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Sadly my little bro, Matt, is having some real trouble, thanks to a car bodywork specialist who's done a really, really poor job. The car's a mk2 Escort, and the bodywork guy took the car in April / May for a complete respray and some welding. Basically he then messed about, re-did some bits very badly, messed bro about some more..... And then a couple of months back us OSRCC guys met up as per usual down the pub, only to see my bro's car on a skanky transporter in the pub car park!  Turned out the bloke who was supposed to be repairing it had sub'd the work out to another local bloke with a very, very bad reputation. Needless to say this guy f****d up the work completely, AND set fire to the interior, destroying the driver's seat and door card and causing further damage to the car! The paint that was originally put on is coming off (and TBH looked wibblepoo anyway - plenty of orange peel and pimples) and no-one wants to take responsibility. Here's what £800 gets you:      Several more where those came from.  So far the man responsible has tried saying "take me to court, I'll say I've never even seen it"; "take me to court, they'll only make me put it right"; "I'll put it right"... How the f! can Matt trust him to put it right? That's what the pyromaniac guy was supposed to be doing! After some help from the CAB today - top people BTW - a letter has been drafted, so we'll see how it goes. I was wondering if anyone's ever had similar grief, or knows what a court would do about it? The CAB seemed to think a full refund plus compensation for the interior would be the order of the day but obv. going to court would be best avoided.... Well, I feel a bit better getting that off my chest! I'm not going to name and shame right now for fear of prejudicing legal proceedings, although I wouldn't like to see any RR-ers going to the same "repairer" (who incidentally also botched the rear arch on my Sapphire - twice - before I got it!) If anyone knows the law I'm happy to post up a copy of the letter, just to make sure we haven't made any schoolboy errors! |
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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nightmare, I know 'dococtane' over on RCC had a gut wrenchingly curse word paintjob on his capri, i can try open wounds and ask for experience advice if ya want...  |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts  |
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those pics are still shocking me the sill closing panel is a bad one (the bottom pic), for scale, you can get a finger in there! and this is from a place that advertises classic car resto's FFS |
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When it's all over......name and shame.....it's a pity that shysters like these think they can get away with it, I just hope that your lil' bro gets a result....and if he doesn't, rip the twunt's head off and jolly well drop a log down his neck I feel for you. |
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too many people still see our cars as bangers, and take little care, what annoys me but this sort of thing is another level! |
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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What's scary is how unsurprised I am by this. Finding a good mechanic/paintshop is very hard...a lot of the time it's not that the people you employ are ripping you off it's just that they didn't realise their own limits. That's the biggest problem for me - I know my own skill level, it's just the people you pay don't know theirs!
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Samage
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,467
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If he's going to deny it in court, get him to admit it over the phone. And record the conversation. That should wipe the smile off his face in the courtroom...
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I've had experience of the small claims court. It's great because solicitors are not allowed so it's cheap. You can file a claim and have it heard by a judge. You need to very very clear about what you expected and what actually happened. You also have to pay a small fee. You're there to explain why you think Mr mechanic needs to compensate you. So you'll need evidence. Before and after photos. A quote, etc.
On the other hand even if you file a successful claim he may not show up to court and the police or court bailiffs may not pursue him. Is there a trading body that represents mechanics? If so, complain about him to them.
Option 1 - go to court, file a claim. Option 2 - just move on and forget it. It's easy to let these things drive you up the wall. Much more difficult to be able to say balderdash to it, and go elsewhere to get the work done.
Charlie
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Last Edit: Jan 4, 2007 22:09:49 GMT by charlie
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Quite agree Brian, if we don't get a good result, the whole story's going up on a purpose-made website for a start..... too many people still see our cars as bangers, and take little care, what annoys me but this sort of thing is another level! That's the trouble - "Oh yeah, it's only an old banger....." And that's the reason I haven't taken my project Sapphire anywhere to have any bodywork done yet! Admittedly there are good guys out there - I can't fault the bloke who did my mk1 Escort. The car was a bit of a pigs ear, he told me it'd never be a silk purse - but I was happy with the result, and knew what to expect when I collected it! |
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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Option 2 - just move on and forget it. It's easy to let these things drive you up the wall. Good advice. You could just name and shame him and then let him take you to court! ;D You could show the evidence as your defence. |
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Some more good points here!
I think Matt would like to just sell the car and forget it but he's not one to be stitched up! Plus he really can't afford to lose the money.
The repairer doesn't realise we've got photographic evidence of EVERYTHING - before and after, pics of the car now etc etc. I think it'd be a straightforward case....
