Body shop Woes

[GSS340]

I am really pissed! I have talked to my shop for the past two weeks and have been told that car is progressing slowly but surely and expect it to be painted in about a month...cool. Stopped by unexpectedly yesterday and the whole crews sitting outside smoking and joking. Well I look around and theres my car sitting in the corner looking the same as it had 4weeks ago but now with some other cars parts sitting on top of it and get this about two inches of water sitting in the floor pans!!!! WTF! I go speak to the owner and it seems car got water in it because they pushed outside awhile back when they were painting another car and it got rained on...cars got alot of surface rust on it now (was bare metal before) and the areas where the 1/4s were welded up are now showing rust coming through the smoothing putty!!!!!!! I was f'ing hot. I told them that that crap (rusty tinged bondo) better be coming out and the areas redone and not repainted over like that! Top it off the owners a buddy and he knew he had f'd up and could see it in my face that I was MAD. Since he is a good friend I had already paid him otherwise I would snatch the car out and go someplace else. He apologized and said he will make it right but I am still pissed that my car was treated that way and being lied to that the car has been worked on. Car has been there for almost a year to have 1/4s put on and rest of body smoothed and painted. I told him even though I am not in a big rush that this crap is ridiculous.

Okay, thanks now for letting me vent. He told me he was going to talk to his partner and work out the game plan to correct and finish my car in a timely manner. Said I would call him back tonight to see what they came up with. We'll see.

 

[AdamR]

Body shops suck. Never tell them no rush because they wont. In my opinion they need to grind all the filler off of the seem of the 1/4 and lead the entire seem. If there is rust coming from the weld seem then theres pin holes in it allowing moisture threw it.

 

[mopowers]

If I were you, I would stop by unexpectadly more often. It sucks because you can't trust the place anymore. To make sure they strip all the old bondo out, you better stop by after it is done, or else you won't be able to tell fi they just painted over the top of it. And you know you can't take their word for it anymore. That sucks man. Just be glad you saw this first hand. And to have 2 inches of water on the floor!!! Thats just rediculous. He better do all he can to make it right. I would have either smashed in someone's head or sued the hell out of them. It sucks that is was a friend of your. I wouldn't be friends with him anymore.

 

[EvilScamp]

That's why i do my own work,you don't have to deal with these kinds of places!
I know a guy with a 68 AMX that got screwed around for almost 5 years in 2 different shops to get the body work done and get it painted!

 

[FASTBACK340]

I am really pissed! ..............

I had already paid him otherwise I would snatch the car out and go someplace else.

I told him even though I am not in a big rush that this crap is ridiculous.

Okay, thanks now for letting me vent. .

Holy ****....you just made my short hairs fall out. I'm going to the body shop Saturday afternoon to see when I can drop off my car, and a good chunk of cash, to start the resto. I even told him " I'm in no rush...spring would be nice"

Wow... now I'm not gonna sleep thinking about THIS post....:banghead: ....:drunken:..... ..... :vom:

 

[GSS340]

I guess its a common occurence with regular bodyshops that do mostly collision work.

Update on my car. I went back yesterday to talk to my buddy and I was honestly amazed at what I saw. I guess right after I talked to him initially and told him I was pissed he had his guy start back on my car. They had the surface rust on the floors wire brushed out and the floors shining again like new and the roof looking the same. The putty that was showing the rust stains coming through was almost about ground out also!!!! He apologized and said he personally worked on it after I talked to him till about midnight and went back out to the shop at 1am and started back on it and keep doing so till it was back up to speed and completed if necessary.

I hated going off on a friend but good money was spent and it becomes business so be it sometimes. I am just glad that he recognized he had done wrong and doing right on it now. Afterall he is one of the best bodymen that I know and have seen his work on other cars and I really don't think I could find another place in the area that would take on the car in such short notice and do it right.

 

[340mopar]

Why is it you see this type off thing time and time again from "buddies" or relatives.

Don't hate yourself about going off on your friend, he when off on you first by treating your car that way.

Glad to see things are progressing. But tell him not to rush it to the point that quality might suffer.

 

[1966 dart wagon]

wow that sucks man im glad i do all my body work on my car, well fenders so far, sure they took along time but o well, i know they are done right. This is definatly something i will keep in mind when i open a body shop up i dont want this kinda stuff happening, and they pushed your bare car outside AND let it get rained on, awh man I was getting heated just thinking of it, at least he took into concideration he screwed up and got right on it, i would definatly keep checking in on the shop. This kinda reminds me of my dads truck when he had it painted by a friend, they kinda were shady about it and some misc stuff but it turned out nice at the end...for a gm hehe

 

[gremlin]

The old saying is...Nobody f@@ks you better than a friend.


Be glad he's making it right...kinda like a real friend.

 

[Flatlander]

Yep, that's a body shop.

Took my cutlass in last spring to be started on in August, come Oct. hadn't started yet. I'll need to start checking in more often.

 

[daves66valiant]

Just read this post and was like....WTF too. Made me a little nervous. Earlier today (before reading this post) I called my paint/body guy and asked if I could come by this week. He said Saturday was better. He did say he has had some unexpected things come up. I told him I would come by Tuesday instead. He said that would be great and that he should have it stripped and one fender painted just to see if I agree with the color. I think I will be checking up regularly which I had said I was going to do in the begining. Luckily he communicates well with email and pictures.

Glad to hear things are getting worked out.

 

[GSS340]

Car is coming along nicely now. I am going down to the shop more now, not just to check on it but to lend a helping hand since one of his guys quit.

 

[BJS racing]

So since you are doing some of the work on it is he knocking some more off the price of the job. Or at least paying you for your time.

 

[TimDart]

Given how cheap digital cameras are now, anyone having such work done should ask for a pictorial history. A guy recently completed my attic/loft conversion took pics at every stage of the way. Useful when selling and for general piece if mind.

 

[Jim Lusk]

The last car I paid to have done was my GTS convertible and that was eighteen years ago. The car was reasonably straight when I took it in, but it needed to be straighter and painted. I don't think it was any straighter when I got it back then when I dropped it off. They also did not paint the underside of the rocker panels (something I didn't discover for some time).

I'm not the best body man, but I can make things look ok. Same thing with paint. Just like me, my work looks best from about twenty feet. At least if I do the work it only comes back on me and if I screw up material isn't all that expensive especially compared to a "quality" paint job.

 

[Hotwheelsjr]

The old saying is...Nobody f@@ks you better than a friend.


Be glad he's making it right...kinda like a real friend.

Ditto...

It's best not to do business with 'friends' because 9 times out of 10 the friendship gets in the way. Not much of a friend if you ask me...not only dragging his feet, but to also leave your bare car in the rain long enough to accumulate water on the floors? A real friend would have done everything in his power to get the car back inside as soon as clouds rolled in... Good to hear he is trying to make it right. Best thing he can do at this point is to make sure your car is the best work that has ever rolled out of his shop or refund you some of the money. Stories like this are the reason I have two primered cars and one with a 20ft paint job. :-(

 

[cavemanmoron]

best wishes.

Body shops are trying to make a living,
if they do good work, the word gets around.

If they screw people over, that gets known too.

 

[sweatybetty]

2 of the commandments: dont do business or talk politics or religon with freinds or relatives