Finally Naming and Shaming
 

Alright not really too sure which section to put this in, but mods feel free to move it :)

Ok so I am no longer and will never have to deal with this smash repairer (SR) ever again. Neither will Just Cars because I believe they have had some other issues with them too. So please, please do not use;

[b]Plaza Smash Repairs in Welshpool[/b]

For those who don't know what I've been through here's a quick update.

22 June 07 - Crashed [url]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13292[/url]

18 July 07 - Arrived at SR's

19 July 07 - Tyres and Rims Stolen [url]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13905[/url]

24 August 07 - Car promised to me by the SR's this week, but did not receive.

The Car was then promised to me every two weeks after that by the SR's and Just Cars who clearly were being mislead... we got so fed up with it my mum started ringing Just Cars everyday and complaining... very... loudly lol.

Finally a Senior Assessor from Just Cars was put onto my case and visiting the car every second day and calling me with updates. I was no longer to contact the SR and they were no longer to contact me. Finally last week I got the yep your car will DEFINITELY be ready and finished this week. The next day... all hell broke loose.

The Assessor rang me and basically said I don't know how to tell you this. The drivers seat airbag had "accidently" blown. Assessor was furious and apparently towed the car immediatly to the mechanics for them to finish up with their stuff, and then taken to my preferred Subaru dealership City Subaru for assessment.

Subaru have told me that the airbag wouldnt just go, more than likely the seat was not fitted correctly and it ripped all the wires hence setting the airbag off.

My Dad went round to see the car at City's, the paintwork has amazed everyone its that good. But the doors don't allign properly and they don't close very well. The numberplate had just been squashed flat, not replaced. Seatbelt was not bolted down correctly. Air Vent had still not been fitted etc, quite a few things not done correctly. Have sinced found out that I have to go an replace the numberplate myself and then bill Just Cars.

So found out today pretty much the icing on my deflated cake more bad news. Most of the parts for the seat and airbag are in Australia or Japan but... the wiring harness has to manufactured... it could be up to 4months. 4 months!!! It's been 4months as it is! :(. They also seem to think theres a problem with the front diff because there was a noise when they drove it off the truck, so could be another thing wrong with it.

I also went and saw the car today, i literally went "Really thats my car!!!" the paint is pretty good, but in saying that i havent seen it with doors and tyres on for quite some time lol.

So I'm really not doing all that well about it all now. Were going through the complaints process with Just Cars. Consumer Affairs, Fair Trading, Ombudsman etc... wont do anything until we have gone through the process with Just Cars, and really theres nothing anyone can do anyway.

So thats where I'm at, where my car's at... and I wouldn't reccomend either Just Cars or Plaza Smash Repairs to anyone.

fark feel so bad for you right now, makes my issues seem so trivial.

important thing is its with Subaru now, so fight to get the lot replaced :)

It will be worth it in the end :)

Fark another possible 4 months till you get your car back.

I would be pushing for a Brand New Car.

Feel so sorry for you that would sux so bad to wait so long

geez, i feel sorry for ya! as luigi says id be pushing for a new car! :D

i hope i dont have an accident whilst insured with just cars....

Sorry to here it could be another 4 months Meg, it just seems to get worse and worse for you doesn't it... :(

Ah well, atlest you car isn't over 3 years old or you may find that your car parts may have been replaced with 2nd hand non standard parts :). You live and learn i suppose with insurer's, the big thing i hope you have learnt is not to shop on price alone as most people do these days, as you can end up paying for it (as you have) in the long run.

I would prefer that someone who knows what they're doing repair the wiring loom, possibly only a couple of wires severed by the seat mount. Than wait 4 months for a loom then have somone remove every bit of interior trim to install it. If the loom is soldered and heatshrinked it will work perfectly for ever.

Question is would u trust someone's soldering skills for your airbag to work properly? I know i'd rather a brand new one than a patched job. when it comes down to it, it's just stupid how long megs has had to wait.

i feel so sorry for u...:o

my insurance renewal for Just Cars just came today... :eek:

heheh Good Luck :)

[QUOTE=Fabs]my insurance renewal for Just Cars just came today... :eek:[/QUOTE]

Don't do it!

I'd also rather wait the four months and have a complete brand new airbag than they do some souldering work... they won't allow it anyway. The main thing is Subaru is looking after it now, so it should all go smoothly... i hope.

