I made this point on the m5board thread...

The car was brought to the dealership for "Job A". This was the extent of their authority to hold the car.

Once the accident occured they were 'done'. They should have called the owner, asked what he wanted- they could have proposed a solution, but at that point it is purely the owners call.

Here is an analogy- you tender the car to a valet, you come to pick it up and they say "we crashed it". The say 'we'll fix it' .... you go nuts and demand it back.

Will you be accused of being 'premature' and 'failing to let them work it out'?

A BMW dealer is an independent company no different than a car lot, valet service, etc,etc.

Once the loss occurred (ie the owners car stopped moving) it was out of the dealers hands and into the owners hands. The dealer acting like they've been wronged by the owner, and people accusing the owner of 'not working with them' don't understand this distinction.

IMO

A