Instead of complaining about one issue let me offer you a chronology of my experience going back years. My dodger was installed mid 2008 after Corrados visited three times for
Measuring, and a couple readjustments after. One of the workers told me the S/S grab rail covering was a type of Dragon cloth with his eyes beaming. Actually It was garbage. Dragon cloth is what some use in bullet proof vests.
My s/s dodger grab rail was crooked, the weld area was left black, no polishing and the front of the Dodger butted up tp my Main Boom Sheet so it could not be sailed, the sheet would have ripped the Dodger!? When I told the owner he had nothing to say and offered nothing? It required a reassignment of my Boom hardware, requiring drilling straight through it!, and adding blocks on my sheet rail. The owner never called me after this.
About 6 years later or so while winterizing, my dodger was folded and in a sail bag. I tossed from my cockpit onto the dock and all the cheap glass "shattered", just like a kitchen window?? WTF! I took it to Corrados and he agreed to replace the glass. FYI, according to sailrite.com who specializes in quality said when this happens after 6 seasons or so that means cheap glass was installed. By then I was having problems with stitches unraveling as well and asked them to repair. He never put this on the work order. Lucky for me he had a great employee, gone now I think...he said, "it needs stitches I'll take care of it" The owner was hardly ever around, always breaking appointments and seldom replying to emails??
About 5 years later I was having more problems with stitches unraveling. You would think a canvas shop would use top of the line? Guess again, some shops use cheap products at your expense. I guess you get this from an entitled kid growing up in Bristol who's parents may have funded his shop. Top of the line thread is cheap! Let me say it again, CHEAP! I bought top on the line thread from sailrite for home use @ $129.00. 8oz spool, impervious to UV and SUN, guaranteed for life and about 1 mile long!! How many Dodgers does 1 mile of thread make? Ave dodger for a 35 foot boat requires what, 60, 70, 80 feet? You do the math. Its cheap!! But some clowns use cheap thread.
I told the owner I wanted a restitch with better thread, he balked...wanted me to pay for thread implying he does not have this quality. He wanted $400 from me to pay for it! I said no. Keep in mind it only takes about 20 minutes to thread over a dodger, and the thread cost I surmise is under $4. So I bough a sewing machine and did some repairs on my own, very minor.
last year, 20'21, with wind storms my "dragon cloth" shredded apart!, and my Sunbrella still looked new-like. I contacted Corrados , not looking for a handout and said please correct this and use Sunbrella instead. He said fine, I'll look at it, drop it off. Again he broke an appointment and was not there on a Monday, in fact the shop was closed. 30 Mins later he replied to my text and said leave it in my Van. Didn't hear back for 3 weeks. His wife called me and said my Dodger was irreparable and needs to be replaced? FYI, I would not buy another Dodger from them if it was 1/2 price. We made an appointment to pick it up thursday morning at 10am. I again drove almost 30 miles and no one was there. In fact the shop was closed?? Finally she answered my phone after 30 minutes saying she was running late, with another client? I was pissed! She said "you know we are closed", dismissing our appointment? Just to check if a worker was in I knocked and tried the door, it opened and my dodger was leaning against the door. I took it and texted her. She got pissed and said I had no permission to enter and she would call the police next time, and don't ever contact us again. I politely told her where to go.
The next day I dropped the dodger off at the place where the owner of Corrados Canvas used to work. Great professional honest business man!! He said the repair was very simple, he said the so called Dragon cloth was garbage, as it had no Nylon it it. He said my Dodger was in excellent serviceable condition (thanks to my care). I discussed glass with him and decided to change my 3 front panels to top of the line Strattoglass. He will also restitch the Dodger. We compared our sewing threads and he also uses a top of the line Thread. Some people just know how to work smart. In closing I would never use Corrados again nor would I recommend him. He does not care about his customers, does not stand by his work, is rude...and just look at his other reviews on other sites,
I recently found out my friend spent $8K on a dodger with Corrados a few years ago, included in that price was a $650 up charge, so I heard, for a quality thread??? Really, 8K should come with a quality thread.....pathetic shop! I can be found on Social media, if anyone wants more information I can provide read more
