Ever feel like your the only person who isnt an idiot?

[GreyHoundSteve]

4 days ago i had a nightmare. I have been waiting on the metal and paint work on my cab for over two weeks and last Wednesday i saw the finshed product. It was beutiful, the paint was flawless and you couldnt help but say ... wow, nice work. That evening however i woke up in a cold sweat. I had an awful nightmare that when they were reinstalling the bed and frontend that they rammed them into the cab ...... that nightmare came true on Friday. As sure as you can say WTF my beutiful cab had two 3" deep scratchs in the freshly painted cab from the bolts on the front of the bed. I went and saw the carnage Saturday. My first thought was .... how does something so obvously ignorant like this happen? The response i got from the guilty party was " it was an accident". As if that is some kind of comfort.

I need some advice fellas .... is it possible to repair these scratchs without reshooting a very large section of the cab?

My body guy says that because its silver he would prefer to take the cab back off the frame, put it back in the booth, resand and reprime the entire back half of the cab and then reshoot it again. I am hesitant to let him do this because of the speed at which they have been working and the obvous ignorance that exists in close proximity to my truck and its installation.

I want my truck back! My concern is that if i do alow them the time to fix this scratchs properly that something similar will only happen again later and that the time fixing it will have been a waste. He said it is not possible to just fix this spot without it being noticable but i am at the end of my pateince on the amount of time that is being taken on certain aspects of this project.

This week i have alot of work coming in and my truck was suposed to be put back together for the meantime and then have the rest of the work completed months later when time allowed again but if i let them reshoot it then it will probably sit in a pile for the next few months and i fear that it will suffer further "accidents" in that time. What should I do?

[ChevyDude]

I would say make them fix it and tell them You are picking up the truck up on THIS date and have it done OR ELSE! Did you have an agreed dat as to when the truck would be finished? I had the same thing with delays when my truck was being painted. They never damaged anything but if you want to talk about slow...holy crap.

When I first read this I did not realize it was your Dad's shop that painted the truck....kind of changes my opinion and I think you need to be more tolerant. Let them fix it and back off a bit.

[mocwon]

If the scratches are behind the front bed front panel I would just have him fix them and blend the paint since it won't be seen anyway. Otherwise, I'd take his advice about re-shooting it. If he doesn't think he can do it otherwise, he knows his limitation.

Just as a note..... I'd have to put myself in the idiot category too. While I was mocking my truck up by re-installing the bed I put two 4" long scratches on the back of the cab. Thank goodness it was still in primer and was an easy fix. When I assemble it for the final time in paint I'll have a couple of friends help guide it while lowering it in place.

[texnician01]

I covered those bolts with a couple layers of cardboard when I did mine. Dad and I set it on with an engine hoist and chains to the mounting holes. we notched the mounts on the frame and the box too and set the box back about 1 1/2 inches. You can't tell that it is set back unless you measure it or have an awesome eye but then those big bumps don't dent the back of the cab anymore.

Nathan

[Brainchild]

This week i have alot of work coming in and my truck was suposed to be put back together for the meantime and then have the rest of the work completed months later when time allowed again

If it's just gonna sit in one piece anyway I'd make him fix it.I know you want it back,but if it's just gonna be waiting anyway what is the difference?Plus it'll make him more aware next time,trust me,I have redone work because of this,and it makes you pay attention

[lost wages]

he offered to fix it the right way by reshooting the whole thing, let him.

[bagged74]

you know accidents DO happen. I guess if you are so unhappy with these "idiots" you could do it yourself and see how it turns out. They are trying to make it right by fixing it.

[4x4Poet]

I sense some irony here. We should admire the "idiots" for owning up to their mistake and standing behind their work at no charge to the customer.

