O/T Was I unreasonable? Gave painter 1 week to finish

I'm sorry....there is no excuse for taking a customers money...giving a timeframe..... then making more promises....and still not keeping your word!!!! This was a contract for services. If the painter was an artist he should have taken the JOB with no time restraints. As previously stated....communication broke down. The painterhad the responsibility to make the first CHANGE ORDER. He gets ( or in this case doesn't get ) what he deserves!!!!

 

I had your basic single stage paint done by Maaco on an old dodge beater about 10 years ago. It took them 3 months. Really pissed me off, but I was satisfied with the end job (it was better than I expected).

What they don't tell you, is that any bodywork is done "as time is available." They (the workers) don't get paid until the car is painted, so they will work on "sand and shoot" cars before they work on yours. I must have watched a hundred cars go through that came in after mine.

If I would have known that, I would have had the body work done someplace else. Sheesh.

 

Eleven weeks to do a job that was PROMISED in 3 or 4. If it took the owner only 23 hours to finish what the body shop was given a week to do, where's the problem. If he would have just done the work and did what the customer asked, it sounds like he would have gotten the second 2 grand. Integrity....Be your word!!!!!

 

double post...sorry
.

 

I think there may be a reason or two why the painter did not want to finish. Maybe some unique problems only he knows about on your car. Maybe this was his way of getting rid of the problem and responsibility for the work holding up.

I can see 2 gallons of color and 2 gallons of clear..if its reduced. I use the ppg line and figure at least $1200 for materials on an all over base/clear job. The reclear part I don't understand unless its a laquer job.

I have never been too fond of deadlines. I don't even give time frames anymore. Enough stress without having to hurry up right at the end. I have told more than one customer "its not chained to the floor....you can take it home anytime" politely of course.

I do think you were reasonable. I also think the time thing was not the reason the job was not finished. As allready said here the painter could get help to finish car from coworkers or buddies for another 2k but chose not to. Steve
.

 

1. Good paint prep takes forever. Depending on what is on the car, masking it properly could take a full day, as one small example.

2. The last car I had painted was 3 years ago and as I recall the materials (paint, clear, thinner) were almost 2k alone.

 

NEVER say never my friend. My bodywork/painter told me to bring Big Olds to him Thanksgiving and he'll have it for me at Easter. Tons of bodywork, customizing and completely painted and put back together. He was not only true to his word, BUT he went above and beyond to make sure he did the most beautiful job on my car and to make sure I was the happiest gal on the planet.

Take notes my friends, if your looking for a quality bodyguy/painter who is not only true to his word BUT does awesome work to boot, look no further then the HAMB's very own Earl Schieb.

Folks around Detroit kept asking me why I took Big Olds all the way down to TN when Detroit is FILLED with body shops. Once they saw the fit and finish for themselves they completely understood.

I heart Eal Schieb

GotRust, You would have stole that paint job at $4000, $2000 is unheard of. Of course photos hide all the flaws but still.........

 

To put things in perspective, I got raped to the tune of ...

$2400

for a SCOOTER frame.


It's a long story, and it makes me mad every time I think about it, but the painter gave it back to me HALF DONE (in primer) and $400 over budget (for the whole project -- two tone metallic, pearl, the whole 9 yards).

He had me over a barrel because he also had my '32 truck body on display at the shop.

I had to take it to another painter to finish it. The second guy was very slow, but kept me updated, and the final paint job is stunning.

The first guy should go out of business for doing that to me.


You'll get lots of advice. Everything is more complicated in reality.


In my case, my project was supposed to take 1 month.

It took two years before it was finally painted.

 

You must be a saint. I would probably still be in jail for killing the dude

 

In which case you would be labled a bad place to do business with. The painter set the price and agreed on the time frame.

If he had said "I'll do it on the cheap on my spare time" then the guy would have no complaint. That isn't what happened, or at least that isn't the story here.

The painter went belly up on a deal. Poor business practices.

 

I considered him a friend.

My mistake.

He runs a full custom shop and had done other work for me in the past -- both on my Falcon and my late-model Dakota. It's not like he was a stranger, so I couldn't understand why I got so f****d!

I still don't quite comprehend what happened and why.

If we ever meet in person, I'll give you the full story. The various ways he twisted the knife in my back are at least entertaining.

 

Yeah....What he said!!!!!

 

Not if but when.

 

I...myself... would learn how to paint. I mean... hell, Sherwin Williams sells it in gallons and brushes are CHEAP. Couldn't take more than a weekend.

 

and I'm going to stitch my own interior this weekend.

