Poly-Urethane Lip - Paint Cracking

[IDV8]

So I purchased a lip from the states, had it painted by Touch Up Guys since it was mobile and convenient for me at the time (Next time I'd suggest fitting the lip and having it painted at a body shop all in one go, I learned my lesson) however when I went to pick the lip up carefully the paint cracked at the bottom. Right now I don't care, it's on the bottom, noone see's it, stones are going to hit it anyway.

But if the rest of the lip starts to crack, is it because it's a PU lip and doesn't bond well with paint? Or has the painter somehow contaminated the paint and it hasn't bonded properly? My OEM lip is a bit flexible, no cracks though. Any thoughts?

(Had to do my road worthy today so have asked if the guys can put the lip on for me, hopefully they have time.)

[curtis265]

crap paint used.

[muzukashi]

^^ x2

I'd say the painter has stuffed something up or has used some bad paint as i've painted many PU lips before and had my own lips painted by other workshops and it's always come out very well

Unless they've been flexing the shit out of the lip previously or dropped/scraped it don't see any reason why it would've cracked.

[tiksie]

Probably didn't use plastic primer. Common problem.

[IDV8]

Cheers for the replies! I'll see how it goes after a couple of weeks it's fitted and how it holds - if it gets worse I'll make a complaint, was $380 to have it painted too ..blah! The lip was perfect where I had it stationed, I simply lifted it slowly and the heavier side bent a bit and there was a crack underneath so if it's any worse after fitting I'll get them to re-do it properly.

Quote from their website:

"What is the guarantee?"

We guarantee to satisfy you… our customer. If for any reason you are not happy with our workmanship please call immediately and we will come back and put it right.

[mattsrea]

Ok first of all oem lips don't come in PU material they come in ABS plastic hence its a replica lip. And secondly your not meant to use plastic primer on PU material. Plastic primer is for plastic material only (ie. abs plastic). However if you want to still use plastic primer as a prep you MUST use Adhesion Primer/Flexi Primer before you spray the plastic primer. What adhesion primer does is that it gives the plastic primer something to stick on and it prevents the paint from cracking. I did this for my preface ek9 style lip and the paint lasted for about 6-7 months before i lowered it and scraped the paint off.

This will give you an idea of what primer adhesion is
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FLEXI-PRIMER-AEROSOL-400g-HICHEM-MOTOSPRAY-/120839014684?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c2291091c

[IDV8]

I never mentioned the new lip was OEM :) It was a replica, I thought that'd just be assumed when I mentioned it was PU. So are you agreeing that it's the painters fault anyway?

[androo]

I have no idea why you would want to mount it when you know it is defective. You said you flexed it slightly, and the paint cracked. How do you think it will perform when you are driving at high speeds? Or against rocks flinging against it?

Once mounted, you give the painter the chance to blame it was caused when mounting, or how it was mounted, or how you scrapped it, etc. Get them to fix it before mounting...

[flipfire]

The paint isnt bonded properly. It shouldnt crack unless you put a lot of force on flexing or twisting it, even the plastic itself will be stressed by that point.

Also $380 for a lip?? I would definitely get them to redo it again.

[GU357]

i could get a wholebody kit painted proffessionaly for 400$, 380 for a lip is a rip off, take i off and back to them make them paint it properly. ive used rubbish paint before on my car lips and its not cracked when flexxing. this is the same paint i used on the ends of my strut bar, when i tightened the nuts onto the paint with the rattle gun the paint exploded of from the shock, thats how crap the paint is, but it never cracked when flexed.

[IDV8]

Sorry *$280 - still overpriced but yes, will call him and let him know .. lesson learned!

[mattsrea]

what you coulda done to save yourself money is diy :)

[mocchi]

does it include a bbbj for $280

[grifty]

does it include a bbbj for $280

i probably did lol

any decent workshop would of charged $100-150 max

[mocchi]

i probably did lol


lolwut

[curtis265]

i probably did lol

any decent workshop would of charged $100-150 max
lolwutx2

[tiksie]

Ok first of all oem lips don't come in PU material they come in ABS plastic hence its a replica lip. And secondly your not meant to use plastic primer on PU material. Plastic primer is for plastic material only (ie. abs plastic). However if you want to still use plastic primer as a prep you MUST use Adhesion Primer/Flexi Primer before you spray the plastic primer. What adhesion primer does is that it gives the plastic primer something to stick on and it prevents the paint from cracking. I did this for my preface ek9 style lip and the paint lasted for about 6-7 months before i lowered it and scraped the paint off.

