Son's dad powder coated his bike

[latishia6]

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.

Sanding down/off the paint and fitting new grips, even as a temporary measure is not terrible advice. What gives you the right to say so? Do you actually know anything about bicycles?

Oh, and my comments have had plenty of likes too.

It's terrible advice because it completely misses the point of the thread. It will not compensate the OP for her loss.

Never said it would. It does, however, get OP's son back on the road, without having to buy new handlebars, which are by no means cheap.

Nothing will!!!

And it’s daft to suggest the Op waste a nano second thinking about small claims court

Mine had ponies from age five, so seems a fairly cheap hobby to me 😬😂

Why? The car paint place has damaged the OP's property. Why shouldn't they pay up?

How much does the dad know about bikes, resale values, bike brands and powder coating.
Could this be genuine misunderstanding, son says he likes hisbfriends bike, dad says i'll get yours painted. Goes and does it and doesnt realise its an 800 quid bike and hes just fucked the resale value by not doing it properly.
Or was it malicious??

what? over this? I think if your son was of a mature age he would look at your sideways.

Resolve it another way and not legally

You're in a tricky position where making a (justifiable) fuss will likely cause serious problems for both you and your son. Presumably you want your son to maintain his relationship with his father, imperfect though it may be.
I think the way I'd approach it is

1. Tell ex the bike is unusable and ask him to pay for handlebars/grips or whatever is needed. Assume he'll be an arse and say no. Practise your reaction beforehand so you're prepared. DONT SHOW HIM HOW ANGRY YOU ARE.
2. Take a very deep breath and write off the £800
3. Buy the next bike second hand
4. Don't let DS take anything to his dad's that is valuable or irreplaceable. Then there's one less tool in ex's toolbox when he wants to wind you up.

None of this is fair, of course, but that's not the point. You need to think about coping mechanisms and protecting yourself - and DS.

Me. I did. He earned it. I reckon there are plenty of people on here who have spent hundreds of pounds on games consoles and the games that go with them. That's fine, but I've chosen to spend my money on something that keeps him active, he can use for hours at a time whilst keeping fit, gives him confidence when he's racing and training. It was 100% worth it. You can actually spend that much money and more on the rims alone.

Another idea, OP. Any chance the bike manufacturer might be able to restore it to its original condition? And then you send the bill to the car place?

Such as?

I dont think getting into with ex is useful or productive. he is a abusive so its never going to have a fruitful outcome.

you can try asking him to replace it or put in on the purchase for a new one, but i don't imagine that is likely either

Buy some stickers for the bike and see if you can sort the handlebars. If your son still sees him and wants to see him, you have to figure out what's the most diplomatic solution. unfortunately

He knows a lot about motorbikes, not as much about bikes, but whenever my son has something new he makes comments to him about that being where his child maintenance goes (all £40 a week of it!) - he doesn't like that I have a well paid job and never did.

And you thought my advice was bad?

Have you made it clear to your son that whatever fallout there is from this situation it is absolutely not his fault?

He doesn't even know there's been a fallout. Genuinely. But I would never ever take this out on him. I'm just geeing him up for his race in 2 weeks!

Well, this is one of the things the chairman has just suggested as he knows the manufacturer who operates out of the UK so not a terrible idea.

It's the equivalent of a Nintendo Switch and about half a dozen games, and a much healthier hobby.

Unless the frame was hand-built in the UK (not at £800 it wasn't) it will have been manufactured and painted overseas, probably in China. So, the UK firm that assembled the bike won't be stripping it down to the bare metal and repainting it. Even if they have the facilities, there are plenty of other places that can also do this work.

I have no idea. I honestly think I just need to sleep on this.

Your advice was basically "lump it".

So yes, if you can even call that advice, it's bad advice.

No, my advice was what to do to get the bike back on the road, as quickly and cheaply as possible. Try going back and re-reading it.

Obviously