So, the first glass people got into an accident, which ruined our appointment. Fine. They came back the next day. I asked Mike to call me. He said he'd call me when he saw glass going into the car. I didn't get a call until 4pm. He said they gave it a shot, but it was too much for them, so they left. Another guy came, looked at the car and left. Finally, he got a hold of a guy who does nothing buy old stuff. He was on his way to do a '57 Chevy when Mike called. Said he'd swing by after. Mike said he'd follow up with me. No call for the rest of Wednesday. Nothing on Thursday until 7pm. I was in the area Thursday afternoon, but didn't want to just drop in, after all, Mike's been busy with a lot of little jobs and I'm not wanting to annoy him. He calls me at 7pm and said he's just leaving the shop. The windows are in and they took many, many hours. Said the glass guy kept insisting that this car had been wrecked and nothing fit. They both worked at it and got the glass in. Then he said it was the best he could do. Oh no. Said he was going to shoot the black on the rear valance, rockers and behind the grill this morning (Friday), and I could see it this afternoon.
I couldn't eat anything last night. I was really worried about how it would look. So, I kept waiting and waiting for a phone call. Read every thread I could find on windshields and what people have been dealing with and figured it can't be that bad. Looks like everyone has had a hard time, but they work out eventually. Finally, I'm getting annoyed. I call him at 4pm and he said he was just going to call me. I said I was sorta on that side of town, ready to go back to Phoenix and could be there in 30 minutes.
Hmmm. Rear spoiler is on. Looks good.
Looks like a window there.
Windshield made in Germany. Green tint with the darker green band. Heard of some folks getting OE windshields from Columbia.
The windows look absolutely HORRIBLE. I've never seen anything so bad in my entire life. My seals, my trim - all ruined. $600 worth completely ruined. Seals are melted and ripped. The trim is all scratched and bent. Absolutely horrible. Mike said I didn't have to pay for it. Great. You haven't seen pissed off until you show me this and then make me pay for it. That said, I didn't know it wasn't included in what I paid him for the paint job. Issues I decided not to press at the time. The only positives here is that the glass didn't get destroyed, the headliner wasn't damaged and I didn't have to pay to have someone ruin my stuff. I didn't pay the kid in the Jetta to run into my E12 either. Glad I can get these services for free.
Those are just a couple of examples of the excellence throughout the installation. I've got rips in the seals, more melty bits and tons of scratches and damage to the trim.
I tried really, really, really hard not to get super pissed off. I understand the guy had a hard time. I know Mike is not a glass person. He did his own glass in his E30 M3, but yeah, that's different. I must have told him five times that if he had ANY questions, issues or concerns to CALL ME! If it can't be done, it can't be done. I'll have someone do it at my house. Now, all I've got is a bunch of fucked up shit on a car I don't even want to finish, let alone look at. Obviously, getting upset at him isn't going to fix it and he certainly is not going to replace the stuff that was ruined. What's it going to accomplish? I cannot afford to spend $1,000 to fix stuff I already paid for.
Everything had gone very well so far. Mike had been great to work with, the quality of the work was good (though I don't know WTF is up with that area under the lower left corner of the rear glass) and everything seemed to go according to plan. Everyone has stuff that needs fixing with a paint job, but I didn't expect it would be my parts that would get ruined and I'd have to re-buy them all and take a gamble with someone else to do the work.
Apparently, it's coming home tomorrow where it will most likely just sit in the garage unfinished under a car cover for who knows how long.
Sure, you probably think I'm over-reacting, but with the amount of money I have into this project, I can assure you I'm not.