Most shops I know will handle quick cash jobs while they have long-term work going on. Keeps the cash flowing and breaks up the routine. If I have the long-term job, I don't have a problem with this if the impact on my work is not excessive. In other words, if my project is supposed to take a month and it ends up taking 3 extra days, I'm not gonna stress. If it's a week or more late on a 1 month estimate, then that's a big deal. The longer the original estimate, the more slop in the schedule (up to a point; I mean it still has to be reasonable). However, if I have a deadline for a race or show, and I tell him about it ahead of time and he agrees to it, then I expect to be given priority. Everything is relative. I'd say you did OK on this. Everyone has issues some times. If you really like his work, when this is all done, talk to him and see if you can agree to better support next time. If you're not absolutely convinced that he'll come through next time, go elsewhere. Unless he's got jobs lined up out the door. He's gonna miss your cash. If he does have jobs lined up out the door, he doesn't need your cash and you will be treated accordingly.
I do Custom Upholstery work here in Texas. The Pope is currently waiting in line until I finsh a couple projects.
An answer to The37kids "its done when its done" train of thought. IF you are working on the car, things get stalled and you are waiting on parts or making things from scratch I might agree with not meeting a deadline. As long as you are making positive progress. Letting the car sit in the corner not working on it at all making up excuses then blowing you off for someone else big name or not is just bad business. It was said before. All it takes is one bitter connected well known local guy to ruin your business. As far as the original post. let the man finish the car even if its late let him do it right, there is nothing worse that a hacked together rush job. Then walk away shaking his hand and tell him you wish him the best of luck and move on.
This is the way I would deal with it as well. After it is finished, I would make sure he knows that this is the last time he would upholster one of my vehicles. I would also let him know why. You will hit him in the place he will understand it most, the bottom line. IMO, the backbone of a business is the repeat customers, they are the ones who spread the word of mouth advertising that you need to have. If you do to look after your regular customers, you business is doomed to fail. That being said, if after 7 weeks he had not yet started, I would have pulled my vehicle out of his shop & let him know why. As someone stated, word of mouth spreads twice as fast when the review is bad. As to the cardboard sign idea - while funny as hell, you would likely end up with a shitty finished product because the guy rushed to get it finished. Personally, I would only use the sign if I was not going to allow him to finish the job at all.
I would let him finish it & stop whining about finish dates. Shit happens. I made that mistake before- with non-HAMB car. Car was delayed in paint & the car was scheduled for a debut at Super Chevy Show. Went to upholstery & I was calling the guy nearly every day for updates. When it was getting close- I could see the only way to finish the job in time was to rush the install. So I backed off & let him finish. I missed the Super Chevy Show but waited & debuted the car at GoodGuys instead. It's just a show. When the car is done- you won't care about the show you missed. Yea- it may suck to get pushed aside for a star but it happens. There may be more to the story than we know too. Since then- I've had him upholster 3 more cars for me. He's good & worth the wait. Last thing I'm going to do is pull my car out in a huff & try & find someone else to finish it. Have patience & don't let the shit get to you.
That is a very good way to think except for the fact that it sat for 7weeks with nothing done to it, then he blows it off for someone else. not a good way to go, a small quickie no problem but a complete job that don't fly to well with me.
I had the interior done for my Terraplane at THREE different shops, because the first two apparently couldn't be bothered with things like: Having the job done when they said it would be. Doing it correctly the FIRST time and as specified. Oh, and I'm assuming that most upholstery guys/gals at the slow-ass shops spend lots of time sniffing their own glue. Why spend money on drugs and alcohol, right? The first shop had the car for six weeks. The car had the seat assemblies only - NO kick panels, headliner, or anything. The car was ready to do now. It was there six weeks, and NOTHING was done to it! They kept giving all the usual excuses, so I brought it home. Later, I took the seats only to another shop. After eight weeks, she had done ONE cushion! I literally had to sit and watch her do the last seat before she'd get the damn things done! And they still were not right, but I was not leaving her with my seats again! I'd assumed with all of this, that all upholstery shops were independently wealthy, because they sure as hell did not want or need to work at all! After nearly eight months of searching for a shop that actually wanted to work, I found a shop that did the door panels, carpet, kick panels and headliner. Mind you, I had provided the material to all three shops, so all they had to do was do the friggin' work! The last guy did a prety good job, but still not to what was agreed to when he started. I'm about half-ready to buy my own machine and learn to do seats and door panels myself. And, I'll do my own stuff from that point. That way, the only person I'll have to blame for a crappy job is me, and conversely, I shall rain praise upon myself, if the job comes out awesome!
Man, you would be a great customer. but I'd never hire you to do any work for me with that attitude. You might do great work, but you have no respect for your word or your customer's needs. You'd fit into he previous posts of the "AR-teests" who really don't care aboput their customers at all. I can't and won't do business with someone who doesn't respect me.
