vetracn98

Ok....here it is. Very difficult to find a spot to start. I guess with a quick background.

As some of you may remember I hit a semi tire Last October. Well instead of just "fixing" what was broke I opted to go for a full customization. My car went into the shop early January for this rebuild. I then deployed to Afghanistan in February. It was to be for 6 months. I had a return date of 1 july to 15 september. I wanted my car to be done when i got home. This is a body shop i have been to several times to get stuff done, and i highly recommended it to my friends. Do to this fact they were hooking me up with a lot of extra stuff (keep that in mind for later). They were shooting to get this done by the end of february, which i kind of knew wasn't possible. When it came time for me to leave i just asked them to get it done, and when they were finished to drive it to my house. I asked this because i had the insured dropped, and it was covered under their insurance then. I was only paying comp for while it was in storage status.

So i leave for my deployment and they tell me it will be done in april or maybe may. to make a long story short here.....april pasted, then may pasted. I told them the car had to be completed by mid to the end of july no matter what. they told me it would be done 30 june. then that pasted. now it is in july and they not only tell me it will be done by july 31st but they tell my wife this also.

I arrived home on july 30th and went to pick up the car on the 31st. Not done.... I asked them how much long and they say 2 weeks. I told them i have to have my car on the 18th no matter what because i return to work then. They say no problem. So today the 17th i call and not done yet. I told them to get me a rental car, and they agreed and asked me to come to them.

Ok this is where it gets ****ty. Before i left i paid for the full amount of the estimate, so i don't have to send payment after payment while i am gone. I also told them i don't want to come to a huge bill. and they assured me this won't happen. Now that we are to this point it gets ugly.

I go to them today and they have redone bill for me. They show me that the total has gone up about 8g's. Then they assure me that i don't have to pay this amount but they just wanted to keep track of it for there records. They also say that this is not a totally accurate bill because they did not log 100% of the hours in it. They said they would "hook" me up since i had brought them so much buisness in the past. Asll they are asking from is for me to pay for they materials they used (about 1000) and for 35 hours of labor at $40 an hour, so about 1300. So i have to pay them around 2300. Also remember the car is not done yet.

I don't know what to do now. This place has hooked me up with a lot of extras, they haven't charged me for a **** ton of work, but then again they are charging me 2300, when they promised me it be more than a 1000 or so, and more importantly they never reached any dead lines. They not only constantly lied to me about this but my wife also. I have been told by my wife and even one of their employees that the car sat untouched for weeks on end, while they kicked out insurance claims. When i brought this up to them, they told me they had to do these, because they are what pay the bills. My car was given at such a cheap price that they were not making any money on it, and these things had to be done. I told them i didn't care. we had a contract it would be done by that time and i paid for it to be done then, and they didn't do it. I told him that if it would have been done on the 31st then maybe i would have paid for this, but it isn't.

So now i leave there and i didn't pay for anything at that time. I went to go get my rental car. On they way to get i get a call from them again. They told me he called to "reconfirm" i had a car and it would be charged to them not me. He tells me that they said i had to pay for it cause they never told him he had to set up a buisness account. He told me he would call them in the morning and set this up and have the charged moved to them, or "take it from the total".

Now when i get there to get my car she tells me of course i have to pay. I said i understood and that they would call in the morning and have those charges moved over. The lady tells me they are not allowed to do that. They can't move around stuff like that for fraud reasons. That if i pay then "I" pay for it. They said i could bring in cash and pay and it would get taken off my card though. I said ok. Then i asked since i had to pay for it could i use a military discount, and if it was as good as their buisness discount. She then told me there was no discount in there. That didn't set anything up like that all. All that was in there was my name and that was it. They had no other information on me or more oddly none on them!

Now i am thinking........they probably got me this reservation, then told me they were paying for it. They did this just in case i didn't pay for anything else on the car. this way they would not be out that money and the rental car money. If i did say i would pay the bill then they would reimberse me for the car or take it off my bill. This is only what i am thinking, and have no proof for.

So, now this is were i am at. do i pay the bill so i can get my car and i can get it in the show quality i expect, or do i not pay, wait god knows how long for it to get done, or get it back just thrown together. I can't let them put it off, cause now i am paying for a damn rental car. Should i go to a lawyer and see what i can do?

I am really not sure at this point. This place does superb work, but they didn't get my car done when they said it would be done, and i have to pay a bill. I have no car now, and i am paying for a rental. I am kind of screwed at this point....

