I talked with the owner about profesionally painting a vehicle I am restoring. They were very friendly at first and showed me the shop. Promissed me a good job.( my big mistake was to not get everything in writing and with a set timeframe noted)
I stripped the car myself before I brought it in so it was ready for prep. A price was agreed upon and a time frame of 2 to 3 weeks.
I checked on the progress often since I live nearby and it was convenient. They had told me they could not work on it right away since their main business is collision repair. They started several days later to sand the car and fix some minor body dings. After a few weeks they had painted the roof and told me it would be ready the next week. I took time off from work to work on the car after I would get it back and I was promissed several times it would be ready by then ( 5 weeks after I brought it in). To make this long story short:
I took my car out of there 9 1/2 weeks later and in unsatisfactory condition, paint job was worse than what MAACO delivers, when I told them about this before I picked it up they started fixing things but in the end they did not follow trough and deliver a good product, it was less than half finished, some parts like the hood were excellent others terrible, earlier pinstriping is visible through the paint, damaged paint from putting back windowmolding, dull spots allover and a minor dent and some rockchips just painted over and visible.When these issues were brought up a week before, the owner was very apologetic and told me they would take care of it, I told them I expected this to be taken care of including some kind of discount for the more than 6 week delay. At consequent daily inspections I was flat out lied to about what they had done and were going to do to set things straight.
On the day I picked it up I was flatout told this is the best we can do, we are not going to do anything more to it and there is no discount whatsoever! "You got a factory-like paint job". I tell you what if factories delivered cars like this they would not sell many! When I got it home the driver side window did not roll down anymore and I found out that the some of the hardware they removed was put in upside down.
I am exteremely disappointed in this shop and their work.
Things only started getting done after I complained and then they were rushed and done very poorly.
I understand their business is mainly collision repair but they should have not accepted the job if they could not deliver a product to be proud of. I consulted with knowledgeable people and was told what I got is about a third worth what I paid for.
In the end after more than nine weeks I was blown of with an inferior product. I think this shop is capable of doing a good job but they just chose not to do it because they had more lucrative collision work to do...
After all, very poor service and unsatisfactory work. GRADE F
RESPONSE FROM Automotive Impressions:
We are sorry it took longer than anticipated. However, it is of no benefit for us to delay a vehicle. We do give collision repair priority because these are vehicles people depend on for their daily transportation. I too, am sorry we did not write expectations on paper to be signed by both parties. We have been in business for 18 years and always strive to do the best job possible and strive to satisfy the customer.
more