Hello to all fellow vintage lightweight enthusiasts! I am relatively new to this list. I spend most of my time in the background reading and enjoying all the great vintage info and cycling history.
I have a question for the list concerning refinishing vintage lightweights and what someone should expect after having his frame "professionally" refinished. First I'll have to give you a little background.
I bought my first vintage lightweight a few years back on ebay. I got a relatively good deal on a '73 Paramount. Frame was straight, chrome was good, but the paint was in very bad shape. It needed a total refinish. After asking many nice folks I met on the Internet I was pointed into the direction of a well-known custom bike shop that has a long history with Schwinn Paramounts.
To make a long story short after approximately nine months my frame arrived! It was packaged very well and I could see that great care was taken. I opened the box and was initially very pleased. The silver paint with red decals looked great. Then I started to notice detail errors here and there. Clearcoat over the chrome stays and lugs (although this may be a good ideal, I don't know?), the rear dropout was not fixed, BB and rear der. hanger threads were coated in clearcoat (had to be cleaned of clearcoat), the $50.00 vintage head badge had three very noticeable chips in the paint, and last but the most visible error was that the lower seat tube World Champ Stripes were upside-down!
After taking several deep breaths I sat down and sent a quick email to the bike shop. I described the errors and softly expressed my dissatisfaction. I received a quick response from the owner explaining why they clearcoat old chrome, O.K. He also stated that they never noticed the stripes, thanked me for the lesson and said that he would make sure it didn't happen on future refinishes, but no apologies or attempts to rectify the problem! I sent him a second email expressing my dissatisfaction. No answer as of a week now.
My intent is not to bash this company. I have always held this company with the highest regards. My questions to the list are what should someone expect from a refinish job, one that cost well over $600.00? Am I wrong in asking for correction/restitution or at least an apology? Like I said at the beginning of this post I'm relatively new to this great hobby and any insight you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I may also have an early 70's Frejus refinished in the near future. Any recommendations?
I appreciate your time. I know this was a long post and I hope I haven't broken any rules. If you would like to respond to any of my questions feel free to send me an email directly or post to this thread. You might have some insight or experiences that may be beneficial to all members.
Regards,
Richard "Big Rob" Robinson, Okinawa, Japan, robin25@konnect.net