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,962
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Small Claims - he probably won't even turn up to defend it ;D
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Panda Matt
Part of things
Datsun Owners Club Wannabe
Posts: 734
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I'll happily name and shame the garage I was messed about with: www.classic-german-car-restoration.co.uk/(although the website now seems to be dead). Known as IVS Restorations -Fine for little bits of engine work, questionable quality when it comes to larger more complex bits, and excellent at 'losing' spares. I've since heard from others about poor experiences there. My experience of the CAB was poor, but Trading Standards were a little slow but much more effective. They were running a campaign targeting shonky garages relatively recently. I ended up getting the bits I wasn't happy with sort of sorted out, and a chunk off the bill (but still paid over the odds IMHO, and payed almost 50% over the original estimate). ...I would have taken it further, but it took so long every time the car went back for something else to be sorted - it was never a priority, no matter how many times I phoned up to ask about progress. I was getting very depressed, and just wanted to get rid of the car and start paying off my debts - I can 100% understand where your brother is coming from. I really don't think I could have gone any further. My advice is to keep schtum on the company name until this is resolved, see where you get with the CAB, get in touch with TS now anyway - it can't hurt any... Small Claims sounds like a winner to me, especially if you have the evidence as well. |
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i feel realy gutted for you dude, theres nothing, well theres somethings, worse than having work on your pride and joy buggered up.
when my dad was building the dark blue maxi ( The one built from a NEW shell) he wanted a good local company to do it, he didnt want a glass-type finish, something a little more original looking. He foung a small garage in a local village and after seeing the quality of his work he let him do it.
On ariving to pick the car up he noticed something wrong. It was black. ''well i used the paint you gave me'' he says .It turns out the useless stoner of a oddjobber there dropped the lid in the paint when he opened it, trapping the white/colour pigments under the lid so when it was stirred ...........
after accepting blame for it he redone it and it looked really good, dad was well chuffed. He locked the car away for a month or so to let it harden properly before he cut it back. As soon as he started to cu it back it all went dark, all the W%&$£R had done was dusted it so my dad stormed back up there and the bloke was............ GONE!
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madmart
Part of things
love is: valvebounce in top gear
Posts: 559
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I feel for you, ive had to put right work thats been bodged before,
IMO i would take it to court if you have before pics, if he doesnt show or the courts don't agree i would put a full page ad in the local rag and a link to a website ect.
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I had a garage butcher my 35 because of a bodge he/part-time sprayer did on my brothers Fiesta RS. The bumpers and skirts on it were really bashed up (previous owner had it a little too low) so he got some new ones from the scrappy and gave them and the car to this bloke. After about a month of f**kin about saying that he couldn't get the bodykit to stick to the car (!) he put about 20 rivits on the door step to hold the skirts on! The main body colour was moondust silver, but the two bumpers and skirts were a compleatly different colour to the body and each other! My brother refused to pay and just drove off in his car. A week or two later my 35 went to him for some new sills to be put on. I thought he would be a profesional and do the work on my car regardless of the dispute with my brother. How wrong can you get. He delibratly did a curse word job of welding them on and sprayed primer over half the doors, wings & 3.4 panels. I was heartbroken! A sympathetic friend said that he would redo the work for a very discounted price. Now, you cant even tell that only half of it has been sprayed He is the best sprayer I have ever seen! Good luck with getting your brothers Escort sorted! |
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Last Edit: Jan 5, 2007 5:32:44 GMT by MiniDan
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Some strongly worded letters explaining that you intend to take legal proceedings to recover any costs could see a full refund before it ever goes to court. Nothing like an official looking letter to get people to tow the line and let them know you mean business.
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1987 Maestro 1.6 HL perkins diesel conversion 1986 Audi 100 Avant 1800cc on LPG 1979 Allegro Series 2 special 4 door 1500cc with vynil roof. IN BITS. HERITAGE ISSUES.  |
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Has the Place got a website  Might be worth registering the domain name and creating a site to show the "Quality of their work" He`ll then have to buy the Domain off you especially if he advertises in a lot of Rags Make it look really professional and serious, then on the gallery page of work ;D ;D I`d do that regardles of any action taken legally  More than one way to skin a cat |
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It's really disappointing to see how many people have similar stories. I'll keep everyone informed of how we get on..... Has the Place got a website Might be worth registering the domain name and creating a site to show the "Quality of their work" He`ll then have to buy the Domain off you especially if he advertises in a lot of Rags Make it look really professional and serious, then on the gallery page of work ;D ;D I shall be buying the domain name today! ;D |
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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Good plan!
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it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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