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Gilman Collision Repair
Rating Details »
Categories: Body Shops, Auto Repair, Auto Glass Services
1348 7th St(between Camelia St & Gilman St)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 528-5940
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
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12 reviews for Gilman Collision Repair
Craig and his team are superb!
My Brand New Escape Hybrid and I were hit during a rain storm by a guy who ran a red light. I was devastated when it happened because I was loving my new car so much.
I found Gilman Collision Repair and called and talked to Craig to explain what happened. He picked me up, and we had my vehicle towed to his repair shop.
He was so nice and explained everything in such great detail and he also dealt with the insurance companies, so I didn't have to stress out with the insurance people!
The repair work was done in less time than he had predicted it to take, and she looked better than new!
I have recommended him to friends, and will continue to do so as well. There are some key things that must be said about Gilman Collision Repair:
**Very courteous and professional
**Very knowledgeable
**Very clean repair shop
**Nicely done job on my vehicle
If you ever get in a fender bender, take your vehicle to Craig, and he'll get you looking as good or better than new!
Professional from ingress to egress. My insurance company was handled, they assisted with getting the rental, they spotted additional issues and dealt with Insurance Co. Car was returned looking great and wow, they even vacuumed the inside. Friendly and professional team. They work hard for your money and I will refer my friends. The Queen of Boogie Woogie says "Go".
I cannot say enough good things about Craig and the way he runs his business. He went to bat with the insurer for me, supporting my belief the car should be totaled, even though this approach cost him a $15,000 repair job. Throughout the process, Craig and his staff were responsive, friendly, and absolutely 100% professional. His shop is cleaner than most restaurants. A class act all the way. I recommend without hesitation.
Craig Gaignard is a fine example to others in the auto-body business.
He is honest, hardworking, and does his best to make sure that your car is taken care of right the first time.
His shop is immaculate too! You could eat of the floor!
I wouldn't take my car anyplace else for auto body repairs~
Gilman Collision Repair offers craftsmanship and service at its best. They are professional, meticulous, precise and deliver great results right on schedule. Craig and his team offered great customer service and made my car look like new. All their repairs are covered by a lifetime warranty, which is very reassuring. Overall this place is an example of how every business in this country should be run.
If I ever need anything else done on my car, I will definitely return.
Time slows down. All I can see if the panicked face of the lady driving the car that is scraping my A4's whole left side. She is looking for the break, but doesn't seem to find it.
End result: Front fender and bumper damage. small metal tear in driver's door, complete wheel misalignment and a nice scrape spanning pretty much from the front wheel to the left passenger door.
Insurance information was traded and I called my regular mechanic Eddie Delgado in Berkeley for a body shop recommendation. Without hesitation he tells me to take it to Gilman Collision and talk to Craig. eSurance had no problem with that so I agreed.
Great service from Craig. Nicest body shop owner I have met. He arranged the tow truck pick up from my place and called me back to let me know about the damage and how it would be repaired.
He took a little bit longer than he estimated in the beginning, but communication was good at all times. The car wasn't done before a trip I had to take, but he stored it during the duration of my trip with no extra charges. When I came back, their nice office manager picked me up from my office to their shop to pick up my car.
The work they do is very good. Shop is super clean and organized with lots of nice cars getting body work done. Only complaint I had is some left over lacqer or polisher left on the door frame, which he removed afterwards for the most part.
My car looks better on the side he worked on than on the other side. Excellent paint matching for a metallic silver color and the metal work on the door is perfect. No gaps or misalignments between replaced parts, everything looks the way it should.
There is so much one can say about the overall excellence of this company...so much that I decided to join Yelp just so I can share the most positive encounters I have had with GILMAN COLLISION REPAIR. I will break this down as much as I can to give you the full on experience that I have received TWICE from them...
The first time I went in there was last year when my 2004 Honda Accord Coupe got hit and became damaged all along the passenger door and along the front bumper. When this happened, I was absolutely devastated! My car, Cherry is what I call her, is like my baby. I put a lot of time and care into keeping her condition to the utmost best I can. So when it came down to me finding a place that I could trust and feel secure about having Cherry repaired by...it was no easy task. I had no idea where to begin. My uncle was the one that referred me to Gilman Collision by work they had done for him which he was extremely pleased with. Needless to say, I went down there and met with Craig Gaignard, whom is a man of his word and an absolute saint. He is the only boss that could ever sympathize with how bad I just wanted my car to be back to normal. All in all, I felt utterly comfortable and trustworthy of his communication with me and also the shop was kept very neat and clean inside as well. I felt very confident the day I left Cherry in the hands of these professionals. The staff even took me to work and dropped my car off there as well. When I saw the end result...I was more pleased than you could imagine. A seamless job well done! It was like I just got my car brand new again. I would never take my business elsewhere after having the job done right and done immaculately. I could do nothing but smile =) and be happy to see my car back in action again.
