Warning! Avoid this Phoenix Custom Paint Shop

Thanks again for the kind words.
I know materials are expensive. I brought him Squeeg's primer to use and a box full of other bodywork supplies including a gallon of filler and tubes of hardener. I was expecting to have to live with dings and dents and misc crap in the paint but could not handle the fender fubars the first time and now. Even for the admittedly very cheap price I paid this is unacceptable.

Anyone else had success with small claims court over something like this? With all the hassle would you do it again?

 

No. This is good a time as any to learn to spray your own cars. A beginner (that gives a shit) could do a lot better than this "pro". There is a lot of advice on this board to get you started.

 

After reading through some of the responses in this thread I can only wonder how long it will be before another similar thread like this is posted. Fleet paint and other paint supplies to prepare car of this size would cost aroung $350 to $400 , now add a high cost color (red/orange ) w /clear $450 for a total of around $850.00 without any shop mark up or taxes paid. This would give the guy $1500.00 to$1650.00 for his efforts and to pay his overhead . An exterior paint on a straight rust free body of this type without stripping and additional body repairs will take at least 60 to 80 hours, putting his door rate at around or under $23.50 per hour. Accepting or doing a job at this price tells you quite a lot about all that was involved . If the shop couldnt figure out what his profitable rate for work was clearly he was going to struggle on how to paint a car correctly. Both were unaware of what the going rate for decent work and what a decent job was. Not trying to pic on Pikesan99 , he seems genuinely sincere in that this was a learning expierience but anyone buying milk today for 25 cents a gallon should not be surprised if its spoiled.

Please dont miss the point of Pikes post, as this can happen anywhere to anyone of us , anytime we are purchasing a service.

 

I feel for ya Pike, even if it was a driver paint agreement I would not think your car should be two-toned or have fresh scratches in the paint when you pick it up. Seems like you did a decent job of documenting your case with the photo's, it doesn't cost that much for small claims and I would think you could at least get some of your money back.....If nothing else make his life miserable enough that he may pony up some cash to make you go away.

 

I agree with somewhere up above i think most painters have sniffed way to many fumes i just paid 750.00 to just do my roof in metal flake job is fair but still needs to be cleared again at 150.00 just for the clear than wet sanded and buffed...lol had one painter come to my place when i first started car ..12 years ago rub his hands up and down a flawless body.. black plate car that has been put away since 82 paint was rough but mint body zero rust or filler he told my at least 10.000.00 thats ten thousand dollars for a nice black paint and that will take all winter lmao after i picked myself up off the floor laughing showed him the door to my garage ..and people wonder why the rat word is getting popular if you think paint is big dollars south you should check what they charge up here
sorry about your luck one thing i have learned .....good cheap fast.... you only get to pick one

 

Craig,
Sorry to hear the bad experience but thanks for the heads up. At times we all get busy at our regular jobs and assume that the people we take our cars to have some pride in their work.
Unfortunately and sadly this just isn't the case anymore.

 

I do know of two people here in Canada that just spent $8,000 and $10,000 on paint jobs. This appears to be the norm for a good quality job up here (one of the cars was already finished and this was just a colour change situation ... no body work required).


Knowing how much paint supplies alone cost now, I can't possibly imagine a decent base-clear that includes some body work AND interior paint work as well for anywhere near what you paid. Obviously (in my opinion) the shop owner realized his quote was WAY too low and needed to limit the amount of time spent on the vehicle in order to minimize his losses (so they rushed it through with tons of flaws being the result). The paint jobs I was referring to were on a '67 Camaro and '69 Chevelle ... both base-clear and no interior painting.


I do agree that you got a crappy paint job, that fender mismatch is rediculous ... the rest isn't all that surprising to me to be honest.

 

I have said it several times on other paint threads and I will say it again here. Painting a car, and the results that are achieved, are extremely subjective according to various peoples opinions and vary widely.

The ONLY way that you can be on the same page is to talk with others that have had similar work done and compare their paintjob results, cost and time with what you have in mind for your own project.

Painting a car can cost anything from $500 to $25,000 (and WAY more in some cases). There is a huge difference between the quality of the two extremes mentioned, but there can also be a huge difference in quality if you compare two shops, both doing one either end of that spectrum.

You HAVE to have references. These guys are artists... Would you buy a piece of art if someone just described it over the phone or told you, "Hey I can do that."

No way. You check out the artists work and settle on something that you like, and that you can afford. You make an expensive decision based on seeing work and talking to people. This is an age old problem that continues to happen over and over.

By the way, that work is crappy enough that I would not want that guy to try to make anything right. I would just write this off to experience and move on...

Another thing to think about. You probably just bought about $600 in paint materials and $1200 in labor. At $50 an hour, what do you really expect for 3 days work...

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I hope you can get it straightened out and hopefully the thread will help someone else have better success with their project.

 

I can"t believe the responces taking up for a want to be painter doing work like this.It doesn"t matter if its a $2000 or a $10,000 paint job,the color should match and there should be no runs.A mistake should be fixed before leaving a shop. I guess you guys that are painters ,if you make a mistake in the middle of the job just say,well screw it hes just paying $2500 for this job anyway.Your business depends on customers and if you screw one it will affect future business.The op would just be better off to take him to court,get his money,at least some of it back and not get anymore paint jobs done in that city at all.Excuse slips are for school kids ,there is no excuses for crappy work and bad business practices. Just ask any of Bill Metz"s customers.

