Another AA Horror Story Options

[krazykonrad]

AA just ran well in excess of $1,000 over budget on my 914. I dont dispute the necessity of the work or the pricing of the work. However, they went way too far when I told them to what my budget was. The official company line is this was a "misunderstanding".
In all candor, Shon and Daniel in the shop were great to work with. Shon got put in the middle between George and I when George suddenly dropped the problem on his lap.
AA fooled me once on bad customer service. Now they fooled me twice. Shame on me for trusting them. Never again!
To keep a potential flame war off the site, PM me if you're interested in the story.
Konrad

[Heeltoe914]

Maybe it was a misunderstanding but sometimes the path from A-Z is costly. Ask yourself this Could the work you whent in for have been done without the extras? Where you imformed that the repairs where going to cost more than the org, est,?
I dont need a reply back on this I just give you something to think about. The Dr has alot on the line here I ? if he would run the risk of getting a post like this without making ever effort to make you happy. If so so be it. I am in Calif, Atlanta is a long way to go for 914 repairs. Good luck on this.

[scotty b]

Let me give you the story from the bodymans side of things. Car comes in, customer wants to spend $5000.00 on said car but wants a "nice driver' to get said car to "nice driver" condition I know it needs $8000.00 werth of time and materials. I SHOULD give an ESTIMATE. An ESTIMATYE is an ESTIMATE of what I THINK I can do the car for. Not a GAURANTEE. If in fact you were given a gaurantee or it was specifically stated absolutely not to go over said $$ amount you have a right to gripe. BUT what would you be saying if they had stopped at your dollar amount and the car still needed paint?? Or if the car was painted but the underlying body werk looked like ....lets say.....Anna Nicoles thighs??

I donot know your circumstances but everyone here needs to remember that higher end shops DO NOT want to do the $4000.00 restorations because it makes them look less than capable. If you want a $4000.00 resto go to Macco and then bitch about how crappy it looks. If your already into AA for $7000.00+ and you get an extra $1000.00 on your bill be happy to know the job was done right and that you AND AA can be proud of your car.

You get what ou pay for.

[fiid]

I think one's expectations should be to pay the money - but if you made it clear that the budget was X - then as soon as the bill hits X+1 - you should get a phone call (phone calls aren't very expensive, even for a mechanic/body shop) saying your bill is over the budget: what do you want to do? It's just good customer service.

Unfortunately - anyone who is going to do the job right has enough business that they don't have to have good customer service in order to survive.

[krazykonrad]

I defenitley understand that good work cost money, often more than the original estimate. If I had a million $$$ I would let them go ahead and do whatever needs to be done. However, bringing in a car into the shop doesnt give them free reign to do any and everything to the car regardless of what the budget is set at. If I want to pay X amount of dollars, I realise I'll get X dollars amount of work. Thats fine, some things just need to be put off until the next time around.
If I get an estimate, I expect a 10-20% overrun, but not 100% +. If there is that much extra work to be done, a few minutes for a candid phone call is well worth the hit to reputation that a shop will run into if the work is done regardless.
Konrad

[IronHillRestorations]

I'd be the first person to stand in line NOT to defend AA or George, but depending on the scope of the project it's very easy to exceed any budget. If you had a guarantee, that's another story, or if you wanted a heads up when it looked like it was going to be more than agreed and you didn't get the heads up, then OK you've got a beef.

[burton73]

What you are saying now is your estimate was $1,000 and the bill was $2,000. That is 100% of $1,000

That is not right by any body shop or repair estimate so there must be a long story and a mistake. So lets hear it!

Bob

[krazykonrad]

OK: I had a rocker arm stud break on me and eventually needed the half stuck in the head drilled out. George quoted me $400 to remove the engine, drill out the bolt, and re-assemble everything. I figured the total cost might be $5-600 by the time it was all done.
George then gave me a call to tell me that every thing was finished, but they had seen some problem areas that needed to be addressed. george said it would take some "tweaks" to get it in perfect running order and it should cast $2,000 to do everything. I thought he ment $2k inclusive of the engine work. But none-the-less I told him "do what you need to get it running, but $2k is way out of my price range."
Total bill- $3175.00 including tax. Things done include replace CV joints, replace wheel bearing, replace shifter bushings, replace muffler bracket, and a few others.
* The work needed to be done and the total price was fair for the work done. However, I had no intention of dropping more than $1500 total. I wasnt explicit about it but "go nowhere near $2k, I thought would cover things.
Never again!
Konrad

[drewvw]

if it really is 100% over estimate and they did the work without your consent, I would guess there are some laws in Georgia to deal with that.

We ran into the same situation in new york once and all it took was some research into the laws and a phone call and it was resolved. I believe if the overruns are that large a percentage it can be considered a form of usery (sp?)


EDIT: You posted while I was writing...