Thanks for the support :)... uber jealous of you all in your cars lol :p

new car would be nice, even if you couldnt' get a new car, at least get just car to give you a rental car for the next 4 months!!

man.. this is bs

damn megs that really sucks!!! hopefully you have some luck with subaru(dont count on it being easy to get anything out of them :()....hope you get it back soon :D

[QUOTE=Shinobiken]new car would be nice, even if you couldnt' get a new car, at least get just car to give you a rental car for the next 4 months!!

man.. this is bs[/QUOTE]

They can't replace my car they've spent too much money on repairing it now and it wasn't a write off to begin with.

Can't have a rental car for the next four months because I'm only 19 and its not part of my policy.

As for shopping around for insurance... Like I've mentioned before only two other insurance companies were prepared to insure me and I wasn't going to fork out over 5 and a half grand. 2 and a half grand is bad enough... It's the same for all other young drivers with performance cars.

Well it seems JustCar are pulling their collective fingers out and doing something about it. But you are right, you shouldn't have to make your (or your mum's) voice box bleed for something to be done. I'm still with JustCar but only till someone else will insure me as I park in a carport and not a garage :rolleyes:

Another 4 months is going to suck large. I hope it all comes good for ya but if it were me I'd be selling/trading it as soon as it was cleared. Cut your losses on this one I'm afraid :(

[QUOTE=lebrunt]damn megs that really sucks!!! hopefully you have some luck with subaru(dont count on it being easy to get anything out of them :()....hope you get it back soon :D[/QUOTE]

I've had no problems with City Subaru, big props to them... and they are sorting everything out and keeping me well informed :) You can always ring the Head Office here in WA talk to the service/parts guys and they can tell you exactly where your parts are if you've had some ordered. I found out exactly where my parts were when the smash repairers used the excuse that they were taking forever to get here.

From my experience, there is not much difference between a carport and garage in terms of premium and if u are insurable or not, thats unless you have a hatch and a massive stezza in the boot.
[QUOTE=phizzle]Well it seems JustCar are pulling their collective fingers out and doing something about it. But you are right, you shouldn't have to make your (or your mum's) voice box bleed for something to be done. I'm still with JustCar but only till someone else will insure me as I park in a carport and not a garage :rolleyes:

Another 4 months is going to suck large. I hope it all comes good for ya but if it were me I'd be selling/trading it as soon as it was cleared. Cut your losses on this one I'm afraid :([/QUOTE]

My renewal came today too for just car. Im 21 with an 02 STI gone down to 1488 a year, but if I want to pay for 6 months that will be 960 odd thanks. What a crock of shit pay that much more to pay for 6 months.

spehling
 

Disappointing to hear - Glad I didn't go with Just Car.

I'd sell the car once I got it back if I were you. Too many bad memories every time you drive it. GTi Golf is a nice car and still has some guts.

Im just wondering what happens if whilst your car is in being repaired either your insurance or rego renewal becomes due? It is unfair if you need to pay for rego that has lapsed due to their incompetance etc...

i really should get insured again one day...

Just Cars quoted me 3,100 today for a new car, SGIO quoted 780.

Both excess of 1400.

Cheers,
Nik

mmm just did an online RAC quote. Comes in at same as just car but excess is only 300, reduced it to less with the added 300 excess. still 600 compared to just car excess of alot more. Might ring tommorw :)

word of warning on RAC, they wanted me to go over the pits when i installed my cat-back.

When it comes to mods theyre a pifa.

ohh this chick on phone said it was fine for exhaust :\

RAC would go lower than SGIO but as [saturation] has mentioned, PITA when is comes to modifications.

I am miffed as to why upgrading brakes should cost me more, surely I am adding safety?

We digress though, to OP, I hope the situation can be sorted swiftly, and with a lot less pain than has already been endured!

Cheers,
Nik

this is why i will not be insured by Just Car's.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal Meg's. Hope it gets sorted out quickly and smoothly now.

[QUOTE=vyper]Disappointing to hear - Glad I didn't go with Just Car.

I'd sell the car once I got it back if I were you. Too many bad memories every time you drive it. GTi Golf is a nice car and still has some guts.[/QUOTE]

I don't want a Golf... I want a wrx :(.

Either way I'm still without a car for another 4months for someones incompetence, and who knows who's it is because the blame keeps being thrown around :mad:

As for it not being fair having to pay rego and insurance whilst car is still being repaired etc... If i had decided to cancel my policy I would by now have been up for 5k for my tyres and rims that were stolen. So although its not really fair... its good to have :)

phoar dude thats really not good hey :(

best of luck with it

would be doing something about that workshop for sure!

It's fair to have to pay rego and insurance, just a crap time for them to come up!