This will give you an idea of what primer adhesion is
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FLEXI-PRIMER-AEROSOL-400g-HICHEM-MOTOSPRAY-/120839014684?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c2291091c

You realise PU is polymer and contains plasticisers ?

I've been casting parts with polyester, urethane, vinylester, epoxies etc and have used nothing but plastic primer with proven results.

You don't NEED to use adheshion primer/flexi primer or anything alike for a front lip. A simple 2000 grit sand will give it a surface to stick on if it's not already gelcoated with unwaxed fillers.


I painted a lip for a friend a few years ago with platic primer after a rub back with 800 grit to remove flaked paint and whacked it with base and clear. Up till now, it's still fine. Bend it into a circle if you want, paints not gonna come off that easily depending on prep.

[IDV8]

i probably did lol

any decent workshop would of charged $100-150 max

name 2 in Syd that are that cheap?

[IDV8]

My mechanic did an awesome job fitting it but was like "WTF, he didn't even match the paint right - he's given you a refrigerator white on a pearl white car!" so I called and the guy was adamant "I've twisted it hard enough to crack the paint" even though my mechanic said it hasn't been prepped properly nor painted properly. So anyway I called him up, told him the story, he's like "I don't believe it hasn't been twisted to crack but I'll come back and re-do it" :S .. so you fkn should mate, your meant to be known for colour matching! As you can see, the colours obviously don't match:


http://i50.tinypic.com/vcqow8.jpg

[EKVTIR-T]

Painters are fking useless I swear

I see way more stuffups than good jobs...

no wonder people wanna DIY

[IDV8]

Had a similar problem with my wing too, different crowd, I agree - they're useless. So hard to find good people who put in an honest days work when you pay them.

[EKVTIR-T]

It gets to a point where you dont want anyone to touch your car for fear of mistakes or damage

trade and service people just dont seem to give a damn

And the amount of times I see mismatching white paintjobs,painters must think there is only fridge white paint

[IDV8]

His excuse was "Oh your paint is yellowing so I had to try dull the paint on the lip a bit" ........ As the mechanic said "It's not yellowing, you just need to match the right damn colour, its not hard" - unfortunately they don't do resprays at this shop.

[IDV8]

Due to the unmatching paint job I'm pretty much going to ask him to respray it properly the same as the factory colour as it just looks gloss white but any ideas what to say if he says he can't because my cars paint has yellowed/faded? (hasn't) lol.. Going to watch it the day before anyway plus if he doesn't get it right this time will be calling head office to get a refund, have it fixed by someone more experienced and/or take it into a shop to be done.

[tiksie]

Due to the unmatching paint job I'm pretty much going to ask him to respray it properly the same as the factory colour as it just looks gloss white but any ideas what to say if he says he can't because my cars paint has yellowed/faded? (hasn't) lol.. Going to watch it the day before anyway plus if he doesn't get it right this time will be calling head office to get a refund, have it fixed by someone more experienced and/or take it into a shop to be done.

Factory colour won't be exactly spot on with your current paint. Paint ages, changes colour, fades, discolours etc.

If you tell him to do it in factory colour and it looks different which it most probably will, then you'll be fekked and will have no ground to stand on.

Just try to get him to do a perfect match. It's true that white is the hardest colour to match haha.

[IDV8]

They matched my wing perfectly at the body shop though when I had it done not long ago so surely these guys with 'paint matching machines' wouldn't have an issue? I mean gloss white on pearl white is a huge difference, and its his profession too :\

[IDV8]

Sent the guy a text message Fri, no answer, re-sent on sat, no answer, he replies today saying "can't help you out this week" after telling me on Fri he'll get back to me with a day he can come round and fix the problem, I like to text because I can always screenshot it and show their head office if need be. Anyway so I call their head office and I get put onto the general manager who happens to be there for a couple of days of training, explain whats happened and told him I sent in an e-mail with a picture etc so they could see. He apologized a few times that my experience with them hasn't been a good one and he's going to forward it to another manager I spoke to last time and they'll contact me to sort it out.

