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Artisan Auto Body

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Artisan Auto Body Reviews (1)

Review: I brought my vehicle to [redacted] the owner at Artisan Auto Body in [redacted] VA. We agreed to a repaint on my front left fender for my car. Also agreed to him blending my driver side door. He said for $400 cash he could do the transaction. I dropped my car off and picked it up next week. When I was returned the vehicle it was riddled with scratches. The driver side tint was damaged (ruined). My wiper cowl had a huge crack in it either from removal or someone leaning onto the cowl. There were huge scratches on the driver side door he said oh sorry it must have been wiped with a dirty rag he then insisted that his team compound the door, they did, and the scratches were reduced. There was paint over-spray all over the passenger side of the vehicle. The over-spray was white which was the same color of two vehicles that they sprayed. The repainted fender was terrible, it was not fully painted, there were chips in the paint, the area was not prepped as dirt and other particles had been painted over! I call him he refunds my money but refuses to pay for the other damages.I need my driver-side tint replaced, I need a professional detailer to remove all of the scratches and swirls from their cleaning methods, I need the excess wax (he says they use some type of quick wax after they paint and compound) that was dried with a consistency of concrete to be removed, I need my windshield wiper cowl replaced which is at least a $150 part before installation, I need the white paint over-spray to be removed from my car, wheels, and tires.Desired Settlement: Professional Detailer to remove scratches, dried wax and compound, and the paint over-spray on the vehicle, wheels and tires.Replacement of the 99-04 wiper cowl and installationFender repainted & blended at a different shop as he claims he never wants my car in his shop again, which I do not want to be brought there then.Driver-side tint replaced.Areas near the pillar corrected, not sure what the issue is but it was caused by them, appears to be blended with not enough paint.

Business

Response:

December 26, 2013

Dear Ms. [redacted]:

I reviewed the letter you sent outlining a customer complaint dated Monday, December 16, 2013. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I have spoken to **. [redacted] at length regarding his dissatisfaction with repair work performed at my place of business. I take my business reputation seriously and want closure in this matter.

The scope of **. [redacted]'s repair changed dramatically between the time of estimate and completion of work. I quoted **. [redacted] $600 to strip and paint his left front fender and blend refmish work into his left door. His car was damaged in that area previously and had been refinished improperly. The paint was lifting off in sheets like old parchment revealing black underneath. I knew the lion’s share of labor would be in the stripping work. I expressed concern about color match on the hood and told him the door would absolutely need to be "blended" to get a satisfactory color match. He told me that the hood was a non-original part, it was “close enough anyway” and to focus on making the door and fender match. I quoted him $600 for the job. He asked if I could perform the work for $400, giving him a $200 discount. Sympathetic to his limited finances, I agreed.

The job revealed the fender in question was of sub-par quality. My techs performing the stripping work on the fender pointed out that the last repair facility had used a noncertified aftermarket fender and the metal was difficult to strip without distortion. I would have normally stopped the job and asked the customer to get a Ford Original Equipment fender, but based on the customer's request for a sympathetic discount upon the original quote, I elected to soldier on with the parts already on the car. The fender was primed with epoxy primer and put through a drying cycle. It was then painted with sealer, and refinished in base clear. The door was blended. I spoke to the painter about the importance of color match between the fender and the door. He performed custom tint adjustments as well to insure a great color match.

The paintwork was of acceptable quality regarding color match and application.

However, upon very close scrutiny, the painter and I recognized the limitations of the poor quality fender. Nicks and pits in the metal from the low grade aftermarket steel could be detected in the otherwise acceptable finish. The painter suggested that he do some polishing to the fender to improve the appearance of the finish. Wet-sanding and polishing were not in the original scope of the job, but I agreed to pay the painter and his helper time and material at my expense to put the best job forward. This further eroded the meager profit of the job and led it further astray from the original scope outlined at the time of estimate.

During the polishing procedure, the compounds and waxes used were misted about the car. The wash boy was assigned the task of cleaning up the car. He struggled to get the misted spray off of the other panels of the car. I allocated additional clean up time at my expense to put the best job forward.

When **. [redacted] came to pick up the car, there were fine scratches in a handful of places brought about by the wash boy’s best efforts to clean the finish. I immediately brought the car back into the shop from its delivery point to address them and remedy the issue. Yet another example of additional labor applied at my expense to put the best job forward.

I thought the job was satisfactory considering the challenges encountered. 1 took mental note of the cars flaws to include a permanent adhesive stain from a failed pin stripe effort, home improvement style spray paint on the wheels, Christmas-tree style plugs jammed in all the shaved emblem holes of the car (including the spoiler holes) then painted with home improvement style spray paint, and general knicks and scratches all about. I am of the opinion the two nicest painted panels on the car were the ones we refinished. The color match was spot-on with regard to the blend into the door. And the paint was not flaking off "like parchment". In my heart of hearts, I believe we made better than a silk purse out of **. [redacted]'s sow's ear.

**. [redacted] contacted me a few hours after he picked up his car. I had just finished the job cost sheet on his invoice and discovered there was a no profit on his job. On the phone, he said he was not satisfied with the work. For the first time in by 13-year business history. I immediately offered a refund. I knew that if he could not appreciate my willingness put the best job forward against the constraints of budget and poor quality pails that he was not a good candidate for a long term customer.

