He originally worked on my boat last fall. Didn't fix craze lines in the port side cap, had a bad discolored area on the cap on the rear starboard, and had lots of white scuff marks on the navy starboard hull.
I dropped it off this past May and he was going to fix those things.
He told me it would be ready in 1 week...about a month ago. He ducked my calls repeatedly and didn't respond to messages. I had to bug his brother to finally get him to call me.
First, he was going to work on it after the BBAC dinner, but that didn't happen. Then he was supposed to work on it and drop it off this past Sat on his way to the Delta because he was helping the BBAC with their weigh-in/release boat. Didn't happen.
Then it was supposed to be Sunday, same deal - on the way to the weigh-in. Didn't happen.
He ignored me until Weds. Said it was done, but he wanted to have his guy detail it on Thurs.
I picked the boat up Th night...Didn't really look at it while picking it up 'cuz the owner at Yo's Marine in SJ stayed late waiting for me. (He lets this guy work out of his shop)
When I put it in the garage, I felt sick to my stomach. The carpet looks shredded. It has all these weird tracks and ridges, and the port rod locker looks really worn and scuffed. The boat was obviously not detailed as it was dirty and had bird crap and dust all over it.
The port side cap has 9 pin-sized holes in the glass. Looks like a crappy rush job, too.
The discolored area on the rear starboard cap was not touched.
The white scuff marks on the navy starboard hull were not touched.
So, after three months, it looks like he didn't do most of what he promised he was going to do...Did a lousy rush job on the one thing he did do, left new holes...and managed to ruin my carpet.
When I called him to tell him that I was disappointed, he said I was overreacting on the carpet and that a power clean would fix it. I have my doubts. Water doesn't regrow carpet.
He said that it wouldn't take much to fix the holes in the fiberglass, but wouldn't say why it wasn't done properly in the first place. I told him that I was extremely disappointed and I asked him what he planned to do to make this right.
He asked me what I wanted. I said it would make me happy if he would cover the cost of cleaning the carpet and the supposedly minor patching of the holes in my fiberglass. He said "why would I want to do that?" Well, because it's the right thing to do if you caused the damage. He said that he was willing to redo the work and clean the carpet himself, but besides that "I could take him to court if I wanted." I told him that I didn't trust him to work on my boat anymore as he had proven himself repeatedly to be unreliable and untrustworthy.
Needless to say, I was very disappointed in his unwillingness to hold himself accountable for both his lousy work and the additional damage he caused.
I am disgusted and feel taken advantage of.
Now I'm trying to figure out what to do. The insurance already paid him, so any further repairs are out of my own pocket.
A few questions:
1) What in heck happened to my carpet?
He said something about there being glue or sap all over the boat. That's BS. I keep the boat garaged and very clean. I scotchguard the carpet and clean stains with 303 carpet cleaner as needed. It is suspicious to me that the worst areas are adjacent to where he was working. It almost looks like the carpet was melted in spots or the carpet glue melted and ran together underneath.
2) Is this repairable/washable or would I need new carpet?
3) Any recommendations for a good boat carpet guy? (preferably Bay Area, Fremont/Union City region)
4) How much do you think it would cost to have the carpet cleaned or replaced?
5) Is it worth my time to take this guy to small claims court?
He is reportedly trying to move to Reno to open up a new shop.
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