This story is the most heartbreaking to date for my Camaro. I will try to get the whole story out and you can see for yourself at the disaster this shop caused. I have to thank my family and Davis Auto Body for taking this disaster and getting it all right. After months of research, I decided on a body shop to repaint the Camaro. The owner came across as a guy that knew his stuff and would take care of the Camaro like it was his own car. I spoke to the owner on two different occasions. Both times I was able to get the same impression. I even asked him to grant my request to allow me to stop by a few times and get some pictures of the work in progress. He had no problem with that. So, I did it, I selected Fischer's as the shop to take care of the care. So as, you can see everything seemed good and was going to work. Boy, was I horribly wrong!

Here is how the story goes. In July of 2004 I had the Camaro taken to Fischer's and the work was to begin later that week. I went to the shop later on that Tuesday to clear up what was being done and how. The owner and I walked out to the yard where the car was being stored. I explained to him that the t-tops were leaking and there was rust under the gaskets. He pulled one of the tops from the car and removed part of the gasket to expose the rust in question. It was even worse than I expected. We discussed that all would cost $2000 and would include the following: Remove all the old parts to paint the car, repair the the rust on the roof, paint inside the rear hatch, and put all the new parts on when I deliver them. The two of us returned to the office where I gave him a $500 deposit to start the job.

That afternoon a huge storm front moved into the area. I was worried about the car, because I remembered us removing the top to view the rust. I convinced myself not to call the shop and bug them about it. I assumed that this was a reputable business and knew what they were doing. That evening, I could not get any sleep because I had a bad feeling something went wrong. So I decided to borrow a car in the morning and drive to the shop to check on the Camaro. I took my digital camera with me. I arrived on on the property just before they opened. I drove to the back where my car was sitting the day before. To my horror, the car was still there with the top off of the car. The car was drenched inside and there was standing water in the rear floor boards.

I went ahead and shot the above pictures. I then just drove to work and waited for the shop to open. When the shop opened, I called and asked for the Owner. I ask if he was able to get the car inside and sealed up before the storm came rolling through. He assured me that he got the car in and covered and that everything was fine. My next statement was “OK, I stopped by this morning and the car was out back and uncovered with the top removed. There is also standing water in the floor and the seats are soaked.” He responded with all kinds of language blaming every worthless employee for the mistake. He exploded in a fit of rage and promised me it would be taken care of. I said “That will be fine, what is the plan.” He responded with “We will remove the interior and carpet if needed to dry the car and clean up the water.” I thought that was great service and allowed them to resolve the problem. However, later that day I decided to stop by and see how things were coming. I walked into the office and the girl at the desk said the owner was out to lunch. I said OK and walked out towards the car. This is when I ran into the same raging person I had on the phone. He was just now moving my car and still using all kinds of abusive language. I let him be because it was a little scary to see how mad a person can get. Little did I know that there was more to come.

A few days went by and I went to check on the car and shoot some pictures. The car was in the shop being sanded and worked on. They were grinding away at the rust on the roof. The owner approached me with an idea, let them fix the t-top leak instead of returning the car to Walt's Water Works. I told him, that if they think they can do it, go for it. It was not until after the big disaster later that I realized this was the first step to being ripped off. However, everything did go OK on this trip.

On this day I asked my Father to drop off some parts for the car. The parts were new and were going to be the replacements for the old parts. My Father picked up the parts from the Chevy dealer and took them to Fischer's. This is when he noticed the car in the shop by the paint booth all taped up. First thought, they are almost done. However, at a closer look, he noticed all the parts were on the car with tape over them. My Father proceeded to call me. He asked, “Were they suppose to remove all the parts?” I said, “Yes, they were, that was the agreement.” I was getting a little irritated by the shop now and it was ready to boil over. I called the shop and got the girl on the phone that sits at the front desk. I asked, “What are they doing, the parts on the car had not been removed?” She asked me what estimate the owner gave me. I told her “$2000.” She responded with, “We do not remove all the parts for $2000, the cost would be more for that.” I was furious with this response and told her to stop working on the car until I arrive and talk with the owner.

