Locksmith damaged my car

Locksmith damaged my car while working on it following a order placed on another car. Sounds weird but its true: their tech did not verified the ownership of the car and worked on mine without my knowledge. The order was ignition change, but he worked on my back door only since I showed up. Plus he tried to bribe me to not report it to his company. Anyway...I spent hours on the phone dealing with them, have their promise to pay for fixing the car. The dealership fixed some fo the damage but they had to order a part and I have to leave teh car again for final fix...I hope...The dealership is dealing directly with the locksmith company and so far they approved the estimate and seems like I have to just wait for the dealership to call me. At the same time the owner of the company told me that they are willing to pay me for my time spent on the problem, but he and the whole company seems kind of fishi: no local office but acting like they have one, their address is a PO Box in another state, the tech working on my car was driving a van without licence plates and no company marking, etc...The owner told me that he has to consult his lawyers in order to be able to make me an offer, but the owner will not be available until the beggining of May. My questions are: do you think I should get a lawyer since I dont have time to deal with them( this happened april 2th, 10 days before my wedding); is it going to be too late to get a lawyer if they refuse to pay for fixing my car; what will be reasonable amount to get as compensation, $500??? If they refuse to pay or compansate me: do I have a valid case agains them? Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

[randalljd]

Based on what you say here, you could file suit against them (or at least threaten to do so) in small claims court or in regular court; filing in small claims court is easier and requires no attorney...you could try to collect all of the costs and damages that you suffered due to their behavior... You may also report them to your state attorney general's office.