C.Mayne's brief on this problem was right on spot. I have spoken, at length, with the attorney at Eaves Law Firm, who is spearheading this problem with the insurance companies calling the shots on quality, pricing, ad naseum; where parts are used in body shops, usually the independant ones. There are also some occurances of this activity that reach into the body shops run and attached to dealerships. In my opinion, it is a 'price grab' by a "big gorilla" in the house and is wrong. the eventual warranty and liability problems that can occur will affect the body shop (private or dealership) without any culpability on the Insurance company who forces the issue. The action is brief, but not easy; one does not let the insurance company dictacte quality or source of parts unless the body shop want to assume all potential liability for the part and it's consequences in the future.
If any of you that read the forum has information that you want to keep confidential, yet let the attorneys who are "defendiing" our practices, know about it; you may forward the data to me at
miknik@aol.com and I will forward it to them without a paper trail to you. Sometimes the Big Gorilla oversteps the bounds of good and ethical business and this, in my opinion, is one of those times.
Mike Nicholes