Long and short I am probably the cause because I am a mechanic and just cant be a ******* or pushy on other brothers in the same trades. I am perfectly capable of spraying a awesome paint job but elected not to on this complete repaint due to my time frame and the car being black. It was supposed to be a shop job pay 1/2 up front spray it in and out in a month or 2 job complete move it on down the highway. January will be a friggin year since the car was left.

But last sept I went to a well known local shop in bryan who does great work at a reasonable price and he was busy enough I couldn't get the car in to him until January.

They made a good start on it then just stopped and bout a month in. The car is completely blown apart in pieces so painting it should be freakin cake. Minimal body work just few little whiskey dings and a ton of brand new gm parts that are scuff and shoot.
It's been excuse after excuse it's too cold non climate controlled paint booth at shop. I get it, it's texas usually it's good spray weather year round don't need climate controlled booth and we did have a chingo cold winter for us at least last year. Then once weather was moderate in spring it's I'm too busy catching up from backlog of too cold to spray in winter.

Same above excuse for summer too hot black does better in fall yada yada. Well now the ****** weathers perfect and I'm getting the excuse I'm too busy loaded up with insurance work. Maybe have it done in a couple months.
I can handle bodywork and spraying the car myself the reason I farmed it out was cause I wanted the car gone knocked out and back in short order so I could reassemble and enjoy it. If I had a inkling it was going to take this long I would have done the bastard myself. For christs sake they are working on some cars that were not eve built yet when my car showed up at his shop.

How and what is a correct way to pursue this so I don't **** off the guy and get half *** black paint job. Or abort bring it home and do it my damm self this is my 01 TA in my sig.

 

**** him, go pick it up, pay for the work completed and do it yourself, if this guy is as busy as he says he should have invested in a climate controlled booth so he wouldn't be so backlogged to have cars sitting around that long and frankly that amount of time is inexcusable. Plus it's texas, it gets to hot to spray 90% of colors in the summer so that guy should have a climate controlled booth anyway just for that.

 

You gonna get a climate controlled booth because it's too hot most of the time?

Think about what you just said

 

Well got a call as deadline nears and was told it's going into the booth for the doors and rolling chassis by Monday so we shall see. fingers crossed

 

How did this work out for you?

I took my 71 Camaro to a local bodyshop on 10/17/14 to get a paintjob. The body was in good shape, all of the rust repaired or replaced with new panels and in a coat of epoxy primer.

Basically the worst of it were the original fenders, but the doors, had already been done, and back half was done. hood, valance and header were new.








I left them alone for a few months then in mid-December I went to check on it and they never touched it

I got empty promise after promise and they started messing with it a few months ago sporadically.

Up to a month ago their is where it sat and state it was in.









I get a call last wed that they were ready to finish it and they moved the car to a bay. I was excited about this news. He said they were hoping to get it done the end of this week or next. But he needed a 2k down payment to get supplies and stuff.

I went by Thursday and they had it in the "work" bay and the guy was working on one of the fenders. He was actually working on it.

I gave them a 2k cashiers check and left.

I stopped by today to check progress and they moved the car out of that work bay to the other building and nothing else had been done to the car. The fender was done, but no primer had been put on it yet. No progress since last week.

I figured they moved my car out of the bay to make room for the insurance jobs they are doing. But as it stands it's been almost 7 months and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore. Cars on the backburner again it seems...only difference is they have some of my money now.

I want to just give them time to finish it, but a part of me feels like a dumbass or taken advantaged of.

I haven't went up there and showed my *** yet, but I am not really wanting to do that and complicate things further.

 

That's really F****up guys ... I've always hated taking in the TA for fixes. Hope things work out for you two.

 

You are not a "dumbass", they are dishonest. This happens all too often in this industry and there is no need for it. I would not give them another cent until significant progress has been made. These situations are why I refuse to let anybody else do any work to my vehicles, there are so few trustworthy, reputable people in this industry. Good luck.

 

I never understood how business's being run like this can stay in business very long

 

Insurance work

I forgot where I saw it, but a tip I saw somewhere said before you choose a shop, go check it out one day then go a couple months later and see if any of the cars sitting around have moved.

 

That's a good idea

 

There becomes a point to where you'll lose confidence in the integrity of the shop. That's when you'll walk in with your D hangin out and get your car, your cash and take it somewhere worth a ****.


Until that happens, these guys are hold your rides hostage. I'd be pretty upset.


A couple of weeks here and there is one thing, but this sounds like we're getting close to years. F that.

