Let me tell you what happened. First a little background. I have a 1946 Mercury Street Rod. A couple months ago I took in over to a shop here in Escondido as I was getting a wheel rub on sharp turns and wanted to get it taken care of. I ended up deciding to have air ride installed front and rear and in the rear they custom built 4 bar suspension. Randy Clark of Hot Rods and Custom Stuff gave me an estimate of $6000.00 which I though was high but I went ahead and put it in the shop. They also fixed a leaking rear main and put new bearings in the steering column. When I picked the car up almost two weeks later the bill was $11,000.00 and change. I was shocked but didn't feel I could do anything about it so I bit the bullet and paid them.

I had two complaints. First the turning radius was so bad that I couldn't park with out swinging way wide or backing at least once. The other was that the wheel spacers they installed were not centered and I wanted that taken care of, so I took the car in last Wednesday. Thursday they called me to pick it up. Yesterday, Sunday I was coming back from Home Depot when I thought something felt funny. I got out and looked for a flat or something but everything looked OK so I proceed down the road until I got about a block from the house when something felt really funny. I pulled over and found the right front wheel out about 3/4" out from the hub. When I jacked the car up and removed the wheel I found only one stud in the hub, the other four were down inside. With it being Sunday and Monday being a holiday I knew I wouldn't be able to get a hold of anyone at Hod Rods until Tuesday so I resigned myself to the fact that my car would sit there until Tuesday. Well, this morning I decided to see what I could do about getting it home the short distance it had to travel.

Here is what had happened. To get the wheel rub to stop they installed wheel spacers and in doing so had to replace the lug nut studs with longer ones. I pondered all night why the studs had fallen out of the hole as the are pressed in right? Wrong, not these! When I bought the hub back to the house I discovered that the studs were to small for the hole in the hub and some moron had attempted to tack weld steel to cast and it sure as hell didn't work, the welds popped and I'm not sure how everything went from there but the whole mess came unglued. Two of the studs were damaged beyond repair and the other 3 I was able to clean up, wrap some electrical tape around the area that presses into the hub to hold them in place. All 5 lug nuts were junked out but I came up with 3 new ones ( a locking set I had left over from my Stealth) and got the car home. I have custom TSW Chrome Aluminum Wheels on the car and you never see the lugs not until you remove the cap.

Here is my dilemma. What should I do. I mean about the thing they did. I will do the repair work my self but I feel they owe me more than an apology and a repair. I was thinking they should pay me the difference between the estimate and the actual cost. More of a token of good faith than the money. Does that sound reasonable or am I being an ***. I am good at being an *** and would like to avoid it if I'm wrong here. I have also considered taking legal action but I really hate to do something like that. I'm not fond of lawyers and the court system but I feel I have been wronged. Hell, Saturday I was about to make a 200 mile freeway trip. If this would have happened on the freeway people could have been killed or seriously injured. Should I threaten to take take thim to court for say "reckless endangerment" and tell my story to every street rodder that will listen or give him a chance to buy my silence. I really don't have the faintist idea on how to proced with a court case. Any advice would be greatly apprecaited.

Thanks for listening
Arlan

 

I guess i would say they owe you some money. Around here, one of my friends banshees blew up so he had some monster engine work done to it. They quoted him at 750 for parts and labor (the estimate) and when he picked it up, they told him that they had just over 800 (for the parts and labor) in it, but they would hold true for there estimate, they even stated that they always over estimate so that way it is a pleasent surprise when they say 1100, and its 950 or so. So i would say, almost twice the estimate, thats bull, they owe you.

Derek

 

I can understand. Depending upon your method of payment, you may be able to stop payment. I know Discover won't do anything, but maybe another card will.

A couple of months ago My buddies and I were coming back from Silver Lake. A leaf spring broke on the trailer on the Indiana/Michigan border. We had it towed to a place in Michigan City to repair.

We were told 200 for four leaf springs, and a couple of hours. We were expecting a 300 or so bill. When we got there, they charged us 650 because they "had to burn the bolts off". We couldn't get it back unless we paid, and were told to talk to the manager on Monday.

Anyway, they are great welders. They can burn bolts off without burning the paint on the spring mounts. They also told me they had to weld the frame..I couldn't find it, they eventually admitted. They also didn't manage to start anything on fire, when we had 10 gallons of gas and 3 quads in the trailer.

We had several estimates, and confronted them. They then told us that we owed them more money. Since Discover wouldn't help us, we could only take them to court, or tell this story.

Watchout for S&H Motorhome in Michigan City.

Rainman

 

I would definitely say something!!!!!! Most shops will try to scam anyone they can because they don't think anyone will do anything about it, they either get the money or keep the vehicle "Mechanics Lien".