I can't imagine the original guy who 'cant come out this week' would've been expecting a call from the GM about the matter.

[IDV8]

Still haven't got my refund, chased it up with head office constantly, they've been telling him to refund me, he's said "I will when I can I can't make it to the bank" and expects me to wait until he's back from his holidays to do it, it's already been 1.5 months since he promised the refund. Anyway I thought today "What about having the lip stripped back and resprayed?" because it'll probably up the cost. Waiting for a local panel beaters to e-mail me a quote once they've worked it out, will contact the Fair Trade Ombudsman to see that he has to rectify the costs of re-doing the lip as well.

The guy looked at it and put his finger on the lip and said "Shit it's just crumbling off" .. lol, the guy that did it is fcuking useless - wrong paint, wrong primer, bad work ethic. The head office manager even said to me "If he'd refunded you the day he knew he was in the wrong there wouldn't be an issue" etc so they're pretty annoyed at him too.

[mocchi]

god damn all this shit for a lip lol is this a franchise business?
if head office is only "annoyed" with the franchisee, something is fkd up.
head office should "persecute" this kunt.

[manolii]

Still haven't got my refund, chased it up with head office constantly, they've been telling him to refund me, he's said "I will when I can I can't make it to the bank" and expects me to wait until he's back from his holidays to do it, it's already been 1.5 months since he promised the refund. Anyway I thought today "What about having the lip stripped back and resprayed?" because it'll probably up the cost. Waiting for a local panel beaters to e-mail me a quote once they've worked it out, will contact the Fair Trade Ombudsman to see that he has to rectify the costs of re-doing the lip as well.

The guy looked at it and put his finger on the lip and said "Shit it's just crumbling off" .. lol, the guy that did it is fcuking useless - wrong paint, wrong primer, bad work ethic. The head office manager even said to me "If he'd refunded you the day he knew he was in the wrong there wouldn't be an issue" etc so they're pretty annoyed at him too.

Take it up with office of fair trading. Gather as much evidence as you can. eg photos of the lip, photos of the paint falling off and see if you can get a panel beater to provide a statement about how poor the job has been done and tell OFT that you have been waiting for a refund

[IDV8]

god damn all this shit for a lip lol is this a franchise business?
if head office is only "annoyed" with the franchisee, something is fkd up.
head office should "persecute" this kunt.

This is exactly what I don't understand, I was on the phone to them about it yesterday and they told me they'd call him again. I asked can't they, as the trade name owners, enforce the refund and they just said all they can do is encourage the franchisee to refund me. I called him again yesterday and he pretty much said "Look you can nark to head office all you want mate but you'll get the refund when I have time. I'm on holidays next week so I'll do it after that." This is after he told me and head office he'd refund me last week also, it makes no sense. I would've even been happy if they'd sent out another franchisee in the area who knew what he was doing to come and fix the issue, then pretty much lay the charges with the guy who stuffed it up. He spent 4 hours out there and didn't prep it right, used the wrong primer and couldn't even get the colour right - useless.


Take it up with office of fair trading. Gather as much evidence as you can. eg photos of the lip, photos of the paint falling off and see if you can get a panel beater to provide a statement about how poor the job has been done and tell OFT that you have been waiting for a refund

Did that today mate, I also got a quote from a local body shop who said it'd be $740 to repair it. Because the only way I could get it attached was to have it bonded, they have to respray the whole front bumper. I included photos (paint peeling and colour mismatch) too so I'm requesting he refund me $280 for not doing the job I'd paid for plus the $740 to repair the damage and have it painted correctly - included the quote etc in the attachments. As you can see it's getting worse by the day:

http://i50.tinypic.com/1z6wkcg.jpg

The guy at the body shop put his finger under the lip and there was a big chunk of paint just falling off.

