My Tank n Fenders

[hotpinkharley]

My Tank n Fenders
So.. if anyone has been paying attention to my whining, I was saying how last season I got a new paint job on my bike.. It started to bubble right at the gas cap. (oh, by the way, it was a raw tank n I took it in to be sealed n presure tested) then took it to the painter. It deveoped this bubble within a month so I took it back to him.. he said "no problem Cindy, I warrenty everything (unless it was my fault like dumping the bike or stone chip ect)" so I didn't wanna have my bike off the road in riding season, so I lived with this growing and growing bubble. So I take my tank to him (nov 20) and apparently his mum was here from Russia and was cleaning up his work shop and threw away the reciepe for my paint.. so he needs my fenders.. I keep goin back to him and nothing has been done.. Oh yes.. he was also saying that the bubble was not his fault, it was not sealed proper.. but the tank was pressure tested and it was fine.. so the painter sends it to the harley shop to be re sealed and so last night I asked my hub to go there, and he says it will be done on tues.. for a mear $600.00 fucking dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he had to redo my fenders cause his momma threw out the reciepe!!! like thats my fucking fault!!!!! I AM SOOOO PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you know naything about paint.. my bike is candy n pearl.. it was expensive!!!!!!!!!!!! So I said to my hub, "how much was the paint?" he say $240.00... I said.. ok.. how bout I give him $240.00 and tell him 600 is just outragous.. this is fucking warrnty!!!! hub says no.. we will just deal with it because he say I (Cindy) am in the harley shop all the time and the painter n service writer are good friends, n how he doesn't want things to be uncomfy for me ect ect.. he says sometimes u just have to bite your tongue... ugh... oh well.. so my bike should be on the road by the end of this month.. thats my story.. and I am still pissed..
oh ya.. HR.. I know what u r gonna say... I know!!! I know!!!!

[Bonehead9]

I'd be fucking pissed too. Problem is....what can you do? Refuse to pay and not get your tins back? Give him partial pay, get your tins and then not pay the rest?....he sends ya to small claims court. Pay him and rant and scream and never go back?

Assholes are everywhere.

My sympathy....I hate shit like that.

[jerseymutt]

$600 is outrages for getting the tank sealed. He is supposed to be doing a warranty repair, did you authorize any additional repairs. Tell him to pound salt and take your parts back, have them repaired and then take him to court to recover the cost. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting anymore of your money.

When my Sporty was wrecked I got a factory tank and front fender at a swap meet and had them painted to match for $90 plus the paint, red pearl. I work with painters so you shouldn't expect to get it done that cheap but the money your talking is just nuts. And that's my $.02 worth. Hope it all works out.

Mutt

[hotpinkharley]

i paid 1200 last may for my tank n fenders.. candy/pearl.. june there was a bubble...

[bcchop]

I paint... and it sounds like your paint is "wicking" this is where your fuel gets under the primer and "wicks" to the rest of the paint. to be able to say that it is, your bubble should start at the edge of the paint where he masked off your filler . i usualy take a brush and brush around the edge to seal it with "activated clear" the clear is a lot less apt to let gas under the paint or primer. but if it is just a pin hole, and you had it sealed than the sealerpeople should be responsable for you re paint. but if it is wicking then the painter should be responsable for it. OH yea if a "freind" would screw over you, then they arn't your freind. business is business, i am re painting a bike right now that i painted but has TINY.... and i do mean TINY bubbles from possable moisture or solivent trap. the only time they can be seen is when in bright sun and you have to look but i said it would be perfect and perfect it should be...1 thing tho if the paint got chiped around the filler spout and breaks the paint seal then you should talk some of the blame. and work on payin of some of the cost.just my 2cents

[jerseymutt]

HPH, Sounds like you should have sent your tins to BCChop. If it doesn't work out you may want me to send some Nort Joisey associates up there to help you clear up this matter.

Mutt

[hotpinkharley]

so the next thing... he called to say they were done... so went to pick em up tonight.. my "harley davidson" on the tank was pink.. HE PAINTED IT RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so I took my tins and said I was gonna look at em in the sun.. but again.. if he was gonna change my colour, why wouldn't he ask me what colour I wanted!!!!! JEEZ!!!!!
so the reason I took em was to put the tank on to make sure it is "straight" (the stensil).. then I am gonna take it back n get him to change it to a colour I want!!!
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!

[LouEvo XL]

Damn this is messed up....I hope you get this resolved soon.

[BadgerOctane]

I'm a painter too. Guys like the one you've used give the rest of the painting industry a bad rep. Any good painter would essentially 'walk' you through the explanation and be able to identify why your situation occured. BCChop is very correct, and your situation could have been caused by several factors, but anyone who's been painting for at least a few years can identify the root of most situations.

Your painter also sounds extremely unprofessional in the fact that someone in his shop, other than him, can gain access to his mix logs and recipes in order to throw them away. While I can't speak for every painter's methods, I use a two part system both on the computer in a password protected file. (Wife has the pass written down in case of any emergency, but won't go in there otherwise), and the second is tangible listing stored in the file cabinet. (Yes, I'm kind of anal but very organized.)

Any and all additional costs should be explained to, and most importantly APPROVED by, you the customer before any work is to be performed.

'IF' the problem was determined not the fault of any paint shop, said paint shop should do as I explained above, 'walk' you through the reasoning, and physically show you, (or photo and illustrative document in long distance cases), what the cause of failure was. Also, prices on paint can vary equally due to our ever changing economy and those prices need to be explained, verified, and approved by you the customer also prior to any work.

Any painter or shop worth their weight in sand knows that keeping a customer happy keeps business coming through the door. Successful shops should always offer an estimated time of completion and explain every process and step necessary to complete the customer's product.

In my shop, there have been occasions where I wasn't happy with something occuring in the paint. Possible blem, orange peel, or maybe the color just doesn't look right... this happens to most every paint shop now and then, its the nature of the beast sometimes. But IF a project is going to take longer than originally anticipated, prompt contact of the customer to explain should be a priority. All too often I hear about parts laying around in paint shops for days, months, weeks, and in some instances even years with little or no work done! There is absolutely no call for this, a painter should KNOW what their estimated time frame for completion is. And it should always be top priority to expedite the jobs. After all, how can more work come in when something else is sitting in the way?

I'm sorry to hear of your situation because it really does bother many of us in the industry trying to make an honest living, while guys like the one you've described perform sub-standard work and ethics. His business skills are severely lacking and no matter how much 'talent' he might have with an airbrush, spray-gun, sword brush, etc., no one should have to pay for an ordeal like you've gone through. There are plenty of us around with the skills needed to make any customer proud of their ride.

Best of luck to you on this, if I were to offer further advice it would be to find a different shop to change that color, because I only predict further stress in dealing with your current painter. Hope all goes well for you in whatever you decide.

Badger

[jerseymutt]

HPH, Are you sure you don't want the number for the guys from Nort Joisey. They take pride in their work.

Mutt