This, and the fact that I'm cheap, is why i bought my own machine and I'm learning to do it myself. What I've done so far has taken so much longer than I ever would have guessed. It's not particularly difficult, there's just so much thought involved and manipulating the fabric is just time consuming.
You have one of two options: 1) let him finish the job because you like/want HIS work (which sounds like what you will do) 2) find someone else to finish the job within your timeline As someone on the other end of 'timelines ' and 'deadlines' I think you were very honest in telling him what you wanted for a finished product. On the other hand , he is also telling you what his delays are/were. So he as well is communicating- albeit not with the info you wanted to hear. You have already voiced your displeasure wiht the incident so he is also aware he may lose you as a client over this. Just remember that there are always two sides to a story and the truth is always somewhere in between. Good luck
You've done 5 cars in 5 years with this guy. You said he does good work for a reasonable price. You haven't had these problems with him in the past. What has CHANGED ? perhaps he feels that The birth of his child is more important than your latest 'car of the moment'? perhaps you got this car to him 6 weeks later from the paintshop than you agreed? perhaps he has pushed himself into a corner by not charging you enough to complete your work as YOU wish - overtime work needs overtime pay??? perhaps he is suddenly realising that his previous business model of bending over backwards (or forwards?) for once a year or less clients is why he is struggling to pay for that wife and baby? Perhaps he is desperate to diversify his client base to get mor regular income? All of which could be ascertained by a frank, open, man to man discussion with questions like "What do you need to finish my next project by an agreed deadline?" Here in Australia, There would be lucky to be 5 guys in the whole frikking country worth trusting my interior to.......so speed of delivery doesn't even come into it! If the work and price are good, the rest is just managing expectations.....YOURS and HIS !!!! If the interior is not finished before the show, you can always pull off your hubcaps and park in the rat rod section!!!!! Good luck!
I'll probably get chopped up over this, but keep this in mind... he could've lied about it and made up a ton of excuses that you probably would've believed, but he chose to "fess up" and in doing so, I guess he hoped that you'd forgive him for being "star-struck". Maybe cut him some slack, let him know that you aren't happy with it, and hang on to him. UNLESS you know someone that does the same quality vs. price that this guy does. To be honest with you, I don't know of anyone around here that can do nice interior work at a fair price that doesn't have a TON of baggage.
Is it me or do hotrod/automotive related shops seem to have more than their share of eccentric characters? Hmm that probably applies to their customers as well, come think of it! Someone had an interesting point, it sounds like he was straight up with you as to why there was a delay. I've found that when someone tells the truth, it usually sounds much weaker than a good lie would. You caught him at a bad time, other stuff came up that was more important to him than meeting your deadline. It *sounds* like he gave it to you pretty straight. You can accept it or don't. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, but then again, if he charged the famous guy rate card and you got a deal, well then you get the back of the bus. The more you pay, the more important you become, it's just a fact of life. If your bidness was important to him, like the big name guys was, then he'd have had it out the door a lot faster. I think most likely he charges more now than what you've been paying. Maybe its time for you to find someone that's hungrier than he is, or throw a little more bread at him to get faster service. Good luck, it sounds like a frustrating situation.
Dear Treb11-you're a professional-I am paying you to do WHAT you contracted to do WHEN you contracted to do it. That's what I'm paying you for. That's the deal,end of story. How would it be if he took his car when it was done and then paid for it along the same lines as it was completed?
