SOGA for services unpaid for due to shoddy work

[V40TC]

I have had some wheels refurbished locally, when I went to collect them last week
the standard of the work was truly awful,with contamination in powder coat and in and on the lacquer, with over spray on the inside of the wheels too.
I said that I was not accepting these as the work fell far below the advertised standards in the bushiness leaflet supplied.
As they were for the Jag and not a works Van I would never have fitted them in the state they were being offered to me in.
The owner said I was the first customer that had complained
and offered to re do the wheels, they would be ready for this Past Friday.
a call to home from the company Friday PM tells me the wheels are not ready but would be for Monday.

Now when I go to collect them and if (as i am expecting) they again are not to an acceptable standard (I will take a camera with me)I intend to remove the wheels and band new tyres from the company to have them done somewhere far more professional that this place has turned out to be.

So my question if I am to remove them and the tyres would an offer of a small amount for materials satisfy my legal obligation to he company?
If they are not to standard I will not be paying for the service which is £60+vat per wheel
Seeing as I may well have to travel to Swindon and pay for a decent job.

Or can I just take my Wheels and tyres in the offered condition what ever it maybe advise the supplier that I am unhappy with the work carried out and leave.

[ging84]

don't know if the pros will agree but i think this might be a rare case where the OP has the right idea
although i think it is supply of goods and services act that applies not sale of goods act

[V40TC]

Many thanks I have printed out supply of goods act for Monday.

Ref This :Or can I just take my Wheels and tyres in the offered condition what ever it maybe advise the supplier that I am unhappy with the work carried out and leave.

If the wheels are fine then I of course will pay the Charge and move on a little wiser.
But I fear the worse are seeing the first Efforts of this Company.

[Mojooo]

supply of goods and services act 1982

work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. the standard would be the standard a person competent person in that field would do. it doesnt have to be top notch but it shoud not be crap. the problem is it can be subjective.

if the work has not been done with reasonable care and skill then there has been a breach of contract

you could pay nothing and let them sue you - you would then argue that they dont deserve payment

you could pay them a little and hope to get rid of them. they could then sue you and you would have to justify why you paid them the smaller amount and not the full amout

the practical problem is that they may not let you have the goods back without paying. in which cse you may have to pay and sue them for breach of contract to get all/some of you money back.

worth notifying them that if you end up out of pocket due to their poor job - i.e it costs more to get them redone than it would have done if they hadn't done anything then they could beliable for those extra costs.

[V40TC]

Thanks for the Advice.
The leaflet supplied says :
For a superb Finish inside and out
Just like New


so when I was presented with wheels with contamination and over spray
This falls short of what would be reasonable to expect.

We will see today I guess.
Although no holding my breath TBH.

[simion_levi]

You may find the business does not permit you to take the wheels away without paying for the service - they could claim a lien over the wheels if they believe that their work is acceptable and so the debt is valid. If appeals to reason did not work, you would then have to sue to regain your wheels.


In reality it'll probably just come down to a bit of a shouting match if anything, but if this does come up and they are bigger than you, it may be better to pay under protest so you have your wheels, make sure you document everything and then pursue a refund later.


EDIT: I see Moojoo has already touched on this.

[V40TC]

I was advised 2 day turn around when Booked in
I booked wheel in on 10-1-13 dropped them off that day.
I was advised they were ready 15-1-13 when I rejected their first effort.
I was told the would be ready on 18-1-13, then told 21-1-13,
today I have called this AM to be advised they would call me later today.
They called around 1300 to say wheel or wheels still in Oven hopefully ready tonight, but if they come out of the oven contaminated again they will have to start the process over!

So I have had enough of this and I plan to go and collect the wheels in what ever state of readiness.
as they have failed at each stage to deliver on any assurance given.

[STW2010]

Did the owner agree with you that it was a st job?

[V40TC]

He said it isn't what they normally produce and hope for,
the wheel in his show room were very good, (doubt he did them now)
plus he agreed to do them all again after a few mins looking and saying if they were on the car you wouldn't notice.
(only if you were clinically blind I think)

when I say contamination
I mean crud in the powder coat you can catch with finger nails
and over spray from the inside of the rim to the outer lip in a different
colour.
approx 10 defect on first Rear wheel I received then each wheel as it was brought out had faults.

