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Maaco Complaint - Horrendous Customer Service & Lies/Unable to deliver on promises - Paint job
Paint job - Complaint
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA -- My husband went to the Maaco franchise in Martinez, GA on March 13. Got an estimate and was told "bring the truck on a Saturday and you'll have it the following Saturday". He was impressed with the estimate and we took the truck back on the following Saturday, March 20.
A few FYI facts -
1) The truck was originally dark green with gold on the bottom - he told them to paint it exactly as it was.
2) We live over an hour away from the franchise.
3) Hubby gave his cell phone number because the shop hours were during his working hours and wanted them to be able to reach him if there were questions or problems.
While we were there, we decided to let them find a new hood which was part of the original estimate discussion. When hubby removed the bed liner he found an area of rust/corrosion. Eric, the "manager" told him as a complimentary service, they would brush out the corrosion and just do a cursory spray on the bed since the liner would be replaced - "you don't want that corrosion to go untreated" were Eric's words.
Eric called my husband on Monday, March 22 and told him he found a hood and it would be delivered to them by Wednesday. He then told him it would be ready the following Saturday, March 27.
Friday March 26, my husband called and was told "we've been busy and haven't done any painting except the bottom (which was to be painted gold and cost an extra $150) - the color wasn't right so the painter had to start over. It can be ready early next week - Wednesday at the latest." Hubby wasn't happy but he had some co-workers interested in seeing the job for potential future work. He mentioned this to Eric. Eric told him he was happy for the referrals and would take "extra care to make sure the job was perfect - not that he didn't do that with every job".
The following Tuesday (the day before we were supposed to get the truck back), March 30 my husband called and was told there were some issues with the roof of the truck. Apparently they said there had been previous body work and they were trying to make it perfect. Getting frustrated by now, my husband asked how obvious these "imperfections" were from the ground. "Well, not noticeable" was the answer. He told them just to make it look as good as possible - it is the roof and not many people are going to be hovering over the roof to inspect the paint.
Again, we were told the truck would be ready on Saturday, April 3. Friday, April 2 my husband called to find out what time to be there on Saturday. He was told the truck would not be ready until the following week. By now, he is beyond frustrated. Not only has it taken a week longer than promised, hubby has had to make every phone call himself - no phone calls were made by Maaco to inform us of any issues or delays.
The following week, we planned to go to Maaco on Thursday April 8. Wednesday April 7 my husband got home at 6pm and found a message from Eric on the home answering machine stating that there was a problem found after final paint on the passenger door which was very noticeable and he felt we would regret not having it taken care of. due to the late time we got the message, we could not call back until the following day.
Thursday April 8 - hubby called Eric and told him he was unhappy about having the message left on the home phone because we went out of our way to give the cell number so he could be reached during business hours. Eric told him the labor for fixing the "imperfection" on the door would be $300 but would cut it to $60. We told him to finish the truck. Eric said it would be ready sometime that Friday, April 9. My husband told him we would be there at 9-9:30 am that Saturday April 10 and to have it ready to go when we got there.
Saturday April 10. 9:45 am. We arrived at Maaco. Side note: A coworker of mine was there getting an estimate on a paint job - definitely have to talk to him Monday morning... Eric got to us at 10 (after taking my coworker to the back to show him finished jobs). He told us they were getting the door untaped from the touchup work he called about. We asked to go back and take a look at it. He said "You know what, we have a ton of stuff going on back there. It's not going to be possible to go back there." Mind you this was the same place he had just taken my unsuspecting coworker. At this point my husband was getting exasperated, and voiced his frustration...no he did not raise his voice, nor did he use profanity (for which I was grateful). Eric, the "manager" told him he was not going to have that argument with my husband and told him "you need to simmer down". At this point, my next to the last nerve was being trampled.