[manolii]

Good luck with that mate let us know how you go

[IDV8]

Thanks man, have to wait till the NY is over before Fairwork will get onto it - I'm hoping I'll get my $280 plus the $700 to respray the bumper, if he hadn't of screwed it up I'd just need to do the lip. Now I could literally peal the entire layer of paint off if I wanted:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/418754_10151260629657771_298559851_n.jpg

I have no idea what this guy was doing for 4 hours.

[IDV8]

Fair Trading got back to me, was told that the other guy Michael is ready to take me to court over the matter because he is saying the damage is caused by the people fitting the lip and that the colour wasn't matched because the paint had yellowed. I explained that I have a) proof he'd refund me b) the people fitting the lip had asked if I was aware it was flaking and the paint did not match and c) that I should get in writing from the fitters and potential re-sprayers why it'll cost that much to fix the problem etc. The lady also said judging by the pictures she doesn't think I'll have an issue with the claim and to include Touch Up Guys not holding up their end of the bargain.

I went to the Touch Up Guys website, called them, asked to speak to the highest in charge, and quoted this from their website:

"What is the guarantee?"

We guarantee to satisfy you… our customer. If for any reason you are not happy with our workmanship please call immediately and we will come back and put it right.

He said he thought it was resolved before christmas and he'll go ahead and try find out whats happening and get back to me. Basically I'd rather avoid court and have them do whatever they can to come out ASAP and fix the issue by sanding it back, respraying it to a colour matched and be done with it.

[androo]

Good to see this is going somewhere. In saying that, please continue to update us!

[IDV8]

Just waiting to hear back from one of the people in charge at head office regarding having another employee come out and fix the damage on the car (sanding it back, respraying etc). Think I should try my luck for the inconvenience to have a couple of stone chips fixed free of charge due to the problems this has caused - or should I be requesting a total refund as well as the repair? Caused me a fair bit of anger dealing with Michael Micallef, dude is as childish as they come and dumb as a rock.

http://www.touchupguys.com.au/sydney/penrith.php

http://tug.claromentis.com.au/intranet/documents/120/2102/michaelmic.jpg

This is him, steer clear - I look back and think not only did he not do the job correctly but he actually tried to entice me into having my car detailed by him.. lol

[androo]

I would accept their offer of coming out and fixing the damage and a bit extra for the inconvenience. I would however, stress to them that if you are again unhappy with the job you will be escalating the issue (Fair Trading, court, etc).

[IDV8]

Well all seems to be going my way, the boss called me again before and asked me if I'd still be okay for another Touch Up Guy to come out and fix the lip, I said yes - he told me the guys name and said he'd been with them for 15 years, is very experienced and is happy to come out and complete the job for them. He then asked if I could call him following that to make sure I'm happy with the final job and he's also working on refunding me the $280 too so all in all I get it for free (plus the headache). He said that Michael doesn't seem to be in a rush to refund me so they may have to refund me directly and just charge it back to him, either way I get my refund.

You'd think that this Michael character would be a bit more worried about head office being this frustrated and having the 'higher ups' contact a customer to resolve a dispute where the job clearly wasn't done correctly and their guarantee was thrown out the window until I escalated the matter. Will let you guys know how I go and post up pictures of the final result!

[androo]

Sounds awesome! Keep us posted!

[manolii]

Well all seems to be going my way, the boss called me again before and asked me if I'd still be okay for another Touch Up Guy to come out and fix the lip, I said yes - he told me the guys name and said he'd been with them for 15 years, is very experienced and is happy to come out and complete the job for them. He then asked if I could call him following that to make sure I'm happy with the final job and he's also working on refunding me the $280 too so all in all I get it for free (plus the headache). He said that Michael doesn't seem to be in a rush to refund me so they may have to refund me directly and just charge it back to him, either way I get my refund.

You'd think that this Michael character would be a bit more worried about head office being this frustrated and having the 'higher ups' contact a customer to resolve a dispute where the job clearly wasn't done correctly and their guarantee was thrown out the window until I escalated the matter. Will let you guys know how I go and post up pictures of the final result!

