Maintenance rash

[Marc_B]

I know it's difficult to keep things looking perfect, and certainly expect scratches.  But just got the Mooney back from paint and this was first annual after paint, a month later.  Deep scratch on the top cowl by the windshield.  Looks like they tried poorly to touch it up, so they certainly know it happened.  But didn't mention it to me and didn't do a very good job with the touch up.  Looks like the screw driver skated off the camloc either taking off or putting on the cowl.

It's cosmetic.  But wondering what I should say, if anything, to the shop?  The fact that they didn't mention it to me suggests that this was the extent of their intended "fix."  This is the 4th annual with this shop and I've taken my Mooney there for service since 2021 (its a MSC as well).

[N201MKTurbo]

Bummer. 
 

I would be pissed. I would go to the shop owner and ask him how he would feel if somebody did that to his plane.

[231MJ]

Your paint is too new and the scratch too visible to let this go.  The cowling should be repainted.  The shop might agree to pay for it.  You really should discuss with them.

[N201MKTurbo]

The guy that did it feels bad.

The shop owner feels bad. 
 

Trying to patch it and pretending it never happened, no bueno.

[N201MKTurbo]

The shops insurance should cover it. That’s what insurance is for.

Maybe your insurance would cover it. Ask @Parker_Woodruff.

[toto]

1 hour ago, Marc_B said:

I know it's difficult to keep things looking perfect, and certainly expect scratches.  But just got the Mooney back from paint and this was first annual after paint, a month later.  Deep scratch on the top cowl by the windshield.  Looks like they tried poorly to touch it up, so they certainly know it happened.  But didn't mention it to me and didn't do a very good job with the touch up.  Looks like the screw driver skated off the camloc either taking off or putting on the cowl.

It's cosmetic.  But wondering what I should say, if anything, to the shop?  The fact that they didn't mention it to me suggests that this was the extent of their intended "fix."  This is the 4th annual with this shop and I've taken my Mooney there for service since 2021 (its a MSC as well).

Ugh. My paint isn’t as new as yours, but it’s still in good condition and I feel your pain:

 

[Flyler]

Ah that really sucks, sorry to hear it happened on a new paint job.  I know it's hard to bring up but I would reach out to the shop.  You should absolutely give them the opportunity to make it right.

[PT20J]

Fixing paint is an art. It’s work best done by a paint shop. If it were me, I’d get a quote to fix it from a good paint shop and then work something out with the shop owner where it was damaged. 

[Schllc]

Reminds me of the time I was unfortunate enough to find my plane at an MSC at KFXE. 
when I picked it up from annual, which is a whole other story, I found a ziplock in the back pocket with five interior pieces they broke during annual.

They didn’t replace them, they left them off and just put the broken pieces in the bag and said nothing.  It tracked with the rest of my experience there, but still felt crappy. 
I agree with @Flyler.  Get a quote, and discuss with them. 
anything they contribute I would consider a win…

if the owner isnt doing the work, I would assume he didnt know,  but he needs to be aware because if his employees are doing this with something that obvious, what else are they doing?

it took me years to instill this in my guys, but I always told them, everyone makes mistakes, and I would never punish someone for an errant mistake,  but if they lied about it, there would never be a second chance.  Good culture produces a superior product. 

[Marc_B]

I still have a few things that the paint shop needs to finish. It’s been a delayed and frustrating last year for maintenance (paint took 5 months, simple annual took 6 weeks).  So I’m headed back to paint shop within the next month or so.  I guess one more thing to add  

Sometimes entropy is so much stronger than our desire to finish up that “one last thing and I’ll be done.”  The enemy of good is better. 

[MikeOH]

2 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

The shops insurance should cover it. That’s what insurance is for.

Maybe your insurance would cover it. Ask @Parker_Woodruff.

Agree with the first statement.

Why would I want a claim on MY insurance for somebody else's mistake?  I'll pay for that with increased premiums for the rest of my flying life!

[Fritz1]

Get a quote for painting the white on the top cowl and talk to the owner, he may not even know that this happened

[Slick Nick]

I used to work in auto body repair. That could be fixed to 95% of new without repainting the cowl. That is not the way they did that here. Definitely raise sh!t over this. I’d be more angry that they tried to cover it up without saying anything to you. 

[IvanP]

S%$# happens! That is the fact of life. What should not have happened is the poor "fix" they tried. Owning up to one's mistakes and maknig the owner whole again is wht a good shop would have done. I guess I am lucky that my mechanic does not hesitate to admit that something has gone sideways when the plane was in his shop. Simple call to let me know what happened and that it will be promptly fixed at no cost to me is all it took. 

Trying to conceal screw-ups would make me think what else did they not tell me about.  

Edited August 2, 2025 by IvanP

[Jackk]

Stuff happens 

but trying to cover it up and not say anything I am not a fan of and would make me question their work

 Their “touch up” is actually going to make more work for the paint guy now…

Id wager a good paint guy can touch it up and level it without a full paint to the point you can’t tell, obviously whoever did that touch up ain’t that guy lol

 

Just tell the shop “nice try” and that you’ll send them the bill unless they have a competent paint guy they’d like to use.  
 

