I took my vehicle to MAACO and received an estimate from an associate on a paint job. My vehicle had been vandalized and it was an insurance claim. I didnt want anything high tech, just something simple to get the car presentable. Despite my interest in the more modest package, I allowed the associate to urge me to upgrade to another.
I explained to the associate that this was an insurance claim, and the associate informed me that his company dealt with insurance claims all of the time. I explained that the check would be coming directly from the insurance company and signed over to MAACO. The associate assured me that this was not a problem. He even looked at the claim paperwork from the insurance company and said no problem.
I authorized MAACO to begin working on my vehicle. Two days later I went to pick the vehicle up. I signed the check over to MAACO and upon doing this the associate took the check to the owner of the company, came back and told me that it would not be accepted because the company name was spelled incorrectly. He then urged me to either pay cash or charge the amount to a credit card. I had neither. The associate told me to call my insurance company and have them reissue the check with the correct name.
In a panic I promptly notified my insurance company and requested another check to be reissued. The next day I notified MAACO that another check was being printed and reissued. The associate told me that another check would not be acceptable. He then stated that he had no idea that it was an insurance claim and that if he had known he would never had authorized the vehicle for repair. He told me that I had to bring cash or a credit card. I asked about storage fees for holding my vehicle because I could not dip into my finances and retrieve the money for a few days. He said that they would hold the car for a few days without storage fees, but then once the three day window was up... Fees would begin.
Despite his admittance to seeing my insurance papers stating that this was a claim he still stuck to his lie that he did not know. This happened in 2002 and the car was a but he told me that he thought I owned the car (outright) and that it was not being financed through a finance company. Yeah right. A young college student walks in with a new car and you think the vehicle is paid for... Not to mention the insurance papers that he looked at and copied for his work order.
It was all just a huge scam. I think MAACO was hoping that I would not be able to obtain the money and then they would be showered with a brand new vehicle for their liking. As I said, he promised me that late fees would begin soon, so if I would not have made it back to retrieve my vehicle... Who knows how much they would have tried to scam from me.
What seemed like such a simple procedure quickly turned into a nightmare. I havent had any problems with the paint job. I just did not appreciate the way the associate quickly changed his tune and refused to accept the insurance check for the paint job and then lied about knowing that it was an insurance claim.
BUYERS beware.
UH-OH Forget about MAACO.
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