Awesome news, let us know how u go

[IDV8]

Had a call from the new guy, pretty much seems on the ball, happy to repair the damage, said it seems pretty straight forward and isn't sure how Michael stuffed it up in the first place. He said pearl is difficult to match but thats what they specialize in and in his 15 years of painting if a job was pealing (especially within a few weeks) he'd want to know exactly why and correct the issue. So yeah, having the car detailed tomorrow (clay barred etc) to bring it as near-new as possible so my car will look cleaner and he won't have an issue when it comes to paint matching on friday. Will post pictures up once its complete - then call head office for my refund.

[IDV8]

- Guy came out to inspect the front lip, spent a good 20 minutes inspecting it etc while he explained to me what he thinks may have gone wrong.
- Because it's an aftermarket lip he said it's emitted toxins which should have come off when Michael scrubbed it down before painting it (in which he added Michael didn't even clean it just added primer then sprayed it).
- Spent another 20min on phone to someone in head office and then tells me he doesn't want to touch it because the lip has been bolted to the car and the gap filled with silicon which he doesn't want to remove.
- Tells me that the best idea is to take it to a smash repairs and have them do it as they'll have to respray the whole front bumper and have it 'blend in' to the car because pearl white is very hard to match.
- Says how sorry he is I've been through all this and he feels for me etc that Michael didn't do his job, offers if there's anything I need I can ask him and he'll do what he can to help me out.
- Showed him the back where I've got a scratch and the paint cracked a bit, he said when they spray the front ask them to do the back too, because the paints mixed they'll have no issue respraying the scratches.

All in all he's told me I'll have to take it in to a body shop, have the damage resprayed, Touch Up Guys will foot the bill and then forward the costs on to Michael. Thing is they were meant to call me last week and never did so I'm going to call the guy who was really nice/helpful and I'm sure he'll get on to head office asking why I haven't been contacted but at the end of the day Touch Up Guys (as they should) are footing the bill for the respray.

Couple of questions for you guys..
- When I had the bumper attached they had to use a silicone to attach at, it's fitted perfectly, I was hoping they could sand everything back bar the silicone and when they spray it just spray primer over everything including the silicone and when it comes to painting it, paint over the silicone so it pretty much looks like there's no silicone holding it together. Is that at all possible? Or will it forever look like there's a thin line of silicone holding the lip to the bumper?

- Also the shop I took it to said they cannot guarantee that the silicone will hold during the baking process. I'm guessing this means after its sprayed and they bake it, they fear the silicone will melt off - would this be the case? If so what's a way around that? I'd think being a body shop they'd be able to disassemble what they needed to, spray it, then silicone it back on if needed or find another way to attach it just as bolt on clips or something along those lines.

- Finally any idea how long it usually takes to respray a front and rear bumper? Uni just started so worst case scenario I have to wait til the next holidays if it's going to take too long. Will update once I hear from head office ....again.

For those of you needing small repairs I WOULD recommend Andrew from Touch Up Guys, definitely knows what hes talking about: http://www.touchupguys.com.au/sydney/campbelltown.php

[grifty]

Look up the melting point of silicon, it's very high so it wont melt in your car baking booth. They can do it within a day pretty much, but I would say 2-3 days.

[mocchi]

- Guy came out to inspect the front lip, spent a good 20 minutes inspecting it etc while he explained to me what he thinks may have gone wrong.
- Because it's an aftermarket lip he said it's emitted toxins which should have come off when Michael scrubbed it down before painting it (in which he added Michael didn't even clean it just added primer then sprayed it).
- Spent another 20min on phone to someone in head office and then tells me he doesn't want to touch it because the lip has been bolted to the car and the gap filled with silicon which he doesn't want to remove.
- Tells me that the best idea is to take it to a smash repairs and have them do it as they'll have to respray the whole front bumper and have it 'blend in' to the car because pearl white is very hard to match.
- Says how sorry he is I've been through all this and he feels for me etc that Michael didn't do his job, offers if there's anything I need I can ask him and he'll do what he can to help me out.
- Showed him the back where I've got a scratch and the paint cracked a bit, he said when they spray the front ask them to do the back too, because the paints mixed they'll have no issue respraying the scratches.

