I took my 2002 Toyota Tundra to a general mechanic shop (not a body shop). The owner is a longtime acquaintance, almost a friend. One of the things I asked him to do was to take care of a dent on the passenger side of the bed I put in years ago while backing up a trailer. I did not want to spend a whole lot of money fixing it so the agreement was to just ‘pop out the dent’ -no new paint, coatings, etc, ‘just pop it out’. He took the truck to the body shop of a friend of his whom according to him did a horrible job popping out the dent. He called me to let me know he was embarrassed to return the truck to me in such condition and that he was going to fix it right. At that moment we did not discuss who was going to pay for the now costlier repairs. I just went to pick up the truck and the affected area looks brand new and in excellent repair. The problem is it costed hundreds of dollars, an expense I did not want to pay all these years, and that I feel I did not authorize when he called me. When he asked how I wanted to work it out I almost said I did not have to pay anything but I felt really bad –again he is almost a friend- so I said ‘can we go half and half?’ To my surprise he raised his voice and said ‘you want me to pay for half?’ I replied ‘is that fair?’ to which after a few seconds of contemplation he resignedly and unhappily said ‘OK, I’ll pay for half’. At that very moment I felt I lost a friend and left the shop with my truck feeling really, really bad. Did I do wrong? Was I fair? Should I pay for the entire cost myself? What you do? I will really appreciate your advice. Thank you.
How much did you expect to pay for the “dent” repair? Hundreds of dollars isn’t very specific, $200 is much different than $900.
Apparently by your post you have agreed to pay 1/2 of the dent repair. If your word is worth anything you will honor that commitment and in the future get written estimates before work is done.
I think run you’ll be better off in the long by returning to the shop and offering up the other half of the payment.
Man up and pay your fair share. And in the future, get written estimates and don’t expect nice guys to pick up your tabs for you.
There are some unknowns in this but I tend to think that it would be better if you returned and paid the other half.
There should have been some clear communication over what was expected, what was needed,and the possible end results. Sometimes popping a dent out is not as easy as it may appear to be.
What should have been done is for you to take the vehicle to a body shop instead of your friend the general mechanic. The body shop guy should then be the one to eyeball the damage and let you know of any pitfalls that may occur while trying to pop the dent out.
Lack of communication is one of, if not the, biggest causes of misunderstandings and disputes in the auto service business.
Its probably too late now to restore any relationship but I agree you should pay the whole thing. You tried to cheap out all these years and so did he and it didn’t work out. Lesson learned.
I came out to the parking lot one afternoon and the rear part of my 1/4 panel on my Olds was pushed in pretty bad. I drove home and got the plunger out right away and it popped back out with narry a crease. Sometimes the longer you let a dent sit, the more likely it will be to work harden in that spot making it harder to push out again.
You asked for a little help and you got it. That’s OK and you were fair to all parties involved. People in business will negotiate to keep customers and friends. They learn to be careful after a while. You also don’t know how the other parties worked things out between them while you weren’t looking. They may have agreed to help out before you were in a position to ask. They didn’t just start in business yesterday. You may have gained some respect that may be more important than you realize.
The OP owns a truck that–by his own admission–was repaired to “like-new” condition.
The shop owner has nothing tangible in this situation.
Why should the shop owner pay for something for which he has gained nothing?
As was already said, “man up” and pay the bill, and–in the future–ask for a written estimate and/or specify your exact price limit for repairs.
Thank you all for the great advice. The minute it started to come in the minute I realized I had -at least partially- screwed up. As said by some of you, BIG lesson learned. Next time I’ll communicate better, get written estimates, and probably most important of all, whenever possible I’ll avoid mixing up friendship and business. For now, the bottom line is my truck is in much better condition that it was before so I will man up and pay 100% the cost of the repair… if only my very upset ex-friend would take the money from me…
How about this . . .
Show up at the shop with the remaining money in a sealed envelope, addressed to your “very upset ex-friend”
Give it to the receptionist, with instructions to hand to the boss . . . your ex-friend
Make sure the envelope contains a hand-written apology
Thank you db4690. I appreciate the tip very much.
I have a lot of respect and admiration for db4690 but I’m going to suggest that you do this kowtow in person. A lot can be said by non-verbal cues that would be nearly impossible to convey well in the written word. A written essay could be condensed down into “hey, I screwed up” with the right body language to add credence to your apology. It’s natural to give more respect to someone that does this in person versus appearing to avoid the interaction. If you want to mend a friendship anyway…
Considering the guy is a shop owner, I doubt that they were true friends
I don’t mean that as an offense
I’m sure they were friendly towards each other
But I doubt they go to each other’s houses for barbeque, dinner, etc. I doubt their kids play softball on the same team
Pretty darn close db4690. We were very friendly to each other, and although we did not frequent each other’s homes we spent a lot of days afield camping and backpacking with our sons’ Boy Scouts troop.
UPDATE -I went back to the shop and offered him my sincerest apologies for asking if it was fair that he paid for half of the cost of the repair. I explained I reacted that way because I was momentarily blinded by the fact that I was facing having to pay for an unexpected ($450) repair… but that I later realized he had done me a favor by having my truck fixed right and that, like I said here before, the bottom line is my truck is now in much better condition than it was before. His eyes swelled up and after a few seconds he said what I did to him was despicable, that he was devastated with my attitude after all the many, many times he had helped me out and gotten me out of car trouble, and that I was a disgraceful person who don’t follow the principles of the scouts oath and law – being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, etc… I was dumbfounded by his words but I was not about to counter argue in any way at that moment and just let him vent without interruption. Then when I wanted to say that had I known my words were going to hurt him that much I would have never said them he shot back and said ‘there is nothing else to say, I don’t want anything from you, I don’t want your money, and you better get on your merry way before I get really angry…’
A most unhappy end to years of friendship, camaraderie –or whatever you want to call it- as well as good memories. I really do regret it all ended up the way it did because, truly and in all honesty, it was not my intention. Live and learn…I guess…
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out well
Wow, talk about hypocritical-
that I was a disgraceful person who don’t follow the principles of the scouts oath and law – being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, etc
I might have been inclined to say in parting- it must be nice to have never done anything you regretted later on so you can cast stones at those who have and are trying to make amends.
Putting myself in that situation, I would go to the body guy, give him the money and ask that he refund the ex-friend’s portion. Then wash your hands of the whole thing. You’ve done all you could to make amends. One would think this guy is going to calm down and the shoe will be on the other foot when he realizes he went too far.
Kudos to you for making the attempt…
Good idea . . .
hopefully the name of the body shop is on the invoice