I find it bit bs that there isnt a wrx seat in aust or Japan wtf! :confused:

[QUOTE=TopGear]I find it bit bs that there isnt a wrx seat in aust or Japan wtf! :confused:[/QUOTE]

seats not a problem, like i said the majority of the parts can be sourced from Aus or in Japan but... the wiring harness has to be manufactured, they don't just stock them... its rare for them to break... from what i gather it only happens in a severe accident and usually the car is written off and therefore don't have to bother replacing one. But I'm not an expert.

Sorry to hear about your experience so far Megs. I was glad that my accident was looked after and fixed up real fast. I'm with Just Car as well. I guess I don't really have too much choice when it comes to having a modified car. Especially for something that's as simple as a BOV, which most insurers deems it "Illegal"

Jesus Megs, [B]Plaza Smash Repairs in Welshpool[/B] should go out of business for gross incompetance....
How Just Cars allowed it to get that far is beyond belief. Especially after that dodgy as theft of your wheels.

If I were you looking at up to a 4 month wait I would personally be getting the part number that needs to be manufactured and cross reference that number to see if its the same as an RS Impreza loom from the same model year. Surely the RS would have side airbags as well.

If it is the same part number pop up to JWS and see if the 06/07 RS or similar they have there has an unlpug-able loom you can procure.

I'm crossing my fingers for ya. :)

[QUOTE=krazcool]Especially for something that's as simple as a BOV, which most insurers deems it "Illegal"[/QUOTE]

Both your insurance company AND the state government deem that to be illegal!

It's the automotive industry in general, ALOT of the good honest hard workers are long gone, plenty of cowboys in the industry atm. Easy enough to screw people over, push the paper work around a little bit. Delays are a common occurance its just unfortunate they've broken bits in the process.

End of the day, you pranged it, they're fixing it. There's never a given "FIXED" period for which they have to have it back to you. Panel beater (A) was unfortunate as a result of them being incompetent - by the sounds of it - they have a decent painter.. and a 15 year old lacky that pulls the cars down and throws the bolts back together!

^^
Spot on adz, i love it when people complain about shit that is set in law, lolz.

As for krazcool, get a clue.

[QUOTE=saturation]word of warning on RAC, they wanted me to go over the pits when i installed my cat-back.

When it comes to mods theyre a pifa.[/QUOTE]


pfft first i heard of this. I have repeatedly been told they dont give a toss about a mod as its not likely to attribute to damage, or excess wear to the vehicle, or damage other property.
Also only care if you want the mod insured, so if you crash your car, they replace that part, and not a stock part.
Verified this several times, so I dont know who you were speaking to in regards to the exhaust. They have mine on my policy,. but its not covered for replacement. (didnt want it to be as it cost me more)

Back on topic..... Sorry to hear megan, have you thought of legal action against the smash repair, or, get in contact with someone like Today Tonight, they usually like to do stories like this, although it wont help you get your car back sooner, least it will shame the repairer big time.

I hope the parts come sooner than estimated.

[QUOTE=gumby2006]Back on topic..... Sorry to hear megan, have you thought of legal action against the smash repair, or, get in contact with someone like Today Tonight, they usually like to do stories like this, although it wont help you get your car back sooner, least it will shame the repairer big time.

I hope the parts come sooner than estimated.[/QUOTE]

What is to take action against? Everything they have done wrong is in the process of being justified. The only reason megan knows about all of this - was because she rang and found out each of the things.. Keeping in mind they dont have to give her the car back till its ready, Just Car could have been 10x worse and simply pulled it out from one shop and taken it to another, and told her.. you'll get the call when its ready.

To put it simply - the panel beaters are doing the work for the insurance company - NOT for you.. it does you NO good contacting them at any stage.. and when the panel beaters are finished - it gets inspected by the insurance company as they place a guarantee on the work done.. at this point.. its out of your hands. You paid just cars 2.5k of your money - they've probably spent in excess of 5-10k on the repairs to date - i'd be certain they'd want it dealt with sooner than later.

[QUOTE=Adz]End of the day, you pranged it, they're fixing it. There's never a given "FIXED" period for which they have to have it back to you. Panel beater (A) was unfortunate as a result of them being incompetent - by the sounds of it - they have a decent painter.. and a 15 year old lacky that pulls the cars down and throws the bolts back together![/QUOTE]

Ok so no "Fixed" period, I understand that... but 8 months!!! You have got to be kidding me. You have to see where I'm coming from... it just seems to be one thing after another.

Mitsubishi Evo IX ftw...

thanks