DO NOT get reupsholstering done by this person...
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:14
Alright, this is my stock seats saga...
A few months ago, one of the other FD owners here in CS told me about a lady that does reupholstery and she does it on the cheap...as in $125 per seat, and I had to buy the material. I thought that sounded pretty good.
On Nov 7th, 2009, my friend Morris (some of you know him) took me by his house and showed me his seats that she did. They looked great! I decided that day to get the material and drop off the seats as soon as possible. We went to Hancock Fabrics right away and I picked up 5 yards of fake suede (in black) for $75...Morris used the same exact color and material. I'm really just listing this for posterity and so you get an idea on pricing btw.
For the record, I thought this was a woman about in her 60s. No, she's more like around her 80s, but she seems like she's pretty well with it still. She told me she does this job on the side, and she has a job at the convenience store right down the street where she works a good bit of the time, about 8 hours a day. No big deal. Morris told me before we went over there that he had just helped her move, TWICE, and the second time was back into the place they had just moved her out of and it was a time span of about a week, so he was already displeased with that. And he said she took a while on his second seat, and he had made the mistake of paying her in advance for the second one (she takes money for the first seat when you drop them off, and the rest of the payment when you pick them up). I had no problem with that because I was going to be in NCO Academy for 6-7 weeks anyway and wouldn't have time for anything else.
So we met her, gave her the material and the deposit, and I either dropped off my seat that night or the next night, I don't remember. She told me then that she was working on someone else's seats and it would be a week or two before she got started on mine...no biggie, NCOA and all. I figured they would still be done by the time I graduated on Dec 17th, or around that time. How wrong I was.
I also talked to Frank (PXRdriFT) about this and he decided he'd take his over too since he was doing his LS2 swap anyway.
Now in this time, I decided I wanted blue thread like Subaru's have, so that took a little extra time, about a week or so. She also told me she needed more money for foam because my seat needed to be done a bit differently than Morris's and it needed a special kind of foam, and so did Franks, so we paid her extra for that, I think around $60 or $80 but I don't remember (I have it on a list at home). I also wanted her to make me some shift and ebrake boots to match the seats, that was an extra $25. The thread was an extra $35 because she usually used black and didn't have blue.
Also in this time, a couple times she gave me around-a-bout dates when they should be complete, and ended up pushing it back a couple times.
Fast forward to early last week...she told me they would be ready by Friday (1 Jan). She called me Thursday and told me they wouldn't be ready because she was going to take the day off (take some time to herself, as she told me so many times because "I worked so many hours at the store" blah blah blah, I can't even count how many times I heard that). She said she'd call me on Saturday (2 Jan) to come pick them up because she had them all threaded together and she just had to install them on the seats, and it should only take her a couple hours tops.
I had plans to leave on Sunday to come home for my Grandpa's funeral, and I'm still home now, coming back on Saturday. She called me Saturday and said they wouldn't be ready because she had to order some clips to install the covers...she had thought she would be able to use the old ones but they broke. Ok, that couldn't have been figured out and ordered before? She said they'd be ready by Tuesday (5 Jan).
I figured I better call her tonight and see if they were finished and ready to pick up. When I talked to her last Saturday we agreed I could pick them up when I got back this Saturday. I called tonight at 720 mountain time...
She told me I called too late. I told her I had always called her around this time and she never said anything. She said that she thought I knew it was too late. I said how am I supposed to know it's too late if you didn't tell me? I didn't know what time you got off work. She said what time do you get off work, 7pm? I said no, but I don't know what time YOU get off work. I asked her what time she was getting off work Saturday and she said 2pm. I asked her if I could get the seats then, and she said let's wait til Sunday because I need some time to myself.
At this point, I've about had it with "I need some time to myself". She's already busted the suspense numerous times...charged me AND Frank more than what we originally were told (I can understand some things, but it's getting out of hand now)...gets onto me for calling too late when she never told me it was too late before?!?!
She told me tonight that she doesn't usually deal with customers after 5pm. Oh, so this is a business now? And I'm a customer now? It was OK before, but now it's not. Well if this is now a business, she needs to treat it like one, whether it's done from home or a different location, and whatever time of day especially when she's busted suspenses left and right. If I'm the customer, I'm throwing down the "customer is always right" card, cause this is BULLSHIT!
Although I don't think she advertises, and therefore there is little chance any of you would have contact with her or have her do work for you, I still want to tell you know so Morris doesn't convince you it's a good idea OR so you don't just happen to find her. Her name is Renee, she's an older British woman and she lives in Manitou Springs about a block from where she works, which is one block from the new roundabout.
I'm going to talk to Morris about this too once Frank and I get our seats back. This is a nightmare. It may have been a good deal in the beginning, but at some point it loses that status, and this is long past.
