Going back about a year and a half or so, we began chatting with a competitor about a potential electrostatic system for our paint. We had a water-based paint, so we knew there would be some extra hurdles to get the paint system working. We had no previous experience with this kind of thing and were trusting our supplier to walk us through it.

From the beginning we made it very clear that we simply wanted to try out the Electrostatic system and not invest in it 100%. They guaranteed we’d be satisfied or money back: the catch was we had to pay for it up front to test it. That should have been a red flag for us.

After numerous delays and incredibly poor communication about getting the unit setup (a two-month delay beyond the specified start date at that point), they came in to set it up. The sales person had no knowledge of how to set it up, or even how to use it. The “support” if you will, ranged from the initial sales guy, to the senior sales guy, to the regional manager and a visit from the product Rep. At no point was the paint system working correctly, nor was the electrostatic producing the right amount of “wrap” or voltage. By that point in time, I knew more about the equipment than half of their team!

We requested a couple of properly sized tips so we could try some painting on our product (even with all the delays, we still had a shorter than specified hose and incorrect tips), but little did we know that the tips were used and plugged solid. When this happened, the paint blew backwards up inside the gun, filling the electrostatic turbine with paint and ruining the gun. After nearly 5 months of fighting and lost time, we said “enough is enough” and wanted our money back.

Wewere told flatly by both the junior and senior sales people that there was no money coming back to us. They basically said “Sorry, you won’t get money back, but we will definitely support you through this”. After some further drama, I sent a three-page email detailing the failed events and terrible support, and after a lengthy conversation with the competitor’s VP, we finally got our “guaranteed” money back.

Some time later, we met the fine folks at Dormer Finishing. The guys described exactly how a new paint system would work better, more efficiently, and could pay for itself in paint savings. They also explained in detail the mechanics of the system and why it was superior, rather than trying to sell us on marketing.

Since we were still a bit weary from our previous experience, we wanted time to use the system and see if the promise of saved paint would pay for the equipment itself in 6 months. They happily agreed to this, and after a week of using the new system (tested with our paint and tuned personally by the Dormer crew), we couldn’t pry the system out of our painters’ hands! It proved to be everything they said it would: it saved paint, the gun was incredibly comfortable to use, and the finish was outstanding.

We are currently investing in a second system with Dormer for our other painting operations as well (which includes electrostatic on two component paint). I wish I had found Dormer sooner. Incredibly knowledgeable and experienced folks to work with, I can’t recommend Dormer highly enough.

Customer Case II

We had worked with a competitor for many years, and the only times I ever heard from our sales rep was when I contacted them – and even then, sometimes I would not hear back until I resent emails or made more calls.

I was contacted by Dormer one day, and they wanted to come in for a meet-and-greet. Right away, they had multiple suggestions on how we could improve our current setup, while their competitor wanted to sell new equipment instead of repairing existing equipment, which is what we had wanted to do since we had just upgraded our paint line.

Dormer has very knowledgeable staff and are always willing and capable of our needs. Personally, I have had a great experience from Dormer, which is why we have transitioned our paint line needs over to them. They have made some huge time and money saving changes for us. They repaired older equipment for us after we had been told it was not repairable by their competitor. The older equipment has been working great for us since, and we have not had any issues with any of the work they have done. I frequently get emails from them, checking how things are going, which is a great personal touch that shows they care about our needs.