I had a problem with a brand new travel trailer (2000 Keystone Montana). The dealer did warranty work on it and it still had the problem. I took it back again, they did more warranty work on it, the problem was still there. But this time, there were other problems popping up. I took it back and started raising hell, the service manager starts telling me how wonderful their service dept is. That was a load of BS. This went on for several months, the problem was never fixed. I hated to do it but it was my only choice, I got a lawyer.

For $500 the lawyer wrote them (dealer, manufacturer and bank) a letter demanding that this trailer be taken care of or we were going to court. After all the complaining that I did nothing happened. 1 letter from a lawyer and they started jumping, the manufacturer decided to have all work halted on my 2000 Travel Trailer and gave me a brand new 2001 Trave Trailer. I ended up with a perfect trailer that was actually worth $4,000 more than my original trailer. My old trailer had several thousand miles on it, the new one has not left storage (new daughter). We won't be able to go camping for some time still but I have a better trailer than I originally paid for.

I think a lawyer would be very useful in your case, if for nothing else than a scare tactic. $500 got me a brand new trailer with ZERO miles.

....by the way, my this trailer is FOR SALE! I'm asking $10,000 less than the original sticker price, and that's negotiable! (just thought I'd throw that in).

.....the lawyer helped out a lot and I never even had to go to court!

-Mitch

 

Yep...depending upon how much it costs (for the mercury, defintiely worth it). You might want to consider a lawyer. $500 for a letter, which hopefully is also a retainer, is worth it. For my buddy's and my trailer, not.

I believe there is some kind of law which they must inform you of the cost within a certain percentage. I saw it posted at the car dealer when I had my oil changed.

Good luck,

Rainman

 

I don't know about the laws of every state, but if you get a written estimate in ohio, they can't charge you more than the written estimate, period, end of story, unless they give you a new written estimate. If they try to hold your vehicle, contact the local police dept. asap, as they aren't allowed to hold the vehicle either.

I had this happen to me at a ford dealer once, they put on 4 parts that I didnt' authorize. They then said they were going to hold my car until they got the parts back off. Needless to say the local police straighten them out on keeping my car, actaully the service manager was told he could be arrested for it. I paid the estimate price and left, never to return to said dealer.

Always get all estimates in WRITING. Read the fine print on the estimate sheet prior to signing the estimate. 2 minutes of reading can and will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars and a lot of time. Be specific that all work over the estimate must be approved PRIOR to them doing it. Don't be afraid to contact the local police in retrevial of your car/truck or whatever if they try not to give it back.

 

Arlan, I believe that California has the same law as Ohio regarding written estimates.

Anything that raises the cost above the written estimate has to approved by the owner of the vehicle. A written estimate in Ca is a binding contract on the servicer, unless further costs are authorized in writting by you. Contact the State Attorney General Consumer Affairs Dept.They can steer you right and maybe even fix it for you.

 

Did you argue about the price at all when they told you $11,000? You're obviously BANKIN to be able to whip out the ole check book and drop $11,000. Most people don't fight it out in court because they can't afford a lawyer, this doesn't seem to be the case with you. At least take the car back to them and have it fixed right. If they give you anymore problems or if the car gives you anymore problems or if they want more money, get a Lawyer. They have ways of fixing things. The Lawyer I talked to was a consumer products or something like that, Lawyer. They obviously didn't do a good job or you wouldn't be here talkign about it.


.......just my opinion, I just get sick and tired of getting screwed by "so called" Professionals! I refuse to put up with it!

I'm not the type to call a Lawyer because McDonald's coffee was too hot and I think they owe me a million dollars. That's a bunch of BS, I just want what was agreed on! And most places treat you like $hit after they have your money, until you get a Lawyer.

-Mitch

 

We all have stories about this kind of stuff happening. If you had a written estimate I'd say you've got a chance on getting your $5,000 back plus the car fixed the right way. I'm in the insurance industry. In Illinois [if not the whole country] there is a 10 year statute of limitations. In other words, if your wheels fell off when you were on a road trip 9 years a 350 days from now, you could legally sue them because of their faulty workmanship. ANYONE who has done any kind of welding knows you don't just goober metals together, especially to cast iron, and most especially to drive train parts. Have another reputable shop give you a written quote on the work that you specified at the first shop. Then call your lawyer. Heck if their neglegence is considered blatant you may be able to get punative damages as well.
This shop not only doesn't care about you, since they ripped you off, but they don't care about your family and friends [your passengers], or the public [possible victims of the inevitable car crash]. They don't deserve to be in business. It's that simple.

 

Thanks for all the replies and advise. They came out to the house and picked up the rotors. They are replacing both with new ones and installing 1/2" instead of 7/16' studs to get the correct fit. Randy was very apologetic and has fired the guy that installed the under size studs. They will be coming out to the house and installing the rotors tomorrow although I was planning to do it myself. Thanks again...Arlan