Guest ZmeFly Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 well i went to have my new 944 ic mounted and plumbed into my 280ZX. i picked the car up at closing so i could not call the shop back right away to discuss all that i found totaly wrong. first off i told them i wanted mandrel bent piping, i get press bent piping, that was the first thing i asked when i when there is do you have a mandrel bending machine for pipe and the owner said yes. second thing i noticed was that the top of my ic now has a small bend in it that wasnt there before. third they had used what seems to be radiator hose for a deisel, instead of silicone hose. i had made it clear also that i wanted my bov mounted as close to the throttle body as possible, this was not done and it was posted on my reciept that it was alright where it was. they cut a hole out of the other side of my rad support, that wasnt needed. all in all i could have bought all the bends and silicone hose myself from jcwhitney, spent less and personally done a better job. wasted was 235 dollar for a real shotty job. im just wondering do i have any recourse, is there anything i can have done, since the job wasnt performed the way i requested. i mean this is supposed to be the "speed shop" of choice in my area, if this is whats to be expected of them then i really need to find a good place to go to for this sort of work. any suggestions would be appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 I know what ya mean about "Speed Shops". I've had a copuple of bad experiences with speed shops in the past also. Really the name often does not apply to the time it takes to get the job done. Doesn't seem to matter if the job is done right or not. I don't know what type of recourse you would have but, I certainly talk to the shop manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Well if you cant reason with the owner of the shop to do it over then here's what I would do.... Just wait until its really busy there and go in and start yelling about what a shitty job they did and just basically through the biggest $hit fit you can! You may not get your money back or the job done right but atleast they could loose some buisness! "Eye for an Eye" Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 If no satisfaction, complain to the BBB. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 If you paid with a check, I would stop payment on it until you and the owner of the shop come to some type of agreement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 dude that has happened to me so man times.. I feel your pain man. Just paid $5000+ to have a turbo motor installed in my 240 and have had nothing but problems ever since and the guy who did the work basically put his hands up in the air and now refuses to work on my car anymore. I'd go off on them at LEAST about the mandrel bend thing... that straight up lied to you on that one, NOT cool and they should fix it for free or charge you less for the inferior bends. I've had two muffler shops do the same thing to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 When I had my exhaust made, I took the day off work to baby-sit the technician at the shop. He and I bumped heads over several key points. At one point, he threw a wrench across the shop when I insisted that the H pipe be the same diameter as the rest of the tubing. I stood my ground and got it made like I wanted. I am very happy with the results. It is important to be very specific with shops, and to verify that you get what you asked for. Often they do things the way that they want to rather than what you want. For details that are important, be there to supervise. It is easier to get it done right the first time than it is to get them to correct it. Besides, you can't uncut the radiator support, or unbend the IC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
383 240z Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 could you please post or e-mail me the shop's info you are talking about? I go to uniontown all the time and dont want to spend any money in a shop that treats z owners like this. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZmeFly Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Karnuts, it is in uniontown, pa right behind the high school. im going to take a few pics so you all can see exactly what im talking about today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 74_5.0L_Z is right on here. IF, and that's a big if, I need to have some work done that I cannot do (e.g. aluminum tig welding for may radiator tubing, exhaust work, etc), the first thing I do is insure that I can watch and interact with the person doing the work, real time, and with a positive attitude toward my "suggestions". I've never been dissatisfied when I do this. Yes, sometimes it's a PITA for the guy doing the work, but when the job is done, and I see that he has spent more than a normal amount of time for a job well done, then I'll throw in a appropriately sized tip for him. It is hard to find people who stand behind their work, and take pride in customer satisfaction, but when I do find such a person, I personally make sure they are rewarded for their "unique" attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 I've gotta chime in with those who advise standing there and watching the work be done. Even if you don't know exactly what they're doing, 1) you can learn from them, and 2) they don't know exactly what you do and don't know, so they're inclined to do a better job if someone is watching over their shoulder. I'm not suggesting you tell them how to do their job, but it prevents a lot of disputes if you're standing right there as they're about to cut the wrong half of the radiator support. (and by the way - they owe you a new support for that one, no questions asked. They cut your car where it wasn't supposed to be cut, and now they need to fix it.) There have been so many times that I've gotten a car back from a mechanic and found something wrong that I don't ever just LEAVE it anymore. If I can't do it myself, I'll schedule the operation at a time I can be there to "learn" with the mechanic. And if they don't permit me to watch them, I walk away. Period. There are too many shops that will let me watch to worry about one shopowner who wants to keep his secrets buried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 As a shop owner I agree that its good to have the customer in the shop when starting a job. I also like them to come by at critical points after I've mocked things up to get an OK. But, to have a customer hanging around the shop all day while you're working slows things down and, ultimately, the customer pays for that. As I'm working, I measure, cut parts, trial fit, throw that part away, measure again, cut a new part, fit and then go to the next step. My customers don't pay for the parts I screw up or the time it takes me to screw them up but if they are sitting there I feel I need to constantly explain and apologize for goofing something up. That affects my productivity. Doing custom fabrication is a lot like making sausage, the process can be ugly at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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