Diamond Hills Collision in Walnut, CA Review, Be careful!.
#1
09-25-2014, 11:03 PM
Diamond Hills Collision in Walnut, CA Review, Be careful!.
Been forever since i last posted here but i wanted to give people a heads up about a local shop in Walnut, CA.
Ok well here is the story, back in September 2013 I was involved in a minor accident. I asked around for a good body shop and I was recommended a shop in walnut. I looked up the shop read the yelp reviews and even visited the shop and everything seemed to check out. It was highly rated, highly recommended and I saw a good amount of exotic vehicles that made me feel comfortable knowing people are leaving their expensive vehicles here at this shop. I informed the shop owner (also purist member) that my vehicle has been repainted and the paint looked a little foggy so to avoid having the vehicle look all messed up I was thinking of getting the entire vehicle repainted. He gave me a quote on top of what the insurance was already paying for the area that was damaged and he said he would need inspect and test some panels because he might need to take off all the paint down so no imperfections come back or if he is lucky he might be able to just sand down a few layers then repaint.
He passes over my case to an employee and this employee calls me few days later to confirm that the paint is bad and they will need to strip it down and repaint it. That's fine no problem for me anyways as I do not daily the vehicle and since the day I dropped of the vehicle I always told this shop don't worry about time just do it right, that's all what matters to me. The vehicle had a few parts on back order and I would go check up in the car every now and then during the weekend. I did notice some of the work that was promised to me such as stripping down the paint was not done and to be honest I just let it go I figured they knew what they are doing and I am no expert in painting cars so maybe they found a different and better solution. Approximate 4 months go by (mid January Now 2014) and I get the car back. It was dark (evening) and the car was inside so I wasn't really able to see any imperfections however the car did look good and more than anything I was excited to get the car back.
The very next day when I took the vehicle to work I noticed the vehicle was not driving correctly, and I heard a clicking noise? During my lunch I went to test the vehicle some more in an empty industrial street and I realized it had a boost leak, radiator hose leak, and wheel bearings are bad. Once the marine layer wore off I got a good look at the paint and it was a disaster! I would consider worse than before. Swirl marks everywhere along with some deep scratches, burn buffer marks what appeared to be dents, spider web cracks on the roof, heavy glue residue from when they put back the windows, interior was not detailed, and instead of precisely cutting a plastic piece to match with the lip they basically just broke off a huge chunk to make it fit, screws where in the wrong place and just looked very sloppy, basically Zero attention to detail. I was a little frustrated because number one this shop came highly recommended and I was personally promised by the owner that he will personally inspect the vehicle once it is done which apparently did not happen. They kept asking me to point out all the flaws of the vehicle however I don't see that it should be my job to point out all imperfections when I am not hired by this shop however in good faith and one purist member to another along with having mutual friends I still pointed out all the issues the vehicle had
Upon going back to the shop they apologized and of course they said they will make it right. I was hesitant to leave the vehicle back there again not only because of the condition I received it in but because the owner said he will be out of town for a few months working on a project overseas. I informed him about my concern that I do not want anyone to work on the car unless he is there but he reassured me that it will be fine and he will keep in contact with people at the shop to make sure it is done right ( this was on February 17th) So I took his word and I left my vehicle. Before the owner left I told him to please just do it right. Few days go by and I received a called from one of the body shop employee and claimed that they had BASF come out to inspect the vehicle as to why imperfections were coming back and was informed bad prep by BASF ( well obviously I could have told you that because they never stripped the paint down as promised) . So this time they have to strip the entire vehicle down to the metal and start all over. (keep in mind I was never given an ETA nor did I ask for any type of rental vehicle because for those who know me I am not one to sit here and demand I just want the job done right is all I ask for and done right the first time)
Fast forward to May 7 2014 and I get an email to go inspect the vehicle because it is almost done. As I get there I notice the vehicle is still very dusty which is fine no worries however upon closer inspection I see what appears to be a bubble on the rear bumper, passenger door had like a ding as if someone opened the door all the way and hit the corner of the door, and the worst part was the headliner received water damage! at this point I was pretty fed up because I was extremely irritated and this is exactly why I did not want the vehicle to be worked without the owner there. I addressed my concern with the owner again (which by then he had recently came back from his overseas project) Even he was a little surprised to still see my vehicle at his shop keep in mind since September and it is now May 7th ish. He reassures me AGAIN that he will get on it and make sure it is done right and actually started to give me a time frame as to when the vehicle will be complete. By then I feel like I am just being jerked around and because I have been very nice about everything I feel like they aren't taking me too seriously so I started to ask for compensation due to them not doing the job right the first time, the long time it has been at the shop, the fact that now I am questioning all repairs on the vehicle as if they cannot do something right and now starting to feel like the vehicle will be problematic. The owners calls me and ask if I am willing to sell the vehicle which is fine however I will not sell cheap and I would like to be settled for loss of use, having to pay for insurance for 8 months, car registration, car payments, the extra money I paid out of pocket to have the entire vehicle repainted ETC ETC. Ultimately we never came to an agreement on the price but later the owner takes us out to dinner and explains to us that unfortunately the reason why it took so long is because when they had to redo the vehicle is was considered now a restoration project and not just a standard repaint and as for buying the vehicle it was not to buy out the problem but as a friend he would like to purchase the vehicle off me since I stated that I was not feeling to comfortable with the vehicle anymore. ( more to this story but i won't say) Ultimately the vehicle is repaired and I take delivery on May 22nd still has a radiator leak but they promised me to have a 3rd party fix it and just a final detail from a 3rd party as well.
