Just after some advice on what to do in this situation.
I talked to an exhaust shop online about a exhaust I wanted them to fit to my car and asked things such as minor modification and different exhaust hanger mounts and they asked me to bring it in so I did.
When I went there with the exhaust the guy seemed ok and listened to what I needed done which was changing he 2.5" flange to a 3" flange, putting in a bung for a 02 sensor and using longer hanger mounts. I knew in advance what needed to be done as there is literally 100's of posts with the same exhaust on the same car and even though it's made for my car it needs slight modification due to after market downpipe and different bumper. Anyway he assured me they make custom exhausts all day every day and this would be a walk in he park so I booked it in for the next week at 9am.
I get there 20 minutes early, 9am comes and people turn up and start moving cars around. At about 9:20 the guy and asks for my key and puts my car up on the hoist. I walked over to him while the car is going up and this is how he conversation went down:
Him: Can I help you?
Me: I just wanted to tell you what needs to be done (I wanted to refresh his memory)
Him: How many of these have you fitted?
Me: To these cars? none
Him: I've fitted 1000's, go sit down and let me do my job
At this point I considered asking for him to put my car down but I gave him he benifit of doubt and went and waited, the next 20 minutes consisted of him and an employee spending 20 minutes under my car figuring out what they were going to do (which would have taken me 30 seconds to tell them like I tried to). About another 20 minutes passed and my car was back on the ground and I went to pay or it while someone over it outside, I was charged for 1.5 hours work even though it was 40 mins but again gave him the benifit of doubt as he might have charged for the time 2 people seeing he talked to the other guy about what to do at the start… But he also put a mild steel flange on my stainless exhaust when I previously asked for stainless, he moved the O2 sensor from the exhaust and welded a bung for it in the down pipe when I had told him I wanted it in the exhaust in the original position, he also welded in a flex pipe which was unnecessary. So not only did they not do what I wanted, they used the wrong parts and parts I didn't need, used the wrong materials, put things in the wrong place and they also reused the original exhaust hangers which means the exhaust was too close to the bumper.
It wasn't until I got home I noticed the exhaust looked close to the bumper and couldn't even fit my little finger between the gap which burnt my finger because of the heat. I thought I'll get some new exhaust mount hangers and cut my ties this guy as when I was here the unsatisfied customers were coming in complaining and he was being rude and talking down to them and I didn't want to deal with him again not to mention the 80km drive each way.
I've only driven the car 3 times since and on Friday I was waxing it when I noticed the clear coat around the exhaust is bubbling and separating from the paint under it.
Any ideas what to do about this? Obviously the first step is contacting him which I already have via a message (which was our primary form of contact before going there), but I expect he's going to deny all accountability for any damage.
I have insurance but I'm sure the excess would cost more than a bumper respray, is it possible to get his business insurance (if he has any) to pay for it? My brother suggested small claims court but that could turn out more expencive again.
Any advice would be appreciated as I haven't had to deal with anything like this before.
What car is it? How much space was between the exhaust and body before the work was done?