Southwestern Edition
Texas Oklahoma Louisiana New Mexico
32
YEARS
www.autobodynews.com ww ww.autobodynews.com
Louisiana Shop Owner Uses Twitter to Survey Other Shops in Real Time, Insurers Not Happy by Ed Attanasio
A Louisiana body shop owner saw his daughter using Twitter to survey her friends on an important social matter, and a light bulb went off in his head. He was fuming about repeatedly having to wrestle with insurance companies over what they will and won’t pay for. But, rather than getting mad, he’s now using the social media site to query other shops about what is and isn’t being paid for elsewhere. Abel Cantrelle, 49, is the owner of Advantage Collision Center in Houma, See Twitter Evens the Odds, Page 4
Abel Cantrelle saw his 14-year-old daughter Ashley tweeting one day and came up with the idea of using Twitter to survey other shops on repair compensation in real time
North Texas Student Says Two Mobile Dent Repair Businesses Took Him for a Ride
See North Texas Student, Page 12
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
When cameras from the NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit started rolling, two so-called repairmen went running, according to Deanna Dewberry, of the NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit. A North Texas student told the news team that after his bad experiences with two different mobile dent repair businesses he wanted to warn others to steer clear of drive-up, fix-it auto repairmen whose promises and prices seem too good to be true. Joshua Bissonette is a cashstrapped college student trying to fin-
ish up school after serving in the U.S. Army. With his car in need of repair, Bissonette turned to Craigslist and found an ad for “mobile auto body” repair men who fix dents and damage at a person’s “work or home” for “less than a traditional” body shop. He decided to give them a try. “They got to work right away,” said Bissonette. “They started prying the dent out. It seemed like they knew what they were doing.” But he soon learned otherwise. “The dents look gone, but it doesn’t look good,” he said. Bissonette said they didn’t finish the job either.
Change Service Requested
Driver claims mobile dent repair businesses did $3,700 in damage
VOL. 32 ISSUE 4 APRIL 2014
LaCIA Meets to Talk Progress and Future Plans by Chasidy Sisk
The newly-formed Louisiana Collision Industry Association (LaCIA) has been busy setting up their organization and is working toward their goals. They held a meeting on January 21 to discuss their progress thus far as well as their future plans. Over 180 people attended this meeting, which Derek Stubbs, Vice Chairman of LaCIA, attributes to the fact that “we are all here because we care about this business, and we care about what happens to it.” Chairman Lynn Lejeune called the meeting to order, welcomed attendees and led a prayer before the association’s general counsel Lance Kinchen, of Breazeale, Sachse and Wilson LLP, read the anti-trust statement. Next, Executive Director Alysia
Hanks touched base on a few things like the upcoming Southern Automotive Repair Conference in Biloxi and
LaCIA Chairman Lynn Lejeune speaks to the group
told the group what she hopes to accomplish with the association. Each member of the association’s Board of Directors then provided some background on their experiences See LaCIA Meeting, Page 8
Maryland Parts Bill Gets Unfavorable Vote in Cmte In a vote in the MD House Economic Matters committee on March 14, Maryland House Bill 574 (HB574), sponsored by Delegate John A. Olszewski, Jr., received an unfavorable report out of the committee. Introduced in January, HB574 and its companion, Senate Bill 487, sponsored by Senator John C. Astle, sought to prohibit insurance company personnel from specifying a specific vendor for parts or materials or part procurement process, and would have required OEM crash parts for a period of three years after the date of manufacture of a vehicle. In a 16 to 7 vote on March 14, the MD House Economic Matters committee voted for an unfavorable report on HB574. In Maryland, committees report to the legislature on the bills that are assigned to them as favorable, with or without amendment, unfavorable, or without recommendation. Having been voted out of committee, the bill now returns to the floor of its chamber of origin accompanied by a
report of committee action for consideration. No action has yet been taken on SB487. The bills provided common ground for insurers and non-OEM parts suppliers to join in opposition. Several insurance and aftermarket parts groups testified in opposition to the bill. Repair facility operators that support the legislation believe it protects consumers and preserves a repair facilities ability to manage its operations. The Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association, WMABA, supports the proposed legislation believing it necessary to protect the rights of repair facilities to operate their business independently and protect consumers. The Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA) publicly denounced the legislation prohibiting insurers from requiring the use of alternative collision parts on vehicles less than five years old. “Senate Bill 487 will severely See Maryland Parts Bill, Page 26
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244