bpsmith Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Sorry. Trying my damndest not to swear! Had a minor accident in my Freelander over a month ago now. Had the side steps on it so the damage was only a collapsed step, scratched side protectors and some scratching on the paint. They then noticed a tiny ding where the impact was and so needed to paint the bottom of the driver side doors. Was not happy with this as only wanted it to be buffed out as had nightmares in the past when having paintwork done. Overpsray everywhere, etc. Anyway after a nightmare in them getting parts that the man in the street can buy and get shipped overnight they finally call and say it is ready. They advised me to return the hire car and get them to drop me off there to pick up. B***s to that I thought. I got a lift over to check car out before I sent the hire car back as took long enough to get the thing. The work they have done is 90% good. One thumbnail sized mark where they have not prep'ed it properly but with the paint colour matching perfect. I probably would have accepted it to avoid any more hassle as sellign the car soon. I then went around the car to check it was intact and found a decent sized ding in the boot panel and a really big ding on the passenger side rear door where they had hit the step on it when refitting a new one to match the new one on the other side!!! Then about a further half a dozen other scratches in misc places that were not there before. I know this as the motor is the cleanest Freelander I have seen for a 1998 model. Sorry to rant but just letting off steam now back in work. What are other peoples experiences of such situations? I bet there are many a story to be told if this small amount of repair has ended in so much more work!?! Where have all the craftsmen gone I want to know!?! RANT OVER!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomme Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 I know exactly how you feel as a vw dealership took my car in for repairs to the sat nav unit, and whilst in their care the car was scratched on every single panel therfore needing a complete respray, as a cost of over £3.5k. This is going through the courts at the minute and will be sorted soon hopefully. The best bit of help i got was a letter from a bosyshop who had the car in a week before the dealers had it saying that the car was in perfect condition. Any chance you have anything like that? If you need any help/advice with this, as i think ive got down all avenues with mine, just pm. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy_Driver Posted July 24, 2006 Report Share Posted July 24, 2006 Hoping that the GTI is still in as good condition then as it is now, I will getting the service shop bloke to have a walk around the car with me when I drop it in and then I will be getting him to sign one of those same forms they have us sign when they lend us one of their cars - i.e. that car was in perfect condition when given to them and that if any new marks appear on it in the meantime then they will be liable for getting them repaired at their own cost. It is just a shame that these people cannot try and treat your expensive possessions with some respect Paddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentley Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Took the beemer in for repair to front bumper and cunnocks scratched the bonnet & the worse thing was the cheeky feckers try to deny it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 It is total pot luck these days where ever you take the damm motor, they are all half wits and if you do find a good bodyshop then never go anywhere else and make sure you get the same guy who did you last car !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrax Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Agree with Hudson... took my Audi in for some work on the exhaust.. later foound out they had scratched my skirting because they tried 3 different sets of ramps etc to put it on!!! Why couldnt they just turn round and say.. sorry we dont have the equipment to lift it due to the low skirts!!! Now I catagorically state if you have any difficulties especially jacking it up... dont do the work. Chips away were good... unless they sorted any damage they did ...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 There is a local guy I used to use and have had 3 cars done there. He was awesome. THey kind of guy that gets in by 6am and leaves at 7pm for some food, then back there from 8pm until midnight. Just because he loves the job! Making a packet too but that seemed not to be his motivator. Now he is so busy that the jobs you get are not so good anymore as he cant keep up with the demand and does not like to turn anyone away. Normally the prep work is what falls over first as the guys that do it are probably not interested in their craft. He does 99% of the spraying though so the paint is awesome. No good having awesome paint on a poorly prep'ed motor though!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 I was doing some shopping at the local supermarket only to come out and find that a 150 yr old lady had parked here honda it to my previous mrk4 golf gt tdi one fcuked rr end had the work done through her insurance at a local bodyshop picked the car up no problems but after about 2 weeks i was polishing her and noticed the paint on the rr bumper had all cracked and was coming off with the polish miffed oh yes took the car back to the shop were they tried to tell me they had never seen the car before also the paint under the silver on my so called new bumper was gold turned out the checky gets used a second hand one they had round the back luckly im in the trade so new the routes to take they took the car back in i took a hire car off them just for the sake of it 3 days later collected the car it was mint but the guy was a complete t**t and told me if he ever saw me again he would sort me out nice i thought shame that night some one went round and washed the cars with brake fluid. Now i use a local guy who is fantastic had some work done on my A3 and it came back looking better than it did when i brought it carnt seem to trust these bodyshops any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philbes Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 lobbytdi I think that was an interesting post but it was very hard to read. A few capital letters and full stops would have helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 Yes sorry about that im not the most computer literate still learning but getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 What can I say!?! Been back to get the Freelander from the garage after they have had it another week trying to do the repair it went in for properly and also fix the additional damage that they have caused on top of this. The car is still not right. They have actually filled the dents but all sag marks where the filler has absorbed the paint! On top of this there are more sags in the paint than last week on the bits that were right! How can this be possible. The bodyshop manager says he does not want to comment and to go back and speak to the guy that has painted it. On hold to Direct Line at present trying to get this resolved by another repair centre. Has anyone had this problem and managed to get it done elsewhere by the insurance? Extremely annoyed right now!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted August 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 I have never laughed so much in my life! Finally got the car back today. The managing director was at the repair centre waiting for me, as this was the 3rd time back after they have tried repairing the priginal damage and also the damage they induced on the car whilst in their hands! He said how he was pleased with the final job and how good they had detailed it for me as an additional job to apologise for the delay. The damage is 95% right and not noticeable unless one of us was to check it out with the discerning eye we seem to have on our own vehicles. Thought I would take it back rather than risk it getting worse again! Anyway, the detailing job they referred to... ...lets just say white polish still on it where not removed properly but the biggest laugh was the plastics were all siliconed up with at least 2" to 3" of silicone around each part on the paintwork! Can you just imagine a 1" high door handle with 2"-3" of silicone around it!!! This cheered me up no end and all I could do was smile and sign the form to get it back! At least the repair work is over, but now the proper detailing starts ready for selling it in a little while! It does look good mind you, from about 20 feet away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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