Looking for thoughts on how to handle situation.

[MOE]

I built a dump truck with a contractors box last winter. I took it to a paint shop in the middle of April. They were going to sandblast and paint it. While in their shop, they had an accident with it. They had it raised up with the fold down sides down. They lowered it that way and the sides hit the rear duals and were bent up. They called me a couple days later and told me. I took look at it and the sides were the only damage. They told me they were going to order new sides and have it fixed. That was fine with me. Two weeks went by and I had left a message or two with no return. Finnally I called the manager of the the shop a bit angry but in control. He told me they just ordered the parts,(took two weeks). Long story short, they finally go the truck fixed and completed the first week in june, 6 weeks later. I was irritated but there was no bill. I assumed they tore it up for the all of the hassle and extra time; seemed fair enough. A couple weeks ago I got a bill for it. $1000 as they quoted me. I called and asked about it and suggested that maybe they want to let it go because of how much of a pain in the rear it became for me,(6 weeks vs one week as originally planned). The manager got pretty defensive and said It's painted and done, which it is. I told him the accident caused me some hardship and loss as well. He ranted and accused me of going after a free paint job and more or less hung up on me. I'm going back and forth. It was fixed well and they did a good job of painting it. the price was the agreed price. Their accident made it take 6 weeks instead of a week. It became a real pain for me because I got it back, had to finnish it up and get it DOT'd when I could have been using it. It came back at a very busy time for me rather than in april, before I needed it. I'm going back and forth Maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable and should pay it or maybe they should toss the bill for the hardship I know they
re taking a loss no matter what happens. I'm not sure where they are at as the manager is a hot head and more or less hung up on me. Looking for thoughts or similar experiences. Thanks.

 

[Sagetown]

I agree with Del__. They did a good paint job. That's why it was in their shop. They did replace the sides at their embarrassing expense. The time delay may have been unavoidable due to circumstances beyond their control. Sometimes it's just better for your health and reputation to let it go, and let the monkey ride on their shoulder. You'll sleep much better.

 

[dieselfitter]

I'm in agreement. Pay them and let it go. While you have been inconvenienced, they likely lost money upholding their obligations. Yes their problems were self inflicted but nowadays it seems like most business's would just bail and leave you screwed. That's been my experience.

 

[MOE]

Thanks for the input. I've been over thinking it the outside opinions help. Will send a check tomorrow.

 

[MOE]

Something to consider is to have the hinged sides modified so that when they are down that they can not swing in far enough to land on the wheels when the bed is lowered. If it happened once, it may well happen again. A slight design flaw, IMO.

I think most of them are that way. all of the weight is on the inside edge of the hinge when they are upside down. Stoppers would be tough because there's no universal place to put them. They might be in perfect spot on one truck and hit the battery box on another.

 

[redoakneck]

Couple chains and chain stays like the back of a dump tail gate would be easy????

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

That's a tough one.
Yes they replaced the parts that they damaged. As they should. But!
Were there costs incurred because of the delay, such as rental of another truck etc?
If so then I would try to negotiate those costs against the bill with the "owner" not some hot head manager.
If not I would bite the bullet and pay.

One thing I always keep in mind as a business owner myself.
One happy customer might only tell 2 or 3 other people
But one Unhappy customer will tell everyone.

 

[MOE]

That's a tough one.
Yes they replaced the parts that they damaged. As they should. But!
Were there costs incurred because of the delay, such as rental of another truck etc?
If so then I would try to negotiate those costs against the bill with the "owner" not some hot head manager.
If not I would bite the bullet and pay.

One thing I always keep in mind as a business owner myself.
One happy customer might only tell 2 or 3 other people
But one Unhappy customer will tell everyone.

I ended up turning down some smaller clean up jobs,(not enough to go find another truck) because the truck wasn't ready but it would be hard to put a number on it without seeming like I'm making it up as I go. I also ended up pushing other jobs back and really testing the patience of costumers which looks bad for me. The bigger pain was that I ended spending several days finishing the truck, getting the reconstruction inspection and getting it DOT'd in June when I was very busy and should have been making money vs April before road restrictions go off and things normally get busy for me. Once again, hard to put a number on it but a real pain. It's paid for for and I'll be using someone else in the future.

 

[lone wolf]

Thanks for the input. I've been over thinking it the outside opinions help. Will send a check tomorrow.

Just ask for a few hundred off for all your trouble and see what they say.

 

[ShermanC]

I agree with the other answers but have this to add. Remember well what difficulty they caused you. If ever again you have work they might be able to do for you, go talk to the owner and ask for the work at 20% above cost. If he flinches, then you will know the manager is under his thumb and you should not do business with them again.

Another safe action is You could post your disgust on Angie's list.