Professional Installer Scratched The Hell Out Of My Interior

[Little]

Just looking for your honest thoughts.

I'm seeing red right now so if i am over-reacting tell me; and any experiences from you may have had also would help.

Just paid a well respected audio installer in Dandenong $1100 to do some work on my 34.

He hasn't loomed up and secured the cables properly behind the head unit because i can HEAR THEM RATTLING ALL THE TIME

and most importantly hes scratched the f**k out of ALL AROUND the centre console. Theres bright white scratches; actual chunks taken out of it where the plastic's been bashed... jeez. This morning it was perfect; because i've been pedantic about looking after my baby... leave it for 7 hours with this guy and hes done more damage than in 11 years since the car was made.

I saw it in the garage before the job was finished and i see how it has happened; he had dumped everything with wires still attatched in the passenger footwell and of course it was scraping all up the side without a rag or anything protecting it.

I made a point of saying this when i picked up the car a couple of hours ago. Said "these scrapes weren't here this morning. They've happened here" and he kind of shrugged it off.

Before i go back there and maybe look like an idiot; advice; ideas, experience please gentlemen... thank you.

[Grey]

I appreciate that you used the money to get it done professionally but to be honest I would have done a better job for a tenth of the price. That's just unacceptable I would take this to consumer rights. Try fix the scratches and deep cuts with a bit of interior filler with matching colour. The professional probably had no experience because removing the headunits cage the bottom is sharp and the cage is heavy so most beginners will rest it on the side unknowingly scraping away the edges, an 'experienced' person would have put cloth to cover the sharp jagged edges at the bottom of the cage and had less of the rough work. Well that's how I would have done anyway.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Grey

[danielr34]

I would not fix the scratches, instead I would make him pay for the costs to have it repaired by a professional or replace the parts with new or as new as possible parts. It is classified as "duty of care", where, while he had possession of the vehicle, it is his duty to care for it and be responsible for any damaged that may occur to it for the duration he has the vehicle. If you fix the damage yourself and then said him the bill, you will not have much luck getting your money back. Take high resolution photos of all scratches fisrtly, then try to resolve the matter with the installer, he has the right to assess the damage and get it fixed for you, at his expense first. If he believes he is not responsible, then I would contact consumer affairs or the Dept of Fair Trading and take the matter further. You are the customer so you have your rights to dispute this matter further and the interests are in your favour.

[Carbon 34]

sad to hear this in the industry, skyline dash parts on the R34 scratch easy as hell and can't be fixed properly without replacing or recovering the dash. I've inquired from everyone in OZ and USA to fix mine properly and due to the construction of the dash material it doesn't look right once a dodgy fix up is done. the installer should have used many towels and taped them up to protect the dash. the razor sharp corners of the cage holding the radio and the way the wires unplug makes it really hard to not lay the cage sideways to get to all the plugs, even more so on the cars with sat/nav/tv . lots more annoying plugs

but the installer should make effort to sort the dash to your happiness. or replace it under his biz insurance. .. ?? or consumer affairs complaint if you can document it ?

sourcing one without scratches is going to be hard. doubt nissan still makes them.and most cars in oz get scratched from compliancing muppets who put in the FM band expander. mine was perfect on arrival, then it went for compliancing, they" threw" in a band expander for free but chewed up the dash in the process . didn't ask for one but got it anyhow. grrrrrrrr

its a tough battle to win, without prior photos of your dash ?

just be glad its not a wood trim off a rolls royce in burlwood, crack that clear coat or trim and your farked , the hand matched wood cost more then a r34 to replace ?

you can do a dodgy fix to improve the looks of the scratch depending on how bad or deep it is. but still looks like dogs balls in the sunlight.

the grain of the dash is hard to find as well, so matching it is a bugger. found some close but not perfect.

just remember accidents do happen, so let them try to make you happy before going off the deep end and making this worse

if you pm me the shop name I might be able to help if I know them, don't slander anyone on SAU

[Little]

Thanks. Its wise to get some perspective before going in guns blazing..

The dealer can't dispute his installer did the damage; because i went in the workshop and saw the guts draped on the side of the vinyl.

I have a feeling His angle will be that i'm perhaps overreacting over a few marks But as we discussed thats not the point; there is a duty of care; and through being rushed for time cos they didn't start work on it early enough; the bloke did not take care. What also burns is I know they took more care when they did my fathers car; one of those v8 holden thingies. (cynasism intended)

Anyway yes.. i will stop ranting here and put it where it counts. I wasn't able to talk to him today because he wasn't in; but i'll have a civilised talk and hope we can work something out.

Regarding professionals that can fix this nightmare for me... know any in vic?

[Carbon 34]

call phatt audio customs, speak to sam or brett about it, there in braeside ?

[Little]

Sorted. Just thought i'd briefly explain what happened.

After the manager of the shop found out i wasn't happy with the final result he made every effort to get the car booked back in immediately; and did everything i asked him to change

free of charge.

One of the things that happened; they sold me an alpine head unit (they are a alpine specialist) that i wasn't happy with because it was terrible at playing through the usb socket.

the manager went out of his way to give me a full refund for it (even though it had been scratched a little bit) and installed the pioneer unit i picked out instead. They also tidied up

their wiring looms inside the console on my request and adjusted the sound settings for me and gave me a quick lesson on how to do so.

And they did all of this in less than two hours. End result; quite happy with the setup i've got now; and i'll be going back there for future work.

The lesson for myself and other 34 owners is however; that dash is extremely difficult to play with without getting a few bumps and scratches on it. If you are a pedantic shit like me

that doesn't want to see any marks; might be better off doing it yourself if you can.

In my case; i've found a gentleman that will come around and fix my interior for me. Perhaps i'll post up some pics once i get it sorted.

Thanks for your support. It gave me the confidence to go in there and make my case.

cheers

alex