Please give me any input you can, bet just try and refrain from the stupid crap like "go in there with your guns blazin and demand your car back!!!"

Thanks
Derek

What happened to the spell check button?

dbirdhouse1

The only experience I had remotely similar involved a new driveway which took far longer and was far more expensive then the contractor and I had agreed to.......we went 60% (he paid) and 40% (I paid) split on the additional cost. His problems with my driveway were real.....

So, to translate, if he is asking for 2300 and you deem some additional cost reasonable, offer 40% of that ($920) to cover half plus the fact it is so late.

As for the rental car, you should not be paying for that at all obviously....subtract it from the 920?

vetracn98

I see where you are coming from that. I told him that "if" i pay it would only be for the materials which was a 1000, so vary close to your number. I just didn't feel i should pay for more labor if it wasn't done on time, even if they did put in a ton of extra time.

I will be subtracting the rental car for sure, weather i pay all or some.

07c64jb

Wow, this could get real touchy. Do you have all of their promises in writing, on some sort of contract form? I would be really concerned that if your "realationship" with this place goes south they may slap a "mechanic's lien" on your car and jam you for darn near whatever they want. If you havent already, you need to document EVEYTHING from this point forward, who you spoke to, when, what was promised, missed deadlines, etc. When/if it goes bad, will they charge you "storage"?

As far as the rental, that IMO is a double edge sword. If they pay, they may hurry with your car, on the other hand they may say"hey, were paying for a rental, dont sweat it". My view is if they are paying money out, the're gonna want it back...one way or another.

I would be real concerned with the "open end" aspect of the deal.

Either way, document EVERYTHING, in the event you have to take legal action.

I wish you luck. By the way, thanks for protecting our country.

cmnguye8

I would get an attorney. That is too much money to be paying, and it is very bad business if you ask me. Even if you are being "hooked" up you and your wife went through a lot of inconvience with all of this. They didnt meet deadlines and they said it would cost no more than 1000.

vetracn98

Well, I don't really have any of the email traffic of our discussions while i was deployed. Like an idiot I deleted all of them. I mean why would i keep them if i though everything was going good you know. I did tell them I had them all though, so they don't really know i don't. To bad I can't get into there email and forward it all to me huh.... that would be helpful.

Do we have any hackers here? LOL

RLSebring

First I would determine if it's feasible for them to finish it then get an exact figure for that. If they can finish it in a timely manner and for a specific cost that you can live with decide based on that. With you being local you can supervise the job a lot better to completion.

If this turns out to not be an option then take the estimate to finish or amount owed and go to the court house and file a bond in lieu of lien. This will enable you to go with the sheriff to the shop and retrieve your car and put them on notice you intend to take legal action.

From here you will have to decide which route to take as far as suing them. You could do it yourself but if you never have had any court experience you should hire an attorney. Attorney's are not cheap. A retainer will be a couple of grand easily and they seem to use that up prior to trial then the bigger money starts. You can foresee where this is heading.

If you are still active duty there are some remedies I believe available to service personal. Check with your CO and see what he has to say.

vetracn98

That is what i was worried about. If i take legal action my car may never get done... plus the cost of trying to sue them would only be more costly then just paying the 2300. i mean would i really get any money out of them, or just get a car that isn't even finished and bigger headache. I kind of feel like they got me by the short and curlies.....

RLSebring

If you really want them to finish looks like you will have to pay. You have already talked with them and that is what they told you.

You are right sueing would cost more than what they are wanting at the moment but who's to say that this is a final bill.

Get this price in writing, detailed, then tell them at this point you will pay when finished. You will have to decide whether to stand your ground or compromise.

You can study up during this time whether to sue them after the fact. Once you bring up sueing you can bet the situation will change drastically.

Again check with your CO if you are still active duty. They don't like people taking advantage of their property.

vetracn98

yes i am still active and off a fresh deployment. I guess i will go into our JAG office and see what they say. Thanks for the help.

vetracn98

oh one other small tidbit i forgot to say, which also scares me about not paying.

When i said "well if i do pay anything at all it would be the 1000 for the materials, and i am just not sure about the labor". He asked what i wasn't sure about. told him i wasn't even sure i would pay it all.

He said, " well i could throw it all back together and drill a hole in every finder".

That also scares me a bit. If i don't pay I am going to a hunk of crap in return. But if i do pay this fraction of the 8g he said it was i would get my show car quality car back.......some day.......

