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Professional Tush Hog.
Join Date: Mar 27, 2009
Location: Here and there.
Posts: 8,958
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From a practical standpoint, you probably cannot afford to hire a lawyer unless they have significantly damaged a car with fairly substantial value. I recently had a damage claim for my care that amounted to about $1,600. Had I not been a licensed attorney and willing to handle it myself, I would have been shit out if luck. I also knew exactly how to document the problems, what to do in terms of asking them to save evidence, putting them on written notice concerning saved evidence, etc. And I'm still fighting my claim, and have clearly put much more than $1,600 worth of time into. They just pissed me off and I'm not letting them get away with what they did.
My practical suggestion is two-fold. First, go to an independent mechanic that you believe to be reliable. I'd ask here. Tell them what you think happened and have them do, if practical, a quick check to see what the facts are. Then, if it is enough to make it worth your time, go back to the initial shop. Ask to speak to the manager. Calmly, and in a brief, but detailed manner tell him your complaint. Anticipate any questions he might ask. Have a estimate from the other shop handy. Also have a reasonable proposal that he can accept that will solve the problem. If that doesn't get you satisfaction, then you can pick your best option among the following:
1. Write it off as bad luck and get your car fixed elsewhere;
2. Number 1, plus a complaint to the Better Business Bureau to hopefully keep this from happening again. Maybe a Yelp! review.
3. Consider JP (small claims) court. But realize that if the body shop is of any size, they may fight you in JP Court, and then they can appeal to County Court at Law. Plus, they may hire a lawyer for JP Court, and unless you have worked in a law office, or are a great learned, you probably won't be able to get all your evidence in because you aren't familiar with the Rules of Evidence, etc.
4. If it is a substantial claim, talk to a lawyer. I can give you some ideas who (or at least what type) of lawyer to speak to if you can tell me what county you are in. But be aware that they are probably going to want their fee up front, which you may well not be able to afford. It's not greed or lack of compassion on their part, but with a claim under $7.500 - $15,000, it's really hard for a layer to a) come out if he doesn't get something up front, considering that he will have to advance the expenses; and b) unlike a personal injury case, we don't often see auto repair cases, so it's hard for us to tell a good one from a bad one in ten minutes of visiting with you. So there is probably $500-$1,000 of time spent just trying to figure out if you have a viable case.
With regard to number 4, you may ask, "What is to keep an unscrupulous lawyer from taking a cash fee from me and then telling me I have no case, or doing a shitty, half-assed job. Then I'm out my car and my money?" The short answer is, "Nothing, but the professionalism and ethics of the individual lawyer in question." That's not a worthless thing, and I think MOST, BUT NOT ALL lawyers will shoot straight with you as best they can. This isn't the kind of cases lawyers are chasing after and planning to retire on. But, I can't look you in the eye (metaphorically) and tell that there aren't some lawyers out there whose ethics aren't worth a shit. I think there are a lot fewer than most suspect, but it's not much different from any other profession -- a few bad apples give the rest of us a bad reputation, but bad apples exist.
Hope this helps, thought frankly, it's mostly bad news. Feel free to PM me with questions. I only check in here once or twice a week, but I'll see it eventually. You have at least a year, probably two years, to bring your claim (though waiting that long is likely a very bad idea).
Good luck.
Tex
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My Bio Page - Texas - Dallas
