PDA

View Full Version : Boat fire!



welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:16 PM
I must be a complete idiot! To make a long story as short as possible, i purchased a custom boat cover. My neighbor was getting some canvas work done and I get a knock on my door from the guy doing the work. He notices that I need a new cover, and proceeds to impress me with photos and a client list. I was actually in the market for one, so this seemed to be perfect timing. The guy says he will give me a screaming deal since he is slow and needs to work. (This is wher I should have put up the first red flag in hindsight.) We agree on a price and as a bonus he will do the work on site so I do not even have to tow the boat. I give the guy a deposit, and he goes to the bank right away and cashes it. (Another red flag I decided to skip.) Over the course of the next couple of weeks he is flaky at best (Another skipped red flag.), but was making an absolutely beautiful cover for me.
Delivery day, a Saturday, and he is doing the final fitting and some touch ups or whatever. I told him I have to run some errands, but my wife will pay you when you are done if I am not back in time. I get home a couple of hours later to find no boat cover and no guy. My thoughts were he must have damaged it and had to take it back to the shop. I get on the phone, in a relatively good mood, and ask him what happened with a smile on my face. Suddenly, I walk around the other side of the boat to find a 4' x 4' burn from the top of my boat down to the fender. Melted plastic, gel coat, paint, water, and a complete mess.
He proceeds to tell me that he left and did not call me, so as not to ruin the rest of my day! WTF!:devil: :mad: I am in such a state of shock that I was actualy nice to him at first and hung up. Within seconds, I blew up and went and got the camera. After some cooling off, I called him and said I know that accidents happen and I would like to know what you intend to do to make this right. I said meet at my house tomorrow morning with a plan of action and don't be late.
He shows up with the burnt cover and is doing his best to stay away from me. I think he was a little nervous. He told me knows a couple of people that do this kind of work and he will pay to have it fixed. Fine, taking down some more contact and other personal information we have a plan. I got my new cover a couple of days later and I have to admit it is awesome. But it is hard to overlook a burned boat.
A week goes by and nothing. I am screwed. I finally get a return call and he says someone will be calling me the following Monday. That was this past Monday. It took him until today after several attempts from me to contact him to get a call. Today he told me that he has not received any pictures that I promised to email him so he could get some bids. I don't remember that, and I don't believe that is my responsibilty, but whatever with that.
I guess I should just own up that I hired someone I should not have, and now I will have to pay out of my pocket to have this fixed. So my great deal turned into a very expensive boat cover.

H20Advantage
03-29-2007, 05:21 PM
Sorry to hear this. What caused the fire?????

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:23 PM
Sorry to hear this. What caused the fire?????
The genius was using a lighter to melt the ends of the nylon straps while it was on the boat. It took off like a wildfire according to my firefighter neighbor.

Ziggy
03-29-2007, 05:34 PM
I suppose you haven't paid him for the cover yet(excl deposit)....would this amount cover the dmage perhaps?

HocusPocus
03-29-2007, 05:35 PM
that just blows... you trust someone to do work for you and then they screw ya. the guy didn't even have the balls to call you and waited for you to find out on your own.

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:36 PM
I suppose you haven't paid him for the cover yet(excl deposit)....would this amount cover the dmage perhaps?
Unfortunately, my wife paid him without knowing what happened. Oops, did I forget to tell you that? Jerk!
I have no idea what it is going to cost. I have a couple of pics if someone wants to post them for me.

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:40 PM
that just blows... you trust someone to do work for you and then they screw ya. the guy didn't even have the balls to call you and waited for you to find out on your own.
My neighbor said he has never seen anyone pack their truck and bail that fast! I told the guy I was going to be upset no matter what, but for you to run makes you look bad and untrustworthy. He did not have anything to say about that. I asked him if his first response is to run from responsibilty..and quickly followed up with a don't answer that.

Rexone
03-29-2007, 05:41 PM
If you have witness, which it sounds like you do, small claims court may be your best remedy if he won't handle it.

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:43 PM
If you have witness, which it sounds like you do, small claims court may be your best remedy if he won't handle it.
I have a witness for sure. I may have to do that, but I am sure if it comes to that, the best I will get is an unpaid judgment.

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:44 PM
I am in the process of getting some referrals to repair the damage. Anyone have some in the So Cal area?

Ziggy
03-29-2007, 05:46 PM
That really sucks. I hope to hell the guy asked for the check before he did the damage and not afterwards.
Sure hope you get it resolved ammicably with the guy......sounds like he was scared more than trying to be dishonest.....At least he has talked with you rather than ignoring completely, he's probably in a tight spot.

welk2party
03-29-2007, 05:47 PM
Here are some pics.
These are after I spent an hour cleaning the best I could. I have better pics on my camera of the damage prior to the cleaning. Once I upload them, I will post them.

Parker Dreamin
03-29-2007, 06:05 PM
wow..that sucks bud. good luck with everything.

