Maaco, of Independence Missouri Scammed me of $1000
 

Posting this as a cautionary tale of anyone considering taking their car to a Maaco for labor. I cannot describe how horrendous this whole ordeal has been, and I do not expect to ever get my money back.


Maaco of Independence, MO scammed me of $1000. I paid this shop $1000 as a down payment for labor and paint on my car 6 weeks ago on September 3rd. When I paid the shop, the manager, Travis, told me that the car would be ready in approximately 2 weeks. I knew this was likely an early estimation, so at first when the car was delayed I was not upset. However, every time I called the shop and spoke to Lori (receptionist) after the first delay, they would just extend the promise to "it will be finished xDay", and so on, and any time that I asked for the actual status of the car, no one knew, or no one was at the shop/available.

Finally, after 5 weeks on (10/08) I was getting nervous having not seen my car in a month (the shop is an hour away from me). I called the manager, Travis, directly and he apologized and said that it was their fault for having poor communication. He promised to make it up for me, and told me the car would definitely be in the paint booth that Thursday. I told him I would need to pick the car up the following weekend, regardless of it's status, as my girlfriend and I could not go on with sharing a single car. She has two jobs and attends university, and I have a full time position. He acknowledged this and promised the car would be ready. Additionally, he promised to send me a photo of the car so I would have an idea of what they're working with. I never received this photo, and later I found out why.

I called Travis that Friday to confirm that the car was ready, and he immediately took a different tone and simply said "I don't think your car is ready buddy", and brushed off the issue. I told him I would be at the shop tomorrow regardless.

When I arrived, I found that the shop staff had been COMPLETELY replaced. When I walked in the door and asked for Travis, everyone seemed to take defense and told me that Travis got suspended for poor dealing with customers. The phone was ringing constantly while I was there. I asked to go back and see my car, and none of them even knew which car was mine, and were confused when I described it to them.

Finally, one of them took me to the back of the shop, and through the heaps of cars I saw mine. It had not even been touched. The car had just been parked there, for 6 weeks, with no changes whatsoever. On later inspection, I also found that I had cables missing from my radio.

I spoke with the new manager (Chris) and he agreed that I would need a refund. He promised to talk to Ryan, the owner of the shop, and that I should come by on 10/17 to meet with him. When I arrived, everyone was leaving the shop and they said Ryan may not be there as he got tied up in a meeting. I had called Maaco and spoke to Chris repeatedly that day and TOLD THEM to make sure that Ryan was there, and the exact time I would be there. They all simply evacuated as soon as I showed up. Chris gave the the phone number of another "corporate" person to call, who gave me the same runaround that Ryan was in town to issue refunds, and told me that he would call Ryan and tell him to call me. I told him to make sure Ryan called me that night, and I never heard from him.

This is unacceptable and I'm already in the process of filing a claim with the Business Bureau, and will also contact the local news channel. Apparently, I am far from the only customer of that shop to have complaints, so there should be at least a few of us. Your shop has blatantly stolen money from me, has robbed me of time, and has treated me absolutely pathetically since I first trusted your shop with my car and down payment.

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Re: Maaco, of Independence Missouri Scammed me of $1000
 

Pay credit card, issue a charge back.

Re: Maaco, of Independence Missouri Scammed me of $1000
 

I had good luck with Maaco basic respray job (Maaco Akron Ohio). I think I would have paid a little extra for the uv protection now but mine was like 350.00 with no door jams or clear coat and five years later looks good.

Re: Maaco, of Independence Missouri Scammed me of $1000
 

I will firmly believe from here on out that their entire organization, on a national scale, thrives on thievery for the most part.

Edit: Holy shit just realized this was like a year and a half ago now already... Where has time gone...

Re: Maaco, of Independence Missouri Scammed me of $1000
 

Complain to bank like other member recommended. Even if you paid with a check not a card. Complain to visa/mastercard also if you can. Sounds like a clusterfuck at that Maaco. Good call taking car home. They are going to be a chain like a McDonalds I'd think so maybe just try a different location. Also you could ask for down payment back in 24 hours or you are going to both BBB and Maaco Corporate. Maybe that will have no effect if they are closing that location and going under. My car was at Maaco for 2 or 3 days. All prep was done first and I pulled the tails in the parking lot after I got there. After a full day I went to look after work (nearly closing time) and they had just pulled it out into the front lot. I let it sit that night and drove home (slowly) the next day. I heard that location was pretty good and they have a $100,000 downdraft spray both. I didn't pay extra for uv,clear coat, inside door jams but did spend 50 more than cheapest paint job since a color change is extra. I used a brick of sanding sponges from harbor freight and krylon spray cans of light grey primer. It wasn't the best but their painting did hide the fine scratches and stuck to everything good.