On February 26, my vehicle was involved in an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. February 27, I contacted my insurance company, Nationwide Insurance, to report the accident and received a list of their certified repair shops. Nationwide provided me with the information Smail Auto Group. After speaking with several people who gave Smail a good recommendation, I called on March 22 to make an appointment to meet with Jeremy Buchanan to get an estimate of the damages on my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. Upon meeting with Jeremy I was told my car was considered un-drivable and left my car with Jeremy to begin repairs. Jeremy said he would give me a call within a day or two to give me an estimated time on when I would be able to pick-up my car. I did receive a call within a day or two and was told Smail would have my car for approximately two weeks to a month due to the amount of damages ($5578.82) and I would receive a call back in a week for more information. I had to call numerous times just to find out the status of my car.
On March 27, I finally received a call saying all of the repairs were complete and I could pick-up my car. When I came to pick up my car the following day, Smail tried to charge me a betterment for items I had already paid for on my own through NTB prior to my dropping off the car with Jeremy. Upon picking up the car I found several items either not fixed properly or worse off then when I had dropped off my car. Not to mention the interior of my car was covered in glass fragments from repairing the windshield, dirt and oil marks were left behind. I called and emailed Jeremy on March 31 listing the outstanding issues as follows:
1.) Around 3800 RPMs the car vibrated and shook as though the bottom floor was going to fall out. I also noticed I was not going over 40 MPH for these vibrations and shaking to occur. I believe Smail never test drove my car outside of their parking lot.
2.) The shifter area was pulled out of the console.
3.) The air bag cover was not repaired as requested.
4.) There were scratches on the back left hand side of my bumper that were not there prior to my dropping off the car.
5.) The antenna was not properly re-installed.
6.) There was a piece missing off the back passenger ashtray.
7.) The molding around the front passenger window was not properly reinstalled.
Jeremy took my car back immediately after the initial complaint and was able to resolve most of the above issues. The air bag cover is still not repaired as Smail said there is nothing they can do and I should take my car to Volkswagen to have it looked at. After picking up my car the second time I found a large spring under my front drivers' seat. I believe this spring is to help with the functions of the seat. I immediately called Jeremy, which at this time he was very reluctant to offer assistance. He said it would take about a month to get my car back in. Since Smail caused the problem I believe I should have been at the top of the list to have THEIR mistake corrected. To this date Jeremy still has not called me back on this issue.
I had to call Jeremy again because my windshield was installed improperly and ended up with a stress fracture. Robert Dent contacted me right away and said he would take a look at his schedule and call me back within a day or two. A week later I still had not received a call back so I called Robert and he did come to my work within the week and replaced the windshield for the second time.
Once again, I had to call Jeremy because my air conditioner was not working after Smail supposedly evacuated and charged it. I took a day off work to bring my car and this time spoke with John Fagan. John was not pleasant to work with. I had an appointment at 9 AM and when I showed up I had to wait 5-10 minutes just for him to come to the front and speak with me. He finally took my car into the shop and tested the vacuum, added dye and re-charged the air conditioner. When he brought my car around I mentioned the spring issue to him. After huffing and puffing he drove my car to the shop for about three minutes only to return and say he had no idea what the spring was for and it was my problem to deal with. John said Smail has tried to work with me on all of my issues.
On Smail's website they claim to provide exceptional customer service to each and every customer. I do not believe the service I have experienced with Smail over the past few months is exceptional by any means. This is most definitely the worst customer service experience I have ever had to deal with. I expected a much higher level of service from Smail which I have not received and am quite disgusted. I will NEVER bring my car back into their shop, I will NEVER buy a car from them and I will NEVER recommend Smail to anyone. I highly suggest Nationwide Insurance drop Smail Collision Center from their list of certified repair shops. I would also like my $500 deductible paid to Smail returned so I can take my car to a competent repair shop to have the outstanding issues addressed properly and in a timely manner.
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