So I know most of the people are probable DIY on the board but what happens when you want to bring your car to a shop to do an install you don’t feel like doing. Everyone knows you go in and setup what will be done and at what price. I see many tuner shops over booking themselves just to make a quick buck but in the end the customer still does not have there car. I know this may make people reply post about how this shop was great service and recommendation but that is not what I am looking for. I think shops should be responsible to hold time frame to there customer and when they don’t to offer discounts or some other barter strategy. Why even open or try to run a shop if you can’t perform services in timely manner. As I have been bashed on the board for not having pics, I have stopped down to the shop my car sits at for three weeks waiting for them to finish mandrel pressure fitting for my P/S and explain to me my car is not running because they are missing a hose that was already on my car. Beware and please feel free to express what you have done at shops that were not up to par on installs.
You feel like saying which shop your car is at?
IF anything, you should call in advance, see when is good for them, and get it in writing that the car will be done at a given time if everything goes right. But that’s a perfect world, and things go wrong.
Yeah I brought it to a place in Poughkipsie called built performance. The are former employee’s of heavy throttle a shop that compares to enjunku racing. I got a call today telling me they fried my wiring harness. Now he is going charge me to put another one in but that when I stood up and told him where to go. I don’t know when you drop your car off people think you are at there mercy but I am not getting hosed here. Even just creating a log of the pro and cons of shops around the area for the work people do. There are only a handful of places and it would keep new driver of the area aware of a shops rep before they dropped cars off. Knowing who is the best in wiring or fiberglass installation would give us a place to vent when people mess jobs up or should reiceve praise.
I would first threaten them that your going to call DMV about this if they don’t satisfy you, you must know what your looking to get before you make that threat, after all they cannot satisfy someone who doesn’t know what they want. Also make it clear that your not trying to get something for nothing, you just feel that its gone too far and you did not agree to this, I’m assuming you did not sign a blank release? If you did, your up shits creek with out a paddle. Even with a verbal estimate they can only charge 10% more then the estimate(by law) with out getting further approval from you. If you’ve not already, start a time line, documenting all of your contact with them, who you talked to and what you were promised. If they don’t give you your car back upon your request I’m sure there is legal action that can be taken, but there is no need to go that route, the threat of DMV coming down on most shops is enough to get them to get there shit together. There is a special department at DMV to arbitrate these types of situations and they tend to have a bias towards the consumer. However, its important to realize this is arbitration and DMVs ruling is the final decision. I suppose you could appeal it but legal fees would probably equal the value of your car before you made it to court and you’d probably still lose.
Wow, good info.
Didn’t know the DMV can act as a referee in this case.
Tim’s the man, he has a plethera of knowledge.
Thanks! I do have a plethora of knowledge ;D
in my opinion if you didnt authorize the repairs, just pull your car out and tell them to stiff themselves. Unless they have it in writing… also you could call the local police and have them escort you to retrieve the car and all the parts that go along with it. but thats on the extreme side.
I went down and saw my car it runs but he fried on wire that he realistically could have rewired through the harness. He also fired his only employee and has to many projects left there. He told me a new harness was suppose to get to him todya and would go from there. I hate my life.
You should let us know what shop this was for future reference
+1
He already told us where it is
I guess it would help if I could read. :’(
I’ll let it slide this once ;D
ok, time for me to learn how to read BRB.
got a call that my car is running going to put an exhaust on it and pick it up tomorow morning. There is a good if my car actually works. Everybody on the board pray that this guy isn’t b/sing me. I have owned this car for since may and never driving it before
DIY or nothing IMO…
threatening with the dmv isn’t advisable… the might even laugh at you if you tell them that. the better business bureau is who you want to tell them your going to call. the BBB will usually step in, and you’ll get taken care of pretty quick. i had to use this route when a local shop took they’re sweet ass time on a set of adapters i ordered. wrote a letter to them, they contacted me and told me to go get my $ back. went down there, and it worked like a charm.
Why is getting DMV involved ill advisable? As a former shop owner, I laughed at the BBB but when DMV got involved you run the risk of huge fines if your found guilty, they also can take your repair license, inspection license and drivers license if your found guilty. I ran a sqweeky clean shop and never had problems like that but knew plenty of shady shops that had frequent problems. The BBB has the authority to do NOTHING, other then not recommend you, at which point if it misinformation you threaten to sue them for slander and they quickly remove the complaint if they can’t support it, which they seldom can. Upon selling the business, I had a flawless record with DMV, Dun & Bradstreet and the BBB, but the agency most likely to get a quick reply from me was DMV due to the power they have and they are the judge, jury and execustioner. Literally with in one phone call to the complaint department at DMV they come in and arbitrate the situation with in a week, lots of luck getting that kind of result or speed out of the consumer based agencies.
With all that said most shady shops don’t know there rights and they probably would run and hide from the BBB. Nothing is worse then ignorant, spineless cowards.
okay, i stand corrected on the dmv… i wasn’t saying that it wouldn’t be advisable, i just figured the proper organization to consult was the bbb. i didn’t even know that the dmv had the ability to actually fine the shops in these cases. i could understand if they were doing phony inspections and such, but i had no idea that the dmv had control of the shops professionalism when it came to this type of situation. thanks for the info on this. knowledge is power.
As a service advisor at a car dealership, I can say this.
When it’s done, it’s done. Stuff takes a while to work on sometimes, BUT you as the customer also deserve a fair estimate not only of cost [which cannot be exceeded without your approval], but also of a timeframe. If a shop cannot deliver a vehicle within a certain timeframe, they had better be doing everything reasonable to get the job done. The only reasons your car should still be there are: shortage of technicians to complete work that was BROUGHT IN BEFORE YOURS, parts on order that have not yet arrived, or further diagnosis needed to find out what the setbacks are.
Whenever you bring a vehicle in for service, you should be signing a written agreement or service order. On that order it states what you, the customer, are liable for… and what the shop is responsible for covering. Usuallly a shop will not be held responsible for parts that break as a result of repair - whether or not that includes a wiring harness is a good question. Technically speaking, breaking a wiring harness would mean physically breaking the wire, like an old, crusty wire that snapped when you flexed it. Frying it would mean there was improper connection going on, which is a grey area on whether or not the connectors were corroded, or the shop was screwing around and caused it to happen. I’d suggest sitting down with the shop manager and having a POLITE, but firm discussion. Customers that are polite to the service personnel at my dealership, usually are treated well and end up with our goodwill in return. If you acknowledge their work to this point and go about making your opinions known politely and clearly, you will get somewhere. If you threaten to bring the DMV in right from the start, the first thing you’re doing is putting the shop in a defensive mode. They will be obliged to give you nothing and will spend all the time making sure the paperwork and evidence is in order to minimize their losses. At that point, they figure no matter what they do, you’re making the matter personal, so their professional survival comes first, instead of preventing you from bringing in the DMV.
I’d just sit with someone, go over the work that’s been done and what work needs completion to make the car ready.
Ask them to give you a reasonable timeframe and to outline that timeframe with justification. If they tell you they need another month, ask them what the main thing is that they need time for. If it’s parts, if it’s labor, whatever. Time isn’t as important as setbacks. If you give them the time they need and the room they need, a good shop should be willing to take the time to make sure your job is done right, with minimal setbacks. If you pressure them and threaten them to finish the job, you’re inviting them to hack your car just to make the deadline and reliability be damned - as long as the car leaves the shop under its own power, they’re going to roll the dice if the deadline is the most important.