Caliber Collision

Third time is a charm? I had a run of bad luck with my car and was rear ended twice in the last two years and barely bumped a concrete pole cracking my front bumper. I had nightmare experiences with the first repair shop of my rear bumper recommended to me by my once-​trusted dealership. Their sister repair shop ended up damaging my car even more than when I dropped it off and the repairs they did were shoddy or not done at all. However, because they refused, yes refused, to go over the pre-​existing damage with me, they claimed all of the damage they did was pre-​existing. I, like any other owner, know what damage was and was not on their car. This was a very, very expensive lesson I hope to impart to everyone getting a car repaired — take pictures of every part of your car, inside, outside, front, back, even the roof (yes they dented my roof in two places). Also, never leave your car without performing a check-​in sheet noting all of the chips, scratches, dings (and in my case, the absence of chips, scratches, scrapes, tears, dents, and dings) that you take a copy with you. If the repair facility does not do a check-​in report/​sheet with you or give you a copy of it — DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR THERE.
The second repair of my rear bumper was much better workmanship but the shop personnel (two estimators, and a receptionist) lied to me several times over very small/​insignificant issues that I would not have cared about had they told me the truth. I let that go since the car looked good and I did not have any new damage. Because the work was good and I didn’t have any new damage, I asked the manager for an estimate on fixing the damage done by the first repair facility.
However, when I went back to them to fix the front bumper and the damage caused by the first repair shop, the second estimator ignored me when I was talking to him about the additional damage and actually walked off and back inside. (He claimed he didn’t hear me bring it up to him once inside and again when we were outside.) When I asked about the second estimate not covered by insurance to fix the damages by the first repair facility, he was loud and accusatory as to there was no second estimate requested. I said there was and he got loud and demanding asking where the second estimate request was at. The receptionist said it was underneath the one he had in his hands. He was not very apologetic and stormed off back out to my car not even holding the door for me. After that was done — he was a jerk about it and told me a bunch of things that could also need to be repaired further increasing the repair bill — I mentioned that I had gotten an estimate from the manager and he had explained the repair may be somewhat noticeable but they would try to blend it in the best they could. That was not good enough for this guy. He completely discounted what I said and said he would check with his manager. He later e-​mailed me the estimate, which was the same as his manager’s. I called my insurance company about my concerns and they assured me that they would make sure the repairs were done right (if they wanted to remain a preferred provider of my insurance company). When I dropped my car off for the repairs, he actually started balking about doing a vehicle check-​in sheet to note pre-​existing damage and almost flipped his lid when I dared ask for a copy. Apprehensively, I left the car there. The earlier lying coupled with the dishonest feeling from the second estimator I started feeling like I was being bulled and taken advantaged of again, so I picked up my car a short time later and filed a complaint against them with my insurance company.
On the advice of the car rental agent who said that over several years, this Caliber Collision facility consistently had high praise from renters, so I took my car to them. The process was relatively smooth. I did have a hiccup with the shop scheduler not listening to me. My insurance company had given me specific instructions, which I relayed to the scheduler who completely ignored me during the estimate process. When I dropped my car off for repair, the estimator seemed to chastise me for not doing what the insurance company told me; even-​though, I told to them. The estimator did not seem very comfortable dealing with people and didn’t greet anyone with a hi, hello, or a smile. He was very good at noting the items for repair and gave me a copy of the vehicle check-​in sheet. When picking up the car, the service manager was very personable, professional, and took care of a new scratch I found without jerking me around. The repair guys did an excellent job on the repairs and even touched up a paint chip on the hood as well as had the car ready when promised, unlike either of the other two repair facilities. I would use and freely recommend using this facility BUT always take pictures of every part of your car (inside and out) and get a copy of the sheet noting pre-​existing damage.

I referred a friend of mine to take her car to Caliber, after using them twice before I was confident that they would be the best option for some repairs to her car. She had a few different instances of damage (one of which I am responsible for-​Bummer!) and after I saw the quote, I had some questions. Being that I am partially financially responsible for the cost of one of the repairs I wanted to call and discuss it with the estimator.
I called and the first time they couldn’t find the name to look up the estimate.
I called back and had to provide the last 6 digits of the vin, they were finally able to find my friends name, HOWEVER for some reason they couldn’t locate the same estimate (different dollar amount) than what I had a copy of… Hm… I asked for Tony (the estimator) to call me back and left my #.
No one called me back.
I called AGAIN. I wasn’t understanding the quote, how on earth it was 5 hours to fix a bumper… No, I don’t understand what has to be done because I am not a body shop-​if I was I wouldn’t be on the phone. Tony must have felt that my questions were beneath him because he started talking over me and cutting me off. I let him know that he was being rude to me and the reason they had this business was because I referred someone to them, by asking questions that in itself doesn’t constitute as «rude», perhaps its more an issue of being defensive??? I also let Tony know that if this is his threshold for rudeness then perhaps he should be in another line of work were he doesn’t need to explain what «repairs» need to happen. Odd thing, when people have to pay for something (big ticket anyways) they usually want to know exactly what they are paying for. CRAZY huh?
I ended up getting on the phone with Tony’s boss, who quite frankly didn’t seem to give two shits that the guy was rude to me. AWESOME! Is it because I’m a chick? Is it because the guys a jerk? Who knows, and it doesn’t matter. Poor form and really unprofessional.

I cannot say enough good things about these guys. They have done an amazing job working with our insurance and fixing the car. Jason and Team do a great job!

It is very unfortunate that one has to go through being rear-​ended; but if you ever do encounter it, Caliber Collision in Littleton is the place to go. Both my husband’s KIA Soul (last July) and my Honda Odyssey (mid October 2014) got rear ended last year. We were redirected to this place by PEAK KIA when KIA Soul was rear-​ended since PEAK does not have an onsite body shop. We were quite surprised by how his car turned out in the end. To be honest, it seems that the repair made his car new again. Jason kept us posted about the progress in every phase of the repair and about the projected completion date and even finished the work earlier. Fast forward 3 months later, we were back in the same situation (strange that we never had that happened in the decades of drivings…) Thinking that all Caliber should have the same standard, so I opted for a different Caliber which is much closer to our home. But during the estimate process, I immediately decided that it ain’t so. I’d rather drive much farther (just had to do 2 trips…) than taking a guess; I surely am glad that we worked with them again. Site manager Jason, again, was kind and informative and in the end, he even offered to top-​off the rental car’s gas for me because I was not able to do due to missed opportunity on my part. The front desk crews are also very pleasant to work and go above and beyond to help me. Very happy to have worked with this business. You will be happy too if you consider using them. Highly recommend!!!

If I could give them a zero, I would. They had my car for three weeks and returned it without completing all of the billed work. They then had it for another week and returned the car with new scratches and an uneven paint spot on one part of the car. Shoddy work, poor follow-​up and I now have to go to another body shop to correct their work.