Part 2:

At that point, I noticed another car that was literally going into the paint booth and asked, where that one came from. I knew based on my initial visit as well as the posts that Jeff had made that the two cars that were at his shop when I dropped off mine had been completed and gone. So, I felt this was a fair question as I had all ready waited over 11 weeks and my car was not even close to ready for the paint booth and he had another one in there. I was told, “that car was here when you dropped off your car. Perhaps it was in my other garage” Well that could have been, I did not push the issue, but I know I that he specifically told me I was “Next” when I dropped off my car. (FYI, I later, through a lot of investigation, and conversation with the owner, found out that that other car was in fact there, just out of my sight while I was there.) I was deceived by Jeff and told I’m next. So, I thought as I visited Jeff on September 19th, let’s reset the time clock. I again asked, “Now that you have that car about to be painted and mine where it is at, about how many more weeks do you need before I can come pick up mine?” Jeff then told me, 3 weeks. Ok, I said as I pulled out the calendar, 3 weeks is the 10th of October, Should I plan to be back up here then, I asked. Jeff refused to commit to that date, stating, “Oh, I don’t think it will be done by then” All I wanted from Jeff Kleiner, who I had waited on very patiently and at this point had paid $3000 was to tell me when it would be done. Jeff proceeded to give me a completely non committed answer by saying “It’s getting close, I’ll let you know when I get it done.” Oh, and by the way, while I was there on September 19th, I took a couple photos of my car. These were the first photos I got of my car because Jeff refused to take or send me any photos at all. Refused. That is the kind of customer service I received, and I have spoken to others who reported the same.

Now, Jeff had my car for a total of 11 weeks before my visit and it is my belief that the amount of work that had been completed at that point was done literally the day or two before, just to make me feel good. Now, of course I was getting very frustrated with the amount of time and lack of work, communication, photos etc. so I asked many questions to try and figure it out for myself. Jeff actually told me, “there are two people you don’t want to upset, your hairdresser and the person painting your car” Seriously, this is what he told his paying customer. This would have been great if he were only at 4 or 5 weeks in, but this was at 11 weeks and the job was not even close to being completed.

On Oct 25th I was able to get Jeff on the phone and he told me he was about 10 days out from painting. Ok, great I thought, finally after 15 weeks, it is getting close. I had also found that the best way for me to know what was happening to my car was by looking at my credit card statement. You see, the paint supply store was set up to charge my card directly whenever Jeff purchased supplies for my car. So, on November 9th, a couple days after a small charge on the card, (not the big one I was expecting for all the final paint supplies) I reached out to Jeff and asked, if he was able to get the paining done that he said would be done in 10 days. His response via text was simply “Not ready for color. You’ll be the first to know when it’s red” Well, my frustration level was at an all time high. I had been told many times over that past year, wait this long and this would be done. It never happened as I was promised. So I sent a text message explaining my frustration to Jeff. He responded with an exceptionally long text telling me all about his personal family issues and travels that had cause delay after delay after delay. I’m his customer, I do not need to hear about all of this. All I wanted was a straight answer, a commitment to completion. I never got that, not until I got the call to say, it is done.

Finally, on November 20th, I see the $1200 charge to my credit card from the paint supply store. This tells me Jeff must be getting close to painting my car. Finally. Now understand, we are now 19ish weeks into what was promised as an 8 week process. I have not heard from Jeff for several days after he purchased the paint. I text him and ask if he had been able to use up that product. He replied with a photo of my wheel center piece laying on a sprayed sample showing how it matched. Frustrated, as I only wanted an straightforward answer, I told him “I’m not amused” as I was expecting to see a photo of my red car. His reply, to his paying customer, was to send me one photo of the painted car with this comment, “How about if I leave you partially amused?” Seriously, this is not the time to joke around, and “amuse” your customer with a smart-*** response.

I waited a total of 21 weeks for Jeff Kleiner to finally tell me my car was finished and ready to go. During that 21 weeks, I did all I could do to leave him alone, not bother him. And mostly, not rush him. I wanted the best paint job I could get. As a paying customer I would have been happy if I had been told, the work will take 15-20 weeks. I would not have understood as I know 6 to 8 weeks is more than enough time for any reputable paint and body shop to complete one of these cars. But, if that had been the expectation, I would have been good with that. But that is not what Jeff tells his “customers” he instead tells them one thing and then does not reply to them until he is ready. He does not commit and therefore never has to meet a commitment. He has completely forgotten the term or concept of paying customer and providing great or even good customer service.

You know that there are many times when a photo can make a car’s paint look better than it really is or there are times when it just doesn’t do it justice. I will tell you, that the paint work as I received it from Jeff looks much better in the photos than in person. Jeff rushed the finish of my car. It was almost Christmas and he had family plans. He allowed lots of dust, lint, debris to remain in the different layers of the process. I pointed out a couple during the morning when I picked it up and he just said, “looks like you have a little bugger there” Well, I took my car immediately to another professional, experienced painter to have a final cut and buff completed. This painter was able to buff out most of the imperfections, but there are still over 20 that can be seen if you really look close. There is even a rather large 6-8” sag in the clear coat that was missed by Jeff Kleiner and is still there even after a lot of work to remove it by my 2nd painter. Now, after all this extra work and money, I can say that photos of my car do not do the paint justice. Had Jeff just spent a few more hours on his work, he could have given me a much better final product.

I have hit only the main points of my experience with Jeff Kleiner. There are many other specific interactions and problems with the overall experience that I had, but I will not bore you with those, I think I’ve made my point.

So again, here is the “Bottom Line:” while Jeff Kleiner is very much applauded and idolized here on the forum, his customer service and communication skills are very much lacking. His body work is great, and his paint skills/abilities are good. If you are on his waiting list, you should be aware of this and accept it if you wish. Just know, you will get fantastic body work and a fairly good paint job. If you are not willing to put up with his antics, poor communication, lack of time commitments, etc., then there are several others that can do the same job, perhaps even better. I hope this long post in some way helps you with your build and plans as you move forward.

After all of the headache and frustration, I’m again happy with my build, it is not for sale and I’m driving it every chance I can get.