July 5th Dropped hood off to be painted. Originally Quoted just under $1,138. The work to be done was Pulling off plasti dip, prep, primer (per their suggestion, hood came with gel coat from Cervinis) and then paint. The hood itself was to be paint matched black, and the hood vent matte black.
July 6th I received a phone call from Austin regarding additional work needed. They stated they did not include the underbody of the hood on the quote and advised me that the new estimate for it would be raised to $1300. I agreed to the cost increase, and they began the work. They advised me the work would not be done until Monday. I understood as I wanted the work done correctly.
July 11th I arrived at the shop at 16:30 HRS to pick up hood. They drove my car around back and installed the hood. They brought it back around and during inspection found the edges along the hood that match up to the fenders to be severely pitted and fish eyed. Along the edge of the hood where it meets up to where the vent bolts on, there was a severe amount of primer and overspray that was not corrected prior to painting. I could also see the yellow primer showing through and it was an obvious lack in quality. After pointing this out to Austin, he gets the painter and this gentleman blamed the poor work on it being a fiberglass hood and that's just how it is, nothing can be done. Austin disagreed with him, apologized for the poor quality work, and brought the car back around to remove the hood. I was advised they would reach out to me tomorrow with Raymond the shop owner to discuss a game plan to correct. I agreed and thanked them for their time and due diligence.
July 12th I received a phone call from Austin, and he stated he had me on speaker phone with Raymond. They advised me that they are reworking the hood and getting the issues corrected and that the hood would be ready that day. I thanked them for taking the additional steps to correct the issue. Later that day I called before heading that way and Austin stated it would not be ready in time and tomorrow would be better, and that Raymond himself would be there to hand it over. I understood and agreed to the time frame as I wanted it done correctly.
July 13th I called at 1500 HRS to verify we were still good to go. They said the hood will be ready and come on by. On arrival, they took me into the bay where they are doing the work and had the hood soaked in water wiping it down. I immediately saw the pitting along the edges still present and the excess primer was not sanded down and corrected. The yellow primer was still visible as well. They then stated they didn't expect to be doing a show car finish paint job and that they charged me for just a standard paint job. I stated I was not expecting a show car finish, I expected there to be some defects as I understood it can be difficult to get a perfect paint job in. What I wasn't expecting was lazy work. Austin was embarrassed at the work he saw when we began inspecting the hood and stated he didn't inspect it and apologized for it. The painter began using a razor blade to cut the excess primer off and in doing so put some chips into the paint that would show on the top of the hood. Small yes, but now its needed to be touched up and shows poor quality. The pitting along the edges was still present and they stated they can do nothing better to fix it unless I pay more money. They said they would try and repair the area and would call me the following day. At this point I just wanted to be done with it. I offered to pay $950 and I would walk out the door with the hood as is with the defects and poor quality. Austin got on the phone with Raymond to discuss the offer. Raymond was on the phone and began Cursing and shouting at Austin saying "F*** no!". Austin stated he had him on speaker phone and Raymond then stated "I don't give a S***", and that I owe $1400 for services rendered. He began going on a rant and I couldn't understand much else he was saying. After hearing him begin cussing at me I had to walk out in order to diffuse the situation before it got worse.
July 14th We ended up just going up there first thing in the morning and picking the hood up. In the end we paid $1250. The end result is not worth $1,250, and the quality was very poor. Even Austin admitted that several times to me and my wife. read more