Cooks Collision

Don’t take your car to this place! They are the worst in customer service from Caroline who answers the phone, to Kevin who handles insurance claims for Mercury Insurance (who by the way no longer recommends people to Cooks) to their Area Manager Doug Marey. who promised to pay for some of my car rental to try to make up for the poor customer service and never did. Called them to repair my car that almost totalled, thought they would want the job since it was at least $ 10k worth of work (ended up being $ 15k), Kevin had all the info to have my car towed to Cook’s and then doesnt return my calls for a week and will not talk to me. Caroline then takes over and cant give me an answer to what happened with Kevin but I find out my car was never picked up and was still sitting in the tow yard and over a week has gone by. Then she argues with my claims adjuster about who will tow the car to them. By the time it was straightened out (days later), I decided they were shady and not getting my business. I called ALL CAR AUTO PAINTING AND BODY IN SAN MATEO and Larry (manager) had my car towed the same day I talked to him. So happy with the service I got from ALL CAR AUTO.

These guys are fantastic. Very easy to do business with. My 2015 VW bug was side-​swiped and it looks brand new. Talk with Luis. They’re really awesome if you’re looking for an auto body shop

I want to thank Kevin Rowe and his team at Cook’s Collision for safely returning my baby to me! She is beautiful! I went to Cook’s after being recommended by my insurance to get an appraisal on the damage of my Miata after hitting a hitch and the whole process has been so easy. Got the appraisal a day or two after the face to face (which did not take long), then was ready to drop off my car with them. Dropped it off Monday at 9:30am and got a call Wednesday around 3pm letting me know she was all set! The whole drop off/​pickup/​waiting period was simple. Friendly staff, great work, I am a happy camper. Thanks Cook’s, she looks new!

I was tired and in a rush to get home after work. I stopped at Whole Foods on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco and tried to squeeze my way in to their tight parking space in their underground parking lot. Luckily I was driving in slow BUT I rubbed my car door and wheel well against the parking lot beam which left YELLOW paint on my brand new white car! I read some reviews about Cooks Collision as well as heard some good feedback from friends about this body shop so I decided to drive over on my lunch break. Another body shop quoted me over $ 800.00 to remove the paint from my car! When I got to Cooks Collision a very professional, knowledgable gentleman by the name of Luis and another employee by the name of Mike looked at my car and explained that there really was minimal damage and that the paint could easily be removed with no damage to my paint! They removed the yellow paint within 5 minutes and at NO CHARGE!!! I can’t say enough about this Body Shop and their excellent customer service!
I will definitely continue to bring them business!

I’ve had three positive encounters with Cooks over the past few years, two through insurance and one on my own. In each case, I was impressed with the high quality of communication regarding the repairs needed for my car and the time it would take to perform those repairs. Each aspect of the work was explained clearly to me, and when one of the repairs took longer than expected, I was notified promptly and the reason was satisfactory. In each case, my car looked like new after the repairs! Carolyn, the receptionist, is friendly and helpful. Luis (and others) did a great job with my car. I chose Cooks because my insurance company recommended it; after these experiences, I have recommended Cooks to others who need body work. Hope I never need it again, but if I do, I know where to go!

Lou and Caroline really took care of me and my Mazda3! My poor car was damaged by a valet so it was great working with the cooks collision team because they made everything so easy during the process of getting it fixed. It was easy to make an appointment, they fixed the car fast and kept me informed along the way. They even deep cleaned my headlights after they washed it! Overall, very highly recommend!

On Aug 4 2015 I picked up my car from this body shop because this is my insurance’s (farmers) direct shop. Now I am not with the insurance company anymore and would never return to this body shop.
The persons in Cooks Collision Redwood city main street did not even mention to show me my vehicle before I sign the documents and pay.
After I signed all the paperwork and paid them, I was then shown where my car is.
Both the person and I found that the left mirror is broken. The person apologized to me and promised to fix it on Aug 7 2015. This is not resolved even at now, Nov 12 2015.
The communications between me and Cooks Collision:
On Aug 7 I called them, they told me to wait until Aug 10. Then I was told to wait until Aug 12 when I approach cooks collision on Aug 10. Then I was told to wait until Aug 14 when I called them on Aug 12. Then I was told «some time next week» when reached out them on Aug 14, on which day I actually went to the body shop since they were not reachable by phone. They refused to give me any confirmation number to track.
I am tired about all of this and do not want to contact or go to the Cooks Collision any more.
Update:
In Sept. 2015 I found that the front lights are not located and installed properly, as there are gaps between lights and the cover.
In Dec. 2015 I found that the filter left in.

This body shop and the account handler, Lou, is the most non-​responsive business I’ve encountered. He did not follow up for a month after I sent my car for estimate. I had to keep calling to get to talk to him and he said «do me a big favor to call the insurance company for the assignment number», which should be his job. After he received the number, he essentially can not be contacted again.

Cooks collision is the place to get all your dents, bumps to your vehicles.. All the staff are great, especially Luiz, the appraiser. Luiz has complete knowledge and understanding to process you quickly and throughly. He also, has the best customer service. Cooks used modern technology keeping you updated on all the repairs. For me, Cooks Collision is the only place to have your vehicle repaired. We are so happy with the work Cooks Collision did on our Chevy Silverado!