I didn't read all the responses..but i have been in a similar situation before..not interior, but engine machine shop related. After a number of engines i had brought to them for machine work over a 10 or so year span, all with great quality and very quick turn around, i was put aside because a couple racers needed thier stuff sooner....it was the beginning of race season here... I was aggravated at the time, but also had many years of quality work by that place at fairly reasonable prices. So after my aggravation subsided, i thought about that. I continued doing business with them until i met a guy who became a friend, and turned out to be a partner in another shop.. Sometimes thing's just don't work out and the reasons may not be what we find acceptable, but, IF the overall picture has been good then that should be something to think about. If you are bothered too much to be able to think about the past business relationship, then just pay for what's done, and find another place to finish the job to your standards and continue to just use them instead. Don't get me wrong, i really do understand you being upset. I'm just saying it's as simple as swallowing the feeling's this time or move on to another place. Best of luck. Tony
Ok, first off, 6-7 weeks for carpeting and two kick panels??? I've ordered carpeting and put it in in a day and it looked professional. Now the kick panels and stuff I dont know about, I am not a stitcher. But im sorry, I would have told him, hey pal, I was here before Don was, you are sapposed to be working on my shit, you need to get it done. I need this car for this show, with EVERYTHING you promised me was going to be done. And I wouldnt go back to him either if he's going to do buisness that way that's not good buisness, it's the guy that got there first that should be done first. 1shot
There are a number of things that need to be considered here. Upholstery is usually the last thing to be done on any car and is often delayed when other items take longer than allowed,placing a lot of pressure on the upholsterer It is not good having a vehicle sitting round not beeing worked on.It takes up space in the shop and is in danger of getting scratched or worse. The upholsterer should contact you when there is going to be an unexpected delay so you are prepared,not wait until you contact him
Obviously people go to professionals because they lack the knowledge, skills, space, or time to complete some part (or all) of their project. It is more than reasonable for those people to assume that a professional has the knowledge, skills, space, and time to set and keep a schedule for the work to be completed. With that said, things can, and often do come up. In those cases a professional should either add manpower to put the schedule back on track, or inform the customer of the delay and compensate them as necessary. Doing anything less is a disservice to the customer, plain and simple. If I were in the OP's shoes, I would wait for the work to be completed, explain to the shop owner why you won't be using his services anymore, and then take my future business elsewhere. Better yet, I'd buy the tools to do the job myself next time. Learn a new skill, get some cool new tools, and save some heartache in the process.... It's a win/win situation. John
So, was the "Pope's" car still there when you were there last thursday? I'm thinking the "pope" showed up just after you dropped off your car. That may have been huge bucks along with the star strike sititation. Sounds like the pope's car is/was done by last thursday and already gone. Must be a pretty big shop to get in 2 upholstry jobs in at the same time? So anyway, while, or before, or after the Pope's car, the compressor crapped out, and a kid was born? Been a busy couple of weeks here for him eh? Hope the child birth was normal, complications would have sucked, did you congradulate him on having a new kid? So its been 3 weeks since you dropped off your car, and he hasn't done anything to it, or has he just not installed anything in it? Maybe the material has finally arrived and he has the kick pannels stiched, the carpet is ready to install (this is a custom interior, not some run of the mill thing, right?) and the headlinner designed. You want the car in July, what? The 18 &19? He has lost at least a week with the compresser dieing and the birth of a child. Could be that he feels he can not do the quality of work you expect by that date. Your just mad because he did another job before yours, but we don't know if materials were on hand for your job or not, and thay may have been on hand the the other job. Sucks for you, but that's life. There are just to many questions that are unanswered to feel too sorry for you at this point. You were doing good until you came here and cried about something that may or may not happen. The interior may well be done and be a thing of greatness by the date you want it, he still has a couple weeks. Gene
ive given up on trimmers, 1st of all they are open less hours than i am at work so i would have to put in for holidays just to see one. then there is the hassle of finding a trimmer who knows his shit, you start talking about tuck & roll and stuffing pleats and they will tell you it cant be done like that, it has to be done with foam and the stitching exposed and they try to tell you you dont know what you are talking about. what i would have done is asked for the kick panels and if the work looks good you might get him to do a headlinner then tell him you are flat out working on other parts for the car with a deadline and need to pay a trimmer to fit it and ask if he would be interested.
THANK YOU! If you can't do the job in time, prefer other peoples money or are just lazy, just tell me. You all are way too nice! Would have pulled my car out of the shop, isn't going to be done in time now anyways, and go out of my way to let anyone who might be interested on how this business is run. A common rule of thumb is one bad deal will lead to 12 more people being influenced by it. No way to do business and no one is that good to treat you like a fool.
Sorry about not adding as I have been traveling. As to the adding I thought I covered it all in the original post. As to the both sides I agree there is two sides to every story. And I will assure you I have been kind in my side. Kind to the point that each and every detail was the fact. The upholester has no qualms with me watso ever. He is just not a very motivated person and I allowed 7-8 weeks for a job he indicated would only take 2 weeks on. I also slotted this date in with him over 4 months ago. I have been in business for over 30 years and take pride in honoring my commitments to my customers. That is why my 5 employee company doubles the sales of corporate owned tire companies in the appalachian coal fields. Yes as some said there are issues to be considered, air compressor. That situation can be resolved in five minutes with a trip to the local Lowes or home depot. Child, now that is a very important issue to me as I am a father of one, exactly why I spoke with him on this matter as I knew his wife was carrying and I respect that fully. He says NO PROBLEM. He set the date and I complied. Now at the end of the day this will all clean up like spilled milk but it is totally unessecary to treat good customers with disrespect. As to the materials being on hand, you better belive they were on the shelf weeks before I delivered my vehicle, this isn't my first dance. Lastly as to the Popes car, he made house calls to the rod builders shop to do the work. 50Dodge4x4 as to my doing ok until............I'm not here to trash someones name, if so I would have named the upholesters name, I'm just ticked at how unprofessional he handled the deal. I wonder how he would feel if he allowed me to take the vehicle without paying him on a promise to send him a check in a week. Then my compressor, engine, or I stub my big toes happens and I say that it will be 4-5 more weeks before I pay him.................Get the picture. Thanks for all of your comments on this subject.....
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