Fact-O-Bake Ripoff poor workmanship poor customer service false advertisement Pensacola Florida

On 27 April 2007, I took my vehicle (2001 Mazda Millenia) to Fact-O-Bake at 5470 Pensacola Blvd, Pensacola FL after reading their advertisement on the company website (www.factobake1.com). Specifically, the website stated "At Fact-O-Bake, we offer four different paint jobs to meet our customers' budgets and needs - starting with the basic auto enamel all the way to our top of the line, base coat/clear coat for factory-like results and superior UV protection". Additionally, the website stated that Fact-O-Bake offers expert body repair. I called around town and Fact-O-Bake offered the best price for a factory-like paint job. The salesman Tim reinforced what was advertised on the website and there was a sign posted in the office stating the $749 paint job was the best of the best so that's the job I chose. We went out to take a look at the car and there were very noticeable scratches and chipped paint as well as some minor dents. Tim assured me that the scratches, chipped paint, and dents would be professionally repaired. The contract clearly stated that the front and rear bumpers would be stripped and that's where the major damages were. However, when I went to pick up my car on 2 May 2007, I was quite disappointed with the poor quality of work.

Instead of sanding/buffing/stripping the areas that had chipped paint and deep scratches, those areas were painted over without any sanding/buffing/stripping and the scratches and chipped areas are visible. Discrepancies included paint bubbles, dripping/running paint, chipped paint on the driver's side mirror, and a dead insect was painted over and left sticking on the car. There may very well be other damages that I didn't notice because the car was so filthy from dust that I couldn't catch everything. My husband and I inspected the car and pointed out these highly noticeable discrepancies to Tim and he literally blew us off. He stated that no paint job is flawless and that we got what we paid for. He also said that he doesn't do $3000 paint jobs and to us, he was implying that if we want a flawless paint job that we should have gone to a more expensive automobile paint shop. We asked him for his manager's number and he refused to give it to us and he refused to call the manager on our behalf. He told us to come back the next day at 10am and speak with the manager; we live in Navarre FL (30 miles away) drive and my husband works on Eglin AFB (40 miles away). He has to take off 3-4 hours to drive from Eglin to Pensacola. Thus, we had to leave my car there until my husband can get permission from his boss to take time off work to make another trip back to Fact-O-Bake to speak with the manager.

Poor quality of service, poor customer service, poor workmanship, and false advertisement are my complaints. Fact-O-Bake clearly did not live up to what they advertised on their website. I want Fact-O-Bake to correct the discrepancies in a professional and timely manner. I paid for a factory-like paint job and that's what I expect; nothing less. I plan to report this incident to the local military bases Public Affairs Office so that other military personnel don't get ripped off.

Edwina
Navarre, Florida
U.S.A.