How long is too long [frame refinishing]...?

[Russell]

I think we all recognise that there are waiting lists. Its the difference between the quoted time frame and the actual delivery time that people find difficult to accept.

Surely expert finishers should know how long it is going to take to get around to your frame and then complete the job.

Quite.

 

[NeilM]

Are we talking Chas here?

We are, and I'm sure the wait will be worth it. I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so long.

In truth, it was the conversation about six weeks ago, when Brian told me the top tube had been replaced 'a long time ago' that pi$$ed me off, as it would appear that I have been waiting months for Colour-Tech to do their thing, and it can't possibly take months to respray a stripped down frame, which neatly brings us back to BB's original question.

 

[Dick Scruttock]

This is probably why Rody@Groovy stopped doing small part jobs and frame restoration.

 

[sinnerman]

Are we talking Chas here?

We are, and I'm sure the wait will be worth it. I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so long.

In truth, it was the conversation about six weeks ago, when Brian told me the top tube had been replaced 'a long time ago' that pi$$ed me off, as it would appear that I have been waiting months for Colour-Tech to do their thing, and it can't possibly take months to respray a stripped down frame, which neatly brings us back to BB's original question.

Which part...?

 

[ishaw]

Hmm, Colourtech. Don't get me started. I posted a thread about my experience with them but rather than me going over old ground, here's a link that google yielded instead:

http://www.lfgss.com/thread2414.html

I've heard that they were good once, but now......

 

[sylus]

It seems the biggest complaint then is not always the work completed but the communication before and during the work?

 

[We_are_Stevo]

Fascinating the way some topics polarise peoples' points of view so dramatically...

Have to say though, no matter how good (and there have been many threads on here by those who were not happy with the finished article...), seven months+ is taking the p*ss more than a little!

When you go to these people for a quote they should tell you when they can actually get around to working on your item...

...not take it in then put it on a rack until they can fit it in; because even if the damn thing was completely dismantled, rebuilt and gold-plated, there are only hours worth of work put into it, not months !

Compared to this...

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=227102

...where a good proportion of the time appears to have been taken up with shipping it half way around the World and back again.

I suspect the aforementioned 'cost effectiveness' in the case of the OP is reflected in the actual amount of time spent on each work order during the timescale experienced.

Can't help but picture the Nannas 'knitting' Shreddies in the TV adverts...

 

[NeilM]

Are we talking Chas here?

We are, and I'm sure the wait will be worth it. I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so long.

In truth, it was the conversation about six weeks ago, when Brian told me the top tube had been replaced 'a long time ago' that pi$$ed me off, as it would appear that I have been waiting months for Colour-Tech to do their thing, and it can't possibly take months to respray a stripped down frame, which neatly brings us back to BB's original question.

Which part...?

Any of it.

When I saw Chas in March, he told me they wouldn't know what was required to fix the frame until it was stripped. Once they had the frame Brian said it would be six weeks before they could look at it. We then had a fuzzy period of about two and a half to three months when it was 'waiting for Chas' and then around six weeks ago I phoned again and was told the frame work had been completed 'a long time ago' and that the frame was not in the workshop, so must be at the spray shop. A phone message left on my mobile last Saturday said that the frame was just being finished and that they should be ready to dispatch it this (last) week.... and here we are.

Don't get me wrong, I think it a great thing that all these custom builders have full order books, and I really don't mind waiting in line for the work to be done, what grinds me is what has happened since the frame was repaired, where we seem to have a period of a number of months where my frame has been kicking around in either one workshop or another... or both, with no one actually bothered as the whether it gets sprayed or not. Add my experience to that of other members and it leads me to believe that Chas needs to find himself another painter.

 

[beagle]

I've become very patient in the last few years. As someone who works "in the industry", I've seen how ridiculously busy you can get and how the unexpected always crops up. Many people seem to be unable to grasp the idea that working on their bike isn't the only thing that busy frame builders/shops have to do, and that one person can only do what they can do - there are only so many hours in a day.

So anyway, I've got a custom frame in the works at the moment. It's taking a while, but what's the rush? I've got another bike. Just let him get on with it.

 

[suburbanreuben]

I've become very patient in the last few years. As someone who works "in the industry", I've seen how ridiculously busy you can get and how the unexpected always crops up. Many people seem to be unable to grasp the idea that working on their bike isn't the only thing that busy frame builders/shops have to do, and that one person can only do what they can do - there are only so many hours in a day.

So anyway, I've got a custom frame in the works at the moment. It's taking a while, but what's the rush? I've got another bike. Just let him get on with it.

Well said!

Though it does appear that there's been a bit of a cock up at Chas's. Once realised though, did they speed things up a bit?