Page 12 | Son's dad powder coated his bike

latishia6 · 2025-09-26T11:55:35+00:00

Pissed off is an understatement. My son's dad didn't see him for years due to domestic abuse. He did a domestic abuse perp programme and now has access every other weekend overnight. In the community/hotel not at his house as he lives 3 hours away. I bought my son a bike. It was £800 custom built and a gift for him completing his racing season and coming second. He's got another season coming up and he was growing out of his old bike. His dad was taking him to his training last Saturday so I sent the bike with him. Has always been fine in the past. Son comes home, dad tells me I'll need to pick the bike up in a few days because son wanted it a different colour and he's had it powder coated. Fuming. Just been to collect it and it's bright green, the handlebars have been sprayed so the grips are now unsafe and moving around, and I'm just so pissed off. They usually hold their value well as it's a very good brand. All branding has now been removed and it is now unsellable (well, I can't sell it as a branded bike when he grows out of it!). I'm going to have to buy new handlebars as the club chairman has looked at a photo and said they're not safe (don't spray handlebars!). I actually don't know what to do with myself right now.

Namechangelikeits1999 · 29/09/2025 21:31

@latishia6 I have an ex and a son like this. Honestly? If it were me I'd buy a new bike to make my son happy again. Then separately I'd look at my options for dealing with the situation/somehow clawing some money back. And never, ever, trust the ex with anything again.

Needspaceforlego · 29/09/2025 21:32

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 29/09/2025 21:14

Well most people who take stolen bikes to be resprayed aren't intending to return them to the owner, are they?

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Exactly
The garage have to assume the person who wants the work done is the owner.
There is no register of bikes, for a huge number of bikes sold second hand via 'small ads' Facebook, Gumtree, will not have a receipt or invoice it will be a cash sale sold as seen.

The Ops ex is unusual in that he took a bike he has no rights to get it resprayed.
The garage will have acted in Good Faith and it would be absolutely impossible to prove otherwise.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 29/09/2025 21:34

Needspaceforlego · 29/09/2025 21:32

Exactly
The garage have to assume the person who wants the work done is the owner.
There is no register of bikes, for a huge number of bikes sold second hand via 'small ads' Facebook, Gumtree, will not have a receipt or invoice it will be a cash sale sold as seen.

The Ops ex is unusual in that he took a bike he has no rights to get it resprayed.
The garage will have acted in Good Faith and it would be absolutely impossible to prove otherwise.

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If you're going to spray a bike, no questions asked, you have to take the risk that it comes back to bite you on the arse.

Starwarsepisode3 · 29/09/2025 21:54

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 29/09/2025 21:34

If you're going to spray a bike, no questions asked, you have to take the risk that it comes back to bite you on the arse.

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With the wee boy with him saying yes dad no dad hello sprayer man I want my bike green?

Monj · 29/09/2025 23:33

It's so infuriating and I'm sorry for your son.

If you do have the means to id just order the exact same bike again for son whilst seeing how you can make this one rideable. I realise that's not easy when it was custom built.

I'd screenshot texts and ask for a copy of the invoice at the sprayers to demonstrate what happened, and from now on, on ex's weekend, make sure it's you taking the equipment. I know you shouldn't have to. If it means his contact doesn't start until the evening, or that you have to meet them at the club, so be it.

As much as I think the fair thing would be to take him to small claims this man could manipulate and abuse your son. I'd just not take the rise.

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 00:07

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 29/09/2025 21:34

If you're going to spray a bike, no questions asked, you have to take the risk that it comes back to bite you on the arse.

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Op cannot blame the sprayer. The contract was between the Dad and the sprayer. They will have acted in Good faith that he had authority to get his sons bike resprayed.

They won't have broken any laws.
How can Op pursue them?

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 06:59

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 00:07

Op cannot blame the sprayer. The contract was between the Dad and the sprayer. They will have acted in Good faith that he had authority to get his sons bike resprayed.

They won't have broken any laws.
How can Op pursue them?

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She goes in there and she says, "Not only did you fuck up this bike so it is currently unusable, but you didn't even ask the person who brought it in asking for it to be resprayed whether they had any proof of ownership, which he didn't, because it wasn't his. So I want you to pay me the cost of having it restored to its original condition, otherwise I will report you to the police for converting stolen goods, no questions asked, and I will warn people about you in all the local social media groups. What's it to be?"

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 08:16

The onus is not on the garage to prove ownership. Its a bike. Bikes change hands all the time, through places like Facebook and Gumtree, especially kids bikes which are outgrown and sold on. The new owners will not have receipts or invoices.
Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

The garage will have taken the Dad at face value because its the only thing they can do. It would be impossible to prove beyond all reasonable doubt, the level required by a court, that they knew the bike wasn't his to responsibility or he wasn't authorised to have it done.

The police won't pursue it, the fiscal (or English equivalent) won't waste time on it. Because it would be laughed out of court. And they'd look like idiots for putting it forward.

