Others w/ Probs w/ Magnum Collision/Performance Auto Collis. trying to steal your car? (Atlanta, GA) | FerrariChat

Others w/ Probs w/ Magnum Collision/Performance Auto Collis. trying to steal your car? (Atlanta, GA)

Discussion in 'South Central - USA (TN, MS, AL, GA)' started by 911&F430, Dec 9, 2019.

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  1. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    Just curious if anyone else here has had problems with predatory business practices by Magnum Collision/Performance Auto Collision in Georgia where they bill you for things that you never authorized and hold your car hostage unless you pay the "ransom" (almost $9,000). Then if you don't pay the ransom they will actually file for a lien to take the title to your car. (This is basically a scam to trap you once they have your car.) And if so how you dealt with it.

    Thanks in advance. More details below if interested:

    -Took my car to Magnum Collision.
    -Their intake paperwork said that you pay when you pick up your car.
    -After the estimate they led me to believe parts for my car repair had been ordered.
    -A month and a half after dropping off the car they started asking me to pay them up front.
    -This was a red flag as it represented a change in terms after they'd had my car for 1.5 months.
    -After going back and forth with them on this concern they eventually straight up said parts had not been ordered and would not be ordered unless I paid at least 60% of the bill up front. At this point they'd had my car for two months and done nothing more than some disassembly to inspect and a repair estimate.
    -Their changing of terms after having my car for two months made it obvious that I could not trust them.
    -After some due diligence I found another shop that seemed more ethical.
    -I went to Magnum Collision to retrieve my car but they refused to let me have my car and then sent me a bill for almost $9,000 in charges which had never been previously discussed and to which I had never agreed.
    -They were trying to charge for storage at $100/day from the date that I dropped the car off. This contradicts their sign in their office explaining their storage policies. By the terms on their sign I should not be billed any storage as my car does not fall into either of the two categories they list. Their sign also says $40/day, not $100/day. The fraudulent storage charges are most of the bill total. The rest is a nonsense "admin fee" and a tear down fee.

    I have included a photo of their storage policy sign.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. Doctor Mark

    Doctor Mark Formula Junior

    Dec 15, 2005
    870
    Georgia
    Full Name:
    Mark Gronsbell
    New ownership since Mike sold the business. Quality not as good and now we can question ethics and honesty. A shame that it has changed under new owner.
     
  3. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 27, 2004
    15,924
    Georgia
    Full Name:
    Jim Pernikoff
    Is FoA still using Magnum as its primary body shop? If so, it looks like they should consider changing. If not, who are they using now?

    And who is the "shop that seemed more ethical" mentioned in the narrative above?
     
    911&F430 likes this.
  4. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    Yes, from asking around it sounds like Magnum Collision has really gone down the toilet since since being sold to Performance Auto Collision.
     
  5. ATLdoghouse

    ATLdoghouse Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 3, 2016
    368
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Cody L
    Have you retrieved your car ? If not hire an attorney asap.
     
    911&F430 and flat_plane_eddie like this.
  6. vee12

    vee12 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 2, 2008
    333
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Les
    Performance Auto collision literally "stole" a car from me. They wrote an estimate (the first and ONLY estimate) for me after an accident, "totalled" my car, and then sold it online before my insurance company and I even came to an agreement on what I was going to do with the car. The car was sold and had already left their facility for Germany to it's "new owner" before any paperwork was signed or anything regarding the final outcome of the insurance settlement or repair of the vehicle.

    The new owner in Germany found my business card under the seat. He called me, and after discussing the time line, etc. of his "purchase" determined the exact timing of the whole sorted affair. Crooks pure and simple.
     
    911&F430 likes this.
  7. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    I'm not sure if FoA is still using Magnum. This didn't happen to the Ferrari, thank God. But since Ferraris often end up there I was curious if anyone in the Ferrari community had a similar experience and how they dealt with it.
    Not really saying publicly yet who the alternate shop was but happy to tell you and provide additional details next time I see you at a car event.
     
  8. henryr

    henryr Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 10, 2003
    21,648
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Juan Sánchez Villa-L
    FoA is no longer using Magnum last i heard
     
    911&F430 likes this.
  9. henryr

    henryr Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 10, 2003
    21,648
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Juan Sánchez Villa-L
    i use buckhead collision for the past 20 yrs
     
  10. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    Wow, Les, that's horrible. Even worse than what I experienced. Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me at all.
    Thanks for sharing your story, btw.
     
  11. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 6, 2002
    79,143
    Houston, Texas
    Full Name:
    Bubba
    I think $100 a day is the maximum by State Law that they charge on unrepaired totals, I ran into that rate recently on a totaled Ducati.

    I have also had to deal with the comingling of Mechanics Lien with a Storage Fee, if they are two entities with the same address.
    Good you got things sorted.
     
    911&F430 likes this.
  12. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    Buckhead Collision does good Ferrari work?
     
  13. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    Did Magnum Collision/Performance Auto Collision do anything to make it right after the fact? Were there any consequences?
     
  14. henryr

    henryr Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 10, 2003
    21,648
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Juan Sánchez Villa-L
    they used to have one of bo pirkles painters. i've seen a repaint/repair on both a 355 and a testarossa. they did a complete repaint of my speedster. they also do a bunch of vintage mercedes stuff
     
  15. vee12

    vee12 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 2, 2008
    333
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    Les
    No consequences to them....I made the insurance company pay through the nose to replace the vehicle though. They had already listed it online, sold it, and shipped it to Germany before we had come to any conclusion. They were over a barrel, and got what they deserved, but the shop got off Scott free.
     
  16. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    That's good that you were compensated, but unfortunate that Performance/Magnum got away with such a dastardly deed. They seem to be pretty experienced at gaming the system.
     
  17. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    I think you're right about $100/day being the legal max. Regardless of any legal max, their posted storage policy says $40/day and lists two conditions under which storage fees will apply. My car didn't meet either of those conditions, therefore no storage would be due on my car.

    At best what they do is an unfair and deceptive business practice. But it looks an awful lot like fraudulent misrepresentation.

    That's not even taking into account the fact that their paperwork says you pay on delivery and then after having my car for 1.5-2 months they said I had to pay up front. At that point in time, even if they had let me retrieve my property without trying to charge a ransom they still would have deprived me of driving my car for two months since no progress had been made on the repair. Any which way you look at it, it seems like once they have possession of your car, you're going to lose one way or another.
     
  18. 911&F430

    911&F430 Karting

    Oct 14, 2014
    131
    Atlanta
    #18 911&F430, Dec 23, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2019
    One other thing to beware of when choosing a collision repair shop for any special car you have: I mentioned earlier in the thread that thank goodness this didn't happen to the Ferrari. One reason I took the Porsche to Magnum Collision (obviously didn't know how unethical they are at the time) was b/c they were a Porsche Approved Collision Center. When Magnum started to show their true colors, since they were a PACC, I made Porsche aware of Magnum's unethical practices. Porsche's response was that they couldn't do anything b/c PACC are independent businesses and it also turns out there is not an ethics requirement to be a PACC. So Porsche could not say that by being unethical Magnum had violated a requirement to be a PACC. It seems qualifying as a PACC relates mainly to staff training and equipment. This type of situation may or may not exist with other manufacturers but keep in mind that just b/c a shop has a certification from a manufacturer DOESN'T mean they have met any kind of requirement for ethical business practices.
    Related side note: the manager of deceptive Magnum Collision has been saying on the Better Business Bureau website and social media that Porsche agreed with them when in fact Porsche just said they couldn't do anything about it.
     

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