I can’t win with this customer
Customer drove their Toyota through standing water (or left it parked in it) and the water got to just under halfway up the doors. The first phone call I got from the husband after it was towed in was asking me to make sure the truck was totaled. Once insurance decided to repair it instead, he asked how high the water would’ve had to be for it to be considered a total loss. The crazy part is the engine was completely fine.
Insurance approved drying and cleaning the interior but denied replacing the carpet, and that became a huge battle. The customer says she has a child with health issues who can’t be around mold, so she’s demanding a new carpet even though the carpet itself is spotless. We cleaned and sanitized everything, but now she’s claiming the cleaning residue on the sound deadening is mold. Insurance still won’t approve replacing the carpet, and she refuses to pay for it herself.
Insurance did approve replacing two small support brackets that had surface oxidation, but they’re on third-party backorder with no ETA, so we literally can’t put the truck back together until they arrive.
While it’s been waiting, she’s come back and is now pointing out every bit of surface oxidation on uncoated metal under the carpet and saying we’re causing the truck to rust because it’s apart. The areas she’s pointed out weren’t even in the water. The insurance adjuster looked at them too and agreed it was normal surface oxidation.
I’ve explained that Toyota doesn’t stock every single bracket, especially parts that almost never get replaced, but she keeps telling me, “You’re Toyota, figure it out.” She even told me she has “friends at Toyota” who said the part is available. I explained the parts are already ordered and are on third-party backorder with no ETA. There isn’t another warehouse I can magically pull them from.
She also questions Toyota’s quality because uncoated metal has surface oxidation. She fired me as her advisor, asked for my manager, then wanted to know who was above him. She’s threatened to sue the insurance company and the dealership because she doesn’t like the answers she’s getting.
So now I’m stuck in a situation where she refuses to take the truck back if there’s any surface oxidation, but neither she nor the insurance company will approve or pay to replace those parts.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this? I genuinely don’t know what else I could’ve done differently.
UPDATE:
INSURANCE ADJUSTER CALLED ME TODAY AND LET ME KNOW THAT THEY ARE TOTALLING IT!