All in all he's told me I'll have to take it in to a body shop, have the damage resprayed, Touch Up Guys will foot the bill and then forward the costs on to Michael. Thing is they were meant to call me last week and never did so I'm going to call the guy who was really nice/helpful and I'm sure he'll get on to head office asking why I haven't been contacted but at the end of the day Touch Up Guys (as they should) are footing the bill for the respray.

Couple of questions for you guys..
- When I had the bumper attached they had to use a silicone to attach at, it's fitted perfectly, I was hoping they could sand everything back bar the silicone and when they spray it just spray primer over everything including the silicone and when it comes to painting it, paint over the silicone so it pretty much looks like there's no silicone holding it together. Is that at all possible? Or will it forever look like there's a thin line of silicone holding the lip to the bumper?

- Also the shop I took it to said they cannot guarantee that the silicone will hold during the baking process. I'm guessing this means after its sprayed and they bake it, they fear the silicone will melt off - would this be the case? If so what's a way around that? I'd think being a body shop they'd be able to disassemble what they needed to, spray it, then silicone it back on if needed or find another way to attach it just as bolt on clips or something along those lines.

- Finally any idea how long it usually takes to respray a front and rear bumper? Uni just started so worst case scenario I have to wait til the next holidays if it's going to take too long. Will update once I hear from head office ....again.

For those of you needing small repairs I WOULD recommend Andrew from Touch Up Guys, definitely knows what hes talking about: http://www.touchupguys.com.au/sydney/campbelltown.php

after all you been through, no way ill ever call touch up guys lol
hope you get it sprayed soon m8.

[IDV8]

New reply from the general manager:

In regards to repairing your vehicle there has been a miscommunication between Andrew Firtko and myself, I apologize for this. Moving forward could you please provide your bank details and we will transfer the $280 dollars to your account today for your initial payment.

In terms of having the paint on the bumper rectified, I believe you have been to a panel/body shop for a quote, we will pay for the work to be done, however we do need to see the quote and have the quote made out to us (Touch Up Guys 4/8 Hampton Road Burleigh Heads Qld 4220) so that we can pay the panel/body shop directly. If you could email the quote to me I will organise payment ASAP and we can resolve the issue.

Please call me if you have any questions

Does this mean they expect me to fork out another $800 to have it fixed and wait for them to reimburse me? Or will it be done through the body shop and them directly via invoices?

[EKVTIR-T]

They will pay for it when you provide quote made to them directly,not to you

[IDV8]

Cheers @EKVIR-T ;)

Got the refund today, $280. Will take the car in soon to have it fixed at a smash repairs close by. What do I tell them when I take it in? Because its like ..heres the job, I won't be paying, send the invoice to Touch Up Guys - or they'll just confirm this by phone or?

[manolii]

Cheers @EKVIR-T ;)

Got the refund today, $280. Will take the car in soon to have it fixed at a smash repairs close by. What do I tell them when I take it in? Because its like ..heres the job, I won't be paying, send the invoice to Touch Up Guys - or they'll just confirm this by phone or?

They wont care, u usually pay after the job is done. When u pick up the car (most) shops give you a certain time to pay within. Ask when u get there how payment works and explain the situation they will give you the best way to sort it out

[IDV8]

Wow, the fun just keeps on coming with this one. I received the lip new around October l'd say, meant to be fitted and painted by Michael from Touch Up Guys in mid November. Now the operations manager is changing his tune after talking with the smash repairs about the quote - here is what he wrote when I chased him up about whether or not he'd spoken with the smash repair shop as I'd already booked the car in to be repaired:

After reviewing the quote and given that we have refunded the initial payment of $280, we have come up with 2 options for you.

Option 1- We buy a new front lower spoiler for you ($200) and you have it painted and fitted by who you choose at your cost.

Option 2- As with the quote from Bonnyrigg Smash we will pay for the repair (Quote is $288, we will round it to $300 to contribute to R&R) of the front lower spoiler and you would cover the painting etc

We want to help rectify the situation and think it’s only fair for you to also contribute to the painting aspect.