Twenty minutes later, the gate opened and one of the painters drove out in my husband's truck. The first thing I noticed was the silver at the bottom...not gold. I immediately walked into the store and asked Eric why the bottom was silver and not gold. He hollered "painter" and went back to what he was doing. Last nerve is now being tested.
I walked out the door with Mr. Painter. The guy who drove the truck out the gate was already out there with my husband disagreeing about the silver/gold issue. As I walked up to the truck, the painter was telling us "that is gold not silver - you need to look closer". At this point the driver said and I quote "I don't know what you're looking at, but you people need to get your eyes checked because what I see is gold". At this point I figured I would need to come up with bail money to release my husband but again he restrained himself. As I turned to walk back into the office, he hollered "I swear on the lives of all my brutha's I served with in the corps that it is gold and you don't know what you're looking at". Any self-respecting Marine would have stood up and slapped him for using the honor of the Corps as an excuse to be rude, thuggish and degrading.
I went into the office and told Eric to give me the bill so I could pay it and leave. At this point Mr. Driver came back into the office and proceeded behind the counter to ring us up. He started rudely mouthing off about color-blindness and I held up my hand and told him he needed to stop. He opened his mouth again and I looked him squarely in his eyes and repeated Stop - once. I asked Eric to please ask Mr. Driver to leave the office. He looked at Mr. Driver and told him to calm down and turned back to his computer. I paid the bill (every stinking penny of $1327.00) and told Eric that his first customer service mistake was telling us we needed to simmer down when we were simply expressing our frustration in a very normal, dissatisfied customer, ADULT manner. I then told him that the second mistake was allowing his painter to rudely tell customers they needed to get their eyes checked when we told him the color was wrong.
I am very aware of my rights as a customer who used a credit card to make a purchase. One word - CHARGEBACK. This will put a hold on their request for our money. This will also allow ample time for us to contact their corporate headquarters and give them a very detailed account and let them know that we expect at the very least a refund of the $150 we paid for gold paint. I will post our horror story to every possible media, and alert the local "on your side" consumer reporter if necessary.
By the way - the last straw which I did not notice until I got home...possibly because I need my eyes checked....they never TOUCHED the truck bed, did a poor job taping areas that should not have been painted, and did not correctly re-install the hood and windshield wipers.
A few FYI facts -
1) The truck was originally dark green with gold on the bottom - he told them to paint it exactly as it was.
2) We live over an hour away from the franchise.
3) Hubby gave his cell phone number because the shop hours were during his working hours and wanted them to be able to reach him if there were questions or problems.
While we were there, we decided to let them find a new hood which was part of the original estimate discussion. When hubby removed the bed liner he found an area of rust/corrosion. Eric, the "manager" told him as a complimentary service, they would brush out the corrosion and just do a cursory spray on the bed since the liner would be replaced - "you don't want that corrosion to go untreated" were Eric's words.
Eric called my husband on Monday, March 22 and told him he found a hood and it would be delivered to them by Wednesday. He then told him it would be ready the following Saturday, March 27.
Friday March 26, my husband called and was told "we've been busy and haven't done any painting except the bottom (which was to be painted gold and cost an extra $150) - the color wasn't right so the painter had to start over. It can be ready early next week - Wednesday at the latest." Hubby wasn't happy but he had some co-workers interested in seeing the job for potential future work. He mentioned this to Eric. Eric told him he was happy for the referrals and would take "extra care to make sure the job was perfect - not that he didn't do that with every job".
The following Tuesday (the day before we were supposed to get the truck back), March 30 my husband called and was told there were some issues with the roof of the truck. Apparently they said there had been previous body work and they were trying to make it perfect. Getting frustrated by now, my husband asked how obvious these "imperfections" were from the ground. "Well, not noticeable" was the answer. He told them just to make it look as good as possible - it is the roof and not many people are going to be hovering over the roof to inspect the paint.
