A sure way to get your car back is for several of us Buick nuts together to pay a visit to the shop that has your car. After a few words of wisdom to the body shop guys and seeing what we have in mind for them if the car is NOT released ,they will be glad to give up your car. This might cause the local Sheriff to track you down, but you will have the car in YOUR possession. Makes it much easier to deal with the bad guys. Ken
Sounds like you are on the right track now. Go after him hard too!! Getting the car straightened out will cost near as much as having it fixed right the first time. Make their checkbooks pay for it. Good Luck.
Un freaking believable:af: If that happened at a shop my car was at, the owner of the shop would have a long series of "accidents":grin:
Well, Bob(the first bodyman) called tonight and said he'd been by there today to inspect it.He said they'd smoothed the edges some, but by and large the car remained as I saw it. He said the body man and painter were there and he began showing them the problems. They were nasty and tried to kick him out. He did say he poked around despite them and found my bumpers and some other parts that he recognised. He tried to take them, but they wouldn't let him. Sounds like I've got a solid case of THEFT. At least they haven't tried to sell them. He's going by there again tomorrow to meet with Ernie, and I told him that my last offer is to have BOB redo the car completely and I will pay Bob. Then Bob can decide if he wants to give Ernie any money out of it. I made it clear that if Ernie treats him poorly, to tell him that the offer is withdrawn, and his time for making decisions regarding the outcome is drawing quickly to a close. I myself, am through talking to Ernie or Paul. Bob's visit tomorrow is his last chance to resolve this thing amicably. I am willing to give Bob one more chance to do the car right, as that's what I wanted in the first place, and I know he has the skill to do it right. I won't be as patient as before. Let's see what tomorrow brings....Dan
Thanks Phil! I figured it would cause problems if too many people showed up to look at it, especially if Ernie's guys got nasty. I will keep you all posted. Dan
everywhere you go or hear it seems like its the same old story with bodyshops,my friends chevelle has been sitting in the body shop for 3 years,my other buddy`s coronet was suppost to be ready last month and it looks like it aint gonna be ready for another 2 months,whats th deal with bodyshops and bodymen,i dont get why they do that?o No:
Dan, I just wanted to say I'm damn pleased to see you doing the right thing. This guy will think twice before crossing another customer, maybe even lose his business and learn that "cheating" doesn't pay off. Like I said, I went throught he same thing a while back, after all the dust settles, it sure makes you proud to know you didn't just roll over.
I think it's greed. After reading about this, it sure sounds like that shop is a real '3 stooges' establishment. Bob, Ernie, and Paul. :spank:
Dan.....I got a great Idea When all is said and done, and you're car is safely tucked away in your garage......Lets have some FUN !!! Post Ernie and Sons Phone number (Dumb & Dumber ??) here on the board.....we make it a Sticky.....and every day one of us calls and has a go at busting his balls :Brow: :grin: :laugh: Make a contest out of it where we post back here what we said to him, but everybody ends the conversation with....... " Ernie ?? DONT F*@K WITH THE BUICK COMMUNITY !!! :af: :af: .....click -------------- "Hello Ernie ?? Im Dr. Phelps. Your physician called me to schedule a full lower GI exam for you - how does Tuesday sound ??" "Hello Ernie ?? Im your new insurance broker - after reviewing your policy we've decided to cancel your policy...." "Hello Ernie ?? Im Inspector Roberts from the Internal Revenue Service. There seems to be a problem with your filings for the past 5 years. Please gather all of your documents covering all business accounts for those years as I'll be visiting your office next Monday...."
That's really cruel, but the IRS is a really bad idea. We could get prosecuted for impersonating a theif!:grin:
No no no no no. You can't do that. Get me his name and number and I'll post it somewhere conspicuous online as a free Phone Sex hotline. Then get me his address. You'd be amazed at the kinds of free samples you can get sent to people over the internet.
Dan, Sorry to hear about your car. I hear about these stories all the time because we usually are the ones to straighten out other shops disasters. Unfortunetly, a lot of this could be avoided by using a professional restoration shop instead of getting a good deal at the local body shop. Body shops make there money on insurance work. The faster they are, the more profit they make. They don't care what it looks like in a year because odds are that the customer won't own the car in a year. It will be traded and sitting on a car lot somewhere. We see our projects and customers for years. I hear all the time that we are too expensive and take too long. THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT. I have a great example in my shop right now. A 56 Ford pickup. A shop in west Texas started on it. Did about 10k worth of work over 2 years. The owner got concerned that nothing was being done so he went to take a look. What he found was a disaster. We ended up with the truck. The frame was wire brushed and painted. The suspension appeared to be rebuilt. The body was a disaster and about half the truck was missing. So he was 10K in the hole plus set the project back another 10k or so by having to repace parts that were missing or destroyed. I wish people would understand that there is a big difference in a body shop and a professional restoration shop. We do restorations, period. We do not do "paint jobs" or insurance work. Yes we are more expensive and yes we do take more time. That's because we do it right the first time.
I have story to tell about my body shop experience. After 8 months ,which I had agreed to not push the issue,I looked at my car and it was painted Red as requested but not polished. After looking I was concerned about the final results. A week later my body shop guy calls and said the car is finished. I had agreed to reassemble the interior,put on all new rubbers,install glass ,bumpers etc. I said that I would be right down and drive it home with no windows???? Body shop guy said he would deliver the car on his flat bed truck. One hour later this truck shows up with the most georgous RED Skylark I have ever seen. Absolute quality workman ship and a finish like a mirror on a show car. I would like to post the car pics on the board, but don't know if I can get the job done. Any one with experience let me know. Ken
All of these are great ideas. I can't wait until it IS tucked safely in my garage. I only wish the first guy had called me to come get it when he decided it was too much for him. I am talking to some people down there, but no response yet from the AG or BBB. Next round of calls is to my local and Austin's congressmen. Dan
My experiences with the BBB and any local TV stations mostly is they are very slow to respond. I think they like to have more than one complaint in their hands before they believe your story. I once had a problem with Verizon wireless that a local station helped me with, and it took nearly 2 months before I heard back from them. Incidently, I'm still having problems with Verizon and now that our contract is up I'm cancelling our service with them altogether this week. I expect trouble because the way they keep customers is by holding them to oral contracts that were never made. Good luck, Dan. I think we have all been there in one way or another.:bglasses:
Dan, Not much that I can say that hasn't already been said, but I know how frustrated you must feel. Since we've emailed back and forth some about your car, I was aware of some of the problems but got a whole new perspective in reading thru this thread. Sounds like you're taking the right approach and exercising a LOT of patience to ensure the best outcome. Hopefully that will pay off. You're the one that has to make the call on whether you trust Bob to do it right the second time. Not sure I could, but I'm not the one having to consider all the alternatives and or options just to get your car back in one piece.... Wish you the best of luck with this; if there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Steve
