Metal Work - Expert Opinions Needed

[modok]

I might believe he has that much time in it, but

Amateur level metal work on a vintage VW does not pay 70$ an hour.

If it did..........we'd all be doing it! duh

[arizonabuckeye]

What ended up happening?

[laneven28]

Appreciate all the responses and perspectives. We went at it pretty hard for an hour debating cost vs. quality and how to manage customer expectations.

His perspective was he was doing high quality work and had mentioned that to me several times throughout the process and even noted hours he had in it. Quality takes time and time costs $ was his argument. I don't disagree with any of that, but it's only half the equation.

My position was he'd never mentioned he was charging an hourly rate, didn't disclose what that hourly rate was, and the only figure that had been on the table the entire project was $1k for the whole job that he'd agreed "was in the ballpark" on more than one occasion. $4200 is NOT in the ballpark of $1k. $3k is NOT in the ballpark of $1k. Had I known how he was billing and what the cost had crept up to, I'd have told him to stop. I explained that If I missed my budget at my job by 300%, I'd be fired. If I missed by 50% without warning anyone, I'd be fired. Not telling me where we were financially throughout the project, especially when he knew we were well over $1k, was unacceptable. He agreed he'd failed to keep me informed, and apologized.

I gave a simple example: You contract with a builder to build you a house. You tell him you want to spend $100k. He says "great, I'm going to build you the best house, high quality, you'll love it". Throughout the building process, he tells you "Man I've spend a lot of time on this house, but it's high quality just like you wanted". Great, you're happy. When the house is built he comes to you and says "All done. The house is $420k, I know it's more than you budgeted so I'll knock it down to $300k for you. But it sure is high quality". As a customer, are you ok with this approach? Absolutely not. But that's exactly what you just did to me.

I told him I was not going to pay $3k. I knew I was going to have to pay more than I expected, but he was going to have to eat more than he expected as well. We would both have to compromise.

We cooled down for a week, then slowly started to come to agreement. I gave him $1k for the work to that point. We agreed going forward that I'd give him $500 as a deposit, and he'd eat that up wrapping up the rest of the project. We'll meet weekly to look at progress, and discuss where we are financially.

What's left:
1. Welding one bumper bracket to the side wall (one side is done, the bumper will be used to fit and weld the second one)
2. Fitting and welding in new engine bay side trays
3. Welding in a single fender weld nut
4. Welding up tail light holes on one fender
5. Welding in a 1 x 1 patch to a fender flange

He says those will take 8-24 hours to finish everything. Reasonable? I'm not sure - pretty sure I could weld all those together in 8 hours or less. Regardless, I'll give him a chance, but will cut off when I'm done spending and will finish the rest on my own if it goes beyond another $1k. That's my limit.
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1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

[MODIFIER]

If you spent more than 10 hours leisurely removing and installing a front or rear clip you are not very professional.
I do 25 to 30 hours of heavy panel replacement every day in 8 hours.
Been doing it for over 30 years.
This guy is taking you to the cleaners in every way.
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Happyasshell
USC USMC DAD OORAH!
ASE MASTER TECH BODY/PAINT and MECHANICAL

62 Beetle
63 Vert
64 Beetle
https://www.facebook.com/SmartFarmServices

[Spezialist]

He should have called you before he went over the estimate, since it's his estimate he is responsible for sticking to it.
70$ and hour for unskilled average joe body work, primmadonna.
If he knew what he was doing his estimate would have been on.
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Spezialist]

[skills@eurocarsplus]