 

It's not tough... glue, plywood and foam. I figured it out... and I went to Public Skoolz....

 

The end result is that this guy is not going to finish the job for whatever reason so it's time to pay him for the work he's done and find someone else to complete the work.

I don't know a damn thing about the cost of a paint job but I'm a firm believer in keeping your word. It's something that I expect from those that I do business with because it's how I conduct myself in both personal and professional matters.

 

There was a FIRM deadline. Here never told me he was not going to make the 4 weeks and after that he kept telling me what he was going to do that night and the next day it was the same. I watched the car sit in primer for 4 weeks. He kept telling me he needed a deadline to modivate him and coming up on the car show was what he needed. I didn't want to piss him off so he would do a bad job. I told him I needed it 3 days before the show so I could clean the engine. I kept coming by and lookin and he kept lying and promising. If he had ever said "I bid it too cheap we need to work something out" I would have been all over that. He offered nothing but excuses and promises. Should I have said " Hey, you bid it too cheap how about I give you some more money for doing nothing?"

The guy is an amazing artist and a terrible business man. Like they say there is nothing more common that unrealized potential.

 

Ive worked in bodyshops (prep bitch and primer gun boy) and have seen how long really nice jobs take. The cars I have had painted, I have never had a car painted that went as originally scheduled or held to the original bid. I prefer to shoot my own paint, its not going to win the riddler but its presentable and im not afraid to drive it.

 

I watched a lot of other projects come and go during the 10 weeks. I watched my car sit while he brought in a truck after mine was in the shop and did a complete quarter panel repair and a complete paint job. He said he worked best with a deadline so I gave him one. Like I said in another post if he had said "I underbid let's work something out" I could have done that.

 

Funny how the painters line up behind the painter in this case and the consumers line up behind GotRust and none of us really know exactly what happened.

My uneducated guess is that the painter got behind and has a problem with telling people what they want to hear instead of being up front and honest. That's the doownfall of a lot of business folks, too.

 

Something spooked the painter, quality of what was under the work he was asked to do, owner was too picky about details, maybe it just couldn't be done to meet his or the owners degree of finish. Sure not the first car and won't be the last to go thought these things.

 

What a mess, in more ways than one. No easy resolve since either way your car is not finished and still needs work. If you go to another shop it might just have to get in line all over and who knows when it will be done. It took three weeks for a single stage low buck paint job by MAACO, with minimal body work for my '54. Sounds like you need to find who is the number one shop in your area and run this whole thing past them, and show them the pictures or the actual car.
As they say, nothing is easy or cheap when it comes to the love affair with cars (and ladies,etc).

 

I don't know how long or how much a quality paint job should take. But the issue at hand is not that, it's that a professional gave an estimate for a job and a time he'd have it done and he didn't keep his word and he didn't try to offer any explanation except excuses.That is not professional at all- as an end result he has a dissatisfied customer, lost money on the job and now has a bad reputation as well.How's that right? At the end of the day,when you get in to bed, all you have is your integrity, your honesty and your word of honor.

 

Sounds like you came out ok. Your car needs to be colorsanded and buffed, no biggie. 2 gallons of clear is more than enough to due the job. He took along time ,but you paid him money up front. Tisk,tisk. To get the donkey to move the cart, a carrot on a stick has to be involved. When I take in side work which is rare, I except NO MONEY to start. Only when I finish does the customer pay. If he doesn't pay, I title 42 the car and take it from them. Painter/bodyman are alot like contractors, if you pay them up front, they push you back to finish the last job that they owe to someone else, always robbing Peter to pay Paul. Also your in it for 2 grand, a serious bargain anywhere, even here in Oklahoma. Your painter dumped about a grand in material so feel happy he only made a grand and gave you a bitchin ride that needs to be buffed.

 

feel lucky you got all the parts back.
from what you described this poor bastard stumbled into what he thought was a gravy job and once he got into it discovered it was a nightmare from hell.
i did a lot of custom work (side jobs) for people and all i got was shit upon by impatient talentless people who paid ghetto body shop prices for tedious perfectionist work.i no longer do side jobs what so ever because no matter how cheap i was or how patient i was with the customers.all they did was bitch,bitch,bitch.
the price he gave you was phenominal before you beat him out of two grand .
DONT give bodymen ultimatums.
most of them do not care how mad you get or how hard you stamp your feet and yell because if you had the skills to do the work yourself you wouldnt need their help anyway.
they will most likely tell you to "hit the bricks, buddy"."i dont need this"
quality work takes time and is not usually cheap.
buy a how to book and learn how to do it yourself and you will have no one to blame but you.