Painter finally got my car back after 3 weeks with speedworks. Went over there today as he wanted to point out potential problems and see what I wanted done. I had to laugh. He told me the bill from speedworks was a bit over $1,000. The total work they did was shave the front plastic support guard, move one intercooler pipe and bend one slightly. To say I was shocked was an understatment. Bear in mind the labour costs for building the front mount in the first place from stock cores, build the endtanks, measure up and make dummys of the pipes to be made, then fit it all plus make and fit an oil cooler was about $360!Now to add insult to injury, for the pipe they needed to change they decided to fit a nice unpolished pipe and weld it into all the rest of my nicely polished pipe! Doesnt half stick out like a sore thumb and is easily seen through the front fascia. Hmm, how about that motec that still needs the traction control fitted from 3 months ago? Yep still not done. Front radiator pipe I asked them to do, not done. I couldnt test it but I can bet he didnt fix the idle rpm problem when my air conditioning is on either that causes the car to stall at the lights.Anyway, I went into speedworks to sort out the bill. AJ wasnt there so I talked to another guy, Ivan. Originally my painter was going to get the bill then I would pay the one bill through him. I told Ivan not to send the bill to my painter cause there was no way I was paying this bill until the work was done properly. Plus I asked how he could explain such a high bill. His answer was that he doesnt know he would have to get AJ to contact me. Let me just say Im not holding my breath for that call.Im annoyed, I should of just trailered the car back to brownes radiators to have the work done by professionals. Even including the tow back and forth I bet the bill would be less than half what I have now. Im fuming. I think whats just best to do now is get a quote to get the motec finished at another store. Get a few quotes from shops for the work that speedworks did then let my lawyer handle it. Im certainly going to sue them for the price of someone else finishing the motec install. If other quotes are considereably cheaper then go for that difference also. It will all be covered under small claims, so most I lose is a day off work. Cant see any other way to get the job done properly
bullets were invented for people like that! Yeah i have had a similar experience. It was a pain to say the least. And people wonder why its soo hard to find a good mechanic/performance place these days.I admire your patience man. But dont let it get you down too much. By now you dont need the added stress. just let the lawyers handle it and get the car done. As i have said to my mate many a time "why do the things you most love in the world (cars, bikes and women) always bring you the most pain?"chin up dude you still have a totally MAD zed
I feel so sorry for you Nathan, its an...... experience that no one wants to go through. Some people and some businesses just do not appreciate customers. Dont pay the bill, get them to fix the unpolished pipe with a polished pipe, even though its welded it still can be fixed. As they took so long to get your car half ready, delay the process back to them, wait till they call you and dont bother calling them. As the saying goes fight fire with fire }D I do hope all your problems are sorted out.Regards Max
Give 'em hell mate!! }D That bill is just rediculous!! I would sue too mate. Somebody has to stand up to that sort of treatment. They really have shot themselves in the foot with their recent treatment of you, considering the amount of money you would have continued to spend there.Hope it all works out for you. :YD Cheers Rob
Your in the box seat. Mainly because you have your car and they have no money. As far as the motec goes, I'd get in touch with Motec direct as people who arent "Motec" pay a francise fee for the priveledge of the association and I'd be pretty sure they wouldnt want rogue traders to give them a bad name with crappy service.
Good luck to you Nathan. I'm currently undergoing a similar situation. Get those quotes and call small claims and get them to send you out a form. Take pictures of the poor work and hopefully unlike me you got a written quote prior to beginning the job. If they dont agree with you, wave the small claims form in their face. If that doesnt change their minds then fight them all the way, that's what I plan to do. P.S. A log-book of your interactions would do very well in court. Hopefully you can remember what was said in the past 3 weeks and give an accurate picture of when you called or visited Speedworks. Good Luck, Ryan.
Thats half the problem... I couldnt get a quote because he wouldnt return my calls or emails. When I went to see him personally, after I asked him why he hadnt return my calls he just walked off then completely ignored me. Literally just turned his back, started tinkering under the bonnet of another car and wouldnt even acknowledge me.If he had quoted me anywhere near what he has charged there would be no way I would of let him do the work.
To have a legal leg to stand on... you need a diary of events so far, and need to prove that the time he has taken, price he has charged and work he has done is substandard, to the point where he has not kept his contractual obligation.If this is hard to prove, then you need to show that anyone else would have: done what you asked (eg: if the rest of the system is polished, why would you ask for non-polished piping?), done it for less (eg: 3 other places would have charged x amount less, so why would I agree to Y pricing?) and done it in a reasonable time frame (eg: same places would have done it in 2wks).As he has not given you a quote, any lawyer will argue "Why did you leave the car not knowing what he would charge?", and that you are simply trying to get out of paying him what is due. You would be better off getting the job done, then telling him that his portion (minus fixing the stuff ups, and your time) is $X amount. This will show you are bona fide and above wanting to get out of payment. Difficult as it is to resist, I cannot give you strict legal advice, but do be ready as an a$$hole like this guy will probably go to court based on his red-neck logic - just to prove a point (whatever that may be).Could write more, but some loser reading this will probably have me sued.CheerZ Vincent
cut your losses. Its not worth the hastle.. and headache. Don't pay that last bill. If they want to chase you up on it, let them do the chasing, and then you can discuss their pricing etc. You've got a beast of Z, enjoy it.Did that Zoom shoot happen? If so, when can we expect the article to come out?
