Frustrated - I got some bad news today

[bskylerj]

I have to tell you, I am very frustrated. My truck has been delayed at the painters for the last month and a half. I understand it to point as a guy brought his car in and offered him double to get it done in front of mine. He called me and let me know about his offer and said he would pass it through and give me a discount for waiting.

It was supposed to be done by Memorial Day. I stopped in on Friday and he is close. We talked and he said everything would be done and back together by Tuesday afternoon.

Well more bad news came this evening when I got a call from his wife. He has been in a mortorcycle wreck and is in the Hospital. He is in bad shape. he has shattered his ankle and will have to have surgery on it. He also has broke his arm and has some back injuries.

I now am going to have to find another guy to finish it up. I am sorry for the long post but I just had to vent.

[70GMCer]

bummer!! Good luck on finding someone else.

[special-K]

Alot can happen in the coarse of these projects.We often have some real "tales" to tell talking over our nice shiney restored trucks.It`s a process to be reckoned with.Sorry about your luck.I feel bad for him,maybe more.I hope he`ll be alright with that ankle.What stage is your truck at?Untouched,ready for prep/paint?Talk with him about when he can get back on it before jumping to someone else.Could another shop jump right on it?He`s going to need the work when he`s on his feet.Did you pick him because he was the best around?It sucks to have to wait,but he didn`t wreck his bike to mess you up.It`s your decision,think it out.

[truckdude239]

[QUOTE=bskylerj I understand it to point as a guy brought his car in and offered him double to get it done in front of mine. He called me and let me know about his offer and said he would pass it through and give me a discount for waiting.

[/QUOTE] thats what he gets for passing up one fo our trucks lol hope it gets done soon

[72gord]

I know the accident was just bad luck....but are most body shops slow or what?? I have seen alot of posts on this board about bodyshop horrors. My truck has been ready for the body shop for about 6-8 months and still no luck...always somebody getting moved up, but my guy is a friend and does quailty work and gives me a cut on cost so I don't go and bother him. Didn't mean to steal you thread bsk...just an observation

[dboyzalter]

that sucks good luck finding someone to finish the job.. maybe your hospitalized body guy can point you in the right direction... I don't know if I lot of good body guys will be to fast to finish someone elses work...

[Lizzard27]

sorry about your truck. as the son of a paint and body guy i can tell you i have seen alot of the same things happen over the last 30yrs.not to stick up for them or anything, but alot of times what happens is simply this customer agrees on work to be done as the work starts changes are made during the proses.some about color scheme,custom work,or detail.meanwhile shop owner has to do other jobs to pay bills.some jobs are leanghty jobs anywhere from sand and paint, to total body of rest. and can take several months to yrs to complete.depending on labor rate and hours to complete,owner has to do other smaller and quicker jobs in between to keep paying the bills. like i said i don't know about your guy but thats the way it's been for us for the last 30+ yrs. to bad you were'nt closer i could hook you up.lol good luck hope this helps you understand a little bit about the other side.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Sorry to hear, maybe it will work out better in the long run

[_Dick_]

couple things come to mind

trading work is great its a win win ,callin on friends to work for less money is another thing all togeather you want great work but dont want to pay

maybe a betterr way is to buy the paint equipment pay someone to come to your house and teach /paint your truck you get done at your speed you learn whole thing cost less i bet

just an idea ---not mine btw its from a post i saw in last month thanking the board member that came to his house over the weekend to paint his truck

i do wish you all luck

[chevybill]

My truck cab has been in the body shop since November of 2004, one of my best friend's shop. He works on it when things are slow and I get a better deal on pricing. The cab and bed is ready to set back on the frame ( in primer). My intention has been to have the rolling chassis ready by June 15th and all I like is finishing my fuel line. I have complete confidence in him and the quality of his work, in additon, he has to answer the phone and write estimates so it is very time consuming.

[Tom Vogel]

Agod paint job is worth waiting for. These guys arent lazy, just trying to put beans on the table like everyone else. I had to wait almost two years to get mine done, (I was able to keep myself plenty busy with peripheral work on the truck in the mean time). Special-K is right. Be patient, and keep making bi-weekly trips to the shop to let them know you are pateintly waiting. Itll get done and you will be happy with the results.
Tom

[Fred T]

Since it sounds like you are still on good terms with your painter see if he can help find someone to finish the work. If the guy has a good reputation, you could shop around and tell them what the situation is. Someone else in the business should be willing to get you worked in and finish the job.

