Paintjob went wrong - Need advice - Pic Heavy

You can still buy lacquer paint in Kentucky. If it ends in KY its got to be good.

 

Uncleared basecoat can be wiped off with lacquer thinner in this same manner. I find it hard to believe that with the cost and difficulty of getting lacquer vs urethane, as well as the additional time in application and the buffing that he would have done this. If you must. Try this on a properly cleared surface and it may only prove that they missed that area when spraying the clear. Fresh urethane can still soften when solvents such as lacquer thinner or acetone are applied. A 30 day period is recommended for complete cure.

 

I did try it on a clear coated spot and it did nothing, as expected. They underside of the trunk was not clear coated intentionally they told me, so that is why i tested it there. I thought I read on here that urethane wouldnt be hurt (cleared of not) by lacquer thinner. But that was why I am asking to be sure. What would be the way to tell if it really is urethane or enamel or something else?

 

It depends on whether hardener was added to the urethane base or not. It does not have to have hardener added, but some people like to do that. It does help in repairs down the line. So if hardener was added, the bare base would not react from the lacquer. If hardener was not added, the lacquer would effect it.

 

if he is still in business i would rent a billboard near his shop with 6 or 8 pics of the work on it thanking him for the great job

 

I believe that would be uncleared basecoat, not laquer.

 

Any results??

 

Well, not really. I finally made the decision to send the shop a letter of my own to start with, see how that went. Part of my court/lawyer hangup was the fact they had always been so nice, so I thought if I talk to them and they cant make me happy, then screw em. If they can make it right and would sign lawyer prepared agreements to do so, then I may give them a chance to fix it if they do agree to fix it all.

I didnt want to talk on the phone or in person this time because it always ends up in a back and forth, and half the stuff wouldnt ever get talked about. So I sat down and typed up a 5 page document, expressing feelings, all timelines of how things went, every problem I have found, etc. I followed that up with a picture of every problem I noted in the document, and of course mentioned the roof is not the right color, they ripped my headliner, all those things.

7/11 I emailed the owners wife, who runs the shop, the letter and all the pictures with descriptions of each. I let her know I was emailing her some information.

7/12 she texted me saying "I got your emails I will get with him right away, I am sorry you feel this way"

No word until

7/16 I texted her and said " Have yall discussed things, I need to determine my next move".

no word again, so on 7/18 I texted again "I wanted to check with you or more time on this, let me know"

20 minutes later she responds "Yes we've discussed it, William said he told you to put the car back together and bring it in and he will fix it."

I of course responded back in a nutshell that the whole point of the email was missed here, I guess he didnt read it. I am not putting the car back together until the problems are fixed, the glass all has to come back out, who is paying for that, he didnt paint the trim and dash, so how can I put it back in there, blah blah. I was hot, again. I finished up with "these problems are not a bring it by Saturday and I will fix them, and I am not bringing the car back and leaving it again.

She responds how do you expect him to fix it if you wont bring it back, you have to bring it back, we are willing to fix it, its up to you to bring it back, I am truly sorry, please meet me half way here.

I responded basically saying I am hesitant to bring it back and leave it because it was with plenty of time to address these problems. Now they are supposedly priority, but they weren't before. So I then said "Are yall in agreement that the color is in fact not what I asked for, and the glass is installed incorrectly and both need to be removed and re-done?"

Her last response was, "he is going to call you". That was all on 7/18. I havent heard from anyone since. I have reached out to her again yesterday saying I havent heard from anyone and its been 5 days, no response.

Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives

 

Man I would have a hard time taking it back there if you have to fight with them to even resond to emails and texts. To me it shows they want nothing to do with it and are relucantly agreeing to do something to fix it. Given the lack of care and effort they put in the first time I can only imagine it will be far less the second time when they are doing it for free.

 

Holy crap that is the crappiest paint job I have ever seen! Here's my Dakota I painted in my alley in Minneapolis, outside, AFTER I got home from Back to the Fifties. I was spaying in the dark! Five coats of single stage "summit" urethane....$150 later....You NEED to sue. I will cost more to get that mess off you car and restart. Don't even talk to him any more he sounds like a total hack......

 

if it were me i would take out a full page ad in your local new paper telling him to KISS YOUR ASS, and i would run it as long as you can afford it, not only that i would post his name, address, phone # and logo as my avatar and i would even go as far as to print and mail him some of the replys from here.

he wont make good on his shoddy work and if he did it would be just as bad as the last job,

i don't remember reading how you worked out payment but if you paid up front any more than 50% then he would have no reason to do a good job, he already got his payment and more than likely used your money to fix other customers problems,
thanks i fell better now that i have vented..

 

Oh and if you paid with VISA call them and file a dispute...they will reverse the charges

 

Unfortunately, all cash payments. Court is likely in order now.

 

Wow. Man, so sorry to hear about this. This is the reason I'm so scared about trying to do a really nice paint job on my car. Stories like this scare the bajeezus out of me. Wish you all the best through this ordeal. Your son is going to have a kick ass ride one of these days...

 

Before you go jumping into lawyers and courts, have you contacted your Dept. of Consumer Affairs to look into it? If the painter is a legit business, they possess a business license and liability insurance for claims against their work. Exhaust your simplest options first....