A few months ago, one of the other FD owners here in CS told me about a lady that does reupholstery and she does it on the cheap...as in $125 per seat, and I had to buy the material. I thought that sounded pretty good.
On Nov 7th, 2009, my friend Morris (some of you know him) took me by his house and showed me his seats that she did. They looked great! I decided that day to get the material and drop off the seats as soon as possible. We went to Hancock Fabrics right away and I picked up 5 yards of fake suede (in black) for $75...Morris used the same exact color and material. I'm really just listing this for posterity and so you get an idea on pricing btw.
For the record, I thought this was a woman about in her 60s. No, she's more like around her 80s, but she seems like she's pretty well with it still. She told me she does this job on the side, and she has a job at the convenience store right down the street where she works a good bit of the time, about 8 hours a day. No big deal. Morris told me before we went over there that he had just helped her move, TWICE, and the second time was back into the place they had just moved her out of and it was a time span of about a week, so he was already displeased with that. And he said she took a while on his second seat, and he had made the mistake of paying her in advance for the second one (she takes money for the first seat when you drop them off, and the rest of the payment when you pick them up). I had no problem with that because I was going to be in NCO Academy for 6-7 weeks anyway and wouldn't have time for anything else.
So we met her, gave her the material and the deposit, and I either dropped off my seat that night or the next night, I don't remember. She told me then that she was working on someone else's seats and it would be a week or two before she got started on mine...no biggie, NCOA and all. I figured they would still be done by the time I graduated on Dec 17th, or around that time. How wrong I was.
I also talked to Frank (PXRdriFT) about this and he decided he'd take his over too since he was doing his LS2 swap anyway.
Now in this time, I decided I wanted blue thread like Subaru's have, so that took a little extra time, about a week or so. She also told me she needed more money for foam because my seat needed to be done a bit differently than Morris's and it needed a special kind of foam, and so did Franks, so we paid her extra for that, I think around $60 or $80 but I don't remember (I have it on a list at home). I also wanted her to make me some shift and ebrake boots to match the seats, that was an extra $25. The thread was an extra $35 because she usually used black and didn't have blue.
Also in this time, a couple times she gave me around-a-bout dates when they should be complete, and ended up pushing it back a couple times.
Fast forward to early last week...she told me they would be ready by Friday (1 Jan). She called me Thursday and told me they wouldn't be ready because she was going to take the day off (take some time to herself, as she told me so many times because "I worked so many hours at the store" blah blah blah, I can't even count how many times I heard that). She said she'd call me on Saturday (2 Jan) to come pick them up because she had them all threaded together and she just had to install them on the seats, and it should only take her a couple hours tops.
I had plans to leave on Sunday to come home for my Grandpa's funeral, and I'm still home now, coming back on Saturday. She called me Saturday and said they wouldn't be ready because she had to order some clips to install the covers...she had thought she would be able to use the old ones but they broke. Ok, that couldn't have been figured out and ordered before? She said they'd be ready by Tuesday (5 Jan).
I figured I better call her tonight and see if they were finished and ready to pick up. When I talked to her last Saturday we agreed I could pick them up when I got back this Saturday. I called tonight at 720 mountain time...
She told me I called too late. I told her I had always called her around this time and she never said anything. She said that she thought I knew it was too late. I said how am I supposed to know it's too late if you didn't tell me? I didn't know what time you got off work. She said what time do you get off work, 7pm? I said no, but I don't know what time YOU get off work. I asked her what time she was getting off work Saturday and she said 2pm. I asked her if I could get the seats then, and she said let's wait til Sunday because I need some time to myself.
At this point, I've about had it with "I need some time to myself". She's already busted the suspense numerous times...charged me AND Frank more than what we originally were told (I can understand some things, but it's getting out of hand now)...gets onto me for calling too late when she never told me it was too late before?!?!
She told me tonight that she doesn't usually deal with customers after 5pm. Oh, so this is a business now? And I'm a customer now? It was OK before, but now it's not. Well if this is now a business, she needs to treat it like one, whether it's done from home or a different location, and whatever time of day especially when she's busted suspenses left and right. If I'm the customer, I'm throwing down the "customer is always right" card, cause this is BULLSHIT!
Although I don't think she advertises, and therefore there is little chance any of you would have contact with her or have her do work for you, I still want to tell you know so Morris doesn't convince you it's a good idea OR so you don't just happen to find her. Her name is Renee, she's an older British woman and she lives in Manitou Springs about a block from where she works, which is one block from the new roundabout.
I'm going to talk to Morris about this too once Frank and I get our seats back. This is a nightmare. It may have been a good deal in the beginning, but at some point it loses that status, and this is long past.