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 09:07

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 08:16

The onus is not on the garage to prove ownership. Its a bike. Bikes change hands all the time, through places like Facebook and Gumtree, especially kids bikes which are outgrown and sold on. The new owners will not have receipts or invoices.
Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

The garage will have taken the Dad at face value because its the only thing they can do. It would be impossible to prove beyond all reasonable doubt, the level required by a court, that they knew the bike wasn't his to responsibility or he wasn't authorised to have it done.

The police won't pursue it, the fiscal (or English equivalent) won't waste time on it. Because it would be laughed out of court. And they'd look like idiots for putting it forward.

Exactly. There is no way this will reach the threshold for cps / pps / fiscal.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:11

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 08:16

The onus is not on the garage to prove ownership. Its a bike. Bikes change hands all the time, through places like Facebook and Gumtree, especially kids bikes which are outgrown and sold on. The new owners will not have receipts or invoices.
Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

The garage will have taken the Dad at face value because its the only thing they can do. It would be impossible to prove beyond all reasonable doubt, the level required by a court, that they knew the bike wasn't his to responsibility or he wasn't authorised to have it done.

The police won't pursue it, the fiscal (or English equivalent) won't waste time on it. Because it would be laughed out of court. And they'd look like idiots for putting it forward.

"Possession is 9/10ths of the law" = a phrase only uttered by people who understand 0/10ths of the law.

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 09:20

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:11

"Possession is 9/10ths of the law" = a phrase only uttered by people who understand 0/10ths of the law.

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I do understand the law.

please explain to me how this is going to reach a threshold for police action and what the point of small claims would be if the man has no money to pay.

The garage will just say they had a reasonable belief the man had authority to act as he did.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:35

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 09:20

I do understand the law.

please explain to me how this is going to reach a threshold for police action and what the point of small claims would be if the man has no money to pay.

The garage will just say they had a reasonable belief the man had authority to act as he did.

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That is really not the point. If someone has done something stupid or legally dodgy, you can generally get the result you want without needing to actually involve the police. If you're enough of a pain in the arse and they know they fucked up - which the garage has already admitted - they will generally pay you to go away rather than expose themselves to further hassle and reputational damage.

The garage did two things wrong here.

Firstly they didn't make any attempt to verify ownership. This is risky, given how often bikes are stolen.

And secondly, they did a bad job which means the bike is currently not safe to ride. This means that even if the OP had asked them to do it herself, they should be refunding the money paid and compensating her for the money she will need to spend to get it back into rideable condition.

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 09:35

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:35

That is really not the point. If someone has done something stupid or legally dodgy, you can generally get the result you want without needing to actually involve the police. If you're enough of a pain in the arse and they know they fucked up - which the garage has already admitted - they will generally pay you to go away rather than expose themselves to further hassle and reputational damage.

The garage did two things wrong here.

Firstly they didn't make any attempt to verify ownership. This is risky, given how often bikes are stolen.

And secondly, they did a bad job which means the bike is currently not safe to ride. This means that even if the OP had asked them to do it herself, they should be refunding the money paid and compensating her for the money she will need to spend to get it back into rideable condition.

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Can you answer my questions please.

JulesJules · 30/09/2025 09:36

God, there are some fucking dicks on this thread

blackpooolrock · 30/09/2025 09:52

There is a lot of people here who talk absolute nonsense...

Todays darwin award goes to...

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:53

Well you can tell who gets results in real life and who doesn't.

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 10:03

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 09:53

Well you can tell who gets results in real life and who doesn't.

What do you expect the garage to do for a kids bike? The dad asked the kid, the kid wanted it done, the garage aren’t experts - the dad is a dick and he shouldn’t have done it, but I can’t see any liability sitting with the garage.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 30/09/2025 10:10

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 10:03

What do you expect the garage to do for a kids bike? The dad asked the kid, the kid wanted it done, the garage aren’t experts - the dad is a dick and he shouldn’t have done it, but I can’t see any liability sitting with the garage.

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They admitted themselves that they fucked the job up, and that's before they even knew that the person who paid them to do it wasn't the actual owner.

They know they're in the wrong because they apologised. Now they need to turn that apology into money.

The key to getting it is standing your ground until they want nothing more than for you to go away.

urbanbuddha · 30/09/2025 10:14

Poor little love. I wouldn’t go nuclear on this though. It will just make a bad situation worse. I would explain to him in words of one syllable the damage your ex has done though.
I think all you can do is tell your son that his dad doesn’t understand about bikes and was trying to do a good thing. This isn’t necessarily true but it might stop your son hating the bike, and it will help him realise that his dad is not always reliable. Take the chairman up on his offer. Maybe the garage would be able to imitate the decals?

Needspaceforlego · 30/09/2025 10:17

Starwarsepisode3 · 30/09/2025 09:20

I do understand the law.

please explain to me how this is going to reach a threshold for police action and what the point of small claims would be if the man has no money to pay.

The garage will just say they had a reasonable belief the man had authority to act as he did.

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Exactly police aren't going to get involved.
Taking Dad to small claims will probably end up costing more than a new bike.

The garage will say they acted in Good faith. The only thing that could be put on them is spraying the handle bars. But they can easily plead ignorance "we didn't know it would make them dangerous, thats what our client asked us to do"

Remember its probably been done as cheaply as possible.