Cathy Dyson: DYSON COLUMN One minor accident causes many major headaches

Jan. 20--Did you hear the one about the woman who took her car to the shop to have the back bumper repaired and was told there was so much damage to the opposite end--which wasn't even affected in the collision--that the insurance company declared it a total loss?

Yeah, it's a real knee slapper. So funny I forgot to laugh.

The strange story has reinforced several notions about customer service in the 21st century: a) Things that should be simple become complicated when every person you talk with gives you a different answer. b) People pile on excuses to the point you want to smack them. c) Some workers either don't know what they're doing or don't care. d) All of the above.

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I thought the biggest problem after being rear-ended, while minding my own business, would be the pain in the neck caused by the bump to the back.

Telling a receptionist at a walk-in clinic that I needed a drug test added insult to injury. I was certain everyone in the waiting room wondered what I had sniffed or snorted.

The minor crash happened during work, so I can understand if workers' compensation wanted to be sure I wasn't under the influence.

Then came the hassle of sharing the same details, several times, with the other driver's insurance company.

But the ultimate frustration came from an auto repair shop in Stafford County, where a technician initially noted minimal damage to the bumper cover on the left-hand rear side.

You can imagine my surprise as one week turned into another and another, and my car was still in the shop. Each time I called for an update, I was told someone would get back to me that day or the next. No one ever did.

At the end of the third week with a rental car, I heard from a pleasant insurance agent who said the damage to my car exceeded its value. My 15-year-old Honda has 267,229 miles on it, so that wasn't a total surprise.

He spent a good 30 minutes asking detailed questions, down to the type of floor mats, so he could assess the car's value. He answered questions about my options.

I could get $4,400 if the insurance declared it a total loss. If I wanted to keep it and make repairs on my own--because the car still runs great--I would get $3,600.

That made me wonder exactly what repairs were needed, because it didn't seem possible that one bumper cover could cost so much. He named other items that needed repair: headlights, grill and front fender.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said. "I don't have any damage to the front. It's all in the rear."

The agent was as confused as I was and got off the line to call the repair shop.

Surprise. He couldn't reach a human being. It was a Saturday, and the place was supposed to be open, but no one picked up.

Early Monday, I got a call from the repair shop's office in Dallas. The conversation started with the caller telling me, in a sympathetic tone, that insurance wasn't going to cover the damage to the front.

Twice, I repeated that I didn't have damage there, and that my front end was fine--or at least it was when I dropped off the car.

He said he'd call Stafford and get back to me.

He didn't.

The next morning, I visited the repair shop and there sat my beloved black Honda, looking rather naked. The rear bumper had been removed--and to my shock, so had several pieces from the front right side.

I left my easygoing nature in the parking lot, stormed into the lobby and demanded answers for this screwed-up situation. I heard excuses about being short-staffed, that workers had been sick, that the assistant manager to whom I was speaking hadn't been the one to write the estimate.

She couldn't imagine how this had happened.

Long story short, the insurance agency is repairing the back bumper, and the auto shop is putting the front pieces back on and covering the cost of the rental car, if it goes past the allotted time.

I never could get an answer for why in the world someone would remove parts that didn't need replacing. All I can think is that I sent the insurance agency photos, of my damage and that of the driver who hit me. I named the digital photos by our last names.

Both vehicles are dark, four-door sedans, so someone looking at the pictures in Dallas might have been confused.

But what would compel a person in Stafford to walk up to the undamaged front side of my car and start tearing off components? If that's the way things work at an insurance agency's approved repair center, no wonder auto insurance is so high.

I've also wondered why agents never bothered to refer to my initial claim, which clearly said damage was limited to the back side. Were their khakis already packed? (You've seen the TV commercial.)

It also irked me that I could have gotten $4,400 toward a new car if I hadn't asked so many darn questions. But that would have produced some really bad karma, and that's the last thing I want on these busy roads.

Plus, I'm hoping to get 300,000 on that Honda before we part ways.

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