So I have this friend, we will call her Mary, and she recently had a bonnet stripe installed on her MINI. Unfortunately the bonnet stripe installed was defective, it has since wrinkled, and it is quite noticeable. Mary went back and forth with the vendor regarding the wrinkle. Finally the vendor conceded and agreed to replace the bonnet stripe faulting the manufacturer. Mary was happy and overjoyed that her bonnet stripe was to be replaced. However, this joy was short lived as the vendor informed her this weekend she would now have to pay for the installation cost of the stripe being as the vendor does not live in the area. Do you think it is fair that Mary has to double pay for installation on a stripe that was defective by no fault of her own? Where does Mary go to have this bonnet stripe installed?

Mary thanks you for your opinion

 

Doesn't make sense to me - that would be like going to your local MINI dealer, having them install an after market item, having that item fail and then getting charged again for labor to install the replacement.

 

I dunno about shops in VA, but Speed Design in White Marsh, east of B'more, is a great shop. They've put 2 roof graphics on for me, did it right the 1st time, and charged a reasonable amount.
Best of luck to "Mary".

 

Agree with millerd2... it's a relatively new set of stripes and it's wrinkled. I'm no expert on vinyl graphics, but it seems clearly to be a case of poor installation.

Where did the stripes come from ? Are they OEM ? From a reputable after-market dealer ?

 

Sounds to me like the vendor is giving Mary the shaft. If the vendor sold the stripe AND the installation as a package, and the results turned out to be less than satisfactory, and the vendor agrees the results were not up to standards... then the vendor is obligated, both professionally and ethically, to correct the problem at no cost or significant inconvenience to Mary.

 

That is exactly my thought! The stripe was installed in October.

I may need to get the name of the shop for Mary She can make it a field trip to MD ... heehee!

Mary doesn't want to bad mouth the vendor but it is a vendor many people from DCMM have used. She had thought he was reputable. The wrinkle was apparent the following day when Mary really looked at it up close. For several weeks she went back and forth with the vendor. At one point he told her if it looked okay from 3 feet away then it was fine. Hello, who looks at a MINI from 3 feet away?!?!?! After providing the vendor with photos he agreed it wasn't right.

Agreed! Mary paid for the installation and the stripe. She paid for a service that even the vendor knows was less than satisfactory. Mary doesn't understand how the vendor can think it is a "deal" to make her pay for installation a second time.

Anyone have any ideas how Mary should address the vendor? She is growing weary of the fight but she doesn't like to give up.

 

I think a more reasonable response from the vendor would be to do the installation for free and just have Mary pay for the material (stripes are relatively cheap and the installation... not so much). Maybe that would be a reasonable compromise for both parties.

If the vendor wants Mary to pay for the installation and she can't convince him otherwise, I would take the MINI to another vendor for the installation. She's going to be out money, but outside of taking him to small claims court, I don't know if she has viable options.

 

Since the vendor is out of the area and probably not able to install the stripe again in a timely fashion, and has agreed the original bonnet stripe is a problem and to replace it, may I suggest this course of action?

Supplier sends Mary the new stripe gratis, including shipping. Supplier further sends Mary either a credit toward the installation (perhaps not the entire amount, but a gesture) or a mechanidise credit, if Mary thinks that would be acceptable.

 

I think this is fair. In reality Mary doesn't really know if the previous stripes were damaged as a result of poor installation or a defect in the material. As the vendor and the installer are two separate entities, I wouldn't expect the vendor to cover anything more than replacement of the material that he supplied. Likewise, Mary probably should speak with the installer to see if they would be willing to give her a freebie as well (play up the "all was ok until you guys installed the stripes wrong" angle).

Good luck

 

UnfortunatIy, think in this situation the vendor was the installer.

 

I think its all been said.

Sorry to hear Mary

 

I am sure most of you would know what I would say, so I will leave it at that. Good luck (cough) Mary.

 

This is just like brakes and all the other stuff. If the shop doing the install provided the stipes to Mary then the should and usually will gaurantee them. On the other hand if Mary provided the stripes then even though they SHOULD warranty them they usually won't, and not even the work. That's just my experience though. Good luck MARY!