I call my father to give me a ride to the shop. I arrive at the shop and walk in the office (This is where things explode out of control and blood pressure rises.) The owner was in the office when I walked in. The first I said was “What is going on with the car? I thought we were removing the parts.” The response was “Do not question my f***ing job or tell me how to do it.” I reminded him that all I wanted was an explanation and asked that he stop yelling. He refused and got more irritated. He then continued to yell and remind me not to tell him how to do his job. He also added that if need to tell my f***ing father to stay out of his shop and stop bothering his employees. I was so over the yelling and the lack of answers that I wanted my car back and out of his shop. That is when I got this explanation: “We taped up all of the accessories so no primer would get on them. Once the car was primered, we would remove the tape and paper from the car then remove the parts. Once the parts are off the car we will paint the car. Do you want the f**ing primer all over everything?” My response was, “OK, so you will tape up the car again so paint does not get all over everything, correct?” This sparked the next round of yelling and telling him to stay out of his shop. He then proceeded to tell me to leave his f***ing shop. Here is the conversation that ensued next.

Me: Not without my car, I want it back in the condition it is in. I do not want you touching it anymore.

Him: Not until you f***ing pay me.

Me: Pay you for what, you did not finish the car and it is obvious you f***ed it up. You need to give me the car! I already gave you a $500 deposit to start.

Him: You are not getting the car back until you pay my an additional $500 for the work done. You are not going to f***ing rip me off. Go ahead and call the police if you want. You still will not get the car back until you pay.

Me: You are out of your f***ing mind if I am going to give you another dollar for f***ing up the car the way you did. Just give me the car back and i will be on my way.

Him: The price just went to $1000 before you can get the car.

Me: What the f*** are you trying to pull. (By this time I am no longer calm, cool, or collected) You have been paid for the crap you have already done, give me f***ing the car.

Him: Get out of my shop so I can do my job.

Me: Not until you give me my f***ing car.

This is where my father steps in to calm the whole thing down. Dad asked me what I wanted to do and I told him I wanted the f***ing car out of this chop shop. Dad looked at the owner and said “If I give you the $500, will you give him the car back?” I told my dad that I did not want this guy to get another dime. The owner agreed to the $500 and took the payment. By this time I am fuming and cannot even describe my frame of mind in words. I am sure you can picture it for yourself. I wanted my car back and out of their hands ASAP.

They pulled the car out and pulled it to the end of the building. I saw the car go by covered in paper and tape. After about 20 minutes I wanted to know where the in the hell my car was. Then somebody tossed the keys at me and said “At the end of the building!” I proceeded to its location only to find the car completed taped up with paper. THEY REMOVED NOTHING! I get furious again and start tearing into the paper. As I tear into the paper I get even more furious because I can see the stuff they were going to cover up. Remember, they were suppose to fix the rust on the t-tops, well they didn't. It is obvious they were going to primer and paint over it. Below is the original damage and then pictures of the primer over it.

Once I was able to get all the tape and paper off I was able to see the inside of the car and its mess. They bent and destroyed my t-top bar so I had to get a new one. The t-top gaskets were torn from the car in multiple pieces. The funny part here is the owner and I removed one of them in one piece in the very beginning. I had to get those new also. After all the paper was removed I tried to leave and to no avail the car would not start. They killed my Optima Red Top battery. The car required a jumpstart and the kid that was told to do it did not even know how to connect it up to jump the car. Once the car was started I left the site and have never set foot back near there. Below is how the car was returned to me, of course I tore all the paper off. (Yes, that is bare metal)

Needless to say I despise this shop and any shop affiliated with them. The shop that referred me to them no longer gets my business even after 6 years of service, Merchant's Tire now Tire Kingdom. I am sorry to say that because a good friend works and manages the place. Sorry, no more business for you from me.