Rife's Auto Body - Grandview

Reviews

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  P R
11 months ago
5/16/23 Edit: I ended up going back to Rife's because I found even more issues with the paint and clearcoat that absolutely had to be addressed.There was no fight. They recognized the mistakes and apologized. They got me into a rental car to warranty the work. All of my concerns below were addressed and everything appears to be corrected this time around.2 stars only because the communication was good and the repairs that were done appear to be done well.However, only some of the damage was fixed and the interior of the car wasn't put back together properly. I should have checked the car better upon pick-up but it was dark and I didn't expect issues. Lesson learned.I had damage on the roof that extended to the rear spoiler. Only the roof was fixed, all scratches on the spoiler remain untouched.The interior trim is hanging off in 2 places and one of the clips is damaged in a way that tells me someone just slammed the piece in hoping that it would stay put. One clip is missing altogether.There are handprints all over the headliner.There was an issue with insurance when a supplement was submitted and then repairs completed before it was approved which led to delays. I asked if I could pay the remainder out of pocket since the car was done and it was going on a couple of weeks being in the shop already. They said yes, they'd just have my insurance pay me instead of sending the check to them. Great. But, due to whatever cause, the final payment went to Rife's, not me. So, they were double paid. Fast forward to now (2 months later) and I'm still trying to get my refund. My insurance has been working as well and having a hard time getting the necessary documents from Rife's in order to get the refund back to me. I don't know where main issue is here as I'm dealing with two companies that are essentiall pointing the finger at each other. But, I know getting any kind of answer other than "we'll have to get with corporate" has been hard.Did I bring any of the repairs to the shop's attention? No. Because I don't have any faith it will be done any better the 2nd time around. I can spot fix and buff the spoiler well enough, fix the trim and clean the headliner on my own. It's not worth the hassle of being without my car again.

  Betsy O'Brochta
3 months ago
On August 16, 2023, we had the misfortune of a deer running into us while on Seabrook Island, SC, for our daughter's wedding. Though we called our insurance company that same day, the ensuing debacle was more than a bit trying.When we returned to Columbus, we called our dealer, Joseph's Cadillac, to see if they did bodywork. Sadly, they do not, but instead highly recommended Rife's Auto Body. And that is where things began to take a turn for the worse. Rife's told us they could not provide an estimate for nearly a month. We were also told then that the work would not be scheduled for five weeks. In the meantime, Allstate issued a check for their perceived estimate of the damages based on photos of the vehicle. The estimate between the Allstate photo estimate and the body shop differed by $10,000.00. Rife assured us this was just a beginning conversation and that they would work with Allstate to agree on the cost, but that Allstate was difficult to work with. We were relieved that Rife's estimate listed only 37.5 manual hours needed to complete the job. The 30 days of a rental car in our insurance policy should be enough.It took two months to get our car fixed. Communication between Rife's was poor at best. We initiated the only communication. Several times, we were told that they were" waiting on parts." One time, they forgot to compare notes, and one person said this when another had told us that they were working on quality and in production. For three weeks, we were told that they" hoped to have it done by the end of the week." only to be disappointed each week. All the while, Rife's knew that after thirty days, we were paying for a rental car.The week before the holidays, we again pushed for a completion date. At this time, we were told that the problem was that Allstate was not working with them to resolve the difference and that the car had been finished for two days. We then were told that the company's holiday party was that afternoon and not to expect much help. After much pushing, we did get our car, though the job wasn't completed: a damaged reservoir for the windshield cleaner was not replaced. An estimated 37.5 person-hours in labor resulted in over 350 held hours. We ended up paying an additional $900.00 to Rife's and $1000.00 in rental fees for a no-fault accident. We will never go back and are currently looking for different insurance.

  Tina Childers
3 months ago
Excellent. My Tesla has been hit twice. (Neither time my fault). Rife's has it like new, always completed on time and a very professional efficient staff. Highly Recommend this business!!