A large part of my car flew off at 70 miles an hour AFTER Cooks had «fixed» it! Don’t let them near your car.
I’m writing this review about two months after the shop repaired some front end damage to my car. Cosmetically, the car appeared to be fine, but last week, I started to hear a funny noise while driving on the freeway. Before I could pull over to investegage, I felt a «thump» and saw a large black object flying high in my rearview mirror! Fortunately, the car behind me was able swerve to avoid being hit. When i was able to safely pull over and look, the passenger side internal front fender was missing & clearly was the what I had seen flying off. Another body shop looked at the car, and found that $ 10 worth of clips were missing from the same part on the driver’s side, so it isn’t hard to see how the part worked loose and flew off.
I seriously doubt Cooks will ever repay the $ 520 to fix their defective work, but my insurance company reviewed the records, agrees it is Cooks fault and is helping me try to get it covered.
If you are still thinking about taking your car here, it is also worth mentioning the actual experience during the repair wasn’t stellar either — poor communication and long delays during the repair. Delays understandably happened, but the complete radio silence coming from the body shop when they were 5 days behind on a 4 day repair was frustrating to say the least.
Find another body shop.

I was referred to Cooks through my insurance company. I took the car down to get an estimate, and met with Lou. 10 days and 3 unreturned voicemails later — I’m still waiting for the estimate… so I’m going back to my insurance company to get an alternative referral. This is not the way to run a service business

My car looks great, but more importantly the staff is wonderful. This is going to be my new shop!

I had my car fixed here. It has been a great experience. Lou, the customer service manager, has been very helpful. He regularly followed up to update on the status of the car. I recommend this place mainly for Lou’s service

My insurance agent referred me to Cook’s, and I’m glad they did. The process was pretty seamless with easy paperwork and no issues between Cook’s and the at-​fault party’s insurance. Luis was professional and courteous and the shop itself seemed clean, well-​equipped, and well-​staffed as far as I could tell.
From the collision, my passenger side door could not quite open. They were nice enough to fix that really quickly on the spot so that I could at least use my car in its full capacity while we waited for parts to arrive from Ford and until my actual drop-​off date. Now, my car looks like it was never hit. Nice!
Also, if you can’t get a ride either to pick up your car or to get somewhere after dropping it off, they are walking distance from Redwood City CalTrain and the bus stop at El Camino Real and Cedar Street. The shop also offer rides or help getting a rental car.

VERY RUDE. I called today to schedule an appointment to get my door handles fixed. I asked the woman to speak with the technician to see if they will be able to install them. The woman could not be bothered to go check. I repeatedly had to tell her to please go ask because I’m not going to come in and waste my time if they are unable to install them. She finally went to ask and came back on the phone with severe attitude problems. She wouldn’t let me talk to explain the problem and said they would have to take the door panel off and blahblahblah. I kept telling her «can you please let me talk?» Are you going to let me talk?“
I finally hung up because she wouldn’t let me explain that they are fully functioning, just chipped. Very rude service and extremely unprofessional. I took my service to General Tire in Redwood city which is amazing!

Came in to get an estimate for my 2014 Honda Accord I was running late about 1hr late to be exact and I still was accommodated with my car. To make matters worse my car was so dirty that it was a little bit hard to take the photos of the damage so the guy that was helping me I believe his name was Luis took the car to the back of shop and Washed it :-) the staff there made my experience very fun and for the time being made me forget about the damage to my car estimate done and a week later my car was fixed. Overall I had a great experience and would totally recommend bringing your car to get fixed here they went above and beyond with their customer service!!!
Cooks Staff Rocks!!!

The folks at Cooks bent over backwards to help me get my BMW M6 on its way to being fixed. I was on a very tight timeline and needed to get an estimate done very quickly so I could drive home. Ken immediately understood my issues and did everything he could to get me the information I needed to get my car back on the road even though he knew his shop would not get my business. I would not hesitate to recommend this shop to anyone. These folks really want to help and want to make sure that you are happy.

All I can say is DITTO to the other posts. Our car was hit, insurance recommended this place among others, we chose here due to it is close by. WRONG answer. This is supposed to be a Star Certified repair shop. Now I am wondering what does that exactly mean!!!
Car has been there a week with me calling 3 times due to they have not called me back when they said they would and followed through with nothing. I called them back today to let them know that a tow truck will be coming by to pick up my car because it is going to another shop and the front office was ANGRY! Thank you!!! You have just confirmed with me that this was the right decision!!!

I called Cooks collision and was told to drop in since Luis didn’t have any appointments scheduled between 4:30 and 6pm. I arrived before 5pm and although Luis wasn’t with a customer he chose to sit at his desk and do paperwork rather than look at my car. This was so disappointing considering that in spite of all the bad reviews indicating that customers are having items stolen from their cars and are receiving poor customer service I decided to give Cooks a try anyway. Hopefully there is a manager reading these reviews who cares enough to fix the problems there.

Great quality of work, they really go above and beyond what is necessary and have amazing workmanship. As I am an assistant, and worked with them on behalf of my boss for her daughter’s car repairs their rating was dropped to a 3 strictly because of their level of communication.
Prompt responsiveness from the front desk receptionist, but for specific follow-​up you need your file manager or what sounds like the general manager. That’s where the delays and complete lack of communication came in.
So 5 stars for quality and workmanship, which I think is the most significant aspect when it comes to auto repair. But brought down to 3 stars overall exclusively for their communication and follow-​up.
Although a tree fell on my own car, I need more responsiveness because I can’t afford to wait it out. So I will be taking my business elsewhere for my own repair. Communication is so valuable.