Help, I need your opinion!UPDATE 12/18

[ponyboy156]

OK....This is long, but please read, I need your opinion.
To start off I'm 29 and ive had my bronco since I was 16. Just couldnt bring myself to sell it. Finally this last year I really started working on it and it seams its finally coming together. My floorboards were pretty beat up and the p.o. had cut the hell out of the front tunnel support(front body mounts bolt through this for structural support,...you guys know better than me). I think fixing the tunnel support and squaring everything up is beyond my welding and metal working capabilities, so I decide to look for somebody to do some of the work for me.
I found a guy off of craigslist and hes got a couple old broncos, and has done a couple sets of floorboards as well as a tunnel support. He seams like a decent guy, we worked at the same Darigold way back in the day and knew some of the same people. He charges $45 an hour(on the cheaper side here in washington) so I provide a new set of floorboards, as well as the tunnel support and a kickpanel, and I give him a maximum budget of $1K (a little over 22 hours). He says that this budget may not complete the job, but it'll be close and done right.
I tell him im in no great hurry to get it back when I leave the bronco at his shop. And I drive away.
A month goes by and I hear nothin, so I call. Hes says hes still on another project and it'll be a couple weaks before he gets to mine. Cool, I can deal with that. Another month goes by and I call again, same story from him, but a week later he starts sending me pictures of the work hes doing on my bronco. Work looks good and im stoked to see my project going in a right direction.
This goes on for a couple weeks and progress looks good. He only works on the bronco a few hours a day, a couple days a week. I dont really care as the work looks good. Everytime he shoots me an email with pics he gives me an update of hours spent and my hours are getting low. I dont have big pockets, so I figure I can finish whatever he doesn't get to. He says he doesnt care about the cash and he wants to finish it anyways(I think he feels a bit guilty about having the bronco for 4 months). Im thinking wow, what a good guy.
I rent a car trailer and am going to pick up the bronco tomorrow as he says its going to be done. He calls me tonight out of breath and coughing. Apparently he didnt know some broncos came with poly fuel lines. He caught the line on fire and it lit up the gorilla warflares...... which ended up getting the rest of the fiberglass fender going. He thought the tire was going to lite fire and he focused on keeping it from lighting up. He pinched off the fuel line a ways back, but it was a bit late. My fender flare and fender are gone. The paint on my door is bubbled and sounds like its shot.
My bronco wasnt gorgeous, but it looked pretty good for a ten year old home paint job.
When I talk to him, the first thing I ask is if hes alright, and he is. Next he appologizesALLOT. I feel bad and really mad, but glad the whole bronco isnt gone. I know this is just an accident.
When the subject of the bill comes up tomorrow, what should I do? I really just want things to be right, but if I need to paint my bronco now then WTF!
Im really going to try to hold my temper as I believe he's a decent guy that just made a mistake.
Did all broncos come with poly lines?
What would you guys do?
Please give me your opinion as I will use your answers in my decision making.
Thanks, and sorry for the long read.

 

[t.lay]

bummer. For me I think the starting point is answering the question what do you think is a fair solution - a wash? He pays you? You pay him? Part II - what does your guy think is fair? How far apart are you? Can you get your bronco back in your possession while you figure it out?

I've given up on letting others touch my bronco - start adding to your skills - there's usually help right here - either getting questions answered or if folks are nearby they may show up on you doorstep.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I believe some (maybe all ?) broncos came with plastic fuel lines.

The first question outta my mouth would be :
"All right , how do we work this out ? Those flares cost me $XXX , not to mention the other fire damage I'll have to repair.

Do not bullshit or beat around the bush , it will make you look timid and easy to push around.
Remember , you hired him to repair the Bronco , not burn it down.


That does not mean you have to leap right into "stark raving A-hole" mode right off the bat either.

 

[bax]

First thing i would do is look at his work and make a decision on the quality. Then regardless of condition get the truck on your trailer. Start the deal after it is loaded. Your on the hook for 1K he is on the hook for parts and labor to replace what he ruined. If he did a poor job on your floors, do you want him fixing your damage? sounds to me like flairs and a fender plus paint could get to 1K no problem. If his work is bad you dont want him fixing it? sounds like either way you will have to have the cost of damage vs his labor talk with him. With the truck on the trailer you have an exit so if things so south you can leave with your property. You can fight the fight without the hostage situation. I would like to think the work will be good and the guy will fix what he damaged and you will pay him the 1K that was agreed on but. A guy advertising body work on craigslist doesn't really strike me as stand up business.

