HOUSTON – The City Council will soon consider new auto repair industry regulations amid complaints that some body shops are taking consumers for a ride.
The changes would be aimed at increasing transparency within the industry, said Lt. Wendy Bainbridge with the Houston Police Department.
The city is drafting an ordinance that would – among other things – require better record-keeping at body shops, cap repair work without consent at $100 and mandate a written estimate of any special fees.
Industry representatives applaud some of the proposed rules but say others bog down reputable businesses, slowing their ability to serve customers quickly.
"We do think there’s a lot of good things in there, said James Brown, the president of the Houston Auto Body Association. "But there are a lot of things that still need some work. There’s a lot of things in there that give the insurance companies the same authority as the consumer—the owner of the vehicle—which we would like to see taken out."
The ordinance comes after at least one Houston City Council member said she received plenty of complaints about body work done without customers’ consent.
"They’d charge (customers) for the estimate. Sometimes up to $1,000. And if you wanted to get your car out, you had to pay the $1,000. We thought that wasn’t fair," Council Member Sue Lovell said.
The proposed ordinance also has the support of one of the most influential towing companies in Houston.
Jeanette Rash manages Houston’s Safe Clear program, which removes cars from freeways after accidents.
"Whenever someone has an accident, they’re really like a fish out of water," Rash said, adding that the towing and vehicle storage industries are heavily regulated while body shops are not.
Still, while tow-truck drivers aren’t allowed to actively solicit business for body shops at crash scenes, they can recommend some—if customers ask.
"The problem is, some shops pay the tow operators to bring them to them, and then they’re turning around and putting it on your bill, which is not proper," Rash said.
Rash runs her own towing company, Fast Tow. She admits that her drivers are sometimes paid a commission for referring drivers to certain body shops after a collision. She calls it a "business relationship."
She says that's not illegal or unethical, as long as that cost is not passed along to the consumer without their knowledge. That's partly why she supports the proposed regulations -- because they would make the whole process more transparent while protecting consumers, she says.
The ordinance is expected to come up for a council vote within the next few weeks.
