No worries, to summarise, it goes like this -:
* Car gets scraped
* Kind lady leaves number
* Got 3 quotes to choose cheapest or most reasonable I'm happy with so not to take the piss with the claim
* Choose someone I knows bodyshop so at least he gets a bit of business
* He recommends a CMC 'claims management company' (won't name yet) for a) better courtesy car b) speed of repair as they front the cash c) I don't need to do anything
* I suddenly get a wake up call as CMC introduces Solicitors for loads of unnecessary work
* Bodyshop bill suddenly triples according to CMC
* Everyone else starts laying in with invoices
* I realise I've been a dingbat by allowing a CMC to be involved which will have, by the end, probably quadrupled the original quote I gave the lady.
* This thread rattles me and savage e-mail sent to bodyshop
* After a quick call from bodyshop, I back down a little, the surveyor (not the bodyshop) recommended a new alloy instead of a repair, this is why their bill has shot up (they're not cheap)
* Oh, the claimed speed of the CMC not witnessed yet, car still not mended
Car just booked in 11th July but I'm away so postponed to 18th. I've demanded nothing less than a 911 as a courtesy car
.
Turns out I've kind of over-reacted at the bodyshop which I've apologied for, they took it in good spirit, but I'm still pissed off at myself for involving a CMC who so far have done squat all that I couldn't have done, probably more efficiently, and without submitted unneccessary costs.
Lesson learned, NEVER INVOLVE A CMC, especially over a small thing like the damage on my car...