposed to keep the towtruck 60 metres away from the accident and not impede emergency verhicles.

Sorry for the rant.......Meanwhile keep in mind that most towtruck drivers in smaller towns cities are good guys and we truly need them.

[cummer]

Lets hear other side of the story. there are tow trucks making an honest buck. they want to help you when your car is out of commission. The faster they fix the car the faster you will be back on road. $960 is a lot but think of the consequence of not fixing the car. It can fall apart or be very dangerous on raod.

[Rehan]

Read the Mississauga Tow Truck Licensing By-law (http://www.mississauga.ca/ecity/download/?repositoryKey=Ecity&itemDesc=file&dataName=data&mimeTypeName=mimeType&id=4200196), especially section 29 (2) and Schedule 3.

Unfortunately, the "Storage Fee" is unregulated and they can charge whatever they want. This is probably why your bill is so high...

[TrevorK]

You don't think it's fair that you're charged $$$ for them storing your car?

You used one of their services, which is storage. If you didn't want to be charged, you should've towed the vehicle to your house, they offered you their lot as a convinience for going with them.

They have every right to be compensated for their time/space - I agree 960 is a bit high, but they do deserve some compensation.

[Jaytee]

You don't think it's fair that you're charged $$$ for them storing your car?

Its Mississauga, its not like parking/storage is at a high premium. Even if they charged $20 a day, big deal. But $960, how the hell did they come up with that number. Even downtown Toronto you could park your car in a lot for over three months straight for less then $960.

[XmsrpX]

You don't think it's fair that you're charged $$$ for them storing your car?

You used one of their services, which is storage. If you didn't want to be charged, you should've towed the vehicle to your house, they offered you their lot as a convinience for going with them.

They have every right to be compensated for their time/space - I agree 960 is a bit high, but they do deserve some compensation.

just "a bit high" :D sounds like extortion to me. you can get a pretty hotel for that price or rent an apartment for a month.

[webdoctors]

snds like extortion, get your spare keys and drive off. :twisted:

[canabiz]

Yah you shouldn't have to pay that man

Sneak in the lot and drive away.

I'm wondering if these yards have any bulldogs guarding LOL, like the ones in the States

[gilboman]

most body shop charge 100bux a day for storage, so if your car was brought their last week say 100 a day that makes 700 plus the tow and taxes and its pretty close to 960. At this point you've prolly burned any bridges of negoitating with them and its your fault for not finding out the charges for storage at the place.

next time dont have it towed to a bodyshop you dont know or have dealings with and dont know their rates. Why did you have it towed there in the first place?

[TrevorK]

Yah you shouldn't have to pay that man

Sneak in the lot and drive away.

I'm wondering if these yards have any bulldogs guarding LOL, like the ones in the States

They can put a lien on the car and seize it whenever they want then.

I know shops that have had to do this - and they make it a personal mission to get the car back. One place had a guys car sitting at the front of their impound for 2 years to drive home the point that if he didn't pay, he wouldn't get it back after the fuss he kept putting up.

[Buffdaddy]

Regardless of the 'right' of the shop to charge, talk about extortion.

However, you're pretty well screwed if in fact they are legally/technically allowed to do this.

Never listen to a tow-truck driver's shop recommendations....they'll have every cent you have to fix anything by the end of it.

Call the cops or whatever, if they cant do anything then do what the other guy said.....

Call Silverman.

[aquariaguy]

Ah that sucks. Next time just get a tow home or call CAA! Get CAA, not those other sucker tow truck companies. (Unless CAA sends one of those out)

[josipm]

Never ever tow it to a garage shop they recommend...tow it home first.

Your insurance company will pay anyways.


If your insurance company doesn't pay then , think about it it may cost you about $100 or so..

So what! at least you have time to decide what to do next.. Either go with insurance or shop around .

[S14_Raven]

Damn..that the storage charges are quite high there...

I used to work at a body shop, it was like $50/day. Not unreasonable, and usually is waived if you have it repaired at that shop. BUT to begin with you shoulda had it towed to your own shop right from the beginning. No matter what they say NEVER have it brought to their 'recommended' shop. More than likely they recieve a kickback from the place. Almost like sales commission. But basically you're screwed, this is a common practice at body shops, just some incentive for you to get it repaired there. Not sure what you can do (legally), if you pay the $960 and get it out, you'll still have to pay somewhere else to get it fixed (and towed). But if you get if fixed there, they might try to screw you more. Rock and a hard place... >:(

[rdarkman68]

Cops can't help you if your car is impounded. It's private property and unless you have a written document stating the land owner agreed a certain price for the storage, they can charge anything they want. My friend learned the hard way, he tried to get the car back with the verbal agreement of $86 the day after the accident. Of course, it turns out to be $1500, he called the cops and they came but said there is nothing they can do, it was not the first time they were called to the place either.

No choice but to fix it there for $15,000. No wonder all our insurance are so high. :cry:

[yeungsprite]

Scammers :twisted:

Silverman Helps (http://www.pulse24.com/News_Features/Silverman_Helps/20050215-001/page.asp)

[robattoronto]

Here's my story:

About 8 years, when I bought my first car I had an incident with the tow truck and storage people. I bought the car used from a guy and he agreed to me using his number plate for a week until I got mine. I paid for parking at my apt.

I got my own number plates, installed it on the car. And the next morning I saw that my car was not parked there anymore. I found out later that it was towed about 30Km away to a car storage area. They wanted me to pay about $200 for the towing and the storage for the night. They were rude and belligerent. Being naive that I was then, I paid those guys grudgingly. And its not like I did'nt pay the parking at the apt.

[weedb0y]

any particular reason why they did that?

