DK Customs Auto Body Bad Experience
 

Long read, rundown of what happened;

I took my front lip to DKcustoms to be painted. Damir (the owner) gave me a good price, and I thought I’d give this new shop a try. I bought the lip second hand to use as a spare. It had previously been damaged and had cracks, so I repaired it with plastic weld, then body filler to smooth it out. I only repaired the cracks and did not sand off the old paint. As I thought it would be an easy job for him. The day after I dropped the lip off, he texts me saying he won’t be able to make it perfect because of my bad body work. So I tell him if it's not going to be perfect, don't paint it and I’ll come pick it up, since I didn’t want to risk having it done poorly. He then texts me saying it will be done properly. So I let him paint it and emphasize I'm not in a rush.

If he had doubts he should have told me when I was there to drop the lip off.

He gives me a text a few hours later saying it’s done and I can pick it up tomorrow. I asked how it turned out and if there’s anything I should be concerned about. He responds “it’s perfect”.

Next day I go and pick it up, and right away I point out the dust particles embedded in the paint. Damir brushes it off saying it can be sanded and buffed out within 5 minutes (Why not have it done before the customer comes and picks it up?). Also paint runs/drips everywhere, and blames that on my "terrible" body work. How does bodywork cause paint drips? Most of the paint drips weren’t even in the area I did repair on. He say’s “I know your type, you want cheapest job but quality like Ferrari.” All I ask for is minimal paint drips, and no dust particles embedded in the paint, if that’s considered Ferrari quality then his standards are way too low. For reference, I paid $160 including paint. Yes, it’s a good price but not deserving of such lack of effort.

He never said what was wrong with my body work, but just said the existing finish was really scratched. Shouldn't that not be an issue if the whole piece is going to be sanded down and primed anyways?

The paint match was totally off. I told Damir before I wanted to leave my other lip with him for reference. He tells me to take the lip to his guy at Lordco for the paint to be mixed. The poor match wasn't his fault, but he does this to avoid responsibility for the paint mismatch. Even though originally he told me specifically to go to his Lordco guy and that the match would be very close.

I took it to another body shop yesterday to have the job redone. The person at the shop said the awful paint quality isn’t caused by body work, but instead Damir didn’t sand off the old paint properly and rushed the whole painting process.

I was able to get in contact with a previous customer of his, as I was skeptical to make a review if I was the only one that experienced this. The other customer had said the same thing; paint drips, dust, poor customer service, Etc. I won’t mention who it is, as he/she had much bigger work done, and hopefully can get the issues sorted out.

Also the actual shop he operates at isn't called Dkcustom5. (Won’t name the actual shop, since he probably rents the workspace). The shop looks really unorganized and messy. When I arrived to pick my lip up, it was resting on top of someone else's car. My mistake for still entering, just thought to never judge by appearance.

He refused to refund me the cost and asked who would pay for his three hours of work, maybe put more effort into your work then? He did however offer to redo the lip if I pay for the paint again, though, I would never go back again considering his total lack of effort, quality control and attitude.

Coles Notes:

-Took my front lip to DK customs to be painted.
-Says it’ll be done properly and the finish product will be perfect
-Paint drips, dust particles everywhere, uneven paint
-Claims his paint jobs are perfect and not his fault

I wanted to warn you guys as he hash tags revscene a lot on instagram. He makes his work seem really nice on IG, certainly fooled me.

Hopefully this happens to none of you.
Not out to destroy his business, but hopefully he sees this and learns from it.

Don't want to clog this thread with too many pics, but these are some examples of his work.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...720-Ic42/1.JPG
Paint run

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B...40-Ic42/10.jpg
Paint runs along the edge

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...40-Ic42/11.jpg
Drips on the edge

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...40-Ic42/12.jpg
Scratched, old paint not sanded off properly before painting.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...640-Ic42/9.jpg
Same here with dust particles

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...640-Ic42/3.jpg
Drips and uneven paint coverage

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...640-Ic42/4.jpg
Runs

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p...640-Ic42/5.jpg
Drips

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...640-Ic42/6.jpg
Runs

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...640-Ic42/8.jpg
Drip

Looks pretty shitty to me... Sorry that happened to ya.

Umm...wow.

Fuck. So many body shops are just a bunch of fucking crooks. Its so hard to weed through all the garbage.

lol that looks like it was painted with a paint brush just splashing the paint on

You could do that same job in your backyard with a rattle can :pokerface:

Probably better to be honest.

Wow.... I'm totally at a loss for words. How does that even happen? I'm curious as to what made you decide to go with this unknown DK shit shop. I feel like many cases like this could've been simply avoided if you had spent some time going around asking for recommendations. And not to sound harsh, but if everyone does their due diligence, fucking shops like this won't pop up so often.

Thanks for the heads up, I was considering getting my retrofits done at DKcustoms glad I got it installed by RPM electronics.

Lol, literally worst than a DIY rattle can done by a complete noob.

I HAVE done better paint jobs in my garage with rattle cans....wow.
Well its good to know what shops to avoid, sounds like a body-shop I know owned by a German fellow who tells people off if they point out his screw ups.

Did you negotiate "No prep work, just a spray"? My god that's awful.


I'm so lucky, when I was 16, I had my car painted from a shop in the boonies for $1500. There was some fish eye spots in the paint. He repainted the entire car. It happened again. Realized the primer wasn't playing fair with the top coat. Stripped it down, and redid it again! For a mere $1500. Never really thought about it until now.

My mistake I should have done more research. I only checked his FB reviews, IG posts and didn't see any negative reviews.

Yea I specified that I wanted it prepped and painted. When I got there he saw the repair work and told me he’d charge me extra because it needs to be sanded and primered.