Fast forward to June 18th I’ve had the vehicle for about a month now, It has gone through ONE hand wash being extremely gentle and careful. And about 3 Wipe downs using filtered water and many extremely soft microfiber towels. Apparently I taken off whatever polish they used and the paint is a disaster again. Swirl heaven and overspray everywhere!! I spoke to the owner and he pretty much blamed me for wiping it down and not using a pressure washer. However he did mention I can drop it off and they will repolish and wash the vehicle for me at any time. I am being somewhat lenient with the swirls I found recently ONLY because I was promised to have a third party detail the vehicle however upon speaking with the detailer he informed me that it is pretty risky because the paint is soft and doesn't really want to be held liable if he burns through the clear. So at this point i am not sure what to do really. There should be no reason why i need to keep taking the car back to a shop to have them keep messing up. At this point i am only asking to either A) have them pay me back the extra i paid them to have the entire vehicle repainted or B) To compensate for loss of use since it took them so long to paint the vehicle. I actually gave them a option C) which was to have a detailer detail the vehicle and add a coating to the clear just as a courtesy however they said they will only pay for the detail. Detailer is also hesitant on detailing the car due to soft paint and doesnt want to be held responsible for burning through the clear which if he does means it will only be down AGAIN for repainting. Plus a brand new painted vehicle shouldn't need to have a color correction done to remove all this overspray and swirls they left me with. Atleast thats what i think. Either way at this point shop has stopped replying to my email and is basically ignoring me Hai Cao and Ken Xu Owners at Diamond Hills Collision.
TLDR: Shop had my car for 8 months, Paint is still a mess, Swirls,overspray etc etc, Shop stop answering my emails and will not compensate for their mistake.
Here are a few pictures and will be updating within the next few days
http://smg.photobuck...s?sort=3&page=1
Ok well here is the story, back in September 2013 I was involved in a minor accident. I asked around for a good body shop and I was recommended a shop in walnut. I looked up the shop read the yelp reviews and even visited the shop and everything seemed to check out. It was highly rated, highly recommended and I saw a good amount of exotic vehicles that made me feel comfortable knowing people are leaving their expensive vehicles here at this shop. I informed the shop owner (also purist member) that my vehicle has been repainted and the paint looked a little foggy so to avoid having the vehicle look all messed up I was thinking of getting the entire vehicle repainted. He gave me a quote on top of what the insurance was already paying for the area that was damaged and he said he would need inspect and test some panels because he might need to take off all the paint down so no imperfections come back or if he is lucky he might be able to just sand down a few layers then repaint.
He passes over my case to an employee and this employee calls me few days later to confirm that the paint is bad and they will need to strip it down and repaint it. That's fine no problem for me anyways as I do not daily the vehicle and since the day I dropped of the vehicle I always told this shop don't worry about time just do it right, that's all what matters to me. The vehicle had a few parts on back order and I would go check up in the car every now and then during the weekend. I did notice some of the work that was promised to me such as stripping down the paint was not done and to be honest I just let it go I figured they knew what they are doing and I am no expert in painting cars so maybe they found a different and better solution. Approximate 4 months go by (mid January Now 2014) and I get the car back. It was dark (evening) and the car was inside so I wasn't really able to see any imperfections however the car did look good and more than anything I was excited to get the car back.
