It’s important to remember when going to your insurance companies direct repair shop (DRP) or their “recommended shop” you are not their customer. As much as you’d like to think that the DRP shop cares about you or your family or your car, they don’t. They care about saving money and they care about keeping their own jobs and a lot of times what happens is; they end up working out deals with the body shops that they send you to and they’re not fixing the car back to the way that it was before the accident, factory perfect.
You should find a local body shop run by someone you trust and contact them first, they will make sure the insurance company doesn’t cut corners. They are also more likely to help with your deductible and find repairs DRP shops will ignore. After you have been in an accident make sure to do one thing! Call your local Body Shop First, let them handle the claim and make sure your treated with care.