[PICKMUP]

If you don't care if you ever get your truck done...just set up a "good buddy" deal with a painter. They always take ten times longer, the parts get lost, the painter doesn't really care because it is a "cheap" job anyway, everyone else's work goes first and you will probably get a crappy job over that long period of time.
You all too often have to go get your truck, partly done, so you can get someone else back on it...and new guys don't like cleaning up and finishing someone else's work.
If you want to keep things moving on your project, go to a professional shop, get an estimate, agree to a time schedule, put it in writing and pay for the work like everyone else would...then their business and reputation depends on it.
I can tell a thousand horror stories on paint "deals". Good luck and get going.

[Dano69c10]

Paint it yourself and avoid all the trouble?
Dano

[Rokcrln]

Not sticking up for anyone but I know with my own work things get pushed back. It can be anything from family stuff pops up to other side work that is over priced and you just can't turn it down (1 day roll cage job $1000) but I must say I let people know that now and then other week end jobs will jump in. I do this on the side not for a full time job so I have some wiggle room. Also thru the years I have found that the best talent out their normaly comes in the form of what apears as a flake to the out sider. To the insider it is just a mater of these guys never stop thinking and mentaly designing things and they get distracted very easly. It is not somthing they try and do it is just how they are wired. Hope it all works out for you and hope your body guy heals up alright. I was out for 8months with two shattered ankles and nothing else.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[72 Super]

Sorry to hear of your situation.Are you happy with the work he's done to this point?If you are you may want to be alittle more patient (I know that can be hard sometimes too) but you may find someone who is slower and of poor quailty as well.

Ray

[bskylerj]

Thanks for all of the replies and sorry it has taken so long to get back to them. I woke up and took the kid fishing to get my mind back on track.

I do feel bad for Alan (the paint and body guy) and his family. I know this is not what he wanted or deserved. He actually called today and talked with my wife to see how I took the news and wanted to talk about the truck.

He came highly recomended and has dne several jobs for a shop here in town called Tim's Hotrod. They do top notch work there as shown in 2004 when the Mercury Zepher they built set a record at Barret Jackson's auction in Scott's dale for the highest priced street rod. Then agin in 05 a car they did, Chrysler Airflow set the record again. So I know when they recommended him, he was good.

I do not know much on paint so I am not sure how long everything will take. It has been painted and 4 coats of clear sprayed. I know when we talked on Friday after color sanding the hood he wanted to re-shoot it as he was not happy with the way it turned out. He is as picky as I am so I like that.

I am going up to the hospital tomorrow to see how he is doing and to talk to him on what way to go or to wait. I will let you all know what happens.

[72freak]

Hopefully you can get your truck out of there quickly, with no mechanics leins, and get it to another shop before it starts to rust. Hopefully you have not given him more money than the work he has done and most of all....hopefully you can find someone to pick up where someone else has stopped. Most folks wont work on someone elses body work that they dont know.

Good luck...paint and body guys almost ran me out of the hobby a few years ago.

[drink2mny]

Dam.. I was hoping to see it and hopefully if he was in my price range, get my olds done. But you do know that when it comes out it will be well worth the wait. Hope he recovers soon.

If he has done jobs for tims, he is probably out of my price range though..

I'll keep going to shows and looking for other shops..

Hang in there.

[BigSky71]

The guys wins awards with his work, and it sounds like he is nearly done, so I would suggest you just remain patient. That is probably hard to do at this point but I think it would be a bad idea to have someone else do the last 5% of this paint job.

As a motorcycle rider who has broken an ankle, I can say that it is a long recovery. I was weight bearing after 6 weeks though and could get around ok at that point. So hopefully for both of you he can get partially back into working in that amount of time.

[Fred T]

If you can wait for him to recover and are willing to do it, help him out with the work. You will learn and help him recover. Finding a good painter is tougher than finding a good wife.

[wazooz2424]

Originally Posted by Fred T

If you can wait for him to recover and are willing to do it, help him out with the work. You will learn and help him recover. Finding a good painter is tougher than finding a good wife.

truer words were never spoken

[bskylerj]

Well I went to the hospital and talked with Allen the painter this evening after work. He had been in contact with another one of his friends that helps him out at times and vise versa. Allen had another vehicle this week he was supposed be working on and his friend is going to betaking that one as well. I am going to meet with his friend on Wed. afternoon at Allen's shop to go over the truck. Allen was getting him a list of what he has done and what he was still going to be doing.

This is a surprise to me that he took care of this so fast and while still in the hospital. He is a good person and this shows that he does care about his customers and there vehicles.

[409biscayne]

Man that sucks . Hope the new guy works out , have patience . ( I don't ) Let me know if ya need a hand with anything .
409.

[special-K]

Allen sounds like the kind of bodyman I`d want to deal with,a good guy.I can see where the reputation comes from,no coincidence.
Anyone that want`s a restoration in a hurry or done to a tight schedule is either star-gazing,running a tv show,or new to thw hobby.It`s done when it`s done.It`s all patience and parts.