He showed me the bill it is over 16g now. I have only paid around 7-8.

lstorm2003

Never pay ANY MONEY towards labor before you pick up your car. Your car is the deposit. And for parts, try to only pay 50% in advance. Make sure you have a contract with them that clearly spells out what they are doing for you, and what the charges are. It should also have completion dates on it. I was stupid when I was younger, once paid out about $25k to have my Honda all built up. Needless to say it was a waste of $ and I got ripped off. As they say, fool me once... shame on you.. fool me twice... ummm, not gonna happen friends.

longdaddy

stop posting stuff on the internet and lawyer up. now. pick up the phone book and start making calls. find all records, put together all emails, estimates, write down everything you remember with dates and details. have you wife do the same. don't accept any deals, don;t even talk to these guys until your lawyer green lights it. your military service may provide some legal help too or at least refer you to someone who deals with legal issues of deployed soldiers. i am not an expert in this, but there are laws that make screwing with active duty soldiers more serious than scamming you average joe.

the reason you should stop posting here about this is that when this gets really ugly (and it sounds like things are heading there), they will find everything you posted on public forums and look for ways to use it against you.

when you read this post, don't do anything else until you wrote everything down, found all the records you have access to and made an appointment with a laywer to discuss this. then take a deep breath and remind yourself that this is just a car and some money and there are people out there that will be on your side in this (for a reasonable fee ). best of luck.

Boz86

Another avenue is to see if one of the TV stations (Six on your side, etc) will broadcast your experience.

The New York Times has a columnist who writes about businesses like this and negotiates on the reader's behalf. Wonder if your local paper, or the Atlanta paper, does?

lander

You need a lawyer, not advice from a bunch of keyboard warriors on the Internet.

RLSebring

And this would be advice from a fellow keyboard warrior?

AORoads

I agree. But you also have to recognize one fact: you have vry little to stand on. Not to make you feel any worse, but the plain fact is you relied on your word and their word. And their word was and is no good. A crafty lawyer may be able to help you, but I frankly doubt it.

In one respect, from a legal contract standpoint, you did everything wrong. From your own perspective of how you live, you did it the right way. Unless this comes out to zero extra dollars out of your pocket, I think you can see which one was more prominent in this incident (AND only in this incident but realize there is a very good reason for contract law).

Wayne O

I'm not sure what a "full customization" is but with any custom work estimates most often escalate and delays are commonplace. I've experienced delays on several occasions simply because a vendor forgot a part or sent the wrong part. All shops have to prioritize their work and with you not being around you were a lower priority.

I don't know the full story or the extent of the work but after 6.5 months you'd think the job would be done. I'd also question their lack of documentation...most shops log their labor and materials. I think you need to consider how much you value your relationship with the shop and to what extent they're discounting the work for you.

My friend had a custom street rod done at a very high-end and expensive shop. The work took over 14 months and cost in excess of $110,000. When it was done the final bill exceeded their estimate by a quite-a-bit. My friend could have held them to the estimated price but he didn't...he realized the additional costs were legitimate and the quality of workmanship was impeccable. Not wanting to screw the shop or jeopardize his relationship with them, he paid the overage which was over $10K.

At this point (and after 6+ months) what's the status of the car? I'd find out exactly what remains to be done and nail down how long it should take to finish. Again, IMO a lot depends on how much you value your ongoing relationship with the shop and how much they're discounting the work for you. If they said they're paying for the rental car, I'd hold them to it. Have them call the rental car agency and arrange for payment. If they're paying for your rental car that should motivate them to wrap things up. As for the overage, I'd be fair about it. I'd pay them their legitimate costs in the project, however, if you pay for the rental car I'd tell them you're deducting the rental car costs from the final bill. Good luck!

AORoads

altho I respect wayne's post and logic, hearing someone at the shop talk about putting a hole in every body part does not make me feel this is a quality operation. they may do great work, but this is not a shop that operates with integrity, not with that mindset and kind of statement.

Luckyme

First of all, Thank you for your service to our country!

Time to get a lawyer. If this does not work for your situation, at the very least put together all these details, and take them to someone in charge at the shop, and state that if you can't come to a suitable agreement to get the car done to your satisfaction, then you will contact your lawyer, the BBB, and one of those news teams.

Those news teams will typically like going after a business that screwed our Military People, especially in GA.