Insurance Company Collision Guaranty? Steering issues?

Has any vehicle owner reading this forum ever been aided by a guaranty from the insurer on your collision claim? Did you find that a company that had agents were able to be of more help in resolving your repair issues? Did you find that you recieved more attention to your issues from a company that only sold their insurance online or from one that sold from local agents? What were you instructed to do when you complained about your repair to the insurance company? Did they offer to let you take the problem to a different shop or did they just simply tell you that you must take it to the original shop that made the original poor repair? Did you feel like you had no choice and the insurer insisted that you must use their preferred shop? Do you regret letting your insurance company select your repair shop or regret that you did not assert your preferred selection of a shop? What did the insurer or person on the 800 claim reporting number tell you when you said you already had a shop? When you informed the insurer that you already have a shop to do your repairs or that you had made a choice, were you talked out of it or told that they: 1. Could not work with that shop 2. That shop was not on their preferred list 3. If you choose that shop, we may not be able to get an adjuster out for a week or longer 4. We have had problems with that shop 5. We can not guaranty that shops work 6. If they charge more than we estimate, we MAY not pay more and you MAY be responsible for additional expenses 7. That shop takes to long on repairs 8. Your shop will have to pay for rental expenses if the repair takes to long. 9. We have had complaints on that shop. 10. That shop will not work from our estimates. 11. We can't trust that shop's quality 12. That shop has no Icar qualified technician with certificates 13. That shop does not have some equipment that we require. 14. Our guaranty only applies if you select one of our shops. 15. Anything not mentioned above If you answered yes to any of these statements, you have been a victim of steering. Insurers use this technique to get you to use a shop of their preference. Some insurers will say, we simply trust these shops. Many of these shops offer discounts on parts and labor back to the insurer; why would the insurer receive a discount on your repair? Many of these shops are required to use a certain percentage of used and cheaper imitation parts to remain on the insurer preferred list. Have you had problem that continued with the vehicle and taken it back to the insurer's preferred shop and have been told, we are finished with the work, the problem is in the loose nut behind the wheel? When you went back to the insurer did they help with their guaranty or did they simply tell you that you chose that shop from their list, they are not responsible? Did anyone have to go to an attorney or different shop to find the problem before the insurer would admit it should have been repaired? This one is a stretch but did anyone have any success filing a complaint to your department of insurance to force the insurer to allow you make the insurer pay for repairs at another shop to correct a deficient repair at the insurer preferred shop?