Strijdom Park Auto Magic very poor workmanship and service

My VW Polo was insured with King Price insurance and I had to use an Auto Magic panel beater to do the repair work after it was involved in a minor accident in December 2019. The closest branch to me was Strijdom Park Auto Magic and the car was delivered to them for repairs on the 8th of January.

After initially being told it would take 10 days, it took 24 working days before the car was finally "ready" for collection. I went to collect my car on the 12th of February and was very unhappy with the quality of the work done. Before taking it back to them I sent an email stating my complaints and copied King Price. The paint work was very poorly done and the boot and bonnet did not align properly. There was a white dust all over the interior of the car, with marks on the front and back seat along with dirt along the driver’s door panel and dust all over the dashboard.

After the second delivery they took a few more days with the car but yet again the paintwork was shoddy and the boot still didn't close properly. At this point I called King Price and told them I was not willing to take it back to the same branch for a third time. They however did not take my request seriously and the Auto Magic head office assured me the car would be repaired properly and that I would be dealing with the branch manager directly. After the third attempt (and a new branch manager who also agreed the work was not up to standard, yet he still signed it off after the third delivery) I realised they were simply not competent enough to do the work.

I could not face taking the car back to the same branch a 4th time and having to deal with their gross incompetence and false promises. So I decided to sell the car in July as the boot was still not closing properly and I knew it would only get worse over time. The purchaser initially offered me R188 000 for the vehicle based on its year and mileage and a few photos I had taken. When I dropped the car off and they could inspect it properly they dropped the price down to R172 000 - a loss of R16 000 due solely to the poor quality of work done by Strijdom Park Auto Magic.

The buyer said the repair work done made it look like the car had been in a major accident which caused a loss of 25% of the cars value. This was my exact complaint to them in my email sent on the 13th February 2020, that their work was so shoddy it make it look like the car had sustained major damage.

I am as disappointed with King Price as I am with Auto Magic- very poor service delivery from both companies. I have subsequently cancelled my insurance policy with them and will not insure with them again until they change their repair service providers.