[rb]

I know the shop ..yes they and another shop on Burnhampthorpe (rhymes with Lion), are 2 sides of the same coin, actually atlantics work isn't bad, but they willscrew you if you want to take a car out of the shop. Write to Mayor Mccalion as well , if they don't charge for storage - they will charge a "admin" fee . Thats one of the reasons insurance companys rates get higher cos of scams like this.

[jayman2004]

Dam they shure charge a lot in the us huh. at my work wich is a autobody shop in victoria be we charge $25 a week for a car sitting there or they can be held in the impound where 5 body shops around there use for $75 a month.+ the cost of the tow wich is cheaper for body shops. our avrage tow cots $10-50

[peterbrowne]

Call Silverman, learn your lesson, call Lyons Auto Body for towing next time, and NEVER use Atlantic or Showcase FOR ANYTHING!!!:eval:

[peterbrowne]

I know the shop ..yes they and another shop on Burnhampthorpe (rhymes with Lion), are 2 sides of the same coin, actually atlantics work isn't bad, but they willscrew you if you want to take a car out of the shop. Write to Mayor Mccalion as well , if they don't charge for storage - they will charge a "admin" fee . Thats one of the reasons insurance companys rates get higher cos of scams like this.
not sure if ur saying Lyons is good or bad, but Lyons is chosen by City, Police, and my Family for over 10 years - no problems :)

[JMaiurro]

Tow truck drivers certainly are vultures. My daughter was rear ended on the 403 couple weeks ago and had her car written off. She called me and said tow truck driver is here already and I told her to hang tight I'd be there in 15 minutes. Two minutes later she called me back in histerics saying an Atlantic driver was telling her to get out of the Lyons tow truck and he was trying to drag her out and tried to pull her purse away. He said Lyons had no right to hook up which was BS. This encounter with both companies was not a pleasant experience for us. I believed Lyons, after all he started out and appeared very nice helpfull guy but soon became ignorant with us.
When the encounter happened with the other driver from Atlantic, he explained the situated to me about how he arrived on the scene first and hooked up, then Atlantic shows up and the confrontation between them. My Lyons guy on the phone earlier says no problem sir we have been affiliated with State Farm for 20 years and we are fully qualified. Well now were hooked up, Police report is done and were ready to go....tow truck said I need to get paid first so I offered credit cards and he said no sir, must be paid cash. I know this cant be true as how many people carry $270.00 cash. So he offers to follow me to the ATM but I decide to play hardball, after all I did belong to CAA. Anyway I said I have no money available, he says well what you want me to do, I can't tow without $. I reminded him about his affiliation with State Farm, but I suppose they don't have the brains to issue an invoice. Now he threatens to drop my car on the side of the road, I said go ahead, after all there is always CAA not to mention that is what isnsurance is for. So driver is now pissed and talks to the cops about my refusal to pay. Now the female cop is getting pissed at me for not wanting to pay in cash (I couldn't understand why she was siding with him unless there are bribes exchanged between them). Anyway I said to both the cop and the driver I was leaving the scene now and they could do what they wanted witht he car, now the driver says we will have to impound the car then sir. I said go ahead. Needless to say, my insurance company picked up the car the next day and there were no issues.

[rb]

not sure if ur saying Lyons is good or bad, but Lyons is chosen by City, Police, and my Family for over 10 years - no problems :)

Lyons is bad - there work is shoddy , you try pulling your car from there- the fact they have the City contact is meaningless -

[iGarage]

there are regulations on how the storage facilities must be before they can charge you storage for example they must have a fence must be a certain height and the zoning

you can take it to small claims court then you can pay them the total then they will give you a court order so you can get your car then for them to recieve the money they will need to go to court ..

[jrl]

Lyons is bad - there work is shoddy , you try pulling your car from there- the fact they have the City contact is meaningless -

I'll second this one. Lyons terrible job on my car, and when I brought it back to address the issues I experience some of the worst customer service from Kelvin Diep and Joe Cuoto that I have ever experienced. I'm sure I could have dragged them into small claims court, but for $1000 I just don't have the time or inclination.

I ended up taking the car to Carstar collision in Meadowvale to have the repair conducted. So far, so good. The car wasn't perfect when I picked it up, but they were more than ready to work with me to make me happy with the result.

[rippedoff2008]

I'll second this one. Lyons terrible job on my car, and when I brought it back to address the issues I experience some of the worst customer service from Kelvin Diep and Joe Cuoto that I have ever experienced. I'm sure I could have dragged them into small claims court, but for $1000 I just don't have the time or inclination.

I ended up taking the car to Carstar collision in Meadowvale to have the repair conducted. So far, so good. The car wasn't perfect when I picked it up, but they were more than ready to work with me to make me happy with the result.

I'll third this. Not sure what Peter is talking about. Lyons is extremely dishonest and i would avoid at all costs. They ripped my off by not telling me about extra costs, were slow getting back to me - gee now i know why since they were gouging me for everyday.

[rb]

2 pieces of advice

1) if you ever get into a collison TOW HOME FIRST !
2) Listen to the insurance company as regards approved shops - these will give you piece of mind - the ins company guarantees the work and you'll have less hastle. Get 2 or 3 recommendations and visit each shop if you will. Shops with big towing operations (even if approved by the ins co. I would avoid)

[l69norm]

2 pieces of advice... if you ever get into a collison TOW HOME FIRST !..

Also, CAA membership covers towing in the event of an accident (to the distances in your plan).

Sometimes you have to tow to the applicable accident reporting center first. Tow there via CAA or the Police contracted company if you can't wait. The insurance company can pick up and tow from the reporting center.