To confirm my gut feeling that **. [redacted] is a "squeaky wheel" type of customer that often expects free "grease", I called other shops in the area that have worked on his car. (**. [redacted] might think that only shops have reputations that go before them. In reality, customers do to.) I made a call to a local performance shop that did elective modifications on his car. The owner told the tale of how **. [redacted] was always angling for a "price reduction" for elective work making jobs overly difficult. Additionally, I spoke with a tech who worked on the car. He told accounts of how **. [redacted] installed parts on his Mustang at home in his driveway and then brought the car back to complain that work done by the shop was improper. This research supported my gut reaction to offer the first ever refund in Artisan Autobody history. I happily handed over the $400 in an effort to put an amenable end to our business relationship.

Upon handing **. [redacted] his refund, he conjured an additional complaint about his cowl panel being broken. I confirmed with all members of the shop that we did not break the cowl panel. With the freshly returned money in his hand he asked me to come look at the cowl situation on his car. I told him that I did not need to because our relationship was over with his receipt of the refund. The whole exchange was calm and friendly.

But as my contemporaries in the industry warned, **. [redacted] would not go away. The "squeaky wheel" saw a chance to press for some more free "grease". **. [redacted] contacted me again and asked that I pay for some tint that was damaged, an overall detail, and again a cowl panel. I spent half an hour on the phone trying to explain Artisan's point of view in the matter. I assured him any damage to the tint or the cowl was not our fault and reminded him that a full refund had been made.

**. [redacted] has always been kind, cordial and easy to talk to on the phone and in-person. I believe he has much more time to spare in matters such as these, and the phone calls and letters will go on and on and on. I think **. [redacted] feels I will give in, and give him some free "grease".

Fact: Artisan did not break his cowl panel. Other that washing the cowl panel with a wash mitt, we had no cause to touch it. Fact: Artisan did not scratch his tint. Other than wiping the tinted areas on the car with towels for clean up, we had no cause to touch it. Fact: **. [redacted] got a $600 job done for free. That's a lot of "grease".

The only concession I do make is **. [redacted]'s car may need some additional clean up. It is very difficult to control all of the fall out in our body shop working environment and it is possible there are spots of overspray that were collected while his car was at my facility. When hurrying to deliver the car. it is possible we did not thoroughly clean every inch of his Mustang. We both agree that a visit to a detail shop could remedy that situation.

Normally, I would invite a customer to bring their car back to Artisan and have it detailed by our shop if overspray was found. But in this situation, I feel like **. [redacted] should take his Mustang to an independent third party detail shop. I have made arrangements with [redacted] Car Wash at [redacted] VA [redacted]. This detail shop has extensive experience handling the tough challenges of paint flaws that occur in connection with autobody shop fall out. [redacted], the lead detailer there has been made aware of the job and will personally hunt out any overspray issues missed by Artisan's haste to deliver. He will forward any associated expenses incurred with removing overspray and fallout to my shop and I will happily pay them. If **. [redacted] wants to select a detail facility of his own, Artisan will pay $40 towards the ticket (the equivalent cost of a detail at [redacted]).

**. [redacted], I am truly pleased The Revdex.com is involved in this complaint. I considered the matter resolved when I provided **. [redacted] with a full refund. Obviously, he did not feel the issue had been resolved. He already had $600 worth of free work. Why stop there? I can document a history of instances where he has expected other shops and mechanics to work for free or make exceptions due to his financial limitations. I implore you to contact me and check these references.

Establishing the pattern-like behavior of "squeaky wheel" customer will help the Revdex.com understand that there is no making this customer happy. If he was happy, he couldn’t get free things.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: He is simply a liar. I would love for him to show documentation of my "squeaky wheel" history. I asked him if he would perform the repair for $400 dollars, I did not beg. I said would you properly repaint my fender for $400. He replied yes. I pickup my vehicle there is white over-spray over a ton of the car mainly the right side, my wiper cowl is broken, my tint is scratched and then ruined as it peels off once the piece/adhesive is compromised. I'm not looking to milk this liar, I want my wiper repaired which Artisan Auto body broke. I want me tint on my driver side window replaced, which they ruined. I want to be compensated for the $200 dollars I had to spend to have the overspray removed and the free scratches removed that [redacted] gave my paint (entire vehicle). I recorded our phone conversation where he openly admits his terrible shop got paint overspray all over my car, he continues to deny the tint and wiper cowl saying that someone came onto his lot in the middle of the night and broke it. I can prove he said that. He told me it was stored inside of his shop, so much conflicting information. He says this was his first refund, he is lying again! I looked up his online reviews after my issue and found multiple instances of this. Each time this issue happens he writes the same story of how he couldn't make the customer happy and in the first time of x amount years he issued a refund which he apparently never does.

I'm not looking to milk this liar, I want the damage repaired that is all.

Regards,

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Description: Auto Body Repair & Painting

Address: 8228 Conner Dr, Manassas Park, Virginia, United States, 20111

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