[LT4XTREME]

I would let them fix it. But come on a accident what kind of body shop is this? A accident happens the first time. Is this the first time they ever installed a truck bed? Do they not have any big thick blankets for assembly work? You know the kind you need to lay in the painted floor board to protect the rocker panels while assembling the doors and interior, to lay on the tailgate and/or in the bed while walking in it to do something to the roof, to lay on the cowl/front fenders to install the windshield, cowl panel, hood hinges, hood. Any good shop has done this kind of damage but that was 10 or 15 years ago when they didn't know better. They should know all the tricks of the trade if that's the trade they make a living at. Also masking tape is your assembly friend use several layers any time there is a chance to damage the paint. Tape off the front fender bottoms when installing the front bumper. Tape the top of the doors inside and out when installing the door glass. Tape off any thing you don't want damaged and just leave the small area that you are working on exposed like when installing the door latch plates on the cab your only working on approx. a 3" x 5" area hold the latch up there to judge and tape off the rest or you will get one bolt installed and bump it to make it swing and have a huge scratch in those beautiful door jams. Buy good tape 3M brand so the adheasive will come off with the tape. Tape is cheap alot cheaper than a scratch.

[Staceydude]

Originally Posted by 4x4Poet

I sense some irony here. We should admire the "idiots" for owning up to their mistake and standing behind their work at no charge to the customer.

I would gladly let them fix it again the right way.... sure it sucks but as was said above compared to all the nightmares we read about guys getting screwed over for months on end.... sounds like you at least have a guy willing to fix it.... and fix it the right way.

Take pics of the damage and keep the pics to tell stories about it three years from now when the added wait does not seem like such a big deal anymore.

As long as you can afford to let them fix it do it now.

Best of luck...

We wanna see pics

Regards,

Stace

[GreyHoundSteve]

Sorry, i posted this when i was upset. The reason i refered to them as "idiots" is because of the obvous mistakes that have been made. Do i have the knowledge of paint and body that they do? NO, but do i have enough common sense to avoid potentially damaging accidents like this? YES!

Like i mentioned before, i had a nightmare about this a few days before it happened but i went back to sleep easily because i thought to myself .... surely no one who does as good of work as was done would be careless enough to make such an obvous mistake ....... i was wrong.

I had witnessed other things prior to this to lead me to believe that i should be weary but as with anything you have to have some faith in the people you intrust to do the work however when the interior pieces had been painted (ducting) i noticed that they werent cleaned prior to painting. Now again .... i dont know much about painting but i would think that common sense suggests that if someone is dropping some serous $ on a resto job that they would probably expect the ducting to be cleaned prior to painting it.

Am i asking too much here?

The people doing the work are actually employees of my father. They work for him and get paid about 3 times as much as body shop employees make but since they had a lapse in work he gave them an oppurtunity to stay busy by working on my truck. His company is footing the bill on the labor and i am paying for materials. As it stands im definately getting the better end of the deal however these individuals who are doing the work are more than qualified to do it and are getting paid much more than they would be if they did this for a living so i have llittle empethy for their excuses but mostly the reason why i am upset is because the two gentlemen who did the paint work are friends of mine and i know the love and labor that was put into the work and to see it destroyed by careless bafoons is inexcusable to me. If i had the ability to supervise this project these mistakes would have not been made however i am a busy man myself and in my absence i expect better care to be taken by these people who were placed incharge of this project.

As i mentioned earlier, they will not have the ability to work on the project for more than a couple more days because we have 3 planes coming in and it will probably be months until it slows down again enough to complete the rest of the body work on the bed and frontend so we had planned on having it back together so that other work that needed to be done could be done in the meantime however if the cab needs to be reshot then it will surely have to sit apart until another slowage.

Sorry if this comes off as silly but ive spent the past two months doing nothing but thinking about and working on this truck and now it looks like it will be months before i can do anything else with it because of one stupid mistake.

[Baradium]

Some points...

You see it as them being paid well over what they should for the job. They probobly see it as them being instructed to do a job which type they left a long time ago.

Accidents can be prevented, but mistakes do happen. Everyone makes them, even those shops that have been in buisiness forever do it. There can always be a lapse in judgement. It's not like they set it on fire or something. And some pretty small mistakes can lead to major damage. It doesn't mean they weren't trying or something. Also remember that this *isn't* what they do for a living, so something that might be obvious even to you might not be to them. They just see it as an assembly job.

[kingsolver72]

I would let them fix the cab.Express your concerns but don't worry."That which I have dread has come about".At least the metal was not damaged.I had some work done on my cab.They did a great job on the areas they worked on.They did however dent my cab when they put the bed back on.I took it back and they told me that they would fill it.

[TsgtE662]

"Ever feel like your the only person who isnt an idiot?"

Not very often.