 

And my apologies if this has already been brought up, but are they members of the BBB? That could help you out, too.

 

I think that if they said 'bring it back and we will fix it' (post #249) and you didn't (even if you felt you had really good reasons not to do so), then the court will side with him, since he said he was willing to fix it IF you brought it back.

 

X2. Frist thing that will come up in small calims court.

 

Yep. Skip the texting and talk to HIM in person or on the phone. Call A LOT until he talks to you.

 

Here's a tip for collecting monies owed, in California anyway. I had a guy complain that he won his court case for $700 but the guy wouldn't pay. I told him to get a "Writ of Execution" and we would go from there. He got his "Writ" and I suggested he seize his car (brand new Jaguar) for $600. He cried, "But the guy owes me $700, I don't want to spend $600 to collect $700!". I told him not to worry, the $600 would be added to the $700. I drove out and seized the guys car. He came in an hour later to pay off the judgement plus the $600 tow fee.

Lost of things you can do with a "Writ of Execution".
1. Bank levies
2. Till Taps
3. Wage garnishments
4. Seize rent checks ( from either enters or landlords)
5. Seize vehicles
6. Seizure furniture from either home or office
7. etc, etc, etc...........

 

thats good info.

the california dept of consumer affairs has a page that explains all the ways you can collect on a judgement from a business.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/small_claims/collect.shtml

your state may have a similar guide.

 

Small claims action doe not always have to be about money. You can use the system to garentee work done properly and a timeframe.

Tell the judge that you are willing to send it back for quality rework but that you want certain assurences that the repairs will reflect the quality you paid for and that you have already waited long enough and were unwilling to wait any longer. The judge will ask how long it would take to make repairs and that he has that amount of time to do it when he recieves the car. The whole ting is to get everthing recorded in the system so it not a "He said/She said" argument.

 

Sorry for your misfortune,I wish I could share my great body man with you. I would say put it together, have some vinyl signage made up with all of his info on it and put it on the car, don't forget all the highlights of all the awesome stuff he did to your car.

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but i do believe that (in CA at least), the person being sued does have the right to remedy and often it is so ordered.

in other words, the judge can make you give the guy a chance to fix it whether you like it or not.

 

X2. And don't forget what we are doing is a .... :
hob·by

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noun, plural hob·bies. 1. an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation

 

Question. I have a car here that the owner wanted me to just " go over what was already there" stating things like " it will be fine." I wanted to strip the car. When we were even sanding the existing stuff to get a tooth for the primer, it was balling up on the paper. Figured there was a problem. My shop primed over it very reluctantly. Blocked it out and sprayed some paint over that. As a result there 4 months after the paint job, Solvent pop. Looked like you were underwater looking at this paint job. It was black to boot. Real ugly problem. Even in photos you could see the disgust in the paint reflection. We ended up redoing the paint. So my question is, did you insist on him oging over what was ALREADY there? Did you ask him to strip it? Cause that looks like what I am seeing here. Not sure about the jambs. I have NO explanation on that. Sure by now you are not longer looking ofr one. Just a thought. The paint is only as good as what is under it.

 

14 pages of discussion and advice - what it boils down to is, you have to get out of your comfort zone and take the guy to small claims court.
Win or lose (you can't really lose), drive the car as it is; I've seen worse paint jobs - just let it age like a fine wine . . .

 

Exactly.
That is why you will get screwed in court if they can say that they offered to fix it if you brought it back, but you never brought it back, and instead took them to court.
The court will therefore side with them, even if you have your many reasons for not wanting to take it back to them.
They have the legal right to remedy the problem themselves -before- they can be forced to fork over money because it wasn't done right in the first place.

 

Thats why you get a judge to tell him hes got one chance to fix it right within a time frame and that if he fails in one or the other or both that a refund is in order. If you dont get someone with athority to set these conditions then he could take another year(when he has time) to fix it.
A letter from a lawyer means nothing, the only thing that counts is what is said in front of a judge.

 

Ok an update. He called me yesterday, caught me off guard a little. I think he just read my document and saw the pictures because when he called he said he was going over it. So, of course, he wants me to bring it back to fix it. So I am trying to decide if thats what I want to do.

He says the roof is the correct color (chrysler cool vanilla), and went back to the paint store and got the original purchase ticket info showing that for me to see. Either way he said the rust in the drip rails has to be fixed and he would completely strip the roof and re-paint it and seam seal it. And if I wanted it a different creamier color, I could pick it out since he has to buy paint either way.

He wants his glass guy to pull the glass back out and re-do it correctly.

And he says he will fix each problem I have pointed out. Said it would take him 4-5 days and noone would work on it but him. He said he would take pictures of every step to be sure I knew what was done, and I was welcome to be there for any/all of it in person.

I assume I will do this, and told him if I decide to there will be a new agreement (probably lawyer prepared) listing every detail to be done, a deadline for the work, and what happens if they deadline is not met. This is all assuming he agrees to fix all the issues I pointed out.

I know this wont yield a perfect job, but at this point it may be the best option. Court could be tricky since he wants to fix it. Maybe I could still win, but do I want to let it sit for 6 more weeks to find out? First date available is 6 weeks.