Poor workmanship

[ranagazoo]

Hello all,

I have had a very negative experience by a company recently and wanted to come to the forum to partly vent but partly to gain opinions.

I have had a LV-S Front splitter fitted which came off on a main road, luckily resulting in no further damage or causing an accident. The splitter unable to be obtained as smashed to bits.

I have had side rails fitted and my undertrays have been butchered with a saw in order to fit them by the looks of it.

Thoughts?

 

[TeeCeeJay]

The finish isn't great on the under tray cutting, but they do have to be cut if you want the trays to fit after adding side bars. I did mine with a pair of tin snips. Looks like they didn't remove the trays and cut them oversized to fit the brackets by leaving the tray in place.

Can't help with Splitter fitting I'm afraid.

 

[ranagazoo]

The finish isn't great on the under tray cutting, but they do have to be cut if you want the trays to fit after adding side bars. I did mine with a pair of tin snips. Looks like they didn't remove the trays and cut them oversized to fit the brackets by leaving the tray in place.

Can't help with Splitter fitting I'm afraid.

Do you have a photo of your undertrays and how they are cut or could you get one for me please?

 

[Sasquatch]

Have they used clear silicone sealant to attach the front splitter?

 

[Sackmycook]

That looks like my Mrs's DIY

 

[ranagazoo]

That looks like my Mrs's DIY

This is 3 days work by the way...

 

[TeeCeeJay]

Do you have a photo of your undertrays and how they are cut or could you get one for me please?

Like I said mine were cut with tin snips. There's only 3 or 4 bolts holding the trays up so 2 mins work to undo. I did it on the driveway with the van on camping leveling blocks, no access to a 4 post lift. The burrs on yours makes it look like Ray Charles used an oscillating multi tool to cut it out.

 

[Howzat]

Wow. The undertray only needs to be cut either side to create a flap that can bent down to fit bars which will then spring back up to stop water and dirt getting in and as for the splitter, wrong sealant and way too little.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Not surprised in the slightest that your skirt and splitter fell off if that’s how it was attached.
A few wee blobs of something and as pointed out some clear silicone? along the top.
Big thick beads of tiger seal or sikaflex is what’s required
The cutting of the under trays is pretty excessive too.
It appears it was cut to make the job as easy as possible for the fitter not as neat as possible for the customer.

 

[ranagazoo]

View attachment 285770


View attachment 285771

Like I said mine were cut with tin snips. There's only 3 or 4 bolts holding the trays up so 2 mins work to undo. I did it on the driveway with the van on camping leveling blocks, no access to a 4 post lift. The burrs on yours makes it look like Ray Charles used an oscillating multi tool to cut it out.

Thank you, that's how I thought it should be, that looks really neat in comparison.

Will now have to look for some new undertrays I'm guessing.

 

[Sackmycook]

Feel free to post a review of the plastic butcher in the 'Review a Business ' section

 

[B.different]

Can't comment on the bars but the splitter is just incompetent workmanship. Like mentioned earlier wrong sealer, no primer and no key up to help with adhesion. I would take the spoiler back to him and beat him with it. Each stroke a £1 to the cost of the repair. Sometimes things do just fail when it's done right, but when it's just cba p*#@ poor work it's just plain wrong when its your hard earned cash that has paid for it.

 

[Bav]

I hope you paid them in peanuts.

 

[JumpShip]

Yee Haa!! .

 

[Sasquatch]

I hope you paid them in peanuts.

I'd have expected better workmanship from a chimpanzee.

 

[ranagazoo]

I haven't paid a thing yet, awaiting an invoice but unsure how to go about this and what next steps to take. Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Vinyl1210]

I haven't paid a thing yet, awaiting an invoice but unsure how to go about this and what next steps to take. Any advice much appreciated.

Firstly, sorry to hear of your woes but that is ‘Comedy night at the DIY Club’.

‘Appears’ the splitter is affixed with clear silicone and some (what’s left of) a few strips of double sided tape.

In the first instance this will not be to the OEM (for the splitter) installation instructions.

Secondly, as others stated, the trays should be cut a lot neater. This may be argued as aesthetic only by your contractor, and agree it may not affect the form or function of the side bars, but it is extremely poor workmanship. If I were paying, I’d expect them to remove the trays and cut neatly (with a multi tool or similar) the minimum amount of material to allow fitting. I mean FFS it looks like it’s been cut with a ‘small child’s sandal’. Not a straight edge in sight.

You MUST bring your grievances in writing (email or text is fine) to the Business at the earliest opportunity. You must offer them a chance to redress the issue, by replacing under-tray(s) and cutting correctly. Replacing splitter and affixing in line with approved methods.

Give them 14 days to respond. Be polite, put the ball in their court. DO NOT pay any invoice at this stage or this may??? be viewed as acceptance of work.

If after 14 days no joy, Follow up with deadline of 7 days and notice to pursue through other means Then get it sorted elsewhere, keep all the bills and I’m afraid it’s then wether you wish to pursue through a SCC.

Best advice to start is keep it polite but state your case.

HTH (For what it’s worth).

EDIT for my appalling spelling.

 

[Bav]

So, you've got the van back, but not paid owt yet? If so, that puts you in a strong bargaining position.

My advice would be:

1) Play it cool & friendly - at least initially - it'll be so much easier to resolve if you can keep them onside.

2) Try to maintain an email-trail of all comms with them throughout the process. If they call you, record the call. If you have a face to face discussion, email them afterwards detailing your understanding of what was discussed and what you believe they have agreed to do.

3) Your opening email to them should contain photos of everything you're unhappy with; a factual explanation of your concerns/issues (should be obvious, but still...) and a clear description of what they need to do to make you happy - DO be realistic and objective; DON'T be subjective, use pejorative language or mention money/payment.

4) Await their response. They'll be hoping for payment, so unlikely they won't respond.

5) Personally, I'd be loathed to hand my van back to them for remedial work - because I wouldn't trust them to fix things to my satisfaction, plus I wouldn't trust them not to hold the van to ransom until payment has been received. However, you won't be able to consider legal action until you've allowed them one opportunity to resolve any issues, so that's a dilemma you might need to address.

 

[doncarlyon]

That's a mess. One of those jobs you might wish you had done yourself.

 

[ranagazoo]

That's a mess. One of those jobs you might wish you had done yourself.

100% mate. I feel so deflated by it all.