What do you guys do in this situation? Say you made a long board for a customer, handed it off to a glassing factory that you’ve developed a relationship with over the years and got it back with three quarter sized fingerprints/smudges on the bottom. Ths is a clear, eps/epoxy board so the dark smudges really stand out. Considering that you now have to pass this defect along to your customer, what sort of discount would you demand on a $325+ glass job? Would asking them to eat the entire cost of the board (so you could start over with a fresh blank) be out of the question?
Actually, it’s a SUP (which technically is a “long” board). Didn’t want to disclose this for fear of an internet beat down. :-)
My customer has seen the blemish and we’ve decided to cover with some custom paint work which my glasser has agreed to pay for. Customer is stoked on the idea as am I so all is well with the world again.
Sooooooo many boards get by with finger prints, “I washed my hands with acetone”, try to get engine grease off with acetone, it’s a solvent, but not a grease cutter. Lam resin loves to suck the grease and grime off fingers and hands, I always pick up pre hotcoated boards with gloves, or scrap glass, now epoxy is a differnet story, you’d have to look like pig pen to smudge one of those
Shit happens in production. I would ask for the labor of the glass job back. they won’t give you a full refund. KNock off a good chunk and your customer will prob be sotoked or sell it and make him another. I would say 75 off.
If they know what they’re doing and can pull it off, have them sand down the side of the board that has the marks, then spray white over the marks. Don’t mask the area - just blend the white out to zero away from the marks. If the marks are near the stringer or logos they will have to mask them. Re-hotcoat or gloss the side and sand or polish. If they don’t want to do it, then offer the customer a discount on the price (I’d say around no more than $50 depending on how bad it is). The shop should refund that amount to you. Next time it might be better to just shape the board and have the customer directly deal with the glass shop.
that sucks. did the glasser say anything upon delivery of the board, or did you notice the defect yourself? if the glasser is unaware of the defect, i would bring it to his attention and see what he offers before making any demands. then maybe start using a better glasser if the situation doesn’t resolve itself to your liking.
in the grand sceme of things, it’s just a pool toy that the customer is going to set out to destroy…
Ask the customer what he wants to do before you freak out too bad. A lot of times a customer will let it slide. Surfboards are hand made and cosmetic flaws happen sometimes.
Got a board a few months ago with more cosmetic flaws than a few fingerprints. I was a little disappointed but let it slide because it was only cosmetic and I really wanted to ride the board. After a few months a few fingerprints will be the least of the cosmetic flaws. Its not like its going to hang on the wall I hope.
Howzit kirk, Do you know what step in the building process the finger prints got on the board? Could be in the finish and just sand them out but if they are on the foam then it's upto the buyer if he even wants it but like was said before it's just cosmetic.Aloha,Kokua
$325 for an epoxy SUP glass job is a GOOD deal, especially if it’s 6+6 oz bottom and 4+6+6 oz deck as many are. Thats a lot of work. There are some shops I know of that charge that much for a clear epoxy shortboard. Also, consider that often times it takes two people to move those things around a shop without fucking something up- twice the odds of dirty hands touching it at one point or another. Thats why I never liked working on those things and eventually stopped all together. Considering the price I wouldnt complain too much.
I guess it wasn’t a 19th century piece, then? Da Vinci died in 1519. How did they verify his prints? Do the Italian police keep booking records from that far back?