My Magnus Problems

[Enes]

On things like that its hard to say anything..

I am sure you aren't the first, or the last, that will have those issues.... every shop goes thru some of those stages, and some do not ever get out of them..

The best way to build an engine with any shop is to pay as the build goes..

immediate money transfer, for parts ordered/installed.

at the end, you get your finall bill. add up the money you have given them. and subtract/add to the finall bill.

It might be more time consuming, but at least you will know when they are ready to do the next stage etc.

Hopefully everything works out for you...

Good luck!

-E

[TheBlizzard]

Thats a good idea Enes, but its not possible. Shops usually don't like to do work and then have the customer pay as they go, because then they end up with projects that are half finished and the rest being unfunded. They will end up eating the work they have done and have the fear of the customer backing out.

CRAIG

[Raptor]

Actually, it is a good idea for a couple reasons. We require a down payment for machine work because the shop we use also requires a down, then we require the balance of the machine shop bill when we pick up the engine for them which means we are not carying that bill and the customer isn't hit with such a large balance on completion. We require payment on any major purchases when we are required to pay for them as well. It works out better all the way through in larger projects. We are not nearly well financed enough to cary the costs of all the projects we have going till completion and it is usually easier for customers to pay a couple smaller payments than to a large bill all at once. I don't think I would want people to pay the full bill up front either, if anything were to happen to the company or to the customer before the job was completed, that would leave someone in an awkward position. Fair pay for quality work done is all any shop should be asking and what the customer should expect to be paying.

[1ViciousGSX]

I removed the names from an earlier post in this thread about great service. I'm glad somebody got excellent work from another shop. But I don't want to turn this thread into post about "who has the better shop". I only wanted to give you details of my experience.

So please don't post about another shop specifically, good or bad.


Thanks,
1ViciousGSX

[TheBlizzard]

So Mike you thinks its good a good buisness decision to just front the work until its completed? Then have the customer pay in steps rather than just setup a set cost for the job at hand and have them pay you right away. I can see your point in smaller scale jobs but when it comes to 10s of thousands of dollars, a shop could get a lot of money tied up in something, then what if the customer backed out? You just eat it or what? I do see what your saying though but you would think having the majority of the money up front would cover the shops ass if the customer decided to change their mind.

CRAIG

[Raptor]

I don't think it is a bad business idea for a shop to front the labor until job completion. The parts and services that the shop has to cover should be covered by the customer as the job progresses on at least the larger jobs, (more than a few days). That is how we deal with it and it works fine. The labor is paid at the end of the job and if for any reason the customer backs out, shops do have recourses to collect what is owed. We don't release cars until the invoices are covered as well as most other shops. If you did agree to cary a balance on a car and the customer tried to bail out on it, a shop has the option of having a mechanics lean put on the car within a certain timeframe. Most of the time, the customers don't give too much of a hassle paying the bills you give them if they are informed of any additional charges as you go. Most of the time, this all works just fine.

As far as the situation with Mikes engine and Magnus, I don't believe him paying the bill any differently would have effected the issues at hand and it shouldn't.

[TheBlizzard]

Yeah I think he handled it the best he could and was more than patient. I would have been freaking out on them and I am sure most people would too. Thats a lot of money to have shit not be perfect the first time.

CRAIG

[joem]

Any place can do bad, but if they back the work then they do better.
anyone can miss a thing or two. I know i do every now and again but then again ill take care of it.
You cant judge a shop on a mishap, but if the mishaps continue to happen shame on them.
joe

[CDeutsch]

Originally posted by 1ViciousGSX@Oct 23 2004, 12:48 PM
I removed the names from an earlier post in this thread about great service. I'm glad somebody got excellent work from another shop. But I don't want to turn this thread into post about "who has the better shop". I only wanted to give you details of my experience.

So please don't post about another shop specifically, good or bad.


Thanks,
1ViciousGSX
Ok I'm way confused on that edit. If that wasn't appropriate how is your original post appropriate? Isn't this site for helping people by giving them honest information? If someone is looking for options on a rebuild don't you think they'd find both our posts helpful?

I'm not pissed or anything about the edit just confused and would like to know why so I don't make the same mistake again.

[Jana]

Wow. I can't believe all that happened and how you handled it. I would have been extremely pissed.

Are you going to go back to try and recover any money? Or just chalk it up to a lesson learned?