Hello all. Wanted to give some feedback and share my negative experience on a company that many of you have heard of but would imagine that most of you have not. My purpose here is not to slam this company, but rather share my experience with as much information and facts as possible for others to make their own judgement. If you or someone you know is thinking about doing a project as I did, I would hope my story will help give some feedback and hopefully help make a decision to either proceed with this company or look elsewhere.
The company:
“Dr. Chop Shop”
-Specializes in custom painted/airbrused glasses. Mainly Oakley, but also gets creative with watches and guns.
-He is based out of California and has world wide business. This is how I was exposed to his company. An Instagram friend in Europe had sent a couple pair of Oakley’s to be painted. His experience was much better than mine but still complained about the lack of communication.
My story:
I have to admit that I only have myself to kick in the butt here because I used him 3 years ago on a pair of Oakley Radar’s. While the final product was good, the overall experience was not. Very poor communication and the time frame to get the finished product back too much longer than he advertised. Yet, I’m here writing a review about my second poor experience.
Back in September I purchased a set of 100% speedcrafts (White and orange) with the plan to find a way to have the orange parts painted white to match, which would give me an all white pair (Since they did not offer an all white pair when I purchased). I couldn’t find anyone local, but really wanted to get this done. Reached out to Josh (Who is dr. chop) and he said it would be no problem.
When I made my purchase, his home page said that projects can take anywhere from 30-90 days. Weather (Cold or too hot) can cause issues with the paint. This is a solo run company. He is the artist and the only worker from start to finish. He is also his own admin so the more emails he gets, the less time he spends working on project. Makes sense and I totally get it. Figured that I wasn’t in a massive hurry, so even if it took the full 90 days, I would be ok with that.
Actual photo of my payment (Sent Sept 11th)
Fast forward to December 1st (81 days from the time I had paid and sent my item). Every year he works on “Black baggers projects”, which is a fun way for him to create special custom glasses and auction them off through Xmas. During this time all other projects COMPLETELY stop so he can focus on this. At this point, I’m getting anxious, but still trying to be understanding. Holding off from sending a request for a status because I know he gets overwhelmed with replying to emails.
He then posts shortly after Xmas that he will be taking a 2 week vacation to spend with his family. I’m kinda thinking WTF at this point since that automatically throws me close to the 4 month mark IF my glasses are even close to the front of his line up when he returns, BUT everyone deserves a vacation right? So I keep telling myself to just have some patience and I’ll see a photo of them pop up on his FB page as completed soon enough (That’s his way of letting you know they are done).
Well January 22nd comes around and I still hadn’t heard or seen anything. Starting to lose my patience. He replies January 23rd that he had a broken compressor part that would be coming in and would have them completed 10-14 days! YES, Ok then at least I see some light at the tunnel right? WRONG!!!! Between Feb 15th and March 10th, I wrote him 3 times to ask what the status was, reminding him that he told me they would be done within 10-14 days. No reply.
Wrote him again March 13th and told him that I was getting frustrated and hoping to see some sort of progress as well as get a reply telling me the status. That night he sends me a Paypal message that my item has been completed and shipped. I now have tracking for a pre shipping label and USPS is awaiting the item. Tracking still (As of 5:05 March 23rd, 2018) shows that it is awaiting item to be dropped off at facility, which means there has been no movement.
Fast forward to today March 23rd, 2018. 193 days, which is essentially 6.5 months since I have paid and sent my item in!!!!! I wrote him and requested another ETA with a note asking for clarity. He says on his page that you will know your item is completed once you see the image of it posted on his FB page. There is no image of my item, yet I already have a pre shipping label? He also states that NO ORDERS will be shipped out via USPS due to a history of errors so all US shipments will be sent via FedEx. Oddly enough, the tracking provided from him is from USPS. I have not heard back from him as of yet (He mentions a 24-72 hours window to reply to status inquiries) and obviously do not have item in hand.
