Question for body shop owners on work done on car

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:28 pm
I have a question for those of you that run a auto body shop, or smart enough to:
My second visit to a body shop ended pretty strange, here goes:

I had a quarter sized ding on one of my doors for my hatchback I went to a body shop in my area and used my insurance. He offered to only charge me ½ for the deductible (I didn’t ask). I had never had to get two doors repainted and I asked him how it would look when it was done. He said if you look and notice something, we’d re-do it. You won’t be able to tell there’s a difference. The car was finished, I walked out happy. Between insurance and deductible, probably paid $1,200 or so.

Fast forward three months later. Special thanks to my bike, I got the same quarter sized ding on the same car, this time in a more discrete spot, underneath the door handle. I didn’t want to go through insurance again. I asked him if he could fix a smaller area cheaper. He told me he could do it for $400. He said he paint a smaller area and there might be discoloration, probably not. The car was finished, I walked out happy. I paid him cash

Two days later, I noticed he forgot to put the door guard on, and I noticed some bumps in the paint. He responded and said he’d be more than happy to do the door guard, but there would be a charge to do the buffing, because they charge for that. Exact words were “Usually we cut and buff the panels to get rid of those bumps but we charge labor time for it” I responded back and reminded him of his comment the first time I was there about not noticing anything. He responded back via email and said he’d do it

Once I get there, he was just about distraught he had to do the work. Response was he only charged me half of my deductible the first time, customers are always trying to get something more, etc. etc. etc. I reminded him he did not disclose I may have dust bumps in the paint. And if that was a risk, he should have disclosed it beforehand. He agreed he should have, he’d circle back to his same point, he was distraught. Almost childishly distraught.

Finally I said, just put the door guard on, I don’t need the buffing done. I didn’t want someone unhappy working on my car, doing something they didn't want to do.
Overall, a really good guy, for some reason still glad I gave him business, did really good work the first time. However, can’t use him again! I just don’t see his point since there was no disclosure

I really know nothing about cars. So, my question to all of you out there is, what am I missing here? Outside of possible discoloration from doing a smaller area that was clearly disclosed and accepted as a risk, should I be expecting some dust spots in my paint after job completion w/o any disclosure it might happen?

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:57 am
:rotfl: In all the years I had the shop I never tried the distraught approach. Maybe I should have.... :idea:

That said, I used to be constantly amazed at how customers seemed to demand the same standard of work from a cheap job as from an expensive one. From time to time I'd get roped in to do a cheapie and every single time it would come back and bite you on the backside.

The way to do a cheap job is to spend less time on the preparation before painting or on the finishing after painting. The actual paint cost difference on a small job ( 1-2 panels) between the premium paint and the economy paint is very small - maybe $10, so there is little saving to be had there. Of course, over a month that adds up, but not relevant if costing a single job. So, quick scuff, slap a bit of bog in the dent, rough sand, 1K prime, paint and go. That's very likely about 4 hours work, so I'd charge about $400. If I had to sand and feather back, beat out the dent, body file, then epoxy, prime, sand again to flat and level, mask, paint including blend to adjacent panel, wet sand multiple grits and then buff, I'd be looking for at least triple that, so not much different to the $1200 you paid the first time.

The cheap job might have a few dust nibs and maybe peel would be a bit more than the expensive one and there is the chance that blending out over a smaller area or to a panel edge would be noticeable, but, it won't crack or fall off and hey, you just saved $800.

I did a repair on the tailgate of a Hyundai wagon recently. I did it as a favour for another, very good customer who was helping out his friend. It took a bit longer than expected as a result of things outside of my control (parts supply) and there were some scratches on one of the quarters that the owner had asked me to quote on separately but declined to accept as he considered the price too high. Because I had the car anyway I fixed them while waiting for the parts and didn't charge him, instead said "I've done it anyway, just give me what you think is fair". He paid for the tailgate repair, left without saying thank you and I've never heard from him again. It's a major reason why I sold the shop and now just try to do resto work - the customers I deal with now are willing to pay for quality.

Sounds to me like a similar story and even though your repairer did try to manage your expectations by telling you it (the cheaper repair) might not be as good you want your pound of flesh anyway because he didn't specifically mention dust nibs. Not only that but, even though he did you the favour, you're not going to give him any further business.

Nothing personal, but the story, seen from the other side, isn't always the same.
Chris



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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:50 am
:goodpost: same old story people always want a cheap job and then are the first to complain. MOST shops won't do a job like that just for this reson. they will charge full price. me personally, i would have probably did the buff job and sent you on your way. my situation is much different than a shop with a lot of overhead. i get my reputation by word of mouth, so i like everyone to leave with a smile on their face. but there hast to be a point where you're not being taken advantage of. he may have been haveing a real bad day that day, we all have them. after reading, it seems to me that he did you a GOOD job with some money saving perks you should be thankful! it could have been worse, much worse. quality and someone that will work with you is really hard to find these days. he sounds like a keeper! if i were you i'd buy him a pizza for lunch and thank him for all he did.
Jay D.
they say my name is Jay



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PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:56 am
as a shop owner it's pretty much what NFT5 said!
when I 1st opened my shop 30 years ago I would try and take care of customers by doing jobs and not charge them for there deductible or not all of it. it's a mistake to do so.
some customers would want to pay out of pocket for smaller jobs so I would try and cut them a break and do the work for less than full price. this too was a big mistake.
it bit me in the **** a few times when the customer I wrote an estimate for that decided to go thru insurance and showed the insurance CO my lower cost estimate.

the fact that color sanding and buffing is not part of painting means it's an extra charge.
not doing it will save a customer a few dollars but on every estimate I always add it in.
one part of matching paint is to have the paints texture the same as the rest of the cars OE finish. some shop color sand and buff the hole panel/s they paint making them smooth as glass when the rest of the cars OE finish has some texture to it. a little spot sanding to sand out a little dust nugget or two should only take a few minutes were sanding the hole panel smooth and flat like glass takes much longer.

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