 

It was $1800 originally and $2500 finally. So I got a week's worth of work? I agree, that's not long, but here's the important thing: HE set the price. Not me.

For other's future reference, and my own... I'm trying to get a reasonable expectation, and obviously help other's avoid this guy...
We agreed on "Driver" quality paint, but as I said, that was a mistake not to define exactly what that meant. I thought: relatively smooth paint, decent body straightness and a "fair" number of blemishes. My dad's car was painted in a garage and has some issues, so I know the top (like Doug at Squeeg's Kustoms) and bottom. I was expecting towards the bottom. (Except for the guy telling me how talented he was...)
Are you guys saying that's what I got? Honestly, I wouldn't have liked it but would have lived with everything except the untouched and wavy front fenders the first time around and the color mismatch the 2nd time around. Now I'm afraid I have to punt on all of it to make the color match??

 

The first car I ever painted looked a lot worse than that. The second about the same, By car 3 I was better than that. I bailed on that copper metallic color myself because I'm not a Pro and that color was an absolute night mare to color match if you don't have a booth. It was really pricey too. Not sure you could shoot separate panels and different batches with that color without a booth and environmental control.

The reason that I paint my own stuff is because of this you have here. I had a guy numb nutz me too. Took him to court. In the end it was not about quality nor my satisfaction. Only whether the task had been completed. Yes but it looks like shit, does not matter, it was completed. And so I lost the case and costs which were substantial.
I also found out that Perry Mason is not just standing there at the ready to help us with our $2500 battles,just not enough cheese there to get him on board, so the whole process became a ginormous PIA and once it began it would not end.

Good luck, Sorry about the 7 month thing.

 

That fender to door gap is big enough to throw a dog through it.

 

Not I was not just saying you got what you paid for... I know a guy that can put a decent quickie spray on a car using single stage fleet paints for about $500. But the fact us, I have seen my guys work and know what to expect and that it will only take about 5-7 days based on experience.

It seems the real problem here is that someone seems to be taking money for painting cars that has no idea what they are doing. Much like mechanics and other professionals that represent themselves as something other than what they are. Thus the phrase, "Buyer Beware."

I am REAL sorry this happened to you and hope you can get it worked out. Perhaps small claims court is the right answer, I don't know.

Regardless it seems that sanding and a complete respray will likely be required to make that right...

Best of luck sorting it out, and COOL little car by the way!

 

What a HACK! I'd be pissed...

 

It's not hung... just there to take the picture. Funny tho!

Anyone else have experience with Small Claims court over something like this? Any chance to catch a judge with grease under their nails?

 

Do not believe that with a judgement in your favor will get you an instant payoff. It usally meens that you will have to go back to court 2-3 times to get some money and could be as little as $25 a month if the judge beleives his hardship BS story, and then they stop paying after a couple of months to which you go back to court to get an order to have the sheriff camp at the shop to collect funds as they come in, and that too has a price.

 

Check it out: Mark Behlke - the alleged thief who was the reason this whole thread got started - got busted.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local...minder-to-protect-self-before-hiring-business

 

I deal with Mat Howard from Deluxe he has his shop in Tempe off of Kyrene between Guadalupe and Baseline. His body and paint is the best.

Frenchy

 

Glad to hear there's been some sort of justice.

 

If he is advertise on craigs list he must not have a good rep or following of old customers. I take any thing on C L with a grain of salt much fear........................... I would not hunt any thing like a barber or any service on C L .........................................Sorry for what happened to you. Paint and supplys are very high priced. I had a O T truck repaired and painted by a old friend { over 40 years experecce}and supplys were over 800 dollars and I got a very good discount from the paint store. Because I set up the paint store managers sons race car.

 

I heard he got busted, ultimately, for writing bad checks, not the paint and body work stuff.

I've also been contacted recently by someone else who was scammed by him. Haven't heard the details, but not good. From what I've learned, I got off easy...

Hopefully this helps someone else. Check references my friends...

 

if you watch the video , pay close attention when it gets to 1:11

 

The HAMB used on the news? Do we get any royalties or anything?

 

Would never go to someone who has to advertise for work on C.L.
You get what you pay for. That is why most people pay $5K min for a decent paint job. $1800 probably just covered materials.
I know back in the early 90's I painted my 40 pick-up and had over $2500 in materials including filler. And that was lacquer, solid colors not candy.

 

When the shop demands money upfront that's your cue to walk away. I do my own paint so I have control of how long the job takes and keep the costs within budget...trust no one with your ride!

 

K9racer X-2. Craigslist Automotive Services here consists of nothing but complaints of folks being scammed by rip off artists. A shop that does quality work does not have to advertise on CL. The real sad part of all this is that paint work rip offs are becoming the norm rather then the exception.

 

Shyster off the streets.

 

That should have sent you running... That is only 120 hours of work if only touching your car.... Not including dry time, materials andso on.

 

Thank you for the lesson, just what I plan on doing. I don't think any random shop will take the same care as I will with my own stuff.

 

They show this thread during the news report! The HAMB is famous.