truck jail

[vectorit]

My burb was at the body shop for over two years, only to find out later that a plastic tarp had burned the paint on the hood and roof...

[wwotr]

When I took my Truck in for Body Work, I was told up front that any "Insurance Jobs" would take precidence over mine.
I was cool with that.
So on a 4 week promise, I picked my Truck up 2 1/2 Months later.
But I came in 3X a week to take pictures, and the Estimate that I did NOT get in writting, went up by $1500.00

Originally Posted by magwakeenercew2jh

Some of us are lucky. We have other vehicles to drive to work, carry the kids around, etc. But when you take your truck somewhere to have somebody do something on it
(I try to NEVER do this, but it happens when I am smart enough to know my limitations), they know the score. Usually other customers that are paying the same dough
get the first-in-line benefit of the, "....Well, he really doesn't need his truck for a while" attitude.

Recognizing this fact, I was cool with the 10-week truck painting schedule on the '72 back in '04. The deal was for $5,000.
No real body work. No bondo or rust on the clip, cab or bed.

After 16 weeks, when I visited, there were a few sanding marks all over it, and some plastic separating the interior from the outside.
At about 20 weeks, there was a little more done when I took the guy working on it $500 in an empty beer can as a bribe...
.....hidden from the shop owner who was telling me that the State Farm Insurance work came first.

At 50 weeks, I got the truck back. They had called me and suggested that I have new glass put in the windshield....
Their glass guy was coming up the next day and after that, my truck would be ready. I said "yes".

The next evening I picked up the truck. Nicely painted.

When I turned west toward the house, the light shown on the windshield and glossy new paint.
All covered in clear overspray. From a State Farm Insurance job, I assume!!!!

I turned around and went back. They'd gone home for the day. I didn't take it back for the "fix".
I didn't have another year to wait.

The truck is gone. But not forgotten. That's one reason I'll be riding around in primer for a while on this one.
Here's the '72:

[72shortstep]

Im going to have to agree with PanelDeland, contracts are the way to go. That way the price, time, and finished product all have to be done the way the contract states. I would take pictures of the shop owner signing it too and have witnesses, then you can blow up the pictures and attach them to the truck as a reminder

[BraveDave]

There's an easy way around this. You have to call and bug the living "you-know-way" out of them. Don't get irate, don't be rude, just call them twice a day and be nice and polite. At some point, they won't take your calls anymore. Then you have to drop by and "check" on their progress. Sooner or later, they will get tired of "Andy Griffith" dropping by and they will finish the work just to get rid of you!

[CG]

My panel was in body/paint jail for 3 years. When I finally got it home I was actually over the entire project, so it just sat all covered up in the barn for a long time. But I have been finally slowly plugging along (very very slowly) and am starting to get into it again. I would really like to drive it to Bonneville some year ... maybe lol.

[ChevLoRay]

Dropped mine off in October, 2007. It's January, 2011. Nothing to say. It's disassembled (think Johnny 5). Bed, and front cap have been soda-blasted. Bed is coated with Vortex. If patience is a virtue, I must be the most virtuous person on Earth.