My name is Danny and I am the restorer of Wolfsburg Werks. What I am about to write will be my only response to this matter. As I am sure you can understand, I have instructed my company solicitor to deal with this matter, so for legal reasons I cannot go into great detail - I do hope you can appreciate this.
I feel I am about to write my obituary as I know all to well how forums work. It is all to easy for somebody who does not know me or my work, to sit in their armchair and make wrong and uninformed judgements about me, when it is my livelihood at stake and not theirs.
The way I do all my restorations is as follows:-
I use the best possible suppliers world wide.
There is no time limit I put on my restorations, all my customers are informed of this and are happy to go ahead, before I take on any restoration.
My panels for the better part are handmade which gives me a hundred percent accurate fitting and the correct grade of steel . Where I can’t use handmade panels I will use ONLY certain importers that I trust, that will supply me good quality second hand panels that have no rust , dents or holes. When you order panels from an importer of the high quality that I ask for there is nearly always a lengthy time before they are delivered to me. This is because the panels that I ask for are not easy to find nor readily available. It is not unheard of for me to wait 6 months or longer for panels.
There is no modern filler to be used in any of my restorations. I do not agree in restoring vehicles that way. I will only finish off any imperfections, anywhere on the vehicle using lead loading.
I feel by keeping to my principles I offer the best service that I can.
Completing any restoration is by no means quick nor cheap, it is always an expensive and lengthy process. As a restorer , I am all to aware of peoples wishes and dreams, and how hard it is for them to find the money. I NEVER ask for any payment until I have completed the section that I am on (a section is a pre-agreed value that the customer and I have agreed upon, there are some customers who can pay any amount , but which ever the case this is all agreed upon before I take on any restoration). All costs come out of my own pocket initially. Only then do I invoice the customer with up to 50 photographs (or however many it takes) and full descriptions. I do this for all my customers, but it especially benefit’s the customers that live a great distance from me. I feel it is only right that they get to see what they are paying for first.
My current hourly rate is £30 all in, which I feel is a very good rate indeed. Given the way I restore vehicles (not patch or repair and cover with filler) you can appreciate by now that it is a very lengthy process.
Whilst I love Volkswagens and the lifestyle, please respect the fact that this is my business and I am a business man and it is no good being in this game and not making any money.
I am touching very lightly on this subject.
The customer in question rightly or wrongly feels he has a grievance against me, I am the second restorer he has done this to. He is fully aware of all the forums and we have been informed that he is putting on little by little each time to keep this alive as long as possible. The more people argue, comment and push their opinion of what should or should not have been, is only fuel for his fire. He is reading everyone’s comments and laughing at what he has started. There are many ways and angles to show you his point of view, it is obvious what he shows you and tells you will not be beneficial to me at all.
If there was any real argument on his side then why does he not just take me to court, my solicitors, my accountant and myself are one hundred percent sure of the facts.
Whilst you all will have your own opinions of me, may I ask one thing. Before you inform or tell the rest of the world about me, please come and see me at work, any time, don’t inform me, just turn up and see my on-going restorations. This is the only way you can make your opinion, plus by seeing an
on-going restoration you are seeing it in its barest form. It is no good in my opinion seeing a fully finished vehicle as you can not see what great detail has gone on underneath. My invite is open to you all.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people that have refrained from leaving un-informed remarks as this is by no means a “juicy†subject and it is very hurtful to see ones life on the internet.
Thank you for your time and your patience.
Danny
