The Great British Manufacturer Rip Off

[Damian]

After weeks of waiting for a fibreglass repair kit to repair a small area of damage to my van from the manufacturer, the day arrived on Saturday when the postman knocked on the door to deliver my long awaited parcel.

Having had to go through a dealer to obtain the kit, and answering all kinds of questions to ensure we got the exact colour finish etc, it was with some excitement to open the parcel and see what had been sent, as at no time was a list of what was included ever give by the manufacturer.

I was expecting fibreglass matting, resin, hardener and also some gel coat and catalyst in the correct colour.

Upon opening the box, I saw the contents:

1kg gelcoat

1 small bottle of catalyst (not enough to cure the amount of gelcoat)

and.........

nothing else

no note,

no instructions,

nothing

and how much did this wonderful "kit" cost,

taking into account that gelcoat is about £3.50 per kilo and catalyst for that amount of gelcoat is about £2.00#and postage and packing was £5.60

well,,it cost a total of

not £20.00

not£30.00

not £40

but a MASSIVE and I mean MASSIVE

£85.60!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and its going back tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

there is NO WAY I will subscribe to blatant robbery

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

Only a tiny ammount, 10 - 20 mil's of catalist will cure 1 litre of Gell Coat Damian.

Gell Coat is the first part to go in the mould!

If you want to do a good job you need access to the inside of the panel.

Fill the repair with a putty filler to original shape and very very neat smooth polished finish ( any marks show in gel coat finish) and then wax ( so patch comes away) the area with a non silicone polish and lay up a fibre glass patch on the waxed area larger than the repair, whan cured you remove the outside patch you have made leaving re-alignment marks.

Remove the putty and use a grinder to clean up the holed area.

Wax your patch thouroghly (so it comes away clean) and fix securely back in the correct place.

Then apply the gel coat, your first patch of strand mat should be larger than the holed area and be rolled with a just enough resin for the matt to absorb.

Second and third patches reduce in size until the hole is filled.

Strength is in the Strand matting, not copious ammounts of resin, Resin used should just be enough to ensure the matting is fully ansorbed with resin.

I have repaired numerous yachts and gliders and one caravan front panel.

http://www.cybglassfibre.co.uk may help you.

Good luck

James

 

[Damian]

James, I am not doing the job, my daughter is as she is a fully skilled laminator working on luxury yachts and she can do a much better job than I can.

I am just totally bemused by what the manufacturer thinks the public will put up with regarding cost of parts, and

 

[Rioja]

I agree with you, thereis profit and there is rip off !

There are so many things that make you wonder how on earth did they get to that price.I just bought a set of 3 double sided adhesive pads to stick my rear number plate on...price