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High Point woman hits deer, repair shop slow to get SUV fixed until News 2 investigates

Rhonda Wilson-Henry likes deer, just not when they jump in front of her SUV at night. That issue only grew when there were delays in the repairs.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Rhonda Wilson-Henry is one of those always busy kinds of people. The real estate agent juggles multiple clients and listings all while raising three kids.

“It can be a lot at times,” Wilson-Henry said.

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Her days are often spent in her car, out in the field, going from house to house. One day, she was waiting at a red light when she saw an SUV drive past her. Wison-Henry was immediately enamored with the SUV and followed it once her light turned green.

“I wanted to know what it was,” Wilson-Henry said.  

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She eventually caught up and discovered it was a KIA Telluride. A short time later, Wilson-Henry was at a dealership buying a Telluride for herself.

“Oh, my gosh, I wasn’t planning to buy a car,” Wilson- Henry said. “Obsessed, got to have it.”

Wilson-Henry bought it a couple of days later. The Telluride is perfect for her lifestyle. Big enough to haul around her three kids and stylish when driving clients to show.

“I love it,” Wilson-Henry said. “Everything was perfect and then..."

Crash with a deer

One night, while driving home from work, Wilson-Henry collided with a deer. The deer slammed into the front end of the SUV causing a lot of damage.

“We pulled to the side. It was like, oh, a deer hit me, and then we couldn’t move it,” Wilson-Henry said.

The SUV was towed to a repair shop to be fixed. Wilson-Henry called her insurance company to file a claim.

“I figured it would take about 20 days to be fixed,” Wilson-Henry said.

Paying out of pocket for a rental car

The SUV sat at the repair shop for more than a month. The repairs had not been completed, and her insurance company was no longer paying for a rental car. Wilson-Henry was now paying for the rental car out of her own pocket.

“It got to a point where the days just kept going and going, no one could tell me when I would get my car back,” Wilson-Henry said.

She decided to call News 2 to see if our Call for Action team could help. After speaking with Wilson-Henry we reached out to the repair shop and the dealership to better understand what was happening. A mechanic at the shop told us he was waiting on a part before starting the repairs.

SUV part on backorder 

“(The part) was on backorder. I was number 25 for back order, for a part to get my car back,” Wilson-Henry said.

We called Wilson-Henry back and suggested she reach out to other dealerships in the area to see if any had the part in stock. We also let her know we spoke with a representative from the local dealership and the repair shop. Wilson-Henry spoke with the repair shop a couple of days later.

“After I talked to you and told them I talked to you, it seems like everybody was so helpful and I like that,” Wilson-Henry said.

SUV part found and rental car refunded

The best news came a few days later when Wilson-Henry found a dealership in South Carolina that had the part she needed. The repair shop sent a driver to pick it up and had the SUV repaired a couple of days later.

“I would like to say thank you, (you) moved things along rather quickly,” Wilson-Henry said.

The SUV has been repaired and Wilson-Smith is back on the road. She also let us know after we got involved, the money she paid for a rental car was refunded.

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