Awful bodywork repairs and respray, what can i do?

[pugboy84]

ill keep it brief but i recently dropped my car off for some general bodywork ,i.e filling sanding priming and a general blowover of the whole car. price was agreed and work started. i had slow updates and did drop in occasionally to see how he was getting on and photos i was receiving i was happy with what i saw. he had the car approx 2 months then was informed he was losing his unit so needed to get the car finished.

Then get a text the next day saying the car is ready and i need to collect it asap before it gets locked in his old unit as he had a dispute with the landlord.
i arrive and the car is left outside in the rain and my car transporter driver wants to get moving so i pay for the work by bank transfer and get it loaded. i immediately noticed parts i wasn't happy with and spoke to him, he agreed any issues i wasn't happy with to drop it back up to him when i had the car put back together

The next morning i clean the car and dry it and I'm ashamed that i paid for these works, it looks like a rattle can job.its dull as dishwater, hasn't been flatt& polished, over spray all inside my car on the trims where he couldn't be arsed to mask off, paint runs ALL over the car. mirrors caps haven't been sprayed at all still full of scratches. orange peel covers more of the car than actual paint. iv counted 8 dents that haven't been touched, He even just sprayed over the petrol cap lock , couldn't even mask that off. Also parts of the car are missing and as hes lost his unit i cant get them back

i went to his new unit to ask whats going on but he locks it from the inside so cant access it, music blaring inside so cant hear me knocking

Hes gone radio silent on me now, although hes still regularly updating his social media showing off his handy work of and to be fair his work does
seem to be of a high standard,



so what are my options? i have lost all faith in his work and have given him a couple of weeks to return my texts and calls but nothing so i don't want him going near this car . He had it 2 months and if this is the quality hes happy to return it back to me then forget it . i was thinking of getting a body-shop out to go over the car and give me an estimate of what it would take to put the car right and then taking him to a small claims court. its £250 round trip to get the car transported there and back and that's another expense ill have to fork out and the chances of him rectifying the problems without starting from scratch are slim to none


i have documented all our texts and conversations

[dxg]

Take it to two other bodyshops. Get quotes from them to make his work good.

Then sue him for the average of those quotes.

And use the damages (if you ever get them) to get it fixed.

Is he a private individual or a company? Who would you be suing?

[RazerSauber]

I'd like to believe the work he's done was due to being in a rush to get out of his old unit. I'd give any company a chance to rectify their work before sorting something myself. You might be better off posting images of your vehicle on his social media posts. That'll soon get his attention and kick him into gear. If not, then you're looking at going legal. As for transport costs? I'd argue that's down to you. You chose to use him while knowing his location.

[pugboy84]

RazerSauber said:

I'd like to believe the work he's done was due to being in a rush to get out of his old unit. I'd give any company a chance to rectify their work before sorting something myself. You might be better off posting images of your vehicle on his social media posts. That'll soon get his attention and kick him into gear. If not, then you're looking at going legal. As for transport costs? I'd argue that's down to you. You chose to use him while knowing his location.

There's being in a rush and there's having pride in your work. He had it 2 months and had a steady stream of cars going in and out and left this till the last minute and handed it back in possibly worse state than it went in. i wouldn't want to post on his social media as he could mess me around once hes got the car, with him locking his unit and not answering my calls now, id have no faith him making my car his priority again and could see it being a nightmare to get back.

[pugboy84]

dxg said:

Take it to two other bodyshops. Get quotes from them to make his work good.

Then sue him for the average of those quotes.

And use the damages (if you ever get them) to get it fixed.

Is he a private individual or a company? Who would you be suing?

Yes that's what i was thinking, i will contact a few body-shops today. Hes a private individual with a big bodyshop and has a few people working for him.

[Bluevanman]

What was stopping him taking it to his new unit and finishing the job properly ?
Sounds like he's a bodge merchant, there's plenty about.
Can't see you getting any money out of him or getting him to rectify the job.
Social media can be quite a powerful tool to air a grievance

[pugboy84]

Bluevanman said:

What was stopping him taking it to his new unit and finishing the job properly ?
Sounds like he's a bodge merchant, there's plenty about.
Can't see you getting any money out of him or getting him to rectify the job.
Social media can be quite a powerful tool to air a grievance

As it was just a rolling chassis he said he could drive all the other cars to his new unit and didn't want to pay to transport this so hes obviously just rushed it before he hands the keys to the old unit over.

if i won the case would they not take his assets in his garage if he refuses to pay? as he has a big bodyshop there's more than enough stuff in there to cover my claim.

i hate to go down this road but I'm fed up of piss poor work, iv had it with tradesmen in my house aswell. just bodge and scarper once they've got the money. no pride in there work at all

[BertBert]

pugboy84 said:

if i won the case would they not take his assets in his garage if he refuses to pay? as he has a big bodyshop there's more than enough stuff in there to cover my claim.

Getting from winning a case to actually being paid anything is notoriously hard. You'd need to think through whether you wanted to undertake it or not. The alternative of sucking it up is also unappealing, but might be the better course of action.

I would say as others have that getting the guy to redo the job with a better outcome is also going to be very hard.

[Robertb]

Maybe a 'warning shot' via his social media would be an option...

"Hi, I've been trying to get hold of you, but no reply. You must be busy. I'd like to talk about the recent job you've done on my car as there are a few snagging points I'd like finishing off - I guess you must have been rushed with moving out of old unit. Happy to post pictures if you need a reminder."

[ingenieur]

I wouldn't recommend court action. He'll avoid paying afterwards so you'd have to pay for debt collectors and even then you may find they can't get anything either.

Sounds like it is unfinished but that the painting process could have been done better as well. Orange peel can be fixed with sanding in increasing grades before finishing with compound polish. Would be hard work if the whole car needs going over.

