WARNING - sxowner (Alex Livingston) - Do not use!!

[keyring]

I put your original email up there in the first comment, i'm not denying that i got that email from you, but i doubted you would of been willing to fix all the welding on the car for free, hence why i didn't reply in the first place.... I also didn't want you to be working on it, if the quality was going to be the same as how it is just now, which i'm sure you and anyone else would be the very same if you got a car with the workmanship in the same condition?

As far as i was concerned you thought the quality of the work was acceptable, so there was no way in which it could be improved, hence asking for part of the money back so that i could but it into a body shop and attempt to have it corrected, as it stands i'm doing to have remove work you have done, and get it redone

Also as i said up there ^ i admit i came out, and and praised it(stupidly not looking over it) but from standing at the side of the car, i was happy to see progress, the fact i didn't know what i was looking for and should of brought someone with me who did, was my own fault, but yet surely i shouldn't have to do that as it shouldn't of been in the condition it was in, in the first place?

[itrhondaboy]

Errrm

Where is the pop corn smiley

[Fake Ben Taylor]

bad work or no bad work - ONE email saying you werent happy isnt enough

especially as he offered to discuss sorting the issues with you and you didnt reply to him

im in the theres more to this than meets the eye club

[karlf]

[donnylad]

ive welded 3 times and can weld better then that! how people charge for such crap work i dont know!

[d6yme-crx]

Im the sort of person that thinks that if you’re not willing to get in contact with Alex in person and try and work things out then don’t try and badmouth him or his work over a public forum.

I have only met Alex once so not in anyone’s corner on this but if you have a problem with someone or their work you tell them not the whole world unless you’re a keyboard warier.

[IIvIIitch]

The state of the work is shockingly bad and i certainly wouldnt be happy with it but at the same time you failed to respond to his email offering to take a look/fix it. If you are not willing to discuss the problems with him then in my opinion you have nothing to moan about.

[keyring]

Very valid point, but Alex made clear in his email i wasn't getting a penny. What am i meant to do, as i've said previously, and will repeat, with the standard of work that was carried out on the car, i feel it with in my right to refuse anymore work to be carried out by himself on it. Not only is it of a poor quality, some of it is just plain and simply dangerous....

Not trying to be a keyboard warrior at all, at no point in this thread have i made any threats or derogatory remarks about Alex himself...

[Rubix_Cube]

Alex offered to fix it, you didn't take up the offer then throw your toys out the pram. Bad work or not he offered to fix it.

[Ghazoobe]

Sorry this isn't really regarding the car but....



**** I wish I could of afforded to spend £1k+ on a car when I was at school! Hell, even being able to afford to have a car at all would've been nice!

[mr_reepers13]

1. why cant mechanics etc give a w0rst case scenario and a likley scenario when quoting a job.. i hate that "oh took longer than i thought" - in that case you need to take that into account when quoting and if it takes longer than tough shit, you dont charge extra!

2. the op is well within his rights not go back there to have any further work carried out if it was originaly not to a satisfied level.

3. i do feel they can come to a compramise where trading standards arnt involved - eg. op has 3 quotes from bodyshops at cost of repair.. this would give the mechanic no leg to stand on but to refund some monies.

unfortunatley it seems like the op cant get it transported anywhere due to costs but maybe something he has to do.

personaly mate, if you were local i would transport it for you as i do feel for you!

[Paddy]

Unfortunately this is the problem you have when you try to cut corners and save money and not take it to a proper bodyshop.

[sroberts]

Should have gone to a proper body shop from the start.

Alex offered to fix it, you didn't take up the offer then throw your toys out the pram. Bad work or not he offered to fix it.

Does offering to fix it make things right? From the other side of the fence, if the work is that bad and you've lost all confidence in the person doing the work would you want them fixing it? Personally I'd want my money back and look to take the car somewhere else that is capable of actually doing the work.

[Paddy]

Just as I was about to get Alex to do some work on my car after new year this happens. I know thier are enough people on here to compliment Alex on his work but it puts doubt in your mind which is a shame.

