Patriots Auto Body | Collision Center Lowell

My experiemce with Patriots is nothing short of a disaster. The only reason I give 2 stars is because the owner and the workers are very nice and I think they tried. My car was rear ended by a plow on Dec 19th. I looked up local shops in the area and found this one with good reviews so I decided to give it a try. I dropped my car off that day and was told everything would be fixed in 2 weeks. 3 weeks later, it's still not done. I finally get my car back on Jan 20th (4 weeks). Everything looks pretty good except my airbag light is flashing and it wasn't before I gave them it AND my airbags never deployed. I was told to wait a few days and it will shut off. OK no problem - I will wait. I get home and park my car so I can clean it out and check everything over. I open my trunk and find that it is FULL of water. Not only that but my rear tail lights don't work. I drive back and they reconnect my rear tail lights and say the trunk was like that when they got it? I don't think so seeing as I dropped it off with them the day I got hit and it wasn't snowing or raining so clearly they did not store it properly. I drive back hom and park my car in the garage. The next day I go to start it and guess what? It won't start! I open the hood and of course, the battery compartment is full of water. What did they do? I go to AutoZone and got a new battery. Well at least my trunk should work after all of that right? Nope. I had to bring it back a third time because the only way it would work was for me to slam the trunk closed. They spent a couple of days and made it somewhat better, so good enough I guess. A week later, I go to open my trunk and my rear reverse light is full of water. They had installed a junk yard part and didn't notice it was cracked. No way I am bringing my car back there again so I buy a spare reverse light assembly off eBay and install it myself only to find they never properly installed the bumper. It was missing screws and fasteners (see attached photo). Oh and the airbag light? They never could fix it so I had to go on my own to the dealership and have it fixed...$2,100! Thankfully insurance paid for it but while I'm there, they tell me my rear left brakes are seized. I ask them how this could be? I only go to the dealership for service and do it regularly and the last visit the pads were fine. They said "most likely improper storage when my car was being fixed". Their words not mine. That makes sense and explains the airbag electrical issue, dead car battery and flooded trunk. So another $500 for brake repair out of my own pocket. You would be the end of the story right? Nope. Now my paint is peeling off! See attached pics. I can't even bring it back because I have no confidence it will be fixed. In summary: NOT RECOMMENDED. I tried supporting a small local business but got burned. learned my lesson and will next time only use insurance recommend places.

7/21/2018