Whitney's Collision

Whitney's was very professional. Repairs took a long time, but they contacted me several times to report on the progress.

I took my car here to have some repairs done after a collision. It was a decision I would come to regret. The rear passenger door was damaged along with the surrounding area. I took my car in the week before Thanksgiving (2012) and had them do an estimate on the repair. Everything seemed fine — they told me it would take 3-5 days, they were working with my insurance company, and they could order the replacement door immediately, so I wouldn't be out of a car for long. I didn't hear from them, but checked in after the holiday to see if they had ordered the door. They said they did. I took the car in and they told me it would be 5-7 days to replace the door and repaint it to match the rest of the car. When I took it there, it was running fine. It turns out the door was the wrong kind, so they said it would take just an extra day or two. A week later, still no car. Two weeks later, still no car. We're just swamped, they told me. Three weeks later, still no car.
Fast forward a million headaches and more than one month later — they kept my car through the holidays which was a serious hardship. They offered me a loaner, which was covered by my insurance (even though they acted like this was just a courtesy on their part — they had previously told me I could use it based on my coverage, but they were all loaned out at the time), on Friday, Dec. 21 — the last day they were in the office until the new year. They called at 4:20, closing at 5 p.m. on a Friday. I lived across town and there was no way I was going to be able to get across Ann Arbor on a Friday at rush hour before they closed. I asked if they could stay a few minutes later or perhaps drop the car off and I was told no, the guys had been working really hard and were looking forward to their break. For a company that touts customer satisfaction as its number one priority, I felt they really didn't follow through. They also mentioned something about how it was taking longer because they broke something, but when I asked the guy said, oh nothing.
Finally, weeks later, I go to pick up my car, it stalls. I can't get it to turn or come to a stop without stalling. I immediately took it back and asked what had happened. The manager said it was like that when it came in. It wasn't. I have a standard (stick) transmission and he said it, yeah we kind of noticed you knew how to drive it without letting it stall (because I had revved it on the way out of the parking lot because of the steep grade and oncoming traffic...). I told him, nope, it was fine when I brought it in. He said it did that when they were test driving it too. "I don't know what to tell you. Guess you'll have to get that fixed." I was fuming mad so I left before I did anything regrettable.
After having my car in their shop for a month, I get it and it doesn't work? And there's no apology or even a heads up on it? I almost got in an accident after stalling in an intersection just outside of their parking area. I'm a super laidback person, but this was too much. I contacted my insurance company to see if they could help. They were useless. They said unless I could specifically get someone to show how they damaged the car, there was nothing they could do. I took it to a mechanic (I have an import) that specializes in my type of car. He smelled the new paint and asked if I had gotten work done at Whitney's and told me how great they were. I explained the situation and he said oh, there's no way to tell if they did anything wrong. The repair estimate was for a sensor near the battery for $870. Maybe it was simply bad timing, but something didn't seem right.
So after all of this, I asked for the shop to waive my deductible or do something to compensate for the poor customer service, the seriously long and overly drawn out time they had my car over the holidays and they fact that it no longer ran once I got it back. Nope. I'll send you a $25 gift card for Meijer, the manager said, which never arrived. Also, the door they replaced clicks and hangs a bit askew on my car, so thanks for that. I have to tell people to avoid using it and it has significantly damaged the resale value. Also, the gas cap used to be attached by a little tether so it wouldn't get lost. They broke that and didn't fix it. Maybe they're usually great, but my experience was horrible.
As far as cost, I answered N/A because the damage was sustained in an accident, insurance was covering the damage and I was responsible for the deductible. The cost to repair the door (which they purchased second hand) and for a paint touch up was $1600.

I went to the Jackson Road location. My experience so far is great. The staff at Whitney's is so friendly and professional. I am in the queue for the work to be done. They could have started it today but I am waiting until a FREE loaner is available which they anticipate will be 1-2 weeks. The loaner will be FREE for the entire 4-5 days it will take to complete my car. I've seen the work they've done so I am confident I will get the same great results. Whitney's was been recommended to me by three friends, one of whom was a new car dealership salesperson. He said his dealership recommends Dusty's Collision which is another Whitney's shop.

rIn this case they restored a bumper that most people would have replaced for a much higher price. It looked like new when they were done. They also repaired another dented bumper for under $50 after a parking lot incident - again, you couldn't tell anything had happened. After a more serious accident they assessed the car, which was beyond repair, and I was really impressed with the way they handled things. They helped find a rental car and went out of their way to ease the burden - they "got" that people are out of sorts after an accident.

The amount of time seemed reasonable until I went to pick up car. The repaired door's color was not a good match. Therefore, I needed to leave the car for a few more days.

I like that they took off the body panels to do the paint, etc, however I don't like that the vehicle was delivered nearly a completely different shade of blue (the original color was much much darker). The car (with a fresh coat of paint) also had an unbelievable amount of 'holograming' or swirl marks--remnants of a terrible terrible buffing job. I even took it back to have them redo the buff job only to come back and find out the swirls were still there--not so visible in the evening, but man were they absolutely terrible in any sort of sunlight!!! I literally could see the path of the buffer along the body/ hood/ trunk/ rear quarter panels--everywhere. After that I just listened to what the guy who did it had to say and left--I was not okay with them touching my car anymore. I took it to my usual place and paid another $300 to try and compensate for the terrible terrible job they did. Over spray everywhere, I mean terrible. If you want an average-ish job, I suppose you could take it here, but for me, and with a job this big, attention to detail matters and they just didn't cut it.

I was searching Angie's list to find a shop for some body work I needed done. When checking out both Dusty's Collision and Whitney's Collision I noticed that their websites seem very similar. Upon further checking they are almost identical. OK - Maybe they are all owned/managed by the same group. This I can understand. What I really did not like was under their testimonials section there were identical testimonials from a Lucy W. Braun but one refers to her bring her car to Dusty's, the second to Whitney's. I am really leery of anyplace that would resort to something like this, so I decided to take my business elsewhere.

From http://dustyscollision.com/testimonials.html
Dear Chris,
Thank you so much for the excellent service you provided me when I brought my '99 Honda Odyssey in last month for repairs. In addition to the fine work you did on my car, you were also very responsive to me under difficult circumstances. I especially appreciated your loaning me a car while mine was being repaired. I have an active family with three young children, and being without a car for several weeks would have been very challenging. You really helped minimize the burden on me and my family.

Several months ago, I brought my car in to Dusty's to get an estimate for fixing a large dent in my bumper, and you did a partial repair on the spot and free of charge. I said that if I ever needed to have repairs done, I'd bring my car back to Dusty's. I'm glad I did. I'll pass along my favorable opinion of Dusty's to friends in need of repairs. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Lucy W. Braun

From http://www.whitneyscollision.com/west-testimonials.html
Dear Chris,
Thank you so much ...
Several months ago, I brought my car in to Whitney's to get an estimate for fixing a large dent in my bumper, and you did a partial repair on the spot and free of charge...
Sincerely,
Lucy W. Braun

see above.