How do people get away with this?

[yorkiepap]

When it works out....

Hey dabar39,
I also agree that I'd like to see your finished rework. Here are some photos of a project I took on last spring. The owner is a general contractor and does a lot of work in the tri-state region. This is a concrete grader for his big John Deere that he picked up in NC from someone out of business and he got it for a steal. The grader is set up to swivel in 2 directions and rotate for angle. It was all welded together in a fixed position and there were no adjustments available and the main swivel shaft was broken inside. After looking at it, I guesstimated $250 to get it functional again. He agreed that was fair and left it. After starting, I realized there was much more than I anticipated for the price, but I gave him a price and my word. Anyway, it came out quite nicely and he was very pleased. I told him I'd never do that for that price again. He just smiled.... In return, he took a hundred cards of mine and got me so much work, I was busy for a year and made up for the extra time I spent on his unit....worked out nicely....Denny

[ocweld]

Hey dabar39 I like to see the finished projected

[Anti-GMAW]

I welded this super nice aluminum ladder rack for my dad's pickup when I was in high shcool. The welds were amazing even for an experienced welder and I was 16 and had only been welding for a few months at that point. I didn't have time to finish it before the end of the school year so my dad brought it to a "welder" neer by. My dad who was all proud of me was bragging about the good job I did on it, and even the guy he brought it to was extremely impressed. $300 and 2 days later he got it back. He walked in the house all ticked off so I asked what was wrong. He said "Go take a look at your rack.". I was pissed! Gobs all over, burnthrough, arc maring! It looked like Frankenstiens monster. It was so warped it wouldn't even fit back on the truck, and I had it within 1/32" tolerance! A 16 year old novice (at the time) vs. an "experainced welder" and I was way better. It was in such bad shape that it had to be junked. Just goes to show the worlds full of hacks.

[JonnyTIG]

I suppose it boils down to two things:

There are talkers and there are doers

There are competent trades people that have a bad day...

There are those who know, and those who pretend.

Coming across scabbed up weld jobs is common. Fixing it so it wont break again is your tallent being useful.

[dabar39]

I agree with you 100%. I tell people that I'm good at what I do, and I do what I'm good at, but I'll tell you if I can do it or not. I would rather send someone away than do a halfa**ed job that will come back to bite me in the end. Most all of my client base is word of mouth and I have to respect my abilities and/or limitations if I want to continue to grow. But then again it's work like that , that keeps putting food on my table. So after thinking about it ,I guess I should be thanking that guy for doing such a poor job after all.

[yorkiepap]

When 2 fools meet....

Hey dabar39,
This shows that one fool claims he can do the repair quite adequately and reasonably, and the second fool pays him for that kind of work. The only saving grace is to your benefit....he gets a proper and sound job done at a fair price and you get his constant recommendation. I've seen it all my life in every facet of life, and those kinds of work have enhanced my customer base very profitably. I never take on a job I don't have the equipment or knowledge to do. Bad publicity can hurt your business severely in the long run.....Denny

[monte55]

Maybe that's the first bad job he has ever done....yeah right. Maybe no one has ever complained about his work before or had him make it right so he thinks it's all good. Kind of like going out to eat.....if the service or food is bad
and no one ever says anything, they may have no reason to improve. This guy should take the pics and the bill back to him and if he doesn't refund, then to a lawyer or small claims court. I have been around the system for a while. I got my degree from the "Judge Judy Court of What's Happening Now"
school of law.

[ocweld]

This does not surpeise me I see this all the time . You get some one that say i can fix that dont go to the welding shop and pay that high price I fix it for you and some how it all way ends up at my shop or i have to go to them on the site. The funny thing is I could have fixed it for half the price the frist time . I always hear the same thing i should have called you frist

[dabar39]

A local trucker brought me his dump truck to repair, I could only shake my head after seeing what he paid someone else to do. He paid $700.00 to do what you see in these pictures. I spent quite a few hours cutting, grinding, and fabricating new parts to make this tailgate usable again. The guy who "fixed" it couldn't believe it fell off going down the highway, said he's been doing this kinda work for 30 some years and never had a problem before. It just amazes me how much work like this is out there on our streets.