Edited by V40TC on Monday 21st January 15:11

[V40TC]

Well I drove to see/collect the wheels
On arrival
2 of them are acceptable say 95%
Then the other two:
One has a blister in the colour through the lacquer requiring a rework,
When I asked the bloke if there was anything else before I spend time looking, he pointed out a blister in the lacquer on
another spoke on the other rear wheel, he believes he can fix this without a complete rework.
So in summary I have left the wheels there to be completed, I will be discussing discounts when I finally collect,
Seeing as this will have taken nearly 2 weeks not 2 days and the need to have wheels redone.
Thanks all who helped me with info on this.
Rather than a row, a day off work to get the wheels to Swindon to be done again.

[SVTRick]

Have the rims been powder coated ?
I dont think I would use a set of rims that have been subject to so much repeat heat
treatment in and out of ovens etc.
The only way to powder coat would require the rims to be burnt off or media blasted
in order to remove the old coatings.

Sounds like another "One coat Magicoat outfit"

[V40TC]

primer-powder coat and lacquer is the process apparently,
seems to be the norm for the process across the companies I have been researching.
there is a media blast cabinet there I saw in action on other wheels.
the other well known outfits all use the same process on their Websites.

The wheels were still warm when I arrived last night.

Edited by V40TC on Tuesday 22 January 07:03

[V40TC]

V40TC said:

Well I drove to see/collect the wheels
On arrival
2 of them are acceptable say 95%
Then the other two:
One has a blister in the colour through the lacquer requiring a rework,
When I asked the bloke if there was anything else before I spend time looking, he pointed out a blister in the lacquer on
another spoke on the other rear wheel, he believes he can fix this without a complete rework.
So in summary I have left the wheels there to be completed, I will be discussing discounts when I finally collect,
Seeing as this will have taken nearly 2 weeks not 2 days and the need to have wheels redone.
Thanks all who helped me with info on this.
Rather than a row, a day off work to get the wheels to Swindon to be done again.

Well the passed 48hrs have been some what interesting!
I call Tuesday at 1550 to see what stage we are at, to be told "oh it has all gone wrong again and they are in a poor state!"
Totally pissed off I said do not touch them any more I am coming to collect them now.
The saga begun
Mrs v40tc and I set off from west somerset heading to Exeter, we left at 1600 and by 1730 had only reached Taunton due to snow, as the shop shut at 1800 we had to abandon the trip, we turned for home, the snow, traffic increased, we got to Triscombe where we ground to a halt for over 3hrs, snow plough, police arrive to sort crashed and abandoned cars and vans. We move to crowcombe and the VW polo infront decided half way up the small hill to stop and this buggered our forward progression, we slipped and slid the volvo side to side made another 100yds to a grinding halt, the police arrived and oddly a bus had made progress up the hills, we left the volvo for the warmth on the bus this for another hr, then a glorious sight a snow plough on a tractor he cleared a path enough for me to fetch the volvo and mrs v from the bus, we headed on very slowly home, albeit with warning lights all over the dashboard.
Today we manged to get the volvo to our local independent volvo dealer "formula cars" they very kindly took the volvo in and sorted the issues causing warning lamps on the dash, caused by spinning wheels, auto gearbox and ABS.
I can thank them enough.
We then get to go to Exeter
Met by boss the wheels were brought out and put on concrete whilst my back was turned. FFS
Then the door was closed, no apology nothing..
We set off to platinum wheels in Swindon
Met on arrival explained our plight
They took the wheels showed me Acid left on surfaces from previous company
No wonder the powder coat was contaminated.
They have the wheels and I will collect next week from a professional outfit

[STW2010]

Sounds like a nightmare experience!

I hope you haven't paid those idiots a penny. I have used a alloy refurbishing company in the past, and can't recommend them highly enough. But I'm some distance from Somerset!

[V40TC]

Thankfully they must have realised they were not able to produce a decent result and did not have the cheek to ask for any payment.
I think I would have asked for compensation if they had.
The business seems to be for the dealers local to them,
so I guess they are not to picky as the cars being done are cars for sale any way.
I have learned the hard and expensive way
3 trips to Exeter
1 trip to Volvo Garage
2 trips to Swindon

I just should have gone there first.

Live and learn I guess.

[STW2010]

Do you have any friendly scrapyard owners? See if you can source loads of alloy wheels, and drop them off at this place to be refurbished. They will then waste most of a day doing what they do best (which is st), and as soon as they call to say that they are all ready for collection, just say that you've changed your mind.

That will teach them!