Mississippi body shop owner John Mosley and attorney John Eaves Jr. recently wrapped up their nine-state tour of the U.S. educating collision repairers on fighting mandated parts procurement programs, with Mosley calling it a success overall.
“Now that so many have had a taste of parts procurement, these shop owners are waking up in large numbers. The momentum is building quickly,” said Mosley. “The last week has been amazing. The shop owners understand, and the cream is rising to the top in every state. Guys like Burl Richards with Burl’s Collision in Texas, Matt and Brandon Parker with Parker Auto Body in Louisiana, Tim Waldren in Nevada and Jeff Butler in Washingtion are at the top of a long list of collision shop owners who have stepped up and took the torch in their areas to show others the way to success.”
Due to inclement weather conditions, the duo’s arrival in Texas was delayed. But according to Mosley, not one single shop owner left the meeting before the pair could get there.
“The guys lined up to give John Eaves their paperwork and thank him for his dedication to helping shop owners take their businesses back while protecting consumers and taking care of the technicians who have literally been stolen from for years,” he said.
Mosley said what was even more amazing than the Texas repairers waiting patiently for he and Eaves to arrive was the looks on attorneys’ faces when they heard what their case against insurers is based on.
“When they hear the basic rule of law in this case explained, they’re amazed,” he says. “It is such a simple, basic rule of law, and yet the attorneys realize they, too, have been duped by the insurance industry to a great extent. The unjust enrichment is a pillar of law that our society could not exist without as we know it. It merely means if you provide services or goods for another, the entity or person responsible for paying for the same is required to pay. If they don’t, they have unjustly enriched their wealth at your expense. The courts won’t tolerate this.
“All this time, the attorneys have been hung up on the rule of law governing contracts, which they say don’t exist between body shops and insurance companies. Even the DRP shops find they have no contract with the insurance company. They have an agreement. What value is the agreement to a shop other than the fact you don’t feel like the customer will be steered away from your shop?”
Mosley admits that it was discouraging to hear repairers complain about the injustices done to them, only to express fear of doing anything to fight them. But he hopes his message will get across to those willing to take a stand.
“When I first went on the road with John Arthur Eaves Jr. to help educate the industry and inform them of the effort to change the direction this industry was taking, it was sad to hear the shop owners airing their complaints about parts procurement, unpaid procedures, suppressed labor rates, partial payment on materials and the other problems we now face, only to have them end the conversation by saying, ‘I am scared to not stay with the program.’ Our message is clear: You can no longer run your business by fear. You must analyze your situation and make a decision based on good business principles. If you are too weak to do this, you should plan your exit strategy so you can at least go out of business in an orderly fashion.
“Those of us who have taken the duty to preserve and advance this industry free of the strong arm of the insurance industry are doing so at our own expense with no expectation other than the satisfaction of seeing the leaders in every state take a stand to not only help their own businesses, but to offer help to all the shops in their community. On May 25, 2012, I wrote a letter to George Avery, telling him that the effect of PartsTrader would be to unite our industry. This is happening every day. There will be a day in the near future when PartsTrader will be declared a failure. Certainly, they will polish the message so it appears to be something less than the incredulously bad idea someone at State Farm decided to force on the collision repair industry, but nonetheless, we will know it is a failure.
“What will remain will be a much stronger, more educated collision repair industry. We will succeed in taking our businesses back. We will have associations in place to safeguard our industry and the consumer to prevent this abuse in the future. Our future will be dictated by the merits provided by a true system of free enterprise, on where competition, quality and good consumerism will determine our success. I am proud to claim our shop as being prepared to succeed.”
More information:
Contact John Mosley at (601) 506-0845.