 

I think that is very poor customer service on the part of the installer. He should look at the big picture. As a business owner, I make sure all of my customers are satisfied, even if it ends up costing me a little money. Why? Because bad news travels much quicker than good news. There is a reasonable expectation that a person performing a service will do a good job. When they do, there is nothing to discuss and the customer rarely tells anybody about it. When they do a bad job - or, more importantly, when the customer believes they did a bad job - they tell everybody they know.

 

I weaseled the information out of MoS as to who does their installation. He is a subcontractor who works for many of the local dealers

Zebra Stripes - Dave [SIZE=2]
571-233-4698

This is in no way an endorsement - but I suspect that the dealers won't use him if they got a lot of complaints from their clients/customers
[/SIZE]

 

Mary should not pay for double installation and she is very very kind in not naming the vendor and this vendor should be grateful for this as he has done a lot of jobs w/ Mary's friends.

If this vendor cannot come back and fix the problem then he should pay for the local installer Mary finds. I have a name of a great guy who is working on my clear bra. He was recommended by a local window tinting guy and a bodyshop manager.

Hopefully, the original installer comes to his senses by reading NAM and all will work out at the end !

 

Not good customer service. It cost him nothing to install the stripes. Look at how much business he can lose through bad word of mouth.

On a different note, installing stripes is relatively easy. It is basically a DIY with patience. We have several people in our club that install for others. Not only cheaper, but we are inclinded to spend more time doing a better job.

 

Mary needs to kick some butt!!

 

Sorry but IMHO when you use out-of-town installers you take a risk. If anything is or goes wrong you should know that chances are you will have to travel for a fix or pay for it yourself (Much in the way that I knew when I bought my Mini, I would have to travel 320+ miles for maintenance/warranty work). I am sure the vendor/installer would be willing to redo the stripes for free if Mary brings the Mini to him. Maybe the vendor could offer some free graphics as an olive branch but I would not expect him to pay full costs for a local reinstall. I would be willing to bet that if a warranty was offered on the stripes that warranty covers material only & not installation.

Maybe some of Mary's local motoring buddies could help her install the replacement stripe

Has Mary tried Botox I hear it works wonders on wrinkled foreheads --seriously good luck to Mary with her stripe

 

Totally disagree :impatient

And here is why ... Bama got it right.

This is a two part acquisition. The first part is a contract between Mary and a supplier. That transaction occurred.

The second contract is between Mary and an installer. The installer did their job ... no issues.

The supplier admits fault in the supplied widget and ships Mary a new widget.

Now the question is ... Should the supplier pay for the installation of the second widget?

If the supplier wants to keep good customer relations, then yes, they should. Are they obligated? No. What if Mary had DIY, Mary would still have to DIY.

This is no different than you custom order a door. You wait, the door arrives, you hire a sub to install the door. Door defective ... supplier ships you a new door. Do you really think the Door supplier is going to pay for a second installation? If its a top notch company ... they might.

And that is where the catch is. ....

If the vinyl supplier wants to keep good relations with the customer base, they should pay it as part of doing business ... good customer relations. However, he is not obligated to do so since its two contracts here.

 

IMHO, the vendor should eat the cost.

 

Mary didn't have 2 contracts; the vendor was the single point of contact for the stripe and installation. Where the vendor gets the stripe from doesn't seem to be something Mary should be concerned with being as her single point of contact and business was with the vendor.

 

Ahh, then I didn't catch that or misread it. If Mary paid for everything upfront, then there is NO DISCUSSION ....

The vendor pays for everything.

Even further, if the vendor does not, there is nothing wrong with complaining at the local BBB and anywhere else so the public is aware of the kind of customer service they will expect from the vendor.

 

Ummmm..... Why not tell "Mary" to post the name of the vendor here on our forum where actual potential customers might look for this sort of information. This whole thread reads like an inside joke. No one using actual names or facts but sounding like they know all the details.

I don't know anything other than what has been posted here but am looking at vinyl work and would like to know.

I'd pm "MARY" and ask, but who isi "Mary"?

 

Makes sense to me. Seems the fairest.
The fact that "Mary" is not disclosing the name of the vendor shows admirable restraint.
If you need them:

Speed Design
5811 Allender Rd
White Marsh, MD
(410) 344-0546

I dunno if they have a web site...I couldn't find it....