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2 years ago
Outstanding service with my paint job on short notice. The end result was excellent and the price was extremely fair. I wouldn't hesitate to return the next time I need powder coating. read more
6 years ago
I went to I-90 Express to have a valve cover powder coated. I was recommended a chrome finish and was told that it would turn out great, and an optional clear coat to really make it stand out. After seeing some positive reviews decided to give them a shot, particularly because they had a short lead time (3-4 business days) when the other shops I called had jobs backed up for 2-4 weeks. Maybe that should have been a warning? Note that I was never told by I-90 that aluminum may not coat well, I was never told there would be out-gassing issues without a pre-bake. I was told the Chrome would look great and not much else. I was contacted a week later and sent pictures with bubbles all over the valve cover and was told it wasn't bad put she'd send me pictures to see if I wanted to fix it. This is the response when I said it needed to get fixed: ""There is a chance sanding it and re coating (sic) will not fix it. it is caused from impurities in the metal gassing off while it is heating up during the curing process. We often see this in cast products and is out of our control. Coating it a second time will be another $95 charge. Do we have your approval to more forward?" At this point, I followed-up, and the owners daughter told me they could clear on top, or sand and re-coat, but would not guarantee either would fix the bubbles, which honestly, made the valve cover look worse than the old oxidized cover I took to them in the first place. I was unwilling to proceed with a shop that won't stand behind their finished product. At this point I reached out to other shops. I found a shop, that before telling them of the issues above, told me that with aluminum there would need to be extra time involved for degreasing and prebake to remove any impurities to avoid bubbles(something I-90 failed to tell me). Once I showed the new shop the valve cover in person (see pics on Google Review) he told me he could fix it, which he did. He told me the chrome powder used is a poor product. He also thought after brief inspection the way the coat sanded off that it was likely undercured and too thin. At this point, I followed-up to I-90 Express by text to ask for a refund, as clearly the coating I received was sub-par, and I no longer was going to accept the poor work, as another shop in town was sure able do it right. The owner called very upset, with a raised voice, telling me multiple times I was disrespecting her, they have been doing this for 12 years, and they know what they are doing. She also said her competitor was trying to badmouth her because she is the best (I never told the new shop who did the first coat, because I didn't want to say anything before giving them the opportunity to make things right). Barely able to get in a word edgewise, I was able to state that the new shop said a long pre-bake would fix the issue. The owner told me that it would have been an additional cost to do that (seems contrary telling me it is out of their control when in fact a pre-bake can control out-gassing issues). That would have been fine, if it has been communicated to me in the first place, which is was not. She also told me I didn't give them a chance to fix it (when you won't guarantee the work, and want to charge me again, that is a lose lose situation for me). Without letting me finish the conversation, she told me she had been disrespected enough. I expect I-90 will follow-up to try and defend themselves. I'll let the pictures on Google review do the talking and you can decide for yourself. The chrome finish with bubbles was done by I-90, and it was work they were willing to let leave their shop. I expect a higher standard, thankfully we have a number of powder shops nearby. I've included photos of the corrected job (silver metallic/non-chrome finish). To reiterate, the only way I-90 was willing to attempt a fix, which they would not stand behind, was for me to pay an additional $95 to re-coat. Fool me once...Caveat Emptor! read more