  Djordje Colic
3 months ago
BE AWARE of a business concept, PLEASE READ:I chose Rife s Autobody because they were Acura certified. I was not aware of the business concept that Rife s Autobody runs. As Acura certified they are strict about putting OEM parts. I spoke with some other Honda/Acura certified shops and they claimed it was not necessary for certification. On the other side, insurance does not owe OEM parts and wants to go as cheap as possible providing aftermarket parts and even used (example for headlight). In my case we came to a situation of huge discrepancy ($4000) between shop estimate and what insurance wanted to pay. Rife s autobody did not have a problem passing that bill to me calling it co-pay . After my refusal to pay co-pay I had two options:1. To pay storage and disassemble fee and move vehicle to different shop2. Work with both sides and spend countless hours on the phone arguing my case and trying to come to some kind of agreement that would be acceptable to all sides.At this point the vehicle was at least 3 weeks in the body shop and had a huge storage fee, so I decided to go with option 2. I was able to have insurance pay additional money and Rife s autobody came down at a price which was acceptable co-pay to me. I decided not to repair the tire and wheel which was about $1000. In addition to this, insurance sees this long negotiation process as an unnecessary extension of repair and started to deny my rental which required spending more time on the phone to extend. Also one of the parts was on back order since March and Rife s autobody was totally ok to wait. I found the aftermarket part online and had to agree to reduce the repair warranty in order to get the vehicle repaired.Positives: I am sure I was annoying customer, but Josh and Jon (manager) stayed professional in the whole process. Also, from what I can tell the vehicle was repaired with quality. Only issue I have is color blending between the fender and metal frame going towards the roof which might be more visible in the sun.Per insurance, they are not allowed to disclaim Rife s autobody business concept due to non steering law which leaves us customers totally unprotected. One of the adjusters mentioned that Rife s autobody and all Collision right shops have a similar approach and examples like mine are a normal occurrence. Even with quality repair, I am giving the lowest score due to difficulties I had to go through to get the vehicle repaired with minimal cost out of my pocket.

  Andrew
8 months ago
Rife s came highly recommended and lived up to expectations. Conner was very friendly, easy to work with and worked with the insurance company to get my car fixed the right way at no cost to me. Couldn t be happier with my experience.Service: Body & TrimService: Body & Trim

  Angela H
9 months ago
Rife Auto Body in Grandview did a fantastic job on an accident repair of my 2019 Honda. I was very pleased with the results. I went back later for what I thought was a minor error but it was not yet Chuck and John took care of it anyway. Highly recommend Rife Auto Body!Service: Body & TrimService: Body & Trim

  Richard Secor
10 months ago
Fantastic experience. Third time I have used Rife. First and second time they did great work. This time when I picked up the car things also looked great. To my dismay about 24 hours later I noticed a rattle in the tailgate they repaired as well as a ding in the fender that I did not recall having before I dropped it off. At first I was going to let it go, but upon receiving their service feedback survey I noted both issues.Within 5 minutes of submitting the survey I received a call from the general manager telling me to bring it back in and they would address the items.I m confident other shops would have blamed me for the fender ding and may have pleaded ignorance on the rattle - not Rife. They made it right immediately no questions asked. Chuck was a pleasure to deal with as well.Hopefully I don t need it, but any auto body needs in the future we will be coming back.Service: Body & Trim

  Sophia Fisher
8 months ago
Rife's sets the standard for professionalism, quality, and honesty! No one ever wants to end up at the body shop but truly, I couldn't have had a more pleasurable experience with Josh Mink and the entire Rife's Autobody team. The insurer of the person that hit me (I won't name names but it starts with a G- and and ends with -range) was absolutely abominable. While the insurance stalled, ghosted, and gaslit, Rife's business practices demonstrated the exact opposite. Josh and the entire Rife's team communicated frequently and in-detail, and even went out of their way to advocate for me to the insurer (and that's not even their job! Their job is just to fix the car.) I can't recommend them enough. They made sure to get the job done right, to detail and itemize everything, and to explain why each repair item had to be done. I live part-time in Illinois and my experience here was so good that I'd be willing to drive two states across if I ever have to repair my vehicle again. They've made me a repeat customer for life. Thank you!

  Will S
7 months ago
Chuck and the team over at Rife's do great work, and most importantly have great communication. Thank you Chuck, the detailers and the whole Rife's crew for their attentive help with my vehicle!Service: Body & TrimService: Body & Trim

  Mike Meagher
9 months ago
Chuck was fabulous he communicated with us in a timely fashion. Always answered our emails and gave us all the information from the insurance company as we proceeded with the repair of our car. Great service!Service: Body & TrimService: Body & Trim

  Tim O'Neill
a year ago
This is the type of work they do on brand new car, paint run and lots of dirt in the paint. Not to mention leaving tape residue on the vehicle. Maybe it s a one off occurrence, but I d never take a vehicle there.

  Stacy Pollock
a year ago
I appreciated the work that Rife's and Jon (repair process manager who I worked with) put into fixing my car. They worked diligently to communicate with my insurance company to get my car back to me as soon as possible. I was especially thankful for Jon's updates and his honesty with me in getting my car repaired. My car came back repaired and nicely detailed. I would absolutely recommend Rife's and Jon!Service: Body & Trim

  Drew Murray
a year ago
Jon at Rife s was phenomenal to work with on my Tesla repair. He took care of dealing with the headache Progressive insurance caused and got me back in the vehicle sooner than expected.The body repair looks as good as new and I m very happy the results. Highly recommend them for Tesla repairs.Service: Body & Trim

  Will Stechschulte
a year ago
Rife's in Grandview has now become our first choice in collision repair. My wife and I rent out cars, so we've been in and out of Rife's over the last year needing maintenance on our vehicles (mainly with our Tesla. Rife's is one of two places Columbus that is authorized to repair them!!). We've worked mainly with Jon on our car repairs, and he's been great! Sam at the front desk is also fantastic. She's very friendly and does communicate well with us re: status of car repairs, misc. questions we have, etc. If anyone is looking for a reliable, honest, and trust worthy collision repair shop, I 100000% recommend Rifes!!!

