Right.

It seems to me that the body shop has nothing whatsover to do with this.

Although associated with the dealer in some sense I'm sure that, legally, the body shop is an entirely separate legal entity from the dealership.

The entire sum and substance of the body shop involvement is that they (the body shop) own the slab of concrete the car was sitting on when the *dealer-hired* contractor damaged the car.

Cheers
DD

 

Update - the dealer is not returning Jaguar North America's calls. I made a point to iterate that I am not overreacting when I say they are unresponsive. Also contacted BBB.

 

My guess, FWIW, is that the dealer knows that Jaguar North America can't or won't do much in this sort of scenario.....so why bother returning calls?

IME, the typical response from corporate customer assistance is to exert some pressure on the dealer to make the customer happy while knowing full well that it's really a private dispute between dealer and customer....and not an area that corporate HQ can/will/should intervene too deeply.

The BBB will probably do more for you.

Cheers
DD

 

At this point, I would turn to small claims, as others have suggested. Chances are, once they get subpenaed, they will all of the sudden have much more incentive to make you go away...

The BBB is always a good option, especially if Scott is accredited.

Or, depending on how pissed off you are, you could do what a gentleman did in my hometown with a horrendous Dodge dealer that was notorious for ripping people off, intimidation and even violence. He had lettering put on his Magnum (really big lettering.. see below) spelling out how awful the dealer was. He then parked his car, everyday, on city property across the street from the dealer. The dealer had no legal right to make him move his car (though the city made him, eventually..) If you're amused.. read about it here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Viking...llinois-270085


Long story short, Chrysler corporate got involved and the dealership ended up losing its franchise rights (for many reasons) and closed a few months later... now this is an extreme case.. but its always an option!

 

Have you tried contacting the actual sub contractor that performed the work? You should be dealing with them not Jaguar Consumer Affairs or the dealer. If you actually want this resolved that is the way to go. The BBB or small claims are not going to fix the car. The people that actually damaged your car are responsible. You can contact your insurance company as they will just subrogate with the vendors insurance.

 

Not true. The sub is an extension of the dealer since the sub's contractual obligation was to the dealer who paid them. Not me. The dealer never even expressed anything about a sub until trying to evade responsibility for the damage.

 

I can't imagine going to small claims court would be worth it. You may never actually get the money!

I wonder if you could file a claim of vandalism with your insurance company. Then tell them the vandals are the at car dealership's service department!

 

That is what I was trying to say. I have seen this happen before with vendors/sub contractors & it is always handled thru them not the dealer.

 

I suspect that if the sublet vendor was gonna step up to the plate they would have done so by now. Apparently a patch-up repair was all they were willing to do? (see first posting)

The *dealer* hired the subcontractor. The *dealer* , therefor, is responsbile for what the subcontractor does.

At the end of the day when the problem is fixed and the legalities and insurance settlements are made, the subcontractor or his insurance company will be held accountable.

However, as far as the Jaguar owner (R-Rated) goes, it is a matter to be resolved between him (R-Rated) and the dealer. R-rated never entered into any agreement with the subcontractor. He entered into an agreement with the dealership.

The dealership, not R-rated, is who entered into an agreement with the subcontractor

IMHO the dealership should make the customer happy and fix the car properly.... and then settle with the subcontractor as an entirely separate matter. After all, they (the dealership) hired him!

Cheers
DD

 

Update,

I've been working with Blair from Jaguar, NA. She stated that it is Jaguar's position that since the work was done by a sub and not the retail franchise that they would not be getting involved.

My dealer also has some 1099 technicians.... this means if they break something that there is no accountability... something to be aware of for everyone.

Next steps are to escalate to Blair's manager and then small claims. In parallel a friend in the local media wants to run a story Sad thing is I was in the process of getting an XJ when this happened and instead went with an S Class for my work car since I don't trust this dealer (the only Jaguar near me) any longer. This single transaction has already cost them more than if they would have simply done the right thing.

 

Going to the media could prove quite effective.. Good luck! And I would make sure that the sales manager of the dealer is very aware of the sale he lost because of the service department's ineptitude. You can also tell him none of the thousands of jaguar owners on here will ever consider doing business with his dealer.

Basically, the more headaches you cause for them, the better chance you have of getting this revolved

 

Explain, please.

