Do NOT go to C&L Auto Body if you want any level of customer satisfaction!!!
C & L Auto Body in Arcadia DAMAGED my car. I brought my Integra in to have the paint job repaired in order to get my car sale-ready after a few scrapes. When I returned to pick it up the main area that was damaged (the front) looked great. However, to my horror, they create a huge blemish on the back bumper of the car that had not been there before. It looked like someone had gone at it with an off-colored silver paint brush and let it dry with dirty bubbles and condensation trapped under the paint. Smooth-talking Sergio (don't fall for it!!!) and (Maurice?) tried to argue even though they caused the damage (in what they claimed was the polishing process, they were not responsible. Now I'm stuck with a new problem and no further money to spend repairing a problem that wasn't there to begin with. I will not be able to sell my car for as much as I would have if I had gone to a different place. Everyone who has seen it has the same reaction - it looks bad. No one can believe an auto body shop that is supposed to make your car look better would force someone (with threats) to take a car home with new damage. Most of the money I put into the front of the car will be lost with the new damage to the back of the car. Any buyers who come to look at will see it as a car that needs a completely new paint job.
My mom and I simply asked that they fix the damaged they caused to my car. We did not want any drama. They argued with my mom and I for an hour and made it sound like because we were women we are too stupid to understand what they did. At one point Sergio, even said to my mother, "Where is your husband?" as if she wasn't capable of understanding their ridiculous claims. They accused us of wanting a free paint job (we paid $600!) They wanted us to pay $300 more to fix their mistake! They tried every slippery approach to weasel their way out of their responsibility. (Watch their contract - they threatened to start charging us fees and take a lien against the car.) Even though our lawyer advised us not to pay, we found C & L so unscrupulous, we did not know what they would do. They even tried to intimidate us by driving my car out of the parking lot while we sat in my mom's car discussing what to do. It was this big show to tell us they had the car and the power.
I will be contacting the BBB and report them to state consumer agencies. I may even pursue legal action to prevent this from happening to someone else in the future. Do NOT go to C & L!!!
Pros: Fixed the main area of the car that was damaged
Cons: Created significant new damage in the back of the car!
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