Make sure you leave a review on there FB. Its surprising how much weight it pulls and how many people use FB for company reviews.

Hello,

For the love of god I knew this little kid would post a bad review and try to make me look bad.

Here is the real story and anyone who runs a business or isn't half retarded will understand.

I am the owner and operator of DKCUSTOMS.

So this kid Ben or Ken or Dave messages me inquiring about painting a front lip. The regular procedure if the lip is brand new goes as follows:

Sand the lip down with 400 grit.
Sand the lip with 600 grit.
Apply BESA primer on to the lip.
Let dry for 24th hours and bake.
Next day sand the lip down again remove all primer spotting or imperfections in the primer.
Wet sand the primer.
Let dry, complete remove all wax and grease from the lip including lint etc.
Apply base.
Apply clear.
Let dry and call customer for pick up.

Cost $250.
Half pint of base $44
Primer $20-$30
Clear $30-$40

Profit roughly $150 for a front lip with NO DAMAGE.


This kid messages me and clearly states his budget is $100 dollars to paint a front lip PERFECTLY AND PROFESSIONALLY.

I say this is too low but he is very content with his AMAZING self made prep work and bondo. There was 3 different colored bondo fillers used and different canned primers. It looks like a rainbow when it came to my shop.

I told him clearly 100 plus 20 for the pruner if the BODY WORK IS ALREADY COMPLETE AND JUST NEEDS PAINT. If the lip is ready for paint that means YOU KEN OR BEN prepped it and sanded it allllll the way down. You put the filler. You sanded the filler down. You applied primer and YOU sanded it down and now it needs a wipe and shoot.

You did nothing you expected to take advantage of me and get the cheapest job possible at the cheapest rate and expected ferrari quality so that way you could blame me if anything happens.

You told me the paint is hard to match and that the previous shop couldn't. So I referred you to my paint rep who has been in business for 40 plus years. I even told him before you called to not use a CODE but to use his 12 thousand color machine that scans existing color's hoping it will be as close as it can humanly get.

You go there and get the paint you didn't even open the can to check if it was matching you just brought it to me it still had the seal so you're basically trying your hardest to catch me on a mistake.

All this for 100$ minus material I make $9.36.

Then after you cried about the misfortunes in finish. I told you PLEASE GO GET THE RIGHT COLOR AND I WILL SHOOT IT FOR FREE.

You then PMS and say you can't take a chance again.

Like you are risking a 6 thousand dollar paint job. For god sakes I'm sorry I don't lose sleep for your lip. I don't construct my business hours and family life around your lip made of platinum and gold. I'm sorry man. I'm actually sorry I even took the job. It wasn't worth my time in any way but I just felt like I should say yes because you looked 14 and I figured all you had was that 100 bucks.

Now I get 3 reviews on Facebook from some Billy guy and some other guy who I never even met. One lip doesn't determine a business. Sorry again. Bring the lip even bring a friend lip and I dedicate a whole week for your $14 and I will make you happy.

I am booked UNTIL April and I have been in business less than a year. I can't just focus on lips for kids. Again my apologies but don't try to ruin my name. You have no business you probably sell candy so understand I got a family to support not just you.

Enjoy the weekend ladies and gentleman and free chocolate bars for for future customers.

Cheers

Maybe you're the one who's retarded for taking the job in the first place and still managing to do worse than a rattle can spray bomb. Seriously if you're a new business it's best not to call potential/past customers retards or kids who sells candy

First rule of running a business is, if you can't do the job well, for the price the person wants, just don't fucking do it.
Its your work, and its fucking garbage. Thats your problem.

Ok, shitty bodywork aside because that is the owners fault, those paint runs/sags are outrageous. Along with the poor paint coverage.

Maybe a coincidence but..... they share the same logo...... just sayin'
http://i67.tinypic.com/ohlsfb.jpg

Imo, you wanted to make a quick 100$, you probably think he's just a kid easy money, just spray paint the shit out of it and he will take it. If there's no profit why did you take this 100$ job, it's not even worth it.

Got time to argue with unhappy customer online, but can't be bothered to take time to do a job properly.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

No matter if it's $140 or $1400, you took the job and agreed to the condition set by the customer, yet you under deliver. IMO, OP has every right to complain and give you a bad review

Wow, looks like you missed some BIG steps in your painting process then.

I asked if the job could be done for “around” $100, never stated that was my budget. If you read the first text I sent, I clearly state “prepped and painted”

I only used one body filler, there is not three different colours. I did not apply primer, only sanded the existing finish down at areas that required repair. Then applied plastic weld and body filler after. Not sure where you got the “primer” from.

I did not even complain about the areas that I did work on, they look fine to me.

You told me the additional $20 when I was there to drop it off. You saw the lip in the condition it was in first hand. You should be able to quote the price no problem.

Again, if a finish free of runs and dust particles is considered “Ferrari” quality, I don’t know what to say.

I’ve mentioned I wanted the paint mixed not based on just the code, as I’ve had mismatch paint just going by the code previously, not a piece for this car, totally different situation.

Actually the “40 plus experienced paint mixer” did open the can after mixing to compare with the lip I had him scan. Also I chose not to open the can as I didn't want any contamination or particles in it.

Before you even sprayed the base coat, I said “I’d rather not risk the final product. So if you’re unable to guarantee a perfect job. Then I’d rather just cancel. I can drop by later today to pick up the lip and paint” You responded “It will be done properly.” I explicitly set out my expectations, you were up to the job, I gave you an option to just cancel the job. You still took it.

Do I need to screenshot the text messages?

Haha....."You Get what you Pay for" *walks away*....
looks like you got punked out of 100 dollars OP.

do it! screenshots!