 

Do not claim this in your insurance, that seems a expensive idea 

Edited August 2, 2025 by Jackk

[bradp]

A good painter can feather / blend that in pretty nicely.  Paint should be in the logbook. I’d take it back to your recent paint shop for a quote and have the shop owner make you whole.  
 

Either shop pays or puts on their insurance or you put on yours and your underwriter will subrogate against theirs. 

[Yetti]

I see two screw ups.   What you learn as best practice is to use your left hand around the shaft of the screw driver to hold it on the screw.   makes it virtually impossible to do that slip.

Second and I know this because I had a file slip on the Sherriff's new car when I was installing an antenna....     I used a black sharpie to fix that.   Is that between Testors model paint and finger nail polish you can match most colors.  A model paint brush and most anyone could do a paint repair better than that.    Sheesh.  The paint guys can make it go away. 

Get a quote and send him a bill. 

[toto]

Out of curiosity, what would a repair like this cost at a competent paint shop? 

[Shadrach]

On 8/1/2025 at 9:34 PM, MikeOH said:

Agree with the first statement.

Why would I want a claim on MY insurance for somebody else's mistake?  I'll pay for that with increased premiums for the rest of my flying life!

A not in motion claim that is someone else’s fault should not raise your premiums.  

[MikeOH]

31 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

A not in motion claim that is someone else’s fault should not raise your premiums.  

In a 'fair' world it, as you said, "should not"....I'm just too cynical to believe that the insurance company is going to view it the same as you do.  Especially if they choose not to subrogate for such a small amount.  Which, if the OP has already been told to 'pound sand' by the shop, suggests his insurance company is going to have to expend at least a little work to get the shop to 'pay out' or submit a claim to their own insurance.  If your insurance has to pay out, regardless of who is at fault, they are going to want 'their' money back, one way or another.

Bottom line, insurance goes up nearly every year anyway...hard (read: impossible) to say just what was responsible.  I'm NOT going to give my insurance company more reason to raise my rates for something that was not my fault.

[PT20J]

I filed a claim with USAIG for nose gear damage cause by an FBO that wouldn't fess up to it (nor would it release the surveillance video records to USAIG). USAIG paid the claim promptly and it didn't affect my rates. 

[MikeOH]

34 minutes ago, PT20J said:

I filed a claim with USAIG for nose gear damage cause by an FBO that wouldn't fess up to it (nor would it release the surveillance video records to USAIG). USAIG paid the claim promptly and it didn't affect my rates. 

So, your PREMIUM remained UNCHANGED the next year?

[Aerodon]

On 8/1/2025 at 3:21 PM, N201MKTurbo said:

Bummer. 
 

I would be pissed. I would go to the shop owner and ask him how he would feel if somebody did that to his plane.

When I see the shop putting my cowl on the floor, I ask them to go get me some fine sandpaper so I can do the same to the hood of their cars....  

Ask for a screwdriver and tell them you are going to key their car just the same, but don't worry you have some sort of matching paint and will fix it just fine....

 

The local BMW dealer did the damage shown below to my wife's car - about the size of a quarter on the front hood.  They fessed up, booked it into a reputable repair shop and fixed it, no questions asked, and apologized each time.  I don't think the whole hood was painted, but I can't see the repair.

 

Don

 

 

[PT20J]

1 hour ago, MikeOH said:

So, your PREMIUM remained UNCHANGED the next year?

No. It went up.  But I increased the hull value due to inflation. Every year, I ask Jimmy what he thinks he could sell it for and I increase the valuation to that amount. I think it's pretty scary that my 31-year-old J is worth north of a quarter million dollars. Before the new paint job, with the new glass panel and rebuilt engine, that's about what I had in it. Now, I'm underwater again, but a few years should recover that. Conversely, my 21-year-old Volvo XC90 airport car is worth so little that I removed the collision and comprehensive coverage from it. 

BTW, I asked Parker if he could do any better and the underwriter wrote back," That's all I've got. The gear ups are killing us."

So, blame the insurance rates on the pilots, not the insurance companies.

I haven't had a lot of claims on my auto, home and airplane insurance. But, I've always been treated fairly by my insurance companies. The only beefs I've had have been trying to collect from the insurance companies of other drivers that damaged my cars. Progressive and Geico were just jerks. 

 

[Shadrach]

There’s so much advice in this thread on the ins and outs of insurance but I’m not sure that it’s based on expertise.
 

There is a good chance that the shop that scratched this plane has a hangar keeper’s policy. If they do, this is a covered loss. The scratch happened whale the aircraft was under the shops care, custody and control (CCC). If the owner submits the damage to their hull insurer, the hull carrier will likely subrogate against the shop (unless the claim is so small that it’s not worth the effort). In terms of rate increase, probably a good idea to talk to your underwriter.

I've had two small claims in nearly 30 years of flying. A bird strike and a ground incident; both were under 5K and neither caused a notable increase if any in premium at renewal.