Sounds like a painter I had. Agreement was 1/2 payment up front for materials, balance upon completion. He painted over rubber pads on rear step bumper(OT car), and Chevrolet panel on tailgate. I asked him to do tailgate over, he said he would need more money to buy more materials. I gave him $200 more, he did nothing, but remove the tailgate from the truck. Called me a week later and said, I sanded the tailgate, now I need $100 more for paint. I told him that I only owed him $300 more on the paint job , and would not pay him until complete job was finished. He quit working on the job, and to make matters worse, his dad who's garage he was using to paint in , died. It took me a month and me calling the realtor, and his father's lawyer to get my tailgate back. Deal with professionals, not par-time backyard jacklegs. You may pay more, but you get the better results in the end.
In this or any other service industry where you are paying for a service, the end result should be the way you want it. If I paid to have my roof replaced and when they were done I stood back and noticed half the shingles are grey and the other half are red, and the lines arent arrow straight...I wouldnt hand them a dime until they got it right...so why is this any different? It is YOUR car and it should be done the way YOU want it to. The guy had a very clear understanding of what you want and your expectations, and if he knew he couldnt live up to that standard he never should have accepted the job. It sucks that you have that much into it and still havent gotten what you want, and it is now going to take even longer to get it. Keep your chin up, find a good guy with a good reputation and he (or she!) should be able to give you what you want in a reasonable time frame and budget. My .02
Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Your expectation vs his skill or amount of work within the agreed budget don't match up. You were trying to match an older interior, I don't like to say "shoulda" but did you see his work on others cars or just go by word of mouth, peoples opinions vary a a lot in what quality is. In genral I will say that upholstery shops had it easier in the 60's - 90's, new car interiors were pretty crappy on most vehicles. In the past 10 years or so the OE's have stepped up their game on even low end new models with impressive seats and stitching, this has raised the bar for what interior customers expect.
To me if a shop has to have up front money that raises a red flag. That also means they are operating on a ragged financial edge. We've all heard of the paint job horror stories where owners have paid up front and the car never got finished. A friend of mine just had his car painted for $7500. The job was done by a man and his wife operating out of their shop behind their house. It took two months and the paint job is fantastic. You have to see the job to see the quality. No up front money was paid. This who will be painting the car in my avatar black.
Get rid of the guy and talk to Titus and Jen, Stichbitch here on the HAMB. She does nice work East of the Cities.
The work is terrible bottom line. I am working on my first interior right now and I would be ashamed of putting that in my car and saying I did it myself and I barely know what I am doing. I could never take some ones money, provide that kind of end result and feel good about myself. Get out while you can.
This type of thing happens more often than we think,and most of the time it goes unknown to the public due the fact we don't want the world to know we have been HAD ! I have been around the car scene and very much involved for a little over 45 years,the stories that I have heard ,and some of the people I know that have had this happen I can only say "When the up front $$ is the first part of doing the deal, RUN " Again,not all folks doing side jobs are this way,but if you have a gut feeling........ Ya best stick with it !
You said you found him from referrals? Something isn't adding up.Is there a chance he is losing his skills as he ages? It isn't an excuse for poor work but may explain what has happened. Move on. No need to be rude to him (unless you can be sure he intended to rip you off or deliver poor quality work) just move on. In my experience pissing contests and such never end well for anyone. You may also wish to talk to the people who referred him so they are aware of it. j
I worked in an upholstery shop for seven years and would consider his work low quality. He would not have lasted as a trimmer in our shop for a day. Look for a shop where you can see some of their work then decide if you want to use them. Good quality work is not cheap.
Traditionally , in the ole day boys, we would kick his ass over the years I had a few discussions with a rod god fab guy and same with a hot shot trim guy when I had em by the throat all the excuses left got er done the one guy said he under bid the job, oh thats my fault , I try to do all my own stuff git it all out front on paper and NO DOUGH TILL IT,s ready to GO!!! any shop that needs down money is not worth a fuck and stay away you went lookin and you got what you were lookin for a deal! deal with it we are grown men here!
I don't agree with paying up front in full,Now on the other side of the coin i have a business that is O T Home construction I supply and install a product.I always liked to take a man at his word and require NO deposit or payment,but after getting burned a couple of times by non payers or partial payers who shouldn"t have agreed to order and pay if they did not have the money, I now require a deposit if you want me to do the work, IT IS NOT a red flag , I have the capital and item in stock most of the time ,at least when i get the deposit i know if i get shafted ,I at least break even on the item ,I just work for free and lose the profit,,Also if the person would pay like they say instead of taking 3-4 weeks to send a check, Unfortunately on both sides there are deadbeats ,The business & the consumer.
Bob my son is on home improvement and he gets 1/3 up front for the reasons you mention but a car is different, no need to get up front if you have the car in your shop, the owner gets the finished car when he pays if he doesn't pay the car can be lien sold.
Your right on that ,it is a little different you do have the car,I was just pointing out that it is not always the business guy that can't be trusted..Also if you ever have tried to lien something , you better have everything in Black &White and signed by Both parties,The laws protect the bad guys more than the do the business owner,,, Example, I have a bad check because it was a personal check & i failed to get a Drivers Lic # Not much recourse and then there is the people who write a bad check to a lot of people then file personal bankruptcy.You as not a major creditor get put into the unsecured creditors category, which means they get rid of all and any assets prior to filing and you get shit,,ask me how i know that, Just saying, not beating on you.
When, not if, you first sit down and write up the estimate, EVERYTHING that is to be done is listed. If the customer calls to change the estimate, make sure to ask for the last four of his SS and put it next to the change with the date. On the next change,ask for the last four of a credit card..etc.......
From my reading of all the responese here,,I think you both are at fault..you for wanting an upholstery guy to wag his sewing machine to your cramped shop and him for attempting it..Now stop whipping a DEAD HORSE..close this thread
To answer your original question....no, you are not being too critical. You pay for something, you expect to get good results. If you are too stressed about confronting the guy again, move on and forget about him. On the other hand, if there is a way he will fix what you are unhappy with and you can both agree to live with the final price, go for it and try to be there when he finishes if you can. If he is local, you don't want to piss him off by not resolving this just in case he is the type of guy who may "get back" at you with some sort of vandalism at a car show or? Sorry. I'll "stop whipping a dead horse".
Next time you see a older car with a original interior look it over as most of the time there is something that does not line up,with that said I would never let a seat go out the door with it being off that much. The interior in my 55 Ford is all original and would not pass a customers inspection today as it has stitching that is not even and not much lines up plus a color that is not supposed to be there,its going to take alot of work to get everything to line up alot closer then it is now.
Even though I have been doing auto upholstery for over 20 years I do not like working with someone elses tools or their shop,the job takes too long due to not having the all the tools or something else happens so I want to be where I am comfortable.
I never wanted him to do it at my garage but that's the way he works. He sewed everything at his house and fit and finished at mine. I know now to never give half down again because you are kind of stuck until you cut your losses and move on that's what I'm doing closed!
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