The very next day when I took the vehicle to work I noticed the vehicle was not driving correctly, and I heard a clicking noise? During my lunch I went to test the vehicle some more in an empty industrial street and I realized it had a boost leak, radiator hose leak, and wheel bearings are bad. Once the marine layer wore off I got a good look at the paint and it was a disaster! I would consider worse than before. Swirl marks everywhere along with some deep scratches, burn buffer marks what appeared to be dents, spider web cracks on the roof, heavy glue residue from when they put back the windows, interior was not detailed, and instead of precisely cutting a plastic piece to match with the lip they basically just broke off a huge chunk to make it fit, screws where in the wrong place and just looked very sloppy, basically Zero attention to detail. I was a little frustrated because number one this shop came highly recommended and I was personally promised by the owner that he will personally inspect the vehicle once it is done which apparently did not happen. They kept asking me to point out all the flaws of the vehicle however I don't see that it should be my job to point out all imperfections when I am not hired by this shop however in good faith and one purist member to another along with having mutual friends I still pointed out all the issues the vehicle had
Upon going back to the shop they apologized and of course they said they will make it right. I was hesitant to leave the vehicle back there again not only because of the condition I received it in but because the owner said he will be out of town for a few months working on a project overseas. I informed him about my concern that I do not want anyone to work on the car unless he is there but he reassured me that it will be fine and he will keep in contact with people at the shop to make sure it is done right ( this was on February 17th) So I took his word and I left my vehicle. Before the owner left I told him to please just do it right. Few days go by and I received a called from one of the body shop employee and claimed that they had BASF come out to inspect the vehicle as to why imperfections were coming back and was informed bad prep by BASF ( well obviously I could have told you that because they never stripped the paint down as promised) . So this time they have to strip the entire vehicle down to the metal and start all over. (keep in mind I was never given an ETA nor did I ask for any type of rental vehicle because for those who know me I am not one to sit here and demand I just want the job done right is all I ask for and done right the first time)
Fast forward to May 7 2014 and I get an email to go inspect the vehicle because it is almost done. As I get there I notice the vehicle is still very dusty which is fine no worries however upon closer inspection I see what appears to be a bubble on the rear bumper, passenger door had like a ding as if someone opened the door all the way and hit the corner of the door, and the worst part was the headliner received water damage! at this point I was pretty fed up because I was extremely irritated and this is exactly why I did not want the vehicle to be worked without the owner there. I addressed my concern with the owner again (which by then he had recently came back from his overseas project) Even he was a little surprised to still see my vehicle at his shop keep in mind since September and it is now May 7th ish. He reassures me AGAIN that he will get on it and make sure it is done right and actually started to give me a time frame as to when the vehicle will be complete. By then I feel like I am just being jerked around and because I have been very nice about everything I feel like they aren't taking me too seriously so I started to ask for compensation due to them not doing the job right the first time, the long time it has been at the shop, the fact that now I am questioning all repairs on the vehicle as if they cannot do something right and now starting to feel like the vehicle will be problematic. The owners calls me and ask if I am willing to sell the vehicle which is fine however I will not sell cheap and I would like to be settled for loss of use, having to pay for insurance for 8 months, car registration, car payments, the extra money I paid out of pocket to have the entire vehicle repainted ETC ETC. Ultimately we never came to an agreement on the price but later the owner takes us out to dinner and explains to us that unfortunately the reason why it took so long is because when they had to redo the vehicle is was considered now a restoration project and not just a standard repaint and as for buying the vehicle it was not to buy out the problem but as a friend he would like to purchase the vehicle off me since I stated that I was not feeling to comfortable with the vehicle anymore. ( more to this story but i won't say) Ultimately the vehicle is repaired and I take delivery on May 22nd still has a radiator leak but they promised me to have a 3rd party fix it and just a final detail from a 3rd party as well.
Fast forward to June 18th I’ve had the vehicle for about a month now, It has gone through ONE hand wash being extremely gentle and careful. And about 3 Wipe downs using filtered water and many extremely soft microfiber towels. Apparently I taken off whatever polish they used and the paint is a disaster again. Swirl heaven and overspray everywhere!! I spoke to the owner and he pretty much blamed me for wiping it down and not using a pressure washer. However he did mention I can drop it off and they will repolish and wash the vehicle for me at any time. I am being somewhat lenient with the swirls I found recently ONLY because I was promised to have a third party detail the vehicle however upon speaking with the detailer he informed me that it is pretty risky because the paint is soft and doesn't really want to be held liable if he burns through the clear. So at this point i am not sure what to do really. There should be no reason why i need to keep taking the car back to a shop to have them keep messing up. At this point i am only asking to either A) have them pay me back the extra i paid them to have the entire vehicle repainted or B) To compensate for loss of use since it took them so long to paint the vehicle. I actually gave them a option C) which was to have a detailer detail the vehicle and add a coating to the clear just as a courtesy however they said they will only pay for the detail. Detailer is also hesitant on detailing the car due to soft paint and doesnt want to be held responsible for burning through the clear which if he does means it will only be down AGAIN for repainting. Plus a brand new painted vehicle shouldn't need to have a color correction done to remove all this overspray and swirls they left me with. Atleast thats what i think. Either way at this point shop has stopped replying to my email and is basically ignoring me Hai Cao and Ken Xu Owners at Diamond Hills Collision.
TLDR: Shop had my car for 8 months, Paint is still a mess, Swirls,overspray etc etc, Shop stop answering my emails and will not compensate for their mistake.
Here are a few pictures and will be updating within the next few days
http://smg.photobuck...s?sort=3&page=1
#2
09-26-2014, 12:57 PM
#3
01-01-2015, 05:47 PM
Wow man, so sorry to hear this. I've done fender rolls for them at their shop a few times as well as dent repair once. They always seemed to have alot of nice cars in there, but to me it was always extremely dirty and after they moved across the street to their new location it was PACKED.
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