My blood is boiling. I’m tired of waiting. I feel I have been very patient and tried my best to communicate only when necessary. I will never use Dr.chop shop again and will communicate my negative experience with as many people and on as many platforms as possible.
I will update this thread with any activity as well as when I finally get the item in my hand (If I ever do)
The company:
“Dr. Chop Shop”
-Specializes in custom painted/airbrused glasses. Mainly Oakley, but also gets creative with watches and guns.
-He is based out of California and has world wide business. This is how I was exposed to his company. An Instagram friend in Europe had sent a couple pair of Oakley’s to be painted. His experience was much better than mine but still complained about the lack of communication.
My story:
I have to admit that I only have myself to kick in the butt here because I used him 3 years ago on a pair of Oakley Radar’s. While the final product was good, the overall experience was not. Very poor communication and the time frame to get the finished product back too much longer than he advertised. Yet, I’m here writing a review about my second poor experience.
Back in September I purchased a set of 100% speedcrafts (White and orange) with the plan to find a way to have the orange parts painted white to match, which would give me an all white pair (Since they did not offer an all white pair when I purchased). I couldn’t find anyone local, but really wanted to get this done. Reached out to Josh (Who is dr. chop) and he said it would be no problem.
When I made my purchase, his home page said that projects can take anywhere from 30-90 days. Weather (Cold or too hot) can cause issues with the paint. This is a solo run company. He is the artist and the only worker from start to finish. He is also his own admin so the more emails he gets, the less time he spends working on project. Makes sense and I totally get it. Figured that I wasn’t in a massive hurry, so even if it took the full 90 days, I would be ok with that.
Actual photo of my payment (Sent Sept 11th)
Fast forward to December 1st (81 days from the time I had paid and sent my item). Every year he works on “Black baggers projects”, which is a fun way for him to create special custom glasses and auction them off through Xmas. During this time all other projects COMPLETELY stop so he can focus on this. At this point, I’m getting anxious, but still trying to be understanding. Holding off from sending a request for a status because I know he gets overwhelmed with replying to emails.
He then posts shortly after Xmas that he will be taking a 2 week vacation to spend with his family. I’m kinda thinking WTF at this point since that automatically throws me close to the 4 month mark IF my glasses are even close to the front of his line up when he returns, BUT everyone deserves a vacation right? So I keep telling myself to just have some patience and I’ll see a photo of them pop up on his FB page as completed soon enough (That’s his way of letting you know they are done).
Well January 22nd comes around and I still hadn’t heard or seen anything. Starting to lose my patience. He replies January 23rd that he had a broken compressor part that would be coming in and would have them completed 10-14 days! YES, Ok then at least I see some light at the tunnel right? WRONG!!!! Between Feb 15th and March 10th, I wrote him 3 times to ask what the status was, reminding him that he told me they would be done within 10-14 days. No reply.
Wrote him again March 13th and told him that I was getting frustrated and hoping to see some sort of progress as well as get a reply telling me the status. That night he sends me a Paypal message that my item has been completed and shipped. I now have tracking for a pre shipping label and USPS is awaiting the item. Tracking still (As of 5:05 March 23rd, 2018) shows that it is awaiting item to be dropped off at facility, which means there has been no movement.
Fast forward to today March 23rd, 2018. 193 days, which is essentially 6.5 months since I have paid and sent my item in!!!!! I wrote him and requested another ETA with a note asking for clarity. He says on his page that you will know your item is completed once you see the image of it posted on his FB page. There is no image of my item, yet I already have a pre shipping label? He also states that NO ORDERS will be shipped out via USPS due to a history of errors so all US shipments will be sent via FedEx. Oddly enough, the tracking provided from him is from USPS. I have not heard back from him as of yet (He mentions a 24-72 hours window to reply to status inquiries) and obviously do not have item in hand.
My blood is boiling. I’m tired of waiting. I feel I have been very patient and tried my best to communicate only when necessary. I will never use Dr.chop shop again and will communicate my negative experience with as many people and on as many platforms as possible.
I will update this thread with any activity as well as when I finally get the item in my hand (If I ever do)