paint shop blues
12-09-2009, 12:51 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Washington
Posts: 347
paint shop blues
Ok, this isn't going to be short, because I don't want to leave anything out...
Before I left for Iraq last March (09), I had a local mechanic (mutang specialist) reccomend a reputable paint shop. I gave my wife instructins to take my 66 coupe there with a list of things to do to the car, ie- prep, paint, install badges, paint GT stripes, install side scoops, etc. Which she did.
The shop had the car for about three months on that occassion. My wife picked it up in mid July, a couple weeks before I came home on vacation. Shortly after she picked it up, she and out mustang mechanic friend (whom referred us to the paint shop) noticed a couple flaws... bubbles, lines, they didn't paint the underlip of the fenders, they used black silicon to put all the badges on and it smeared everywhere. The shop installed a set of wheel adapters and late model wheels for us too, which we later found out the hard way, they must have cross threaded something. We had to pay 3 hours of labor for our mechanic to ruin one wheel just taking it off. My wife didn't want to ask for reparations because the shop did not charge us for installing the adapters and wheels.
The shop contracted a tow company to tow out car away from the shop back to our mechanic's for some more work to be done... the tow company smashed the oil pan (brand new). We didn't notice until a few days later, so we could not prove that they had done it. So we didn't expect for anyont to try and make that right.
Basically, there was a bunch of stuff we wanted fixed. After my vacation, my wife took the car back to the paint shop and she was told they would fix our list of complaints.
They cut out the main bubble on the rear A-pillar and repainted that section and the roof. And they cleaned up some of the black silicon oozing from under the emblems. They "installed" the side scoops at this time, using douple sided tape. It looked crappy and cheesy, not to mention one kept falling off. My wife was reluctant to pick up the car when she saw they had not fixed the other items on our list, but she'd already rented the trailer and our mechanic was waiting to install our new308/t-5. So she said she would bring it back again later.
She finally got the car back to them in mid November. By this time, she had noticed the paint was bubling on most panels, and there were more blemishes. The shop told her that they would either A) refund our money and we could take the car elsewhere or B) strip the car down completely and start from scratch (which is what we originally thought they were going to do). We, foolishly, decided to let them try and make it right.
The shop said they would need 2-4 weeks, max to finish this. I am coming home again in January, so this would have been acceptable.
My wife checked in on the car weekly. After 3 weeks, only about half the car had been stripped. Then the shop told her that the job is taking longer than expected, and that they wanted another 1,300 dollars. She told them no (after confiding in me the night before), they had already been paid for prep work, etc. The next week (which should have been the 4th and final week according to their own timeline) my wife checked in again...
The car had not been touched! They said since we didn't want to pay any more, they where not going to work on it any more. And they never even called to tell us that!
The manager told my wife that he would have the owner call later that night, which of course he didn't. She called him back the next day. He said he would write me and e-mail, explaining thier points. This was 2 days ago and I am still waiting for the e-mail.
She talked to them yesterday and told them we just wanted our money back so we can take it elsewhere, and they are now refusing.
I wrote them an email this morning, putting them on notice. I reported them to the BBB.
What other course of action can I take? I come home in less than a month and I really want to drive my car. Am I mistaken for thinking they should make it right and fix thier work? What can I do?
For those that actually read my whole diatribe, thank you. For those that give me some sound advice, THANK YOU!
Before I left for Iraq last March (09), I had a local mechanic (mutang specialist) reccomend a reputable paint shop. I gave my wife instructins to take my 66 coupe there with a list of things to do to the car, ie- prep, paint, install badges, paint GT stripes, install side scoops, etc. Which she did.
The shop had the car for about three months on that occassion. My wife picked it up in mid July, a couple weeks before I came home on vacation. Shortly after she picked it up, she and out mustang mechanic friend (whom referred us to the paint shop) noticed a couple flaws... bubbles, lines, they didn't paint the underlip of the fenders, they used black silicon to put all the badges on and it smeared everywhere. The shop installed a set of wheel adapters and late model wheels for us too, which we later found out the hard way, they must have cross threaded something. We had to pay 3 hours of labor for our mechanic to ruin one wheel just taking it off. My wife didn't want to ask for reparations because the shop did not charge us for installing the adapters and wheels.
The shop contracted a tow company to tow out car away from the shop back to our mechanic's for some more work to be done... the tow company smashed the oil pan (brand new). We didn't notice until a few days later, so we could not prove that they had done it. So we didn't expect for anyont to try and make that right.
Basically, there was a bunch of stuff we wanted fixed. After my vacation, my wife took the car back to the paint shop and she was told they would fix our list of complaints.
They cut out the main bubble on the rear A-pillar and repainted that section and the roof. And they cleaned up some of the black silicon oozing from under the emblems. They "installed" the side scoops at this time, using douple sided tape. It looked crappy and cheesy, not to mention one kept falling off. My wife was reluctant to pick up the car when she saw they had not fixed the other items on our list, but she'd already rented the trailer and our mechanic was waiting to install our new308/t-5. So she said she would bring it back again later.
