Just got my Red Tent Back, and i'm pissed.

Gaetznes

Active member

Donor 2012, 2020
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
1,262
Reaction score
12
Location
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
I just need to rant.

To start off, I did the majority of the teardown. I didn't take off the casters or the legs off, because they were rusted on, or I didn't have the tools at the time. So I shipped my Red Tent away to be stripped and redone from the ground up. What I got was, nothing done to the legs, still rusted as F##K. I had a minty coin box, which I sent with it, so they could match the paint. Instead they painted it matte black. I should have taken the locks off. Because, the way the matched the dimpling, was using Rock Guard. Not a bad idea, unless you get it all inside the lock. I couldn't even get the key in. To top it off, instead of pulling out the dents, they used body fill.

My first sign was that it was going to take 4 to 6 weeks. But 5 months later I got this. I'm just so friging pissed. Id go on about my phone call, but I think that would make me even more enraged.

I just feel like I wasted my time and got shit all for service. Now its going to cost me a nice little mint to get it all sandblasted, (Oh yeah, they didn't do that the first time), degreased. This time i'm going to go with powder coated. I'm putting more work into it then the machines worth. Frig.

You know what the worest part of this is, the dude that did this is a friend. Out of the dozens of jobs hes done for me, this is the first I know I got screwed on.

Edit

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w235/gaetznes/rt/
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0758.jpg
    IMG_0758.jpg
    85.7 KB · Views: 288
Last edited:
i was gonna ask who but then i see it was a friend.

IMO: you want it done right do it yourself (this tends to be true 90% of the time).
 
I kinda know how you feel as I got screwed on my game abit. Silly me took it to a hack of a repairman who evidently didn't know jack about rewiring a 4P control panel. I spent the next few weeks fixing all of his mistakes on 3P and 4p just to get them to work.
 
I'm wondering if he did it to the level of detail that HE thought was appropriate for an "old video game"?
 
I'm wondering if he did it to the level of detail that HE thought was appropriate for an "old video game"?

doesn't matter you still tape off the locks or remove them completely and you usually pull the dents as well. I think even I could have done a better job than what was done.
 
doesn't matter you still tape off the locks or remove them completely and you usually pull the dents as well. I think even I could have done a better job than what was done.

Have you seen the result? I see no pix...
 
Have you seen the result? I see no pix...

Added some pic. Everything is still wrapped, so I cann't show you all the bondo. The shrink wrap is very reflective. I do have to say, that, other then where humidate was an issue, from a distance. The paint looks awesome. The rock guard really does look nice.

Edit:

My wife says, just ignore it. Send the Legs to a local Powder Coat company. Do touch up's to the paint when I replace the locks. Spending a few hundred to do the legs, vs like 800-1000 to do it all.

Wife came up with an idea. Tape up around the lock. use a wire brush to work the paint and rock guard from the inside of the and out of the lock. I'm going to try this tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
Was able to use a percision screwdriver to scrape the inside of the lock. They now work. Still not happy about the body fill. But I got a call back from my friend. He is willing to do on location touch ups. But not the legs. So semi conpromise.
 
How specific were your instructions to your friend about what you expected to be done? Did you give him the job assuming he would do it as you have outlined here?
 
How specific were your instructions to your friend about what you expected to be done? Did you give him the job assuming he would do it as you have outlined here?

The instructions were writen out in detail. Including additional tear down. The price we agreed upon was that I did the re-assemble. However, I found out later that do to the humidate issue (I requested he use a paint he never used before). He actually ended up using about 3 times the amount of paint. So instead of making me aware of an increase in cost, he didn't do the legs. I'm still not a 100% happy. But I'm nolonger ballistic. I had intended to do the legs over anyways, down the road.
 
Basically it comes down to, if you're particular about how you want your games to look, you absolutely have to do it yourself. It's unrealistic to expect somebody to give your game that amazing amount of detail you'd put into it yourself, and it's unrealistic for your buddy to act like he could do the work to that level.

When I fix games or sell games, I always tell people they're an 8 out of 10. That way, they know that there's no way it'll live up to what somebody is capable of doing to their own machine. Most people are either happy with that or surprised when it looks better than that... and if somebody's really particular about how they want it, they know right away that this isn't the machine for them.
 
Basically it comes down to, if you're particular about how you want your games to look, you absolutely have to do it yourself. It's unrealistic to expect somebody to give your game that amazing amount of detail you'd put into it yourself, and it's unrealistic for your buddy to act like he could do the work to that level.

When I fix games or sell games, I always tell people they're an 8 out of 10. That way, they know that there's no way it'll live up to what somebody is capable of doing to their own machine. Most people are either happy with that or surprised when it looks better than that... and if somebody's really particular about how they want it, they know right away that this isn't the machine for them.

I agree with you, my expectations were to high. Looking back to what we agreed upon, I think I was looking for a 9/10 or a 10/10. But what I got was 7 or better out of 10. Yes there was some short cuts taken. But hey, once I have it re-assembled, the legs powder coated. Put the boundo side to the wall. Its going to be all good. Only I, another owner of a red tent or klover, is going to know its been repaired/customized. An average Joe isn't going to have a clue.

Just need to go and get all the replacement nuts and bolts etc. Yeah for Fastels, or what ever its called.
 
hey that's a bummer about the red tent legs. I have an extra set of red tent legs if you're interested. I'll post some pics of the extra legs in my red tent restoration in the restoration section. I just posted my Red Tent restoration progress yesterday. let me know bro!

Chris
 
The legs are yours for free if you want them! Just cover shipping charges and youre all set!



~Chris
 
Back
Top Bottom