[1972]

First off, I am an idiot! (Look under my user name)

but at the same time i am asked on a daily basis to do things i dont like to do and such is life.

If I was required to a job different than what I was hired to do I would be pissed! Not that I don't like it, it's just not what I want to do, and had I known I would be doing anything other than what I wanted to do I would not have taken the job. What if you get hired as CEO of the Fortune 500 company and they *make* you clean toilets and mop floors?

His company is footing the bill on the labor

And you are complaining? Get over it "Mr. Perfect" and grow up. You sound like a spoiled brat.

[CPNE]

After reading this post 'm pretty sure who the "idiot" here is.

My advise would be to see if you can get your father to fire them all. And you're paying for the supplies? What up with that? Surely someone as busy as yourself can't be mired in such a trivial detail as writing a check

[GreyHoundSteve]

lmfao, Funny stuff. Okay so what i can gather from some of you is that mistakes are alright as long as they are admitted too even though it is at your expense and that getting upset about mistakes is childish and means you are spoiled?

As for the "if you can do better, do it yourself" comments ..... heres some food for thought fellas ...... i own a tax office and if any of you wanted to do business with me i would NOT tell you "if you can do better do it yourself" if i made a mistake that cost you money. What i would do is rectify the mistake AT MY EXPENSE and asure you that no future mistakes would be made if you chose to continue to do business with me. I guess thats how i thought proper business was conducted but judging by some of your responses i guess next time i'll just say "geez im sorry i was careless and made a mistake but if you can do better then do it yourself and grow up you spoiled brat, not everyone can afford to have a professional do their taxes" ..... i'm sure then my business would flourish like many of yours must.

Or i guess i can continue to be of the opinion that mistakes are unexceptable in any type of business but when they are made they should be corrected at the persons who made the mistakes expense ESPECIALLY when the mistake could have been avoided in the first place if the responsable party had done their job correctly.

Thank you for your opinions gentlemen, i wish you all much sucess and hope those who except mistakes as common place come to realize that not everyone shares their low expectations for performance.

[1972]

Then take it to a *real* car and truck body shop if you want that type of perfection, and they would correct the "mistake" at their expense, if it even happened at all. I would not come to your tax office for a paint job. Stop whining.

[Orange70chevy]

Originally Posted by 1972

Then take it to a *real* car and truck body shop if you want that type of perfection, and they would correct the "mistake" at their expense, if it even happened at all. I would not come to your tax office for a paint job. Stop whining.

Thats what I was thinking. I worked as a painter in a body shop for a few years and this kind of stuff just happens especially if the the customer is on your back and you get in a hurry. Everyone wants things perfect (thats understandable) But they want it done right now it don't work that way.

[4x4Poet]

Originally Posted by GreyHoundSteve

...who except mistakes as common place come to realize that not everyone shares their low expectations for performance.

I think you meant "accept' instead of "except" in that context. Normally, I wouldn't be such a stickler for proper word usage, but I didn't want to be accused of "accepting mistakes as commonplace" from my having "low expectations for performance."

[Custom 68]

I have been waiting on the metal and paint work on my cab for over two weeks

2 weeks seems really fast for a paint job if there was any work to be done other than just spraying it. I am no body man so I am slow (have more time than money) and am doing all mine myself and it has been a year and a half and I am really wanting it done too. It sounds like you think waiting 2 weeks for a "quality" job is a big inconvienience.

What i would do is rectify the mistake AT MY EXPENSE and asure you that no future mistakes would be made if you chose to continue to do business with me.

I thought they were fixing it at somebodys expence certainly not yours.
sometimes you get what you pay for...

[kingsolver72]

It looks like G.H.Steve was just venting.No harm,no foul

[1972]

Originally Posted by kingsolver72

It looks like G.H.Steve was just venting.No harm,no foul

I think the reason he is getting a hard time is that he uses people employed by his father (not a body shop) to paint his truck, and then complains about it. Would you go to a dermatologist for a heart transplant?

[Randy70C-10]

About one month ago I rolled my truck over, that was an accident. What happened to you is a set-back.

[4x4Poet]

Originally Posted by Randy70C-10

About one month ago I rolled my truck over, that was an accident. What happened to you is a set-back.

Bravo! This thread needed some perspective. Thanks.