Don't Honour Guarantee - Blame everything else but their workmanship

We contracted Wonder coat a few years ago to paint the exterior walls of our house. We got a few quotes and decided on Wonder coat which was more expensive due to the fact that they give a guarantee.

After about 3 years the paint was peeling off especially on the walls retaining the front garden and the garage.

My wife sent mails, which were not answered , she called eventually they made an appointment for the beginning of August. They never arrived.

As the wife was getting the run around i intervened and sent them a mail saying if the never responded I would report them to the National Consumer Commissioner as well as writing a report on Hello Peter.

We then got a response. Isn't it strange that a so called reputable company who has issued a Guarantee needs threats to respond. (thanks Hello Peter, service providers seem to take you seriously)

So a sales person from Wonder coat arranged to meet my wife. She reported that evening on how the inspection went. The Wonder coat person had said 'There are cracks, the plaster needs to be chopped back, you dont have gutters, this wall needs waterproofing,".

I could immediately see which way this was going. Wonder coat would say this is the problem, that is the problem, our paint is okay the issue is the house owners. My counter argument to this is when Wonder coat as the paint experts quoted they knew they would issue a guarantee. Based on that why didn't they price to do the required work to make sure what they app**** endured for the duration of the guarantee. Its seems they were happy to just splash paint on a wall as they knew that the guarantee would never be honored

Now post the inspection we get a quote from Wonder coat. The total quoted is in the region of R 16 000 rand. I can assure you the price difference at the time of the initial quote between Wonder coat and the other painting companies wasn't any where near R 16 000. In hindsight it would have been cheaper to use one of the others and now pay the R 16 000 to get the work fixed. We paid a premium to use Wonder coat as we got a guarantee but the guarantee seems to be worthless.

To top it all the way the quote is worded Wonder coat seems to think they are doing us a big favor. The one line items states and i quote "Wonder coat will repair and re-paint these walls at a minimal charge R 5 700" Of course minimal depends on where you sit. In my view minimal would be zero as that what the guarantee implies. Wonder coat seems to think that honoring a guarantee is a favor not an obligation.

I called Wonder coat but got no where. The person on the other side of the phone had a standpoint that the walls were cracking and that the plaster needs to be replaced and repainted. He cant answer as to why they never thought to do this work when the originally painted. He states that no piant or painter will be able to piant those walls and after a few years there wont be problems. If thtas correct why not tell us that before the works commenced and why issue a guarantee at all.

I wont leave this matter to rest. Wonder coat are a member of SAPMA and I'll approach them. I'll also request the National Consumer Commission to look at this issue. If all else fails I'll forward the matter to my attorney for his action.

Just a comment, when I told the Wonder coat person that I would seek legal redress he responded that he has been in court often and never lost a case. His words not mine. Isn't it telling that a company has been to court often, makes you think about how good their work is. I wish I knew that before I contracted Wonder coat.

Based on my experience I'll leave it to the public to decide if the want to use this company.