 

[bosshoff]

Does he do body work? New fender and flare is what $500-600? How much to match a fender from a paint shop? Get the Bronco back if it feels weird, and you think he's going to be sketchy. Before you arrive, print prices for a fiberglass fender, flare, and figure paint and freight. He only has "Time" into this repair. You supplied the parts. He will not want to add $600 of "Cash" to the deal. Speak nicely, ask if he has homeowners insurance, or business insurance. Is this guy working out of his house or a shop? Be calm.

 

[sprdv1]

If he can't fix the problem he caused, get a quote on repairs, to take with you, Deduct that off of what you owe him for the final bill? My opinion

 

[Heus33]

Sounds like you gave the guy the benefit of time and in return he did more work than he would have for the agreed upon price. That to me sounds like two reasonably good people. So don't go in there ready to swing at the guy, he made a mistake and apologized for it.

However, you're still out the fender and the flare. Get the truck on the trailer first like others have said, then try go find a common ground. Without seeing the damage I dont know what he owes you but it is his responsibility to either fix the damage or pay for it.

Personally I'd probably assume that you can get one warflare from someone on here for fairly cheap and then fix the rest of the fender (if repairable). Maybe something in the $500 range will make both parties satisfied. This way you're not out a ton and you got a great deal on bodywork with enough money left over to repair the damage and think about a new paint job.

 

[ponyboy156]

Update!!!! 12/18/09

First off, I really appreciate all of the advice. I actually printed out this thread, and an identical thread that was copied to a local bronco forum( northwestclassicbroncos.com ) and asked him to read it. I was pretty hot under the collar when I got up there today, but I decided to take my father with me as I try to be as little of a jackass as possible when Im with him. It didn't look good, but it definately wasnt a total loss.

The fella expressed his apollogies and seemed very sincere and also expressed the desire to make it better. He had two steel bronco fenders in the shop and wanted to paint them and the door to match (I brought a half gallon of leftover paint from the bronco).

I thought this was very decent of him, and we agreed that painting two new steel fenders to replace the fiberglass fender that was burned would make up for the loss of the new gorilla warflare (same approximate value) and I could purchase new flares and install them later. It seemed fair as he was replacing two fenders to make them match when, he really only damaged one.

It was tough to leave the bronco there, but not long after I dropped my dad off the sheetmetal guy called to ask me to check my e-mail. He had already sent pictures of the sanded and primerd new fenders, door and rocker. He told me hes gonna go over everything once more tomorrow and then paint them.

I have to say he's really doing everything he can to make this right.

.... and one more thing, all the metal work he had done in the floorpans and tunnel supports looked great. Its just too bad all this fire business had to happen, I would have been more than happy with the work he had done.

So far, Im feeling better about the whole situation. Again, thanks to all of you that gave your opinions on this matter, I believe it really helped him see things from both points of view, as well as made me feel like I wasnt the only guy that would have reacted adversely.

I'll post the outcome as it unfolds. Too bad I cant post the fire pictures, If it wsn't mine I'd find it interesting!

 

[sprdv1]

Glad y'all worked it out

 

[BronCowie]

Good to hear the original job scope turned out as expected; and it sounds like he is not wasting any time making this small disaster right for you. That shows (to me) that he is sincere in keeping his reputation on the up-and-up. Let's hope he stays on track. Good luck, looking forward to reading your end-result!

 

[thegreatjustino]

It's not the mistakes we make that people remember, but how we handle the fallout that sticks in people’s minds.

 

[Stefan]

Good deal!!!
He sounds like a stand up guy!

Glad he made it right and did a good job to boot!

 

[74creamsickle]

glad to hear that there are still decent people out there

 

[Rox Crusher]

Men of Substance are able to think and speak clearly even in difficult situations....................so you don't need print outs of this thread to do your talking.

Having said that, sounds like both of you are being reasonable and headed in the right direction !

Job well done.

If it turns out A-ok, I might be inclined to tip the guy or at least give him a really good reference !

 

[ponyboy156]

......so you don't need print outs of this thread to do your talking.

Your right, I dont.

I gave him the printouts of this thread and asked him to read them after we had already reached an agreement. I just thought it would be good for him to see the many different opinions and ways others would have handled this. When he called me later in the day he had read the thread and stated that he was glad I didn't load the truck up and bolt, and expressed that he was glad I gave him the chance to make it right. He also said he would have liked to just start fixing it up immediately, but that I needed to see it first and give him my permission once an agreement was reached.

So far I really think he has handled it very well. We'll see how long the fix takes to complete. I plan on calling him today to see how close it is to paint.

Again, thanks for all the advice. I was so dumbfounded when I originally heard what happened I really didn't know what to do or even what to think (anger was the only emotion I felt) and all the advice helped me form a bit of a plan on how to act. I hope it turns out good and in a timely fashion. I let you guys know the outcome as it unfolds.

I'll try and get some pics up later of the whole ordeal...... because hey, if it wasn't my rig it would definately be interesting.