 

That's how I feel, I don't really trust my shop to commit to any deadlines anymore.

I come up with a timeline of dates, I'm giving this to them today or tomorrow and planning to get the car in two weeks whether it's done or not

Here's the paper I typed up and just took over

 

Here's the end of that letter, I signed and dated it and dropped it off earlier

__________________________________________________ _________

10/16/14 – 5/20/15 is the total time car has been at the shop
This means the car has been at the shop for 7 months and it’s not even done yet. It’s moving at a snail’s pace at the moment.

I think I have been pretty flexible and patient, but the car has shown little progress over the time span and we keep being told “soon” or “next week” and none of the commitments are being met.

Not trying to sound selfish, I honestly don’t feel that you should be taking on new insurance jobs until your commitment from October 2014 to paint my car is taken care of. This means that my car is in the work bay and being worked on hot in heavy until it’s done. Which realistically shouldn’t take more than a few weeks.

Keep in mind, I got the estimate around august of last year for the paint job. I never called you guys back about it. And I got a call from your shop at the first of October that you had a bay open and ready to take the car. You called me. Had I known it was going to be in paint jail for almost 8 months or longer I most likely wouldn't have committed.

I’ve been meaning to say, but it feels like my wife and I are being avoided when we pull up to check on the car. It feels like everyone sees us coming and scrambles to look pre-occupied with something. We stand there and have to get your attention. Not a feeling a customer wants to have that’s giving a shop our business.

I’m kind of being put in a bad spot because we definitely want the work finished on this car and everyone is happy. But at this point I feel like I have been lied to and mislead over the missed dates and deadlines.
Because I can’t get a firm commitment on a completion date I feel like I need to establish one. I had planned on taking my weeks’ vacation in June to put my car back together after paint.

Having said that I will be picking my car up Thursday 6/11/15 whether it’s done or not. I will pre-schedule a flatbed trailer to come get it then. That’s 14-15 working days starting now. I feel almost 8 months to finish this car is being patient enough and needs to happen.

Because if I don’t put a date, I really feel like when that 6/11/15 date comes, the car will be in pretty much the same state it’s in now. I have no choice in the matter anymore.

I’m a business man, and the last thing I want is a negative experience over this whole ordeal more than what it already has been. So I am hoping the car gets finished before then and we can finish this out and you never have to hear from me again.

If for some reason you can’t commit to that or not willing to finish the car please let me know ASAP so I can make arrangements to get my car sooner.
We will need to sit down and figure out the expense for what has been done to the car already and if it has met the $2000 I already paid. Which I feel it hasn’t.

I will then have to source out another shop that can commit to finishing my car by a specific date or reasonable time, which is all I wanted.
Thanks for your time

Dennis XXXXXXX

 

I'll tell you what you have more patience than me. Good luck with this

 

Yeah it's tough, def stressing over this. Make it even harder when I see people enjoying their projects and cars right now with the nice weather.

Made a blog over this, basically to vent and keep a record of everything with the shop

https://sites.google.com/site/paintjail/home

 

Boy that's terrible! Good luck on the car rescue!

 

My cars still stuck like chuck excuse after excuse. How hell a shop can stay in business and work like this is beyond me. I ran into one other local guy a customer of mine and we both started cross complaining and his grand national has been stuck in paint jail at the same shop for 8 years. Like me he also dropped it off paid some and set a get it done as you have time time limit. There is only one reason the car is still there and that's because in the middle of all of this my wife and I are having to move our house we have been renting and paying extra per month toward the down payment in order to purchase real soon and the ***** just got sold out from under us out of the blue.

So until we get moved into our new house having the car stuck there is just like having free storage and it out of my way. Now after we are moved and my shop is set back up at new house I'm going to show up with trailer and paint it myself.

My car went in on Jan 4 2014 and as of 5-27-15 still stuck like chuck with minor work done on it. The cars cake it's 100% disassembled theres no body work involved it's sand it block a few times it few minor dings mix some black paint spray it and done.

 

Yeah I don't get why shops keep cars that long too, I think the 7 months mine has sat is long....but yours is def inexcusable. Once they hit "years" the chance of it getting done gets slimmer and slimmer.

 

EIGHT YEARS?! how on earth do you leave your car somewhere for eight years, that paint job better have been liquid gold and made the car bullet proof!
76 camaro guy in my opinion I think your letter is the best way to handle it with setting the deadline, you've waited long enough. hope you don't lose out on any money if they don't work on it

 

Any updates on getting car back?