I brang in my honda civic to get painted at this place. They are extremely pathetic. The first time i got it painted, they painted it the WRONG color. Then i started noticing the paint was falling off from the bumpers and from the doors and side mirrors. So they repainted it for free ONE time, (and i got life time gurantee), and the second time they painted it the right color. within 6 months the paint started falling off AGAIN! not only that but you can even see under the new paint that they never even sanded down the car, they just spray over your old paint and cover it up. Their paint is cheap, if i rub my car too hard when im washing it, the shine will go away and it will become dull and leave a permanent mark. I am pissed off at the work they did, this company is a rip off! When you put your hands on my car you can feel the raw paint, there is no clear coat. My car is dull and not shiny and the paint is less then a year old...

Had my car painted in August 2007. Bought lifetime warranty. About a month later, begin noticing "bubbles" in the new paint. Called manager and advised him but due to transportation needs, prior obligations, holidays, bad weather and an unexpected death in family, I was unable to return my car to the shop until March 2008. By that time, more "bubbles" in paint--probably 20+ and the new paint was peeling to the size of half-dollar each. Sign in office said "Ask about our Rental Service". I was told there was none! I arranged for a rental vehicle myself than asked Sheib's corporate office for $50.00 rental fee reimbursement. They wrote back and sent copy of contract stating they did not owe. I understand that it is not their responsibility on the initial visit, however, this was a return visit to repair the paint job that was poorly done. Now, I am watching more "bubbles" appear--not as many but nonetheless the paint will eventually peel away. Can't afford another rental vehicle bill and don't have someone who can transport me back and forth. Also, I need a vehicle. I feel an exception should be made for return visits when the problem was caused by the company--not me. There are also scratches on both front fenders where it looked as if someone wearing a belt buckle was leaning over the hood of my car. Buyer beware!

I took my red, 1991 Ford F-150 to Earl Scheib on 14 May 2008 and bought the Platinum Supreme package. I took it to the shop on Military Drive in San Antonio, TX. The package was on sale for about $530.00, down from I think, it was over $700.00. So I thought I was getting a good deal. I did shop around and other places gave me quotes ranging from $1800 to $5700. I didn't need my truck to be a show truck or anything like that and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money. I did want it to look nice though. I had originally budgeted $1500 for paint but when I saw the great deal ES had, I took it. I went to the shop, looked around, saw some painted cars, talked to the manager and was pleased with what I saw.

So I had them do some bodywork, fill some holes, fix some dents, and the total bill was finally $915.24. I talked to the manager, Larry, about orange peel and he said there would be some. Of course, for a $900 paint job I knew there would be. I even realized it wasn't going to be a great paint job but more probably merely Ok.

Before I took it in, I took off the bumper, mirrors, and all exterior trim save the front bumper and headlights.

After two days I went to pick up my truck. No overspray or broken anything. My first impression was "oh, that looks like crap..." It looked better than when I dropped it off, but it didn't look very good. The whole truck was orange peel. There might be two or three, one-inch square areas where there is no orange peel. Other than that, the entire truck is one, big, pimply, orange peely, mess.

I'm a pretty non-confrontational guy so I didn't say anything right there. I took it home and just looked at it. Drove it to work and showed some of my car lover friends. They all agreed it was nothing but orange peel. So I stewed a couple more days but finally couldn't stand it anymore.

I emailed the national office and stated my case and they said a district manager would get hold of me and talk to me about my concerns. Then I thought I would go straight to the source and i called the shop manager. I told him I was unhappy, that I didn't think the whole truck should be orange peel and what should we do about it? He replied that "all paint jobs will have orange peel..." I thought that was pretty ignorant statement to be made by a paint shop manager. Then he said I should just buff it out after 30 days. I said I didn't think "bufffing it out" will take out the orange peel. I know it won't. I've waxed and detailed enough cars to know that. I continued to protest but he didn't have much else to say to me.

I emailed this exchange to the national office because I still hadn't heard from the district manager. Then the district manager emailed me and said he agreed with the shop manager! But then he said he was concerned about the "appearance" of my truck and wanted to have meeting at the shop on 29 May at 3:00pm.

I responded to his email saying I didn't believe every paint job had to have orange peel. I then asked him if would agree or disagree with me that my truck was alright with all the orange peel. I said that if he agreed it was Ok, then there was no need for a meeting and I would then bad-mouth Earl Scheib for the rest of my life.

Well, today is the 29th and I haven't heard back from him. I don't even know if he's going to be there at the shop. I emailed him a couple of times asking for confirmation but nothing in return. I called the shop manager and he hasn't heard from him and didn't know about the meeting. hmmm...

So my truck is a massive orange peel. From some angles you can't even see a shine. The places where my clear coat was peeling (the reason for the paint job in the first place) were clearly visible under the new paint. I don't understand that because when I went to the shop before, there was a truck being prepped and it was completely covered in bondo/putty and being smoothed out. It would've only taken a thin film of putty to smooth out the areas where the clear coat was coming off. But I guess they didn't do that.

So now I'm stuck. If the district manager doesn't get hold of me in the next 2 hours, I'm going to consider the meeting cancelled. Nice customer service huh?

Not realizing how inexperienced or sloppy this shop was, I took my car in to have it painted. The first paint job was apparently done by someone new, which I wouldn't have let happen had I known that. They got tons of dirt in the paint and promised to repaint the car.

I took my car back in for the redo, and now, not only does it have dirt in the paint again, there is a giant gob on my hood! I wasn't looking for a cheap paint job. I had never even heard of a chain called Earl Scheib. I just didn't want to go to Maaco. Do not use Earl Scheib. Support the independent guys, they probably care more about how their work turns out.

Now off for my Third, yes 3rd, paint job...