[Prior]

Should have gone to a proper body shop from the start.



Does offering to fix it make things right? From the other side of the fence, if the work is that bad and you've lost all confidence in the person doing the work would you want them fixing it? Personally I'd want my money back and look to take the car somewhere else that is capable of actually doing the work.

Exactly my thoughts on the matter.

To be honest, after hanging around the VW scene for a while, anyone wanting major structural work like derusting, welding, fabricating and complete panel repairs should be looking at double the original quote-minimum. I didnt even need to look at the before pics to know the original price was too cheap.

I hope the OP and Alex can sort this amicably. Theres no winners in this situation.

[J595HAS]

One problem which strikes me is on the first estimate / invoice, where aspects of repair are quoted to be carried out to "good standard". Now I personally despite numerous years in the motor trade have never seen an estimate quote carrying out a repair to "good standard", in particular where welding and the vehicles structure is concerned. Due to the nature of the repairs being structural, I would consider a "good" standard to be worthy of meeting the requirements of an MOT test as anything causing the vehicle to fail is obviously not "good" enough.

The simple solution is for the car owner make the car roll, ie fit wheels etc necessary to get to a VOSA station and have the car put through a full test, yes as the car is incomplete it may fail in other areas, emmisions etc if it has to be pushed on to the ramp but it allows the vehicle to have the areas concerned tested. In the event that the areas repaired are not up to scratch the customer could either allow the repairer make good and pay for test and retest fee or the customer having no confidence has the necessary work repaired else. Getting three quotes for the repair work ( settle on the middle quote figure for claim purpose) and include any necessary costs (VOSA test fees, transportation etc) this figure should be reasonably returned through small claims.

I dont know either party but If I were the customer, I can only say how I would feel and deal with the situation. Possibly an option would be for the repairer to agree repair to the VOSA standards. I also believe it "good practice" from a repairer to leave welding repairs for inspection without the aid of body filler or underseal>

[Chavbo]

What a utter prick, this shouldn't happen to anyone,it's not right at all


I like my mrs boooobies ( my life Is back on track )

I reckon some people need to wind their neck in with the personal insults. Aside from whatever has gone on here, Alex has put himself out numerous times to help out the Scottish lads, me included. So to call him a prick based on one post is pathetic.

Other than that, I'm not making any comments as frankly its none of my business what did or didn't happen here - unfortunately some others who are also not involved in this matter don't see it that way too.

[Lightning - jimbeam]

Charging him 700 quid for all that work? You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. No wonder you weren't pleased. I'd have avoided him as soon as i saw how cheap the work was.

You pretty much asked for a restoration of a shitty rusty, crash damaged car. And his quote was £700...... Now wonder you threw a £250 deposit at him instantly.

[danny200]

I know Alex very well, and i know the car in question. I wouldnt hestitate to have him do any work on any car I had. He has done welding on a few of my cars and they have passed to MOT inspections.
The car in question is a 40+ year old car with substantial front end structural damage. And like most cars of this age had hidden horrors, i.e body filler hiding problems. The wings that were supplied with the car were of poor fit and required a lot of work to fit. The front bulkhead and window surrounds had to be fabricated from scratch, I saw the work and the welding was fine.
I know he offered to recifiy any problems and recieved no contact back.
I believe from seeing the car and seeing the work required that the owner realised that he had bought a car that, as the full extent of the problems were uncovered, that needed much more work than he realised and could have bought a good one to start with for less than the work needed on the car.
If he had replied to Alex I am sure something could have been done about this.
Bad mouthing Alex and bringing your issues on to a forum for people to comment on a job they no nothing about is not the way to go about this. As everyone knows pictures can be decieving, how many people have been fooled into going to see a pristine car and in the flesh its a dog?

[Mark]

As everyone knows pictures can be decieving, how many people have been fooled into going to see a pristine car and in the flesh its a dog?

I have never known photos to make things look loads worse then they are though

If the panels were a poor fit and it was loads of work then he should have refused the job if he wasnt upto it

I would rather refuse a job and keep by reputation intact then take something on that was too much hassle and risk it being tarnished