[scotty b]

I told him "do what you need to get it running, but
Konrad

And there is the problem. Only PART of that statement was heard. Sorry

[Andyrew]

That would have pissed me off.
3.1k for that?
Im sure you would have done all that other stuff yourself. Drilling and tapping a engine stud (they probably used a reverse drill bit and took it out in about 5 mins.)
Im going to take a wild venture and guess that 2 guys spent 4 hours doing everything.
Oh btw, the parts were around 400-800 YOUR cost.. depending on how many cv's they replaced.
What probably took the longest was taking the trailing arms off, (since the cv's were out) pressing the bearing out, clean it a little, paint it, press a new bearing in, reassemble.

Ahh. im just making you more mad..
At least they did all the things that really bring a car back to life.. wait, why didnt they do the bushings?? hmm oh ya, those are actually hard to install..

[burton73]

To make these cars correct it can cost a lot of money. Some shops call over and over to update you on you running total so this does not happen. They did not but you did say—

“I told him "do what you need to get it running, but
Konrad ------ As Scotty pointed out.

A guess a lot of AA customers must work like that. And just give the word fix it and trust them. (1) You want a shop that you trust (2) you want to make a lot of money to fix your car

Sorry you are in this spot.

Bob

[krazykonrad]

I probably should have given them a more definite cut off, but I did say that $2k was way too much. I just wish they had respected that.
Konrad

[Brando]

I don't know what legal restrictions are on repair shops out where AA is, but here if you're within an estimate/budget and you approach complications or are projected to exceed a price previously agreed on, you gotta inform the owner and get approval.

At least, that's how the place I work at runs.

[dflesburg]

Why do you have a 914 and pay someone else to work on it?

Do you think they are supposed to run or something?

[SGB]

Now that it is done- and by an actual business, get explicit warranty info to pin up on the wall in case something goes bad. That is something I never have....

Maybe George will accept a no interest payment scheme to stretch the impact out.

[rick 918-S]

Don't you hate when you delete a big long post. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) I don't know your What happened in your case. But I can tell you that body work is not like mechanical work. There are often problems with hidden rust damage and poor repairs that are hidden under the paint. There is nothing worse than completing a car on budget by compermising the repair quality. As a shop you are comitting business suicide. It's always fine with the owner when he's at the shop picking up the car. But then he goes to the local hang out and everyone see's the imperfection first. And guess what... the budget conversation never comes up.

I have the perfect example. I have a car in the car in my garage now. The owner was fully prepared to spend near $ 10,000.00 to fix an improper repair done back in the 70's. As I stripped the car I discovered way more damage than was possible to see before I started. I am now faced with removing the complete engine, transmission and front suspension to repair about 16 additional hrs of someone elses work. Should I not say anything and have my friend waste $ 10,000.00?

Some things can't be helped. I think AA should have discussed this with you first but I doubt you would have not wanted the car don't right.

In this state you can not increase an estimate more than 10% without written consent. If the work was truly needed and you would have found a way to come up with the money, work it out. It's only money, you'll make more. Enjoy your car.

[degreeoff]

I am a General Contractor in MD (bitch of a state to work in BTW) I ALWAYS say to the customer at time of estimate that "more may be ness" but I always call with a price and get confirmation B4 I start addl work....just good practice.

I will not let anyone work on mine except for alignments and tires......just a cheap SOB that knows I can do it too and for le$$......+ its hard to trust shops these days....good luck

I really can't afford it either...hell I've got and easy 20K in mine and I am not done.......Sh!t

Josh

[Andyrew]

Josh, Im the same way.
The only thing I'll let someone do is the tires (wich I loose in a truck), alignment, and a dyno tune (sbc's.... so much knowlege at the dyno.. those guys know there sbc stuff..)

[ws91420]

OK: I had a rocker arm stud break on me and eventually needed the half stuck in the head drilled out. George quoted me $400 to remove the engine, drill out the bolt, and re-assemble everything. I figured the total cost might be $5-600 by the time it was all done.
George then gave me a call to tell me that every thing was finished, but they had seen some problem areas that needed to be addressed. george said it would take some "tweaks" to get it in perfect running order and it should cast $2,000 to do everything. I thought he ment $2k inclusive of the engine work. But none-the-less I told him "do what you need to get it running, but $2k is way out of my price range."
Total bill- $3175.00 including tax. Things done include replace CV joints, replace wheel bearing, replace shifter bushings, replace muffler bracket, and a few others.
* The work needed to be done and the total price was fair for the work done. However, I had no intention of dropping more than $1500 total. I wasnt explicit about it but "go nowhere near $2k, I thought would cover things.
Never again!
Konrad

Chalk it up to a lesson learned. When you said "do what you need to get it running " that is giving any auto repair facility particulary one that does restoration type work carte blanche to do what is deemed nessacry to make it right. Anytime you deal with a repair shop you want to get a written estimate broken down line by line parts and labor w/ labor times. Then you have the right to approve each line of reoair or refuse it. I work in a shop writing estimates and having to sell to customers. Sometimes the buy right then and sometimes they take the estimate and come back when they have the money. But I never have any that say do what it takes w/o knowing what is being done and for how much because they wouldn't do that.