I made a mistake and got scammed.

A

Auce

New member
I thought my heart was in the right place. The guy seemed honest up front, his truck, wrap job with Paintless dent repairs looked legit on his shiny new Bronco. This happened last Friday, I was at Costco, saw him driving around the parking lot while he claimed his wife was shopping. I asked about a price quote for 2 dents, one on the hood and one on the roof. He then said he'd do it for cash since he was driving his bosses truck. I gave him 80$ cash, came out ten minutes later and he was done. He put a white putty all over the repairs and told me not to remove it for 24 hours. When I took the putty off the damage was worse than before.

With all that being said, since I paid him in cash, no receipt....am I screwed? I took pics of the damage and texted him. He ghosted me for 3 days and texted me back today saying he never did work on my truck, but as you can see from the text he clearly knows what I'm talking about. I have his name and address. I don't know what steps to take next, if I even have a leg to stand on. Is it worth asking Costco for video footage if it's even possible they have it? I'm at a loss as to what I do next to get this rectified. Again, I know this is MY mistake by trusting someone. The dents weren't huge (to begin with) I'm sure all third gens have some dings but the damage now seems excessive on the roof. From his text, he seems to know a lot about this for a guy who claims he's never worked on my truck. Any advice is appreciated.
 

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My buddy has owned a super successful paintless dent repair business for over 20 years and I have never seen or heard of him putting putty over his repairs and no amount of heat could fix that body damage. Paintless dent repair guys don't fix dents/body damage like I see in that picture. He should have refered you to a body shop. Sorry for your losses but I'd stay the hell away from this guy.
 
The title of your thread says it all. A ripoff is now partying on your 420s. I lost about 800 to a local gangster who was was going to put a new junkyard motor in my retired cop car when I was about 21. He pretty much disappeared my car while I skateboarded to work for a week. Finally reported it stolen and the cops let me know it was parked in the projects. I repo'd it with a spare key and moved on. Live and learn.
 
Probably not worth pursuing since it’s only $80, I doubt the cops would even care and Costco isn’t going to give you any security footage. Seems like this scam is becoming more common so just move on and warn others, I’ve read a couple reports where the scammer did significant paint damage so consider yourself lucky
 
It sounds like you don't have a leg to stand on because you really don't, honestly. You paid him to do an amateur attempt, which he did; he made no promises and from what it sounds like, did not mislead you whatsoever. And without very clear documentation to show they worsened the damage or anything to prove the transaction even took place, you might as well accept it and move on, as nobody will take this seriously as a legal case. My advice is to just ignore it as that's extremely tiny and in a very inconspicuous place and by no means worth the few hundred someone would charge to properly pull and fix it. Let it be a lesson that with body work, you absolutely get what you pay for - zero exceptions.
 
"...with body work, you absolutely get what you pay for - zero exceptions...."

Agee with this! Body work is science and art combined.
 
Devbot said:
It sounds like you don't have a leg to stand on because you really don't, honestly. You paid him to do an amateur attempt, which he did; he made no promises and from what it sounds like, did not mislead you whatsoever. And without very clear documentation to show they worsened the damage or anything to prove the transaction even took place, you might as well accept it and move on, as nobody will take this seriously as a legal case. My advice is to just ignore it as that's extremely tiny and in a very inconspicuous place and by no means worth the few hundred someone would charge to properly pull and fix it. Let it be a lesson that with body work, you absolutely get what you pay for - zero exceptions.
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Thank you Devbot, with what you said about it being tiny and inconspicuous, I can live with. Do I need to worry about any further damage it may cause, rust, oxidization...anything of that nature I could band-aid up before things get worse, if they do.
 
Well, live and learn. The paintless repair guys I’ve used are awesome. That said, It never happened in a Costco parking lot….

You should have hung around while the repair was done.

As far as getting your money back…..good luck with that one. Small claims at best. Sounds like you need to call the bosses work number and have a chat.
 
Auce said:
Thank you Devbot, with what you said about it being tiny and inconspicuous, I can live with. Do I need to worry about any further damage it may cause, rust, oxidization...anything of that nature I could band-aid up before things get worse, if they do.
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It looks like it's a little punctured, so if it was me I would squirt some black silicone in there to plug it and call it good. Weatherstrip adhesive would probably work decently and hold up to the elements, and help keep that flap down. But that's just how I would address it
 
Sadly the scams on all fronts are getting really bad out there. Luckily your in an area that doesn't rust. Sorry to hear someone got one of our members. :(

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk
 
On the body work side of things. Silicone does work. Also any hole in metal that goes through the sheet metal. You can scuff up and seal with fiber glass. Then put a little body filler on top of it. Body filler can not take water. It's only used for leveling basically. I have used both. :)

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk
 
Parking lot PDR for cash price scams are extremely common, and yes, you got scammed. Sorry man. I work in a fraud field (albeit, fraud anomaly software), and we hear about these ALL the time.

I'm shocked he actually texted you back at all.

The name and address he gave you are probably fake/ not his.

Sorry man.
 
I was approached by one in a parking lot but I respectfully declined. The pdr guys who do hail damage repair work are phenomenal but pricy and don't work in parking lots.
 
Well if it was called Paintless dent repairs, or whatever the company name was make sure you contact them. One of there employees was doing work utilizing there name so they should be responsible.
 
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Devbot said:
It looks like it's a little punctured, so if it was me I would squirt some black silicone in there to plug it and call it good. Weatherstrip adhesive would probably work decently and hold up to the elements, and help keep that flap down. But that's just how I would address it
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Thanks Dev, any thoughts on the JB Weld metal filler putty? Or do think silicone will suffice? I don't need it perfect, Ideally I'd just like to close the hole and cut my losses.
 
brillo_76 said:
Sadly the scams on all fronts are getting really bad out there. Luckily your in an area that doesn't rust. Sorry to hear someone got one of our members. :(

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk
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I wish that were the case. The salt and Brine here ruins almost every car in the winter.
 
Devbot said:
It looks like it's a little punctured, so if it was me I would squirt some black silicone in there to plug it and call it good. Weatherstrip adhesive would probably work decently and hold up to the elements, and help keep that flap down. But that's just how I would address it
Click to expand...

Dev, can you link me a silicone you'd recommend please?
 
Never give money to guys who are driving around offering automotive services to people. What Costco did this happen at?
 
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