Geico / Autometric Collision Ferndale Repair Experience (Part 1)

Geico repair experience thus far:

Brought car to adjuster on 03/10/2014 at Tamaroff Collision Center and got a quote.

Dropped off vehicle with Autometric Collision Ferndale on Monday, 03/17/2014. Picked up rental car from Enterprise also in Ferndale.

Image of odometer at drop off (more for my records than anything else):

On Tuesday, 03/18/2014, Autometric Collision Ferndale sent in a supplement request for additional damage they found, including damage to the rear driver side wheel (many scrapes) from the accident as well as a request for additional repair time and paint time as they claim that the quote does not provide sufficient time to perform all the work necessary to fix the car or the paint work that must be done. This was faxed to # 855-807-9346 which is the number provided on the Geico "Supplement Request Form" I received with my quote at Tamaroff Collision Center on 03/10/2014 (email address provided was: R3MIS@geico.com). Work on car at Autometric ceases until supplement request approved.

On Thursday, 03/20/2014 I call Autometric Collision Ferndale for an update on the supplement request and the work. Turns out Geico is claiming never to have received any paper work, Autometric is resubmitting it, and still no work done on my car. I call Geico, I find out that no adjuster has been assigned to my case. I find out that the proper fax number for supplement requests in my "region" is # 855-807-9347 (different than what was provided on the form) and that the correct email address is R3MISUPP@geico.com (also different than what is on the form). So now the reason no supplement request was received very well may be because they were sent to the number provided on the forms and those numbers were the wrong numbers (who knows who received my personal information including name, address, personal phone number, and what car I drive). I also have the contact information for Geico's Michigan manager / director Steve. By 3:41 PM I have faxed, emailed, and uploaded all the supplement documents in addition to pictures of the damaged wheel that I had autometric send me (again for my records). At ~5:05 PM I call Geico to make sure all the faxed documents and so on got where they needed to go. This is when I find out my claim has no assigned adjuster and that Geico needs to call around to the regional managers and the adjuster who did the first quote at Tamaroff Collision Center on 03/10/2014 in order to determine who should be following up on my car and its repair.

On Friday, 03/21/2014, I call Autometric Collision Ferndale at 11:45 AM to see what's going on, Don is not available. I call Enterprise and tell them I will likely need the car until Wed. next week, at least, instead of a reasonable ~$108 in rental fees I'm now looking at least ~$217 and that's assuming the car is done on Wed. At 1:06 PM I call Autometric Collision Ferndale again, get ahold of Don, and am told they're still waiting on Geico. At 1:08 PM I call Steve the Michigan director / manager and am told that they finally received documents at 11:56 AM and that he'll look into who should be the adjuster and get someone out there to look at the wheel. I call Geico at 1:12 PM to see about getting a reimbursement on the rental fees which are now racking up because there's a communication breakdown between shop and Geico, and between the wrong numbers, wrong email addresses, and lack of assigned adjuster, I'm willing to bet the blame most squarely lies on Geico here, especially when you consider the documentation was emailed to "dispatch" (who handles claim supplements), faxed to "dispatch" (who handles claim supplements), and uploaded to Geico's document center by me by 3:41 PM on 03/20/2014.

As I said, I'd keep readers informed as to how the claim and repair experience went, it's now Friday, and instead of having a repaired car back I have no work done, paper work flying around, doubling or more rental car fees, and nothing to show for it except a lot of time with an automatic Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 SE, which you can read about in my review of it here.