RitcheyRch
03-29-2007, 06:21 PM
That sucks. Hopefully he does the right thing and pays for his mistake.

hoolign
03-29-2007, 06:59 PM
Here are some pics.
These are after I spent an hour cleaning the best I could. I have better pics on my camera of the damage prior to the cleaning. Once I upload them, I will post them.
Just get him to make another cover to go over the burn??
I'M KIDDING! hope he does the right thing for ya! Sucks though!

carreraelite
03-29-2007, 08:51 PM
that Sucks!! He's going to have to sell alot of covers to pay for that!! Good Luck!!

skygod73
03-29-2007, 09:07 PM
Did she pay with a check? If so, put a stop payment on it.

Magic34
03-29-2007, 11:03 PM
Here are some pics.
These are after I spent an hour cleaning the best I could. I have better pics on my camera of the damage prior to the cleaning. Once I upload them, I will post them.
I can try to send you some mixtures of abrasive cleaners to try and get the stains off the gel if you like.

Robert1050
03-29-2007, 11:43 PM
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but you might be able to get away with just wet-sanding & repolishing the area. The rub rail looks like toast though, you might have to replace it. The trailer fender looks like it can be re-finished as well. Pain In The A**, but get estimates & go after the dude! I don't know any SoCal people to repair that, but there are a number of good glass shops in Havasu.
Robert

welk2party
03-30-2007, 09:08 AM
I can try to send you some mixtures of abrasive cleaners to try and get the stains off the gel if you like.
I am willing to give it a try for sure. I will need some repair on the bottom due to some of the gel cooking off. If I could clean some of it, it might save me some money.

H20Advantage
03-30-2007, 09:25 AM
How about going to your insurance company get it fixed right and and let them go after him?

RiverDave
03-30-2007, 10:59 AM
I'd try Magic 34's stuff.. That doesn't work a little wetsand with some 800 / 1000 grit and then repolish and it should buff out I would think?
A new stick of rubrail can be found in town for around 30 - 40 bucks (retail), and getting the fender repainted should be pretty cheap.. Any trailer place in town should be able to handle that for you.
It looks to me like a couple hundred bucks and a day of headaches.
If it actually baked the gel off the boat though, that could get expensive. I think it you wetsanded it a little though you might find it'll come back.
If it were me I'd just take that whole program over to Ducky and say "Fix it" :D
let me know if you need his #.
I'm assuming this boat is in Havasu?
RD

welk2party
03-30-2007, 11:17 AM
I'd try Magic 34's stuff.. That doesn't work a little wetsand with some 800 / 1000 grit and then repolish and it should buff out I would think?
A new stick of rubrail can be found in town for around 30 - 40 bucks (retail), and getting the fender repainted should be pretty cheap.. Any trailer place in town should be able to handle that for you.
It looks to me like a couple hundred bucks and a day of headaches.
If it actually baked the gel off the boat though, that could get expensive. I think it you wetsanded it a little though you might find it'll come back.
If it were me I'd just take that whole program over to Ducky and say "Fix it" :D
let me know if you need his #.
I'm assuming this boat is in Havasu?
RD
The wetsanding might work for most of it. I was never concernend about the rubrail since it can be easily replaced. The trailer fender sucks, but I think that it is motivation to get stainless like I originally wanted.
I don't know who Ducky is.
The boat is in Huntington Beach.

RiverDave
03-30-2007, 11:19 AM
The wetsanding might work for most of it. I was never concernend about the rubrail since it can be easily replaced. The trailer fender sucks, but I think that it is motivation to get stainless like I originally wanted.
I don't know who Ducky is.
The boat is in Huntington Beach.
Huntington is pretty close to Whittier I think? Call Zieman and their parts dept can sell you a set of Stainless Fenders. Ducky is a guy that does gel repair, and fiberglass repair in Havasu.. His name on the boards is Ducky. ;)
You have to buff out the areas that you wetsand, and if you've never done that before it can be a trying experience.
RD

460 jus getn it
03-30-2007, 11:24 AM
That sucks man.

welk2party
03-30-2007, 11:51 AM
Huntington is pretty close to Whittier I think? Call Zieman and their parts dept can sell you a set of Stainless Fenders. Ducky is a guy that does gel repair, and fiberglass repair in Havasu.. His name on the boards is Ducky. ;)
You have to buff out the areas that you wetsand, and if you've never done that before it can be a trying experience.
RD
Whittier is about 45 minutes from Huntington...not too bad. To be honest, I really do not want to do anything with the gelcoat myself. I would rather pay someone that knows what they are doing right out of the gate. I would likely cost myself more money.

RiverDave
03-30-2007, 01:55 PM
Whittier is about 45 minutes from Huntington...not too bad. To be honest, I really do not want to do anything with the gelcoat myself. I would rather pay someone that knows what they are doing right out of the gate. I would likely cost myself more money.
Well I'd wetsand and buff as much of it out as you possibly can.. They can match repairs pretty good, but years down the road you'll be able to see them.
RD

centerhill condor
03-30-2007, 01:59 PM
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=27668&d=1175219195

centerhill condor
03-30-2007, 02:01 PM
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=27669&d=1175219214
man, that is a bummer, but it doesn't make you an idiot. This just goes to prove my theory that you should punch people when you thing you should. That way you don't have time to form intent....you'll never get satisfaction from small claims court and no amount of money can make this "right".