  Sym Arquitt
2 years ago
The front desk (Sam) was very nice and helpful the whole time. She was able to schedule me in ASAP and allowed me to bring the car in on an off day.Connor, the one who handled all of my paperwork and repair process, was very communicative and all around great guy!My K5 was repaired decently quick, within a week and a half or two, albeit they had to order more parts that they didn't get from the estimate (which was understandable, Connor let me know as soon as they took it apart to fix). It looks brand freaking new and would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend coming here for top quality work.(Will add pictures in to show the before and after)Service: Body & Trim

  Christopher Price
a year ago
The front end of my bumper was dragging on the ground as I drove. Despite not having an appointment and being booked until the end of April, one of the mechanics at Rife s, repaired the front end of my bumper at a moment s notice. I am sincerely appreciative of the kindness shown to me! Kudos!!!!

  Natalie Farber
a year ago
After keeping my car for 5 weeks, my car was severely damaged by Rife employees. When I went to drive away, it felt like both feet were on the brakes with the emergency brake fully engaged. And when I did manage to pull forward to end of their driveway, I heard loud metal cracking sounds. I drove down Cardigan Road toward Dublin Road and when I braked, it felt like the whole back end was going to fall off. I called Rife body shop to let them know something was very wrong and I was bringing the car right back. A tech came out and insisted on taking it on a ~5 mile test drive with me in the passenger seat while remarking how powerful the turbo felt. I noticed with alarm how the car barely accelerated. When the tech drove it back to the body shop, he insisted nothing was wrong and pulled the E-brake nearly straight up to the ceiling. I remarked that I never knew it could be pulled so high to which the tech said, you have to really yank hard to get it to work. I drove my car home smelling burning metal, hearing my screeching brakes and feeling the back end jump. I made an appointment the next day at my dealership service department which determined the E-brake had been pulled so hard that it caused the rear brakes to stay fully engaged. The repair required replacing rear brakes, pads, rotors, and calipers for over $2,100. Another week for a total of 6 weeks without my car. Oh and Rife Body Shop refuses to pay for the severe damage to my brake system, sneering at me, how do you know we did this, can you prove it, huh huh huh?? My dealership reminded me in late November my car had its regular mileage servicing and rear brake pad thickness was 8 mm excellent btw. I drove ~1300 miles between then and early February Rife body work. Rear brake pads were only 3 mm when I picked it up 5 weeks later, which my service manager told me is abnormal wear. Lastly if you're considering Rife to do your body work because it's certified and owned by a local esteemed family, think again. The Rife family is not dead, as I was told btw. The family sold their body shop business to Collision Right, among the largest body shop corporations in the United States. Do you want to risk having your nice car also severely damaged by a large faceless national corporation ?

  Ryan Powell
a year ago
UPDATE JUNE 7, 2022I ended up doing business with Rife. Based on the fact, the research I did, they did good work and have done many higher dollar cars.They matched my blue metallic paint extremely well and they paint looks great. And while the car was in the shop, they gave me updates in their process.I also appreciate them vacuuming the inside from any sanding debrisUpdating to a 4/5. The timing of their estimate was the only thing holding them back from 5 stars..............................................................I had an estimate scheduled for March 19.Arrived on time, employee (John?) went out and looked and snapped a few pics of my car. Said he would send out the estimate Monday. Great, no big deal.It's now March 29 and no estimate has been given to me. I even called the following week to ask about the estimate. Employee said he sees pictures in the system and would remind estimator. We even verified my email.Definitely wont be doing business here if they cant get potential customers info they seek.

  Kiley Burkhart
2 years ago
Chadd handled multiple claims simultaneously with ease. Sam made for a quick check in and check out process. I was able to use Apple Pay to check out. The repair is perfect and I can't tell that our vehicle was hit. They had never worked on our vehicle (2021 VW ID.4), but that didn't affect the quality of the repair in any way. The amount I paid at pick up was the exact amount I expected, down to the penny. Chadd also kept me up to date every 1-3 business days via email. This was my third repair at Rife's and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again or recommend them to anyone.Services: Painting, Body & Trim, Auto detailing

  Jeffrey Fish
3 years ago
My new car required front end damage repair after I hit a deer on the highway. Rife's is the only certified Audi repair facility in Central Ohio and was also recommended by the salesman who sold me the car. They worked quickly with my insurance company to get the estimate and repair completed quickly. The car looks like new. And Grace kept me updated through the process until completion. I will return if the need ever arises. And I will recommend Rife's to my friends and family.