I'll try to keep this short: They were working on my car and it was vandalized on their property. Total damage was over $2k. Interestingly, when the car was broken into it was parked in the back corner of their lot in a dimly-lit area. Police noted it was a "clean break", meaning no shattered windows, drilled keyholes, or scrape marks from a coat hanger were used. They also found the doors locked, which is rare that people re-lock the doors after they break in. Inside job? Sounds like it to me...
Smart Motors told me they were not liable because I signed a form saying they weren't to be held responsible for any damage. I worked my way up to Brian Smart (the owner) and he said they would give me half the cost of repairs. I told him that wasn't good enough as they had the car and assumed responsibility of it when they took the keys. I had a lawyer draft a letter informing them they are responsible for the damage and if they didn't bring the car back up to its physical state when I dropped it off we would pursue legal action.
Brian finally agreed to the repairs but said he was doing it to get this situation off his hands. They never accepted responsibility for what happened, nor did he apologize.