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Car damaged at resort; owner wants repairs covered

More 3 On Your Side Reports

05:46 PM Mountain Standard Time on Monday, March 3, 2008

By Gary Harper / 3 On Your Side

SCOTTSDALE -- A Scottsdale woman says a Valley resort wrecked her BMW and then shortchanged her when it came to repairing the car.

The Boulders Resort in Carefree is a pretty swanky place that is known for its luxury, golf and pampering, but a Scottsdale woman claims the resort did everything but pamper her even after wrecking her car.

Bacheller sometimes uses the Golden Door Spa at the Boulders Resort.

"They are a beautiful facility," Gina Bacheller said. "They are a great resort."

The luxury resort was the very place she wanted an out-of-town friend to stay and even loaned that friend her BMW to drive to the resort.

But Bacheller says using valet parking at the Boulders was a huge mistake.

Why? Bacheller says when the valet attendant parked the car, it was fine. But when it came time to pick it up, well, instead of driving the BMW to the front, the valet attendant took Bacheller's friend to the car, which wasn't drivable.

"When my friend got to the car, the bumper was three quarters of the way off the front of my car," Bacheller said.

She says the Boulders wouldn't say exactly how her BMW wound up that way, but they did give her some advice and told her to have her insurance company take care of the damage.

She told them absolutely not.

"I was not going to have a claim against my name when I wasn't even driving the car," Bacheller said.

Next, Bacheller says the Boulders had a new solution.

"He said, 'I need for you to get three estimates,'" Bacheller said. "I said, 'I need to explain something to you. I'm not going to drive this car to three different repair places. That's going to take me three days.'"

Bacheller wound up taking her wrecked car to a certified BMW repair shop in Scottsdale and, according to their estimate, it was going to cost a little more than $2,500 to fix her Beemer.

Bacheller says she gave the Boulders the estimate.

"They're disputing how much damage was done to the car and the cost to repair it," she said. "That's what their dispute is."

After a month of being without a car and without any idea what the Boulders was going to do, Bacheller contacted 3 On Your Side at which time she says the Boulders turned the matter over to their insurance company.

Their solution? Giving Bacheller a check for around $1,500 -- almost a thousand dollars under her repair shop's estimate.

"I shouldn't have to pay a thousand dollars," Bacheller said. "I feel I shouldn't have to wait 30 days to get my car back. I'm frustrated. I'm very upset."

The Boulders wouldn't sit down with 3 On Your Side, but in statement said, "The issue has been resolved ... and is now closed."

Bacheller says she couldn't disagree more and wishes the Boulders Resort would pay for all the damage she says they caused.

"They are saying, 'Yes, we caused the damage,'" Bacheller said. "They're saying they didn't cause as extensive damage as there is."

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