Do you mean they are not regular employees but work and are paid under some sort of as-needed agreement ....and income reported on form 1099?

Cheers
DD

 

I interpret that as an independent contractor arrangement instead of employees. Some of the dealers around here do that as well when they get really busy, or they sub out uncommon work to "specialists"

It can cause problems both with liability and quality of workmanship.

 

I have to agree with others. It's the dealerships fault. Even though they sub contracted the work out, they are responsible. If the dealership want's their money back, then they have to sue the sub contractor. My wife watches People's Court like it's going out of style. I've seen these exact cases on there. Of course there is no guarantee that you will get your money when you win. But their name would be mud because of the court case. And they would also have the judgement hanging over their heads. Good luck and I hope everything works out.

 

The dealership can delegate (sub-contract) the work but not the responsibility. My suggestion, which is worth exactly what you've paid for it, is to write a latter clearly detailing what damage was committed and what you expect to have done AND give them a date in the near future where they can either agree to repair it to at or better condition than it was prior to your trusting them OR you will take appropriate actions "up nut not limited to pursuing this legally and otherwise" (no need to mention exactly what else you will do or threaten them with the media and such as surprise is always better). Also let them know that you will expect to be "fairly compensated" for both your time spent and aggravation. Send that letter to their VP of sales, VP of marketing, GM, etc AND do so USPS registered mail. I'd suggest giving them maybe 3 business days to respond before filing in court after you've gotten two estimates on what it would cost at a dealership to bring it back to original condition. No need to mention the sale they have lost or otherwise as your goal here is solely to get the damage repaired, after it is done then you can explain, Threats, possible loss of business, arguing, will only back them into a corner thus make them more defensive/less likely to get you the results you want. If they do not fully agree, completely concede, and profusely apologize than unleash hell upon them on Yelp, Craigslist, the media, call your local stations, newspaper journalists, etc.

I had a lemon law case against Porsche a few years ago and know that dealerships can be outright bullying/nasty but don't back down. Be clear what you expect and let them know that ANYTHING less that making it as least as good as it was will not be accepted.

Good luck. It won't be as tough as you think. IF you wind up in court just have your facts/figures, dates, and a copy of those letters for the judge, also any emails, etc

 

In most states when a person files litigation in a small claims court or Magistrate court against a business enterprise, that business is required to be represented by a lawyer or legal counsel. Once the "summons" ( not subpeona) form the court action is served by a "process server", the business will make the decision to engage the attorney and start accuring expenses or decide to settle the dispute with the petitioner. The cost to file a this action in court is quite minimal.

I have gone through this process several times with "great" results that has been satisfactory to my end result that I was seeking.

Good luck in your quest for a satisfactory resolve.

 

1099 means contractor with no liability and they are paid without taking out taxes like a W2 or employee. Yes income reported as 1099 but they do not work as employees of the company - the company hires these people that probably have no liability insurance.

Any company can Sub to 1099 contractors all they want and we do it at my company all of the time in IT and Business consulting. Even though we may sub it out - we're still liable for the deliverable since the clients' agreement is for me to to get the work done. Beyond that it's on me if a sub goofs up any work. Same thing in blue collar labor. There really is no grey in this.

 

We're on the same page. I sent an email to the Service manager, GM and Franchise owner stating the facts before posting this thread, contacting Jag or BBB. They ignored it for the most part and had very unprofessional responses. They said that it was too $$$ to replace (even after acknowledging their contractor did the damage.)

Small claims court fee was 70 bucks and gets filed on Tuesday.

In addition - the "On your side" guys from the local news wants to run a story. I was really getting into jags and still feel that the 5.0 XKR is the most special Jag since the E type... but when this is over I will trade for a P car since there isn't a great Jag Indy near me. Support is half the ownership experience in any high ticket item with moving parts.

If anyone wants a great car - had a dentless guy go through it and all maintenance up to date - let me know. 2010 XKR with all options, mina exhaust, windscreen, black grill (still have silver as well) and 35Kish miles let me know.

 

Oh - and brand new dash

 

I'm sorry to hear that you're giving up your car over this mess, hopefully it goes to a good home.

So you were able to get them to install a brand new dash, then? Or did you pay for this out-of-pocket and you're going after them to get reimbursed?