91black5spd

I have a '91 firebird 5.0L TBI all stock that is in excellent condition with only 50k miles on it. The only flaws it had were stone chips on the front bumper, slight discoloration of the bumper and about 3 very small door dings. These were not that noticeable but I bring the car to car shows and I am very meticulous. So, I decided to get the bumper painted and some paintless dent repair on the door dings. I left the car at the body shop for ~6weeks because they were busy and were waiting on the front decal for the bumper. Finally it is done...
I went to pick the car up this past weekend and the rear bumper was hit so that the paint is scraped off and the bumper is cracked along the aero ground effect with part hanging down and part of it buckled in. I was angry about it and told the guy there that they would need to replace the bumper and paint it. The owner had left for the day. Today I talked to the owner who said that the car was like that when I dropped it off! He had actually gone around the entire car with me when I dropped it off and this would have been obvious, not to mention why would I get some minor stone chips fixed on the front but leave a damaged rear bumper? Man am I pissed, going to meet with him this week.
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The other thing that is crazy about it is that I and my family have had previous repair work done on multiple cars at this shop. You would think he would not want to lose business.

408irocz

Stick to your guns man, I feel your pain. I understand, why would you not want to get that fixed if you knew that was there already!

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

That's why I do everything myself. Plus I have terrible luck at any and all shops so I just stay away

RedHawkLB9

i work at a bondo shop....just keep going back and complaning

89 iroc conv

This happens i have worked in a body shop over 20 yrs, my advice is to never leave a car for longer then it takes to make the repairs . make a appointment for when work can be started. rent a cars are expensive. parts need to be ordered and bodyshops run out of room . i have to pull cars in and out daily. because people want to leave the car when we tell them up front work will not being untill said date . as a man that makes his liven in a body shop . let me say those cars are in my way .i call them stored but not restored lol. however i think the shop and mine would fix the bumper. damaged there are not . the customer is allways right. it should never take 6 weeks for the repairs u had done . that bodyshop is probably no better then the next . and ur bumper no more then 3 days for repair and refinish . set a date!!

MYZ28NH

Reading this thread brings back bad memorys for me.

Dropped my Z off at a garage and because it wouldn't start the owner used his plow blade to push my car into his garage bay. Did some nice damage and when I picked it up he had it backed against a wall hoping I would just get in it and drive away without seeing the damage. The guy tried to deceive me and like a fool I let him change the valve seals as compensation for the damage. The motor blew up a couple weeks later.

Another time I dropped my truck off at a garage and the attendant dropped the bay door on the hood of my truck. Later when I drove it home the hood was quivering and I got out and flipped. Drove back to the shop screaming. The attendant and mechanic pointed fingers at each other. The owner told me to get the F... off his property.

Took him to court and the judge said I couldn't prove the damage wasn't there to begin with so I lost. I was so pissed I had to sell the truck as I couldn't stand looking at that quivering hood every where I went. Wasn't bad enough to replace just enough to make me sick watching it going down the road.

To this day whenever I need work done I take the day off from work and stand there all day watching my S--t with my arms folded till it's done.

rough

hold your ground man, he has to fix it. Just tell them your calling the cops and they will do it.

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

Your guy doesn't want to lose your business. Don't go see him with a chip on your shoulder. Remind him that the two of you walked around the car and it was all good except the work you asked him to do. It doesn't really matter how it happened he should fix it, but you probably signed your rights away when you dropped it off. S**t happens. If the shop owner had known, it probably would have been fixed before you ever saw it. But picture a wash kid telling the boss he just wrecked another one... aint happenin'. Good luck.

rough

Hope you get your ride fixed, someone did that to me, id be pounding on their home door.

91black5spd

I am going to go there on Friday or Saturday to talk to him. Can't get out of work in time today or tomorrow. They really would be stupid not to fix the bumper. My family and I have had a lot of work done there in the past.(My father just had his Tractor Trailer painted there 6 months ago, my fiance had her mustang hood painted 2 months ago, I have had 2 other cars painted there years ago...) We all have nice cars and my father has a classic tractor trailer and this is the second one he has had painted there. So, they could potentially lose a lot of business.

89IROC, you are right that I should have set a date to do it and only dropped it off for that time frame. He initially told me it would be done in a week. I then called once or twice a week and they kept saying that it was delayed or they were too busy. I tried not to get too pissed that it was delayed. I told them I didn't want them to rush the job and wanted it done right.

89 iroc conv

well all in all it's unfornate that it happened . i have been a painter for 20 yrs and now a shop ower . it's unfornate that most bodys shop's don't know how to set a date . like using ro #s for cars . but anyway it's happened before and ever shop i have worked in the damage was repaired before the customer picked up the car . it was probably a new guy scared to say anything about it.... keep the set a date get car back in mind .. for other reason's i won't go in too. keep your kool but remember as the customer u are right .

89 iroc conv

unfortunate spelling is not a strong point .. for me

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

They weren't delayed, they were taking in other jobs before yours. I had the same thing happen to me on a Blazer I had painted, three months turned into six months and I had to threaten to get my suv done and back in one piece.

The reason why is because you were paying them out of pockets, insurance jobs pay more and if there is a steady flow of insurance wrecks coming in...they aren't going to stop to work on your car.

Worst thing you can do for a body shop is to tell them "I'm in no hurry"

Happens all the time....

online170

Anyone who takes their car to shows, takes lots of pictures. Tell him you have proof that it was not damaged when you brought it in, and that he should do the right thing....

boldguy

Son of a bitch.

I am going to take my digital cam with me next time i go anywhere!

My dad took his jaguar in to the dealer for service and someone totally F-ed up the front bumper, and that is all they said, It was like that when it came in. Stupid, terrible workers. If i did that to someone elses car, i would never in a million years tell them it was there when it came in, IT IS THERE CAR and they would know. F-ing Liars!

I feel your pain man, let us know how it goes, you should bring a set of brass knuckles.

mattsv8_03

iTrader: (2)

and always take pics of the car when you drop it off. and when you pick it up. they can go a long way in proving what happened otherwise its all heresay. make shure the date code on the camera is on aswell

TREK

Not sure i this has been mentioned. if you got a writing estimate when you dropped your car off, take a look at the estimate, it should have a picture of a car. this is where they mark all the damage on the car when it was dropped off. if he didnt note the damage on that piece of paper his screwed.

mmadden55

My Brother backed his Chevy truck into a loading dock and wiped out the left rear 1/4 panel. He took it to a reputable shop in town. When he went to pick it up the work was done perfectly. The only problem was they had accidently put the 1/4 for his Chevy on a GMC and the 1/4 for the GMC on his Chevy.

91black5spd

I spoke with the owner this weekend. He admitted that he did not see the damaged rear bumper when I originally brought the car in. The dent man who worked on it about 2 weeks after I brought it in, did see it. So, it may have happened in that time span.
In the end he was really good about it and they are going to fix it without charging me for it.