She finally got the car back to them in mid November. By this time, she had noticed the paint was bubling on most panels, and there were more blemishes. The shop told her that they would either A) refund our money and we could take the car elsewhere or B) strip the car down completely and start from scratch (which is what we originally thought they were going to do). We, foolishly, decided to let them try and make it right.
The shop said they would need 2-4 weeks, max to finish this. I am coming home again in January, so this would have been acceptable.
My wife checked in on the car weekly. After 3 weeks, only about half the car had been stripped. Then the shop told her that the job is taking longer than expected, and that they wanted another 1,300 dollars. She told them no (after confiding in me the night before), they had already been paid for prep work, etc. The next week (which should have been the 4th and final week according to their own timeline) my wife checked in again...
The car had not been touched! They said since we didn't want to pay any more, they where not going to work on it any more. And they never even called to tell us that!
The manager told my wife that he would have the owner call later that night, which of course he didn't. She called him back the next day. He said he would write me and e-mail, explaining thier points. This was 2 days ago and I am still waiting for the e-mail.
She talked to them yesterday and told them we just wanted our money back so we can take it elsewhere, and they are now refusing.
I wrote them an email this morning, putting them on notice. I reported them to the BBB.
What other course of action can I take? I come home in less than a month and I really want to drive my car. Am I mistaken for thinking they should make it right and fix thier work? What can I do?
For those that actually read my whole diatribe, thank you. For those that give me some sound advice, THANK YOU!
12-09-2009, 02:22 PM
#5
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 1,692
I've found that if you get an attorney to call them, or better yet, write them a letter, most people start to be more flexible. It really helps to have a friend that's an attorney.
Also, according to my attorney friend, auto shops don't have the best reputation in courts, so you have a pretty good chance of winning in small claims court. If you are over the small claims limit, it's not worth a full lawsuit, so refer to the paragraph above.
Either way, come home safe.
Also, according to my attorney friend, auto shops don't have the best reputation in courts, so you have a pretty good chance of winning in small claims court. If you are over the small claims limit, it's not worth a full lawsuit, so refer to the paragraph above.
Either way, come home safe.
12-09-2009, 04:11 PM
#7
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Colorado
Posts: 3,946
I'm sorry about your luck but body shops, in general, suck. I know I have worked at a few. The ones that actually do really good work tend to be very expensive. I'm glad I can do my own body and paint. It sounds to me like your mechanic friend didn't know his head from his butt when he recommended that shop to you. They siliconed the emblems on? That is just silly. It is too easy to put them on the right way. Hard to believe that these guys specialize in Mustangs. BTW the pillar in the back is called the C pillar. My recommendation is to keep the lines of communication open with the owner and manager of the shop. Go and talk to them without getting irrate. Getting pissed off is not going to get your car done. Tell them that you just want what you paid for and that the quaulity of their work was just not acceptable by any standards. See what they will do for you as far as getting the work done and getting your car back. They may be reasonable because no body shop wants a car sitting around not being worked on. Get as much as you can out of them and then cut your loses and get your car out of there. Chances are if you were not happy with their work before I'm not sure it will get any better. The least amount of pain the better. If that doesn't work you may have to get a lawyer involved. I would not do that until you have the car. Shops tend to not talk at all if they hear from a lawyer. I hope things go better for you.
12-09-2009, 04:19 PM
#8
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: texas
Posts: 190
wow that stinks. First off, please tell me you, your wife, or your mechanic took pics of the car showing the problems. Second, the BBB is pretty much useless these days. All shop has to do is lie and problem solved. That is why the pics are so helpful. Third, I would write a certified letter requiring a signature when they receive it and lay out all the issues in detail. Explain to them in the letter that you expect a full refund or you will pursue legal actions against them. Give them a deadline to have the check in your hand or the legal proceedings begin. What you don't tell them is the legal proceedings will be small claims court since it is the cheapest and probably best tool in this case.
The other option is to use an attorney which could be expensive but would allow you to go after more money. Problem is the attorney fees gobble up the judgement quick.
Good luck to you and remember what goes around comes around so usually guys who take advantage of others, get what is coming to them eventually.
The other option is to use an attorney which could be expensive but would allow you to go after more money. Problem is the attorney fees gobble up the judgement quick.
Good luck to you and remember what goes around comes around so usually guys who take advantage of others, get what is coming to them eventually.
12-09-2009, 05:45 PM
#10
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,195
I don't know specifically where you're located. Media can do allot of damage. Most large cities have news channels, and some of those news channels have journalists that specialize in consumer affair issues such as yours. It's amazing how cooperative companies get when they get bad press on the local TV station. I'd start with your local TV stations and see if they have a consumer hotline or email. Everytime I hear something like this locally, its very funny how the business suddenly becomes "consumer friendly". And being a GI, coming home from deployment, the news media will definitely love this one. Good luck.