This is after he'd said they would provide me with a full refund AND to have it re-painted.... so my reply:

But the lower spoiler has already been attached to the front bumper with an adhesive shortly after Michael had attempted to paint it (even though he was also meant to attach the lip), will someone from Touch Up Guys be coming out to remove that also as I'd need it removed to have a new spoiler attached - it cost me $100 to have that fitted in the first place. What would have been fair would be when I paid almost $300 to an employee of yours to have it painted and fitted only to be duped into it not being fitted nor even painted the same colour as my car.

I haven't replied yet but what do you guys think would be the best thing to do, organize the removal of the lip and order a new lip in, have it painted and fitted at an actual body shop or ..?

[manolii]

Wow, the fun just keeps on coming with this one. I received the lip new around October l'd say, meant to be fitted and painted by Michael from Touch Up Guys in mid November. Now the operations manager is changing his tune after talking with the smash repairs about the quote - here is what he wrote when I chased him up about whether or not he'd spoken with the smash repair shop as I'd already booked the car in to be repaired:

After reviewing the quote and given that we have refunded the initial payment of $280, we have come up with 2 options for you.

Option 1- We buy a new front lower spoiler for you ($200) and you have it painted and fitted by who you choose at your cost.

Option 2- As with the quote from Bonnyrigg Smash we will pay for the repair (Quote is $288, we will round it to $300 to contribute to R&R) of the front lower spoiler and you would cover the painting etc

We want to help rectify the situation and think it’s only fair for you to also contribute to the painting aspect.

This is after he'd said they would provide me with a full refund AND to have it re-painted.... so my reply:

But the lower spoiler has already been attached to the front bumper with an adhesive shortly after Michael had attempted to paint it (even though he was also meant to attach the lip), will someone from Touch Up Guys be coming out to remove that also as I'd need it removed to have a new spoiler attached - it cost me $100 to have that fitted in the first place. What would have been fair would be when I paid almost $300 to an employee of yours to have it painted and fitted only to be duped into it not being fitted nor even painted the same colour as my car.

I haven't replied yet but what do you guys think would be the best thing to do, organize the removal of the lip and order a new lip in, have it painted and fitted at an actual body shop or ..?

If they are willing to remove the lip and have it painted and re attach it I would go that way

Personally though I would gather as much evidence as possible and save all emails, texts anything that you can use as physical evidence and got to ACCC and they can sort it out for u. Explain that its been months and they still haven't delivered their promise of repairs. You have the evidence there saying that they would fix it at their cost.

[IDV8]

I have all the e-mails and even screenshot every text message between me and their employees including the one who stuffed it up. The employee that came out the second time to have a look at the lip said that the original painter hadn't washed and prepped it properly and that he should be made to shell out the $700 to have it all repaired and painted again. They've given me the original $280 refund but I still have a poorly painted/cracking front lip attached and they seem to be offering another $200 for me to buy a new lip.

That being said the guy who came out said he'd probably charge $700 to respray the whole front bar anyway so maybe I should be asking them to send out a better qualified touch up guy and have them do $700 worth of work anyway because they'd still be fixing the issue just makes it harder for them (not exactly my problem).

[IDV8]

Ended up just replying and asked why he keeps renegging on what he tells me they're going to do and telling him I paid for a service, 6 months later the job is incomplete, its their responsibility to take care of this not mine. I have all emails/texts of them telling me they'd pay for it etc so if it went to court a judge would say "Why did you agree to pay for it after seeing the invoice?" ..lol

[EKVTIR-T]

Man this is crazy for a bloody front lip

[IDV8]

Man this is crazy for a bloody front lip

Tell me about it - all because some incompetent shithead who doesn't prep his work properly nor does he know the difference between flat white and pearl.....

[winsto_zuki]

Damn... so anything happen yet? Did they reply?

[IDV8]

Got a call from the CEO today, said he'd noticed the e-mails between me and his operations manager and he was unhappy with the length its been going on for. He was understanding of my frustration and said that I definitely shouldn't have had to wait this long for a resolution and wanted a positive outcome for me. Started off by saying that Michael isn't an employee of his so he couldn't directly take control of him as one however he does carry the brand name and he doesn't like it being dragged through the mud (when he said this I sensed he would be having a word or two with Michael and the operations manager). Anyway he just confirmed what had happened and that the lip couldn't be removed due to the adhesive (otherwise he would organized a new painted lip for me to be attached on their dollar ASAP) and that they'd wear the cost of the repairs and would call the place I'd booked it into confirm to bill them and he'd be sending me an email to outline the agreement just so we both have confirmation of the agreed upon outcome.

