TOPIC: Who Cares?

This is a real "Get Off My Lawn" rant post that is boat related although it spills over into virtually everything today.

I bought a '66 Evinrude Sportsman and paid a lot - for me - for it because it's a really nice original boat. It came with the original dark blue soft top that's quite useable, although the stiching was coming apart from age.

I took it to an upholstery shop I've used in the past. I'm not a significant customer but he knew me. Ok - he says - we can sew over the existing stiching and it'll be fine...$125. Sounds fair. A good useable original top is a very rare and desireable thing.

Today I got the call that it's ready. With elation I go to get it only to find that they ran over the seams with white thread. White thread over the existing dark blue. So now it looks like a cheesy pair of girl jeans with contrasting stiching.

Oh...he says...huh...wasn't that white originally? Huh - I guess not - I wonder what the guy was thinking - well I guess we can dye the thread....

Brain dead. Not a moments thought. One of his guys pulled it off the stack and ran the machine over it. No thought to what was right. The owner called me to say it was ready - couldn't possibly have looked at it. Shrug.

Nobody cares. Nobody cares.

Peter
Disgusted
in Denver

That seems to happen a lot these days in a lot of different type of businesses. It's a shame.

I know what your talkin about. that sorta thing happens a lot. Your right, some people just dont care.

Well not all Canvas/Upholstery shops are created equal. I normally get $60-$80 bucks for restitching a bimini. Mebbe a lil more if there are repairs involved. We use Tenara 'Gore Tex' thread exclusivly on canvas. Dont wanna ever have to re-restitch something.

Yeah there are a lotta crooks & hacks out there but we're not all bad. Hope ya get it straightened out.

Ya know - he's not a crook - he's not a hack - he just didn't care.

In a big way...that's worse.

I had a similar problem with the mooring on my Whaler... The stitching had worn out in the Florida sun, and I took it in to a canvas shop to have it restitched. The cover was dark blue, and all the original stitching everywhere else on the cover was black, and blended right in.

They repaired it with white- and it looked terrible. Even worse, they said that I should have SPECIFIED that I wanted colored thread rather than white- It was MY fault. I had just assumed that they would have done it like it was originally. Very frustrating.


-Andrew

It occurred to me a few days after I dropped it off that I didn't tell him to use dark thread - then I slapped myself and said that he couldn't be that dense...it'd be like telling him to breath. Guess not.

Yeah - my favorite is...well we gave you a deal. It's all wrong - but we gave you the good guy price so you have no right to complain... and that for a price that was no deal. I've had that one tried on me several times.

peter, there is an easy fix for it believe it or not.

just run some 1 inch masking tape down both sides of the seam, if your think like you would work pin striping on a car fender you would be thinking right...next, get some DOT die (used for tie-die) and a small roller and roll over the stitching.

pat dry

remove tape...

final clean up if necessary...have a good cold drink and think about how the guy must be waiting for you to have it redone...

That is the fix - although he's doing it. He stepped right up to fix it. My rant is about why it happened in the first place.

It's like taking your blue car in for body work and the guy shoots it with white 'cause that's what he has in his gun.

As friends in Moscow used to say - "Soviet System"

Peter
in Denver

Peter - no big deal, just get a 12 pack of Dk blue sharpies & spend your summer coloring the thread.

All ribbing aside, you are probably right - he didn't care. However there is possibly another angle to the whole thing.

Unless you told him exactly why you wanted it re-sewn I'll bet he just thought you were trying to save money by having it "patched up"

If this was the case - they probably had no thought what so ever about what they were doing. This isn't right - and he certainly should have matched the thread.

Unfortunately, unless you are dealing with a restoration professional, chances are these days, most people just want to crank stuff out. If it works -it's done.

It is in this respect that we, as collectors have to remember to be painfully specific about what we want done & how it is to be done. The things that we prize usually just look like "no big deal" to many other people - including service people.

Hope this doesn't sound like a lecture, as that's not my intention. just a reminder that many people wont see the value in our "treasures" the way that we do.

I understand your point, but this shop does restoration work. When I first did business with him he redid my '58 Fiat Multipla.

We opened it up - I showed him that the logos were still good - he knew that it was a restoration piece.

What you say is so though - we do have to be sure everything is understood. My mistake was in thinking that a professional in a shop that does resoration work would act accordingly without being specifically directed. Shows you what I know.

Peter, I feel for you buddy. That has to be exasperating! But Bruce is also making a good point, you HAVE to explain IN DETAIL what you want from people these days. I am reminded of this frequently with the crew that works for me in our warehouse. They will take their way (the easy, mindless way) every time unless you explain EXACTLY what you want! I agree and understand that you shouldn't have to, but that's where we've come to evidently. Sad but true.

The auto mechanic I deal with know's me well since I spent 5k there in less then 3 years. Anyhow he sucks, I see it now but for the past year I have to get EVERYTHING in writing including any warranty in details. I have to hold his hand it seems like with every repair. His guy burnt my headliner in a truck of mine and 6 months later he is crying because I got a 150 dollar extimate but his worker "knows somebody" that can do it for 100 dollars. What a bunch of bit%hes. Hes giving me the run around. I will have to find a new repair shop that will, im sure cost more but I guess you get what you paid for. I go to him because he's 1/3 less in price then the other shops and half of what the dealer would charge. About my head liner, they didnt tell me it was damaged but waited to see if I would notice and I did, they DONT CARE!!!!! Mike