I can't believe this stuff

[bombcan]

As some of you know my 64 Econoline has been in the body shop since December for a job that was promised to take 3 weeks.

The body shop has now gone out of business.  The owner did tell me what was happening and said that he would finish my van up before he turned the shop over to the new owners.  The new owners took over May 15th.

The new owners took over with nothing being done to the van.  The old owner had agreed to stay on and work for the new owners, and they told him he could finish my van up at their shop.

FInally the new owners decided they would finish the paint job to help me out and to get the van out of their way.  They painted it, and it looks pretty dang good. But, they wanted this SOB to put it back together and deliver it to me.  He won't touch it. He keeps promising, but doesn't deliver. I think I've heard every lie a body man can tell in the last six months.

So they decided to help protect their reputation they would try to put the van back together. Now all the new window rubber has vanished.  The NOS parking lights have disspeared, parts of the window regulators have gone,  the new windshiield and gasket can't be found, and my brand new seats with $400 worth of new tweed upholsetery has been left outside in the rain.  The new spare tire is gone. Who knows what else is missing.

The new owners told me that they would finish the van up for the balance on the job.  $600.00 is all I owe them, (already paid over $2,500).  But that they won't replace any of the missing parts or pay for any more materials that are needed.  They've already billed me for paint for some small parts that had been sandblasted and primed but not painted.

I only have liability insurance on it until I get it finished and appraised, so I have no help from  my insurance company to fall back on.


I guess I could go in and raise he!! about it, but that wouldn't get me anywhere.  I could hire a rollback to go get it and bring it home and try to finish it up by myself, but that will still cost me a couple hundred because the body shop is an hour away from home.

Any suggestions?

[KustomLincolnLady]

dang Rob!!!!!!!!!!!!  your having a day like mine  :cry:

will they let you come in and look around to see if you can find some of the missing stuff?   thats terrible,

don't suppose you have any way of getting in touch with the old owner and asking him if he knows what happened to it, you would think its a van and they would have KEPT everyting INSIDE it!!!!!  Im sorry  

hey did the other guy have ins??? can you find out who and make a claim against them?? (prob didn't have any by the sounds of his operation)

Im not sure what else to suggest, want me to give you the stepb's # she seems to be able to get whatever she wants    (that was a joke, I wouldn't stick her with my worst enemy!!! and sure as hell not with my friend  

Debb

[enjenjo]

Rob, I think i would get it out, and cut my loses. At this point, it sounds like you are going to have to replace that stuff yourself. you should be able to get a glass shop to come out and install the windows in your shop.

[40]

Rob... I certainly wish you good luck! I had a similar experience years ago when I was restoring my Firebird.The shop doing the paint work closed....in the middle of the night....and my car went missing for over 7 years! Turns out,the owner stored the car at his Dads farm and moved to California......7 1/2 years later.....It shows up in my driveway still needing paint with lots of the parts missing.To this day I have no idea how or who left the car in my drive and I have never crossed paths with the scoundrel!Still probably mad enough to punch him in the nose  

[donsrods]

You could pursue it through small claims court,and the chances are you would prevail.  The courts generally hold the business responsible being that they are in a superior position experiencewise.  Sometimes, even the threat of going to court will make someone ante up.

I like small claims court, it's cheap, and you don't have to pay an Attorney.  If he doesn't show up, which he probably won't, you get a judgement.  You could go after his  assets, or even let the judgement lay there.  Somewhere down the road he will want to buy a car or home, and your judgement will stand in his way.

I would do it just to mess with the guy and inconvenience him.

Don

[58 Yeoman]

I think that I'd agree with Don on going to court.  Sounds like the guy is po'd for some reason and is taking it out on you.  A dr. friend of mine finally picked up his old Packard last year after being at a body shop for at least 8 years.  Parts were missing from it, also, and it was still in pieces.

[kb426]

These stories make me ill. I'm not very good but I have been forunate enough to have done my own work my whole life.

[GPster]

I'd have to say that you might be in an un-easy situation. The new shop owner with a $600.00 bill against it can put a lien against it and with you only having liability insurance against it you have little recourse as to the value of it. There certainly seems to be a lot one-man body shops that have these sorts of tales following them. Maybe they should all have someone to watch their finances. Like Boyd Coddington's ex-wife. GPster

[toledobill]

Quote: "I think I've heard every lie a bodyman can tell in the last six months."

Wow -- in six months you can't even BEGIN cataloging the fantasies that the subculture of life that POSE as bodymen can spin..  When you find a RELIABLE bodyman (and they DO exist), you'll know the difference and begin a collection of people you want to hang on to for life.

[tomslik]

I'd have to say that you might be in an un-easy situation. The new shop owner with a $600.00 bill against it can put a lien against it and with you only having liability insurance against it you have little recourse as to the value of it. There certainly seems to be a lot one-man body shops that have these sorts of tales following them. Maybe they should all have someone to watch their finances. Like Boyd Coddington's ex-wife. GPster

i dunno about that.
his "contract" was with the previous owner.....
why do you "owe" them 600 bucks?

[phat rat]

In the spring of 89 my sons 6 month old Camaro was in the body shop after an accident. Shop closed up without telling him. When he went to the shop one day it was empty and his car was nowhere in sight. He went to the gas station next door and was lucky that the person working remembered seeing his car leave on a roll back. He called the wrecker co and was lucky enough to have the driver be the one that answered the phone. After telling him the insurance company had already been notified that the car was stolen he quickly gave my son the address where he had delivered the car. He and I went over there and it was a ramshackle garage/shed that it was in. An old lady came to the door and said her grandson had the car in there. When we told her the situation and that the car was stolen she called the grandson and he got his tail over there real quick when we told him the cops would be paying him a visit if he didn't get his a%& over there pronto. He claimed he had taken the car to fix himself and of course was going to get it back to my son. Yea huh huh, sure he was. My son was lucky as all this only took a 2-3 hours. When all was said and done most all of the work the first shop did had to be done over and the insurance co. paid out almost what my son paid for the car new.

[Husker]

I would have to agree on taking the original guy to court. Of course the burdon of proof is on you but it might be worth the efforts in the end.

[Dave]

Ya id got to court. I think id go beyond small claims though. Even if he dont have squat you might as well mess up the rest of his life. I really hate people like that. I used to do body work and i never screwed anyone but i did make money..
Dave