All in all they are out of pocket $1k due to a franchisee's negligence and its taken the CEO to give me a call and address the issue so I'd hate to be Michael right now - shithead deserves it though.

[manolii]

Got a call from the CEO today, said he'd noticed the e-mails between me and his operations manager and he was unhappy with the length its been going on for. He was understanding of my frustration and said that I definitely shouldn't have had to wait this long for a resolution and wanted a positive outcome for me. Started off by saying that Michael isn't an employee of his so he couldn't directly take control of him as one however he does carry the brand name and he doesn't like it being dragged through the mud (when he said this I sensed he would be having a word or two with Michael and the operations manager). Anyway he just confirmed what had happened and that the lip couldn't be removed due to the adhesive (otherwise he would organized a new painted lip for me to be attached on their dollar ASAP) and that they'd wear the cost of the repairs and would call the place I'd booked it into confirm to bill them and he'd be sending me an email to outline the agreement just so we both have confirmation of the agreed upon outcome.

All in all they are out of pocket $1k due to a franchisee's negligence and its taken the CEO to give me a call and address the issue so I'd hate to be Michael right now - shithead deserves it though.

Great out come mate. shame you had to wait that long.

[mocchi]

Got a call from the CEO today, said he'd noticed the e-mails between me and his operations manager and he was unhappy with the length its been going on for. He was understanding of my frustration and said that I definitely shouldn't have had to wait this long for a resolution and wanted a positive outcome for me. Started off by saying that Michael isn't an employee of his so he couldn't directly take control of him as one however he does carry the brand name and he doesn't like it being dragged through the mud (when he said this I sensed he would be having a word or two with Michael and the operations manager). Anyway he just confirmed what had happened and that the lip couldn't be removed due to the adhesive (otherwise he would organized a new painted lip for me to be attached on their dollar ASAP) and that they'd wear the cost of the repairs and would call the place I'd booked it into confirm to bill them and he'd be sending me an email to outline the agreement just so we both have confirmation of the agreed upon outcome.

All in all they are out of pocket $1k due to a franchisee's negligence and its taken the CEO to give me a call and address the issue so I'd hate to be Michael right now - shithead deserves it though.

thanks for the update bro, good on you.

[flipfire]

Cool saga bro

Congrats, its not over till its done though!

[IDV8]

Cheers guys, I don't think anyone should have to go through this BS and for businesses who trade this way should be shut down. The CEO was good enough to see everything from my point of view though, he saw it as one franchisee causing their brand to be dragged through the mud so it reflected poorly on all of them and I hadn't realized they also operate over in the US/Canada as well - although I shouldn't of had to but from the moment they didn't send someone out to re-do Michael's stuff up I should've gotten ahold of the CEO myself to have it sorted but hopefully others can learn from this, never be afraid to go as high as you can because at the end of the day they more than likely will want to know how the stuff up came about and why it wasn't taken care of immediately.

I'll post up some new pictures once the jobs done, I booked about a month ago for May 21st and that was the earliest I could get in - crazy!

[IDV8]

Dropped it off at the shop on monday, hopefully get it back today/tomorrow - fingers crossed.

[IDV8]

7 months on and its finally finished :cool: They did an excellent job! Washed my car too.

http://i39.tinypic.com/6o04fa.gif

This is what was happening to the lip, it was WAY worse all around the front, large chips had fallen off.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/418754_10151260629657771_298559851_n.jpg

[limiteR]

http://i39.tinypic.com/6o04fa.gif

Clean car bro, just need to buff them headlights and it'll be mint as!

[IDV8]

Clean car bro, just need to buff them headlights and it'll be mint as!

Thanks man I'm on the hunt for a new pair if I try restore them again they just end up oxidizing again - Honda let us down with that one unfortunately.