[Durzel]

I disagree with others about the court action.

Right now you've got nothing, and from the sounds of it aren't likely to get anything from him.

A court claim might sharpen his mind, or he might ignore it. Either way it shows that you're not going to just give up and go away. If he fails to engage with it, you can ultimately get a CCJ against him. That will have an impact beyond what he's done to you.

Personally I'd keep things simple - I'd get a quote or two from other places, a professional assessment of the state of the work and the cost to remedy it, and include that in your claim as evidence, along with the texts, etc. In terms of what you're actually claiming for, it will depend on whether those quotes are more than you paid him - i.e. he has left you in a worse place than you started, or whether you're just looking to get your money back (plus claim fee).

I assume (hope) you have been explicit about what you've asked for, rather than "give it a once over anything you find can you sort cash in hand yeah?" kind of arrangement (no offence).

As others have said - social media shaming is probably the first thing to do, to draw his and others attention to it.

Edited by Durzel on Thursday 14th November 15:32

[pugboy84]

I was thinking of getting a mobile valater to come and give it a full wet sand and polish which hopefully would remove the orange peel and lacquer runs . But that’s surely going to be another 750-£1000 . It’s only a small car but would take a good bit of sanding and polishing. I think I’ll make a claim anyway, worst that can happen is I don’t get anything but hopefully he gets a ccj and I’ll leave all the photos of his handywork under every post he does on social media and all over google reviews. I will post his Picasso work of art he carried out for me on here tomorrow so you can all have a good laugh at the prick .

[Jakg]

pugboy84 said:

I was thinking of getting a mobile valater to come and give it a full wet sand and polish which hopefully would remove the orange peel and lacquer runs

Practically that's sensible, but legally, probably not - once someone starts "messing" with the paintwork, who's to say the original job was bad?

[T70RPM]

dxg said:

Take it to two other bodyshops. Get quotes from them to make his work good.

Then sue him for the average of those quotes.

And use the damages (if you ever get them) to get it fixed.

Is he a private individual or a company? Who would you be suing?

I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm no legal expert, but I've been an expert witness in court. Some claims have failed under the sale of goods act, due to the fact that the original contractor wasn't given the opportunity to put the issues right. He might respond with a defence, then things escalate, and it gets expensive.

[Bluevanman]

T70RPM said:

I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm no legal expert, but I've been an expert witness in court. Some claims have failed under the sale of goods act, due to the fact that the original contractor wasn't given the opportunity to put the issues right. He might respond with a defence, then things escalate, and it gets expensive.

Yes, you'll need to outline the issues and offer him the chance to rectify them with a reasonable timeframe before you think about legal action.

[Crafty_]

If he won't talk (at the new unit) face to face then I think the frist step is to contact him and make the complaint, so letter, with pictures, by recorded post. I'd state that if you don't hear from him you'll proceed further. I am guessing that he will not reply, but at least you've given him the chance.

I would be looking if you could make a small money claim (up to 10k I think?) on the grounds of poor service, his social feed and whatever assurances he's given you about the job set an expectation, which has not been upheld. I would base the claim on cost to rectify from other bodyshops.

[pugboy84]

Crafty_ said:

If he won't talk (at the new unit) face to face then I think the frist step is to contact him and make the complaint, so letter, with pictures, by recorded post. I'd state that if you don't hear from him you'll proceed further. I am guessing that he will not reply, but at least you've given him the chance.

I would be looking if you could make a small money claim (up to 10k I think?) on the grounds of poor service, his social feed and whatever assurances he's given you about the job set an expectation, which has not been upheld. I would base the claim on cost to rectify from other bodyshops.

This is the route I’ll be going down. I will send a letter before action which he will probably bin then I can make the claim as I have given him ample time to respond. I have all the chats saved assuring me what he would complete and none of this has been done and has come back with more dents than it went in with

I will request the full amount back in the letter and give him 7 days to pay then file the claim. What a headache man . This is under the £10k claim limit but not by much so is worth chasing up

[David-mthtml]

You should absolutely see small claims court action through. Too many of these chancers think they can just take your money and walk way after delivering sub standard work. You will have to give him the opportunity to resolve it first however so recorded delivery letters to his new unit explaining the issues and what you’d like to happen.

Make sure you name both the individual and his company name as that’ll focus his mind if / when it comes to bailiff time as they’ll be able to take goods from his home

Good luck and keep us updated!

[Niglebick]

I had a similar situation with a car restorer in Sussex.
I had the car snatched successfully, then emailed/ wrote the exact date/ time proceedings would commence for the cost of new ignition/ door locks, then the replacement cost of the entire interior, then the price to replace missing trims, bumpers etc.

Each time I specified where/ when I intended to act, and laid out my position, in excruciating detail.

Each time the scrote saw sense, making the payment an hour prior, or ‘ tracing’ the missing components and leaving them out, minutes before.

Hardball seemed the only message that got through. I’m not the first ( I subsequently discovered) & wont be the last.
But I did outline his actions (with a point of contact) on every relevant Review site ! That seemed to help others..

[Pro Bono]

David-mthtml said:

Make sure you name both the individual and his company name as that’ll focus his mind if / when it comes to bailiff time as they’ll be able to take goods from his home!

This is incorrect. Your contract was either with him as an individual or the company (if he trades through a company) - it can't have been with both.

If you sue both of them there's a chance that the claim could be struck out for failing to identify the correct Defendant. It's therefore essential to identify who the contract was with - so many small claims come to grief because people sue the wrong entity.

Also, the courts expect you to attempt to resolve claims before going to court, so you should obtain a couple of quotes for remedial work and send them to him with a request for payment, and give him a reasonable time to respond before issuing a claim.