I recently just had my second encounter with them a couple days ago to get my entire car buffed and polished...and again NOTHING BUT THE BEST FROM GILMAN COLLISION REPAIR! Craig always seems to know exactly what I am expecting and gives me the results I hope for. I even got picked up by Tina, Craig's secretary, and she was extremely chill and was accompanied by some of the best conversation you could possibly have in a ten minute drive. Not one thing negative you can possibly say about this establishment which succeeds in perfection and satisfaction.
What do you do when your beloved car is bumped into by some impatient driver who forgot they made cars with breaks and however small the dent is, you weep and cry and go downstairs and look at your car again and again and weep a little more. Then you go collecting estimates from different repair shops and haggle with the person who bumped into you and in your search you stumble upon this marvel of customer service repair shop, not to say they come recommended by parts and accessories suppliers whom I trust more than the scurplous dealers who sent me to this shop with a fancy office and their repair technician could do with some serious training. Not with these guys, I got the pleasure of interacting with Andres, he is the deputy or the "2nd in command" as he was introduced to me and thats the impression you want to give when you get the customer in first time. Someone who knows what they are talking about, someone experienced with the model of your car and they might not work on it themselves but its about the responsibility and ownership of the work, you feel a lot safer when you get to know that your babe is in trustworthy hands. Plus when they take care of all the issues of dealing with the insurance company once you give them the claim number, you get peace of mind.
So you comeback to pick up your car, you look around, you see they gracefully accomodated your requests, more than what you had expected (so they are already above expectation to put in corporated performance appraisal jargon), you walk around appreciating your beloved, the dent is gone, her smile is restored, she does have a splotch of that lipstick in front, a drip of the paint that dried up before somebody could level it, slight sadness in your eyes, so you look at Andres and he says comeback anytime and we will get you out in about 1 hour. Ah well, so all this and another trip, hmm, probably 4 stars. So you go back again (after a full check up from Mercedes Benz who say the repair is as good as factory fitted) to get that drip leveled. You also mention how the benz people did a service and just the next day the right break lamp went out and Andres says they will have a look.
After sweating whole day that what would they charge for looking at that breaklight and thinking the benz folks might have just charged the lamp cost since they just did a service, you nervously go back in the evening, the drip is off, the break lamp has been replaced, the car a bit dirty from the dust, but is ready with a coupon to a hand-wash location and the cost......hmm, nothing ! Yeah, you heard it right, no cost to change the lamp, not even charging for the bulb, WOW ! Now thats for customer service, bumped up back to 5 stars. After a little bit of delightful dance around my babe, we head back home, and you, well you know what you expect if you come to this auto bodyshop :) !
Gillman collision is a top notch business. I once owned such a business so I know the real thing when I see it. Craig the owner has invested in the best of equipment. His painting is as good as it gets. He is a down to earth business person and quite flexible in his dealings with people. Craig is an old fashioned business person you can trust. He is old fashioned in the sense he loves cars, loves doing the best work possible and he genuinly likes his customers and goes out of his way to help them
I work right across the street from these guys.
I came in the other day to get zoe's windshield replaced, and they not only did that but gave her a free car wash too.
"do you take checks?" i asked when i went to pick her up.
"we will take yours, since you're a neighbor. if the check bounces we'll just find your car and put a clamp on the wheel."
fair enough.
Just an update... they finally fixed my car and did a great job at it! They work extremely well with Progressive Insurance and were friendly the whole time. Just make sure they are open the day you bring the stuff in :-).
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/2/2007 First to Review
A nice individual with a UHaul decided to slam into my little parked Honda so I needed to get the… Read more »
These guys are really knowledgeable and really take care of you. You hope for this level of work, but to also come back to a washed car?! The facility is also clean and cool-looking (half a new-style VW bug hanging on the wall). Nice job.
