Car damaged at body shop
 

So i was in a long search for a good and cheap body shop who could weld my pinch welds and fix my rocker panels. After many phone calls, this 4.5/5 star collision repair shop recommended me to Ben's Auto Body Ltd.

Before you guys say anything, I know good and cheap dont mix and usually I dont mind if the paint job is a bit runny or if there is a bit of over spray. However the experience i just had was not like any other before.

Upon my arrival to the body shop, I notice that the owner seemed suspicious but i didnt think much of it. My car is lowered so i couldnt see under the pinch welds but from up top it looked "okay". As i was driving home, i heard water swirling around inside the car so i pulled over and discovered that my trunk and rear carpets were full of water. Now my only conclusion was that my car caught on fire while the owner was welding in new pinch welds.

As soon as i got home, i started to investigate and to confirm my conclusion, part of the driver and rear seat belt suffered a large amount of heat, my undercoating + body plug was burned to crisp and half of my quarter panel was painted. I understand that it was a private deal so i didnt really mind that they skipped a hole which isnt accessible without removing the fender and that they didnt sand down the rockers to bare metal prior to painting, however i would never expect them to burn half of my quarter panel, flood the interior and not say anything to me.

I havent called the body shop back yet as I am disassembling the car for more pictures and im pretty sure this doesnt happen normally. Is any thing i can do in terms of legal actions?

Pretty sure im SOL tho since no work order was signed and i paid cash, however i do have his business card stating a year warranty.

Here are a few photos. You cant tell but the carpets are soaked in this picture

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ps8hxxk2mp.jpg

part of the seat belt melted

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...psgcx7flqd.jpg


Peeping thru a body plug where the quarter panel probably caught on fire.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...pszazqjvwb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SsyzbBQ.gif?1

wow

Why haven't you contacted the body shop right away? That should be your first course of action before posting it on RS. It seems as though you have already made up your mind that you are going to make it a big deal before the (4.5 out of 5 star) body shop even has a chance to right this for you. You even went as far as to give the name of the body shop, where most people would wait for a response before trying to shame them.

I know a guy who can fix that...


But really, First thing you should have done was call them and find out why. They longer you delay it, it may get harder to resolve

^ while I would generally agree, lighting someones car on fire and filling it with water isn't exactly an "oops"

Did mr.Stubbz work on your car?

Your right, I should contact the body shop tomorrow morning however, the fact that they didn't mention anything to me about hosing down my interior and leaving it completely soaked with puddles is reasonable enough to shame them.

Not condoning how they handled the situation, but I rate rocker repairs right up there with giving grandma a bath

Not sure if I can agree with this... He already went great lengths to avoid a confrontation with the customer. This is some pretty shady shit going on

I would at least start at the body shop. If you already are assuming that they are shady then there answers to your questions about the repair will confirm it. Their answers will dictate your next move. If legal action needs to be taken I believe small claims court is your option.

subscribed :Popcorn

So i talked to the owner today and he offered to dry my interior but unfortunately im already in the process of doing that. As soon as i have the interior back together, I will drive my car over and show him the other damages.

So apparently my old fiber glass and bondo near the rear quarter caught on fire while he was welding... Is that crap suppose to be a fire hazard or is that just an excuse for lack of attention?

sound deadening/corrosion protection materials catching fire while welding on surface sheetmetal around quarterpanels happens more often than you'd think

Yeah, it's pretty much a given that the sound deadener, seam sealer and paint are going to light-up when you're welding on the other side of a panel. Leaving the interior in the car was just asking for trouble.

-D

I see. Well, still no excuse to do a crappy job..

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ps5lhjqexg.jpg

ouch.. that pains my eyes. keep us posted after you bring it back to them BibleThump