Beware of this shop Options

[rjbeam08]

Warning! I hired Arizona Aircooled in Chino Valley Arizona to upgrade my factory 1.8 liter engine to a 2840cc and rebuild the transmission. The owner of the shop sold my existing running engine (serial number EC18466) on Facebook Marketplace for $1500 without my knowledge or permission. In addition, the owner of the shop claimed that he had a third party rebuild my transmission at a cost of $2500. I called that third party shop and they told me that they never rebuilt or sold Arizona Aircooled a transmission. After a year of no progress I pulled my car out of his shop with no engine and a transmission that wasn't even my original. Requested my $13k deposit back with no response. Police report filed. Beware of this shop!!!

[Ishley]

Get a lawyer. Document and write down what happened. Day by day. Collect
All your receipts and communication. Remember they will get copies of anything you produce and will have a chance to refute it. Take snap shots of anything they claim in advertising or on the web. I’d avoid posting anything more about this. They will use it against you and claim they are the victim here. You might want to delete this whole post. Be prepared for a long process. If you buy stuff to finish the car, keep very careful records including your time. You need to show specific damages. Depending on your state laws you can sue for damages both economic and Punitive. Find an expert to look at your car… document it and estimate it repair costs. There are companies/individuals who do this everyday as expert witnesses. 3rd party experts carry huge weight in court. If the business is smart they will settle and compensate you. Court is expensive.

Many States will force you to arbitration depending on the value. There are a whole set of issues around that process and you may be able to refuse the decision and force to get your day in court.

Going forward… whenever you hire a service provider… even if they won’t give everything in writing… go home and send them an email stating what they agreed to verbally. You can even write it in the paper/receipt they gave you. Initial it and send it to them. It’s called the battle of the forms and unless they refute it in writing it becomes part of the agreement. Documentation is how you win. Take pictures too. A judge can rule on anything… but the more items you bring to court the more likely you are to get to keep some of them in evidence. If you win… they will have to pay for your lawyer and court costs (depends on your state laws). Finally… you have to get them to pay… this can be a whole other set of problems.

It totally sucks to have this happen. I feel for you. Good luck.