Again, we were told the truck would be ready on Saturday, April 3. Friday, April 2 my husband called to find out what time to be there on Saturday. He was told the truck would not be ready until the following week. By now, he is beyond frustrated. Not only has it taken a week longer than promised, hubby has had to make every phone call himself - no phone calls were made by Maaco to inform us of any issues or delays.
The following week, we planned to go to Maaco on Thursday April 8. Wednesday April 7 my husband got home at 6pm and found a message from Eric on the home answering machine stating that there was a problem found after final paint on the passenger door which was very noticeable and he felt we would regret not having it taken care of. due to the late time we got the message, we could not call back until the following day.
Thursday April 8 - hubby called Eric and told him he was unhappy about having the message left on the home phone because we went out of our way to give the cell number so he could be reached during business hours. Eric told him the labor for fixing the "imperfection" on the door would be $300 but would cut it to $60. We told him to finish the truck. Eric said it would be ready sometime that Friday, April 9. My husband told him we would be there at 9-9:30 am that Saturday April 10 and to have it ready to go when we got there.
Saturday April 10. 9:45 am. We arrived at Maaco. Side note: A coworker of mine was there getting an estimate on a paint job - definitely have to talk to him Monday morning... Eric got to us at 10 (after taking my coworker to the back to show him finished jobs). He told us they were getting the door untaped from the touchup work he called about. We asked to go back and take a look at it. He said "You know what, we have a ton of stuff going on back there. It's not going to be possible to go back there." Mind you this was the same place he had just taken my unsuspecting coworker. At this point my husband was getting exasperated, and voiced his frustration...no he did not raise his voice, nor did he use profanity (for which I was grateful). Eric, the "manager" told him he was not going to have that argument with my husband and told him "you need to simmer down". At this point, my next to the last nerve was being trampled.
Twenty minutes later, the gate opened and one of the painters drove out in my husband's truck. The first thing I noticed was the silver at the bottom...not gold. I immediately walked into the store and asked Eric why the bottom was silver and not gold. He hollered "painter" and went back to what he was doing. Last nerve is now being tested.
I walked out the door with Mr. Painter. The guy who drove the truck out the gate was already out there with my husband disagreeing about the silver/gold issue. As I walked up to the truck, the painter was telling us "that is gold not silver - you need to look closer". At this point the driver said and I quote "I don't know what you're looking at, but you people need to get your eyes checked because what I see is gold". At this point I figured I would need to come up with bail money to release my husband but again he restrained himself. As I turned to walk back into the office, he hollered "I swear on the lives of all my brutha's I served with in the corps that it is gold and you don't know what you're looking at". Any self-respecting Marine would have stood up and slapped him for using the honor of the Corps as an excuse to be rude, thuggish and degrading.
I went into the office and told Eric to give me the bill so I could pay it and leave. At this point Mr. Driver came back into the office and proceeded behind the counter to ring us up. He started rudely mouthing off about color-blindness and I held up my hand and told him he needed to stop. He opened his mouth again and I looked him squarely in his eyes and repeated Stop - once. I asked Eric to please ask Mr. Driver to leave the office. He looked at Mr. Driver and told him to calm down and turned back to his computer. I paid the bill (every stinking penny of $1327.00) and told Eric that his first customer service mistake was telling us we needed to simmer down when we were simply expressing our frustration in a very normal, dissatisfied customer, ADULT manner. I then told him that the second mistake was allowing his painter to rudely tell customers they needed to get their eyes checked when we told him the color was wrong.
I am very aware of my rights as a customer who used a credit card to make a purchase. One word - CHARGEBACK. This will put a hold on their request for our money. This will also allow ample time for us to contact their corporate headquarters and give them a very detailed account and let them know that we expect at the very least a refund of the $150 we paid for gold paint. I will post our horror story to every possible media, and alert the local "on your side" consumer reporter if necessary.
By the way - the last straw which I did not notice until I got home...possibly because I need my eyes checked....they never TOUCHED the truck bed, did a poor job taping areas that should not have been painted, and did not correctly re-install the hood and windshield wipers.
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