So next week will be 1 year since I pulled my car from Scotty's shop, (KAHIKO CUSTOMS & RESTORATION, Scott Burnett, 106H Roxbury Industrial, Charles City, VA 23030) and I am still missing parts Scott has still never found in his shop....

Though Scott has admitted he owes me money, and I have asked him to send what he said he owed me, I have never seen a single penny.

I paid Scott $29,600 and traded him my 3.0 running motor ($7,500 value?) for work- not an insignificant amount. I have copies of the checks, pictures of the motor, an invoice from Scott showing work I was charged for, etc. I have avoided posting a lot of the pictures of the condition in which I found my car when I picked it up after Scott had it for 61 months, but I can. Trust me, Kent has now got over 350 hours into getting the chassis ready for paint.

I am aware of two other member who experienced similar trouble with Scott and pulled their cars from his shop as well.

When I first began dealings with Scott he seemed to be a solid dude who had done some great work in the past. However after he injured his back, maybe 1.5 years into my build, it seemed like everything changed dramatically and he never got back to what he may have once been.

I want to post about my experience so anyone searching for a shop in the near future can make an informed decision regarding their shop selection. How would you go about that? Where would you post that- specifically, what other car forums should I alert, if any? Looking for helpful suggestions.

I think that you just did, & all you need to do is add the actual name of the shop & owner for newbies coming on here & reading this.


Tom
///////

Anybody who has followed your ongoing debacle with the formerly esteemed Scotty and who can read knows to steer clear of him. I think you need to stay firm, outspoken, and consistent with the facts of your treatment by him.

You've been nothing but fair, but you were ripped off for years.

Thanks guys. I added the name of his shop and the address in case he changes the name in the future. I have always strived to take the high road and be fair.

6 years for me. Car sat for years while Scott held $5k deposit then had the nerve to say I owed him money. For the $15k I paid, car was supposed to get to primer. It’s only about half done. Our shop metal guy called the work amateurish at best and a lot of it needs to be redone. He’s A pro at taking a 10 foot photo and calling it metalwork.
And yea, I’m missing a bunch of parts too. Lots of the stuff he received for the build were scratched or damaged. I’ve moved on but feel sick to my stomach when I see what was done to Michals car. Calling it a mistake made by his assistant is a joke. Scott lived above his shop in an appt. He was there and saw what was going on everyday. If I had gotten my car painted by him, I sure would be concerned what was underneath.

Thanks for adding your personal experience Mark. I know it is embarrassing to admit when we have been taken advantage of. I just hope to prevent another from falling victim to Scott Burnett and his non-stop BS.

Perhaps a Yelp review? I know, a slightly strange vehicle, but they do have a lot of presence on Google for people searching.

Great idea. Thanks.

I think theres a reason why he disappeared from World, Pelican, EarlySreg, Dorkiphus, ect. I'm sure there are more angry people that he scammed.

You guys are the tips of the iceberg and MUCH calmer than I would be.

Facebook if you really want to get the word out. Also Pelican and earlySregistry

Sounds like fraud to me,I would have the cops all over that guy quick..!!

In my case it would be difficult. Most of the interaction was verbal until he sent me a final invoice that he constructed the way he wanted it to look. Verbally he said I had paid all that was needed to get to a certain point but then the final invoice had him owed more money. My PM box had filled up so I had deleted the PM's from him. I switched banks years ago so no way to show I had paid and he sat on the money for years. My attorney friend always says whoever documents the best is the winner. In my case, that's not me.

For me, part of the pain is having accepted excuse after excuse for years and giving him a pass. I saw him getting done other peoples work (smaller jobs) while mine sat. He kept on saying that he was planning on spending X amount of weeks on mine but it never happened. So I got suckered but like Michael, I don't want it to happen to others.

Like Michael says, Its not easy to stand up and say I've been scammed. When I picked up my car, I was so disheartened by the way it looked, I shoved in in the back corner of the shop for 2 years.

I'm sorry to hear these stories and quite disappointed in Scotty B.

I've been scammed in the past. It hurts more when it's done by a "friend."

Thanks for bringing these issues to light.

Hang tough guys.

I would think your deleted PM's will still exist on a server or backup somewhere.

Your bank records from your other bank likewise.

Sad to hear this.
As far as litigation goes, no one really wins. Unless yheres deep pockets, then still not so much. Probably best to cjalk it up tp lesson learand do what you did by letting oyhers know about your experience.

I will likely post to the World, Pelican, Early S and finally Dorkiphus. I will pick about 20 photos that visually characterize the lack of quality of the work he did to my car to post with a brief summary of facts.

I also started a Yelp page for his business and will hopefully be able to add narrative to that to warn off others.

All I can really say is I was always overly nice, professional and generous with Scott. He promised me a concours car, actually a almost concours car as that was what I wanted. Scott even told me that because of the all of the delays, I would get way more than I paid for. Well.....I got way more than I paid for all right. I got screwed by a guy I suspect, after seeing him in July of 2017, has a serious substance abuse problem who is likely barely getting by month to month, living in his shop in all likelihood. I treated him right and he screwed me royally. I hope he gets all that is coming to him.

OK, sorry guys. I had to get that off my chest.

I agree. I could probably retrieve it but that leaves me in the same spot. I decided awhile ago to cut my losses and move on. Scott was always broke even when I was sending him money. I have no interest in wasting my time trying to get blood from a stone. Hopefully Michael will get the money Scott promised him.

Yeah, hope springs eternal......

I'am sure if he's acted this way with others collectively he can be out of the car restoration business for good if he is a dope head he can go to prison for that but, no question he is a Bernie Madoff of car restoration's so it seems..It angers me and I'am not even involved with that Prick.

It will be interesting to hear Scott's side of the story. The Scott I know and have dealt with for years doesn't sound like the one being described here. The Scott I know will bend over backwards for a friend and has saved my bacon before, helping me for days at a time, not expecting anything in return.
I hope he chimes in here.

At one time, I thought the same. Make sure you read part 2 of Cairo’s build. If I didn’t see the pics, I probably wouldn’t believe it either. Scott’s actions speak louder than his excuses, I mean words.

As a long-timer here, this thread makes me very sad for everyone involved.

Hi everyone,

For those who feel the need to try to "defend" Scott, please read my Part 1. I was a big fan of Scott. He told me he was doing true craftsman level, near concours work. I believed him. Then consider I gave him $29,600 cash, plus a running 3.0. Now look at Part 2 of my thread to see just a glimpse of the crap work I got for that amount of money which should have produced a concours painted car. I am not making stuff up here. I have posted a lot of pictures to show what I "got" for my money.

However to this day, he still says his work was near concours level and believes I got my money's worth.

He told me about six months ago that he felt he owed me $2,775 back. I have asked for that, telling him at least that is a start to setting me right. He has never sent me a cent and just demands I prove his work was crap. Really? Look at the pictures of what I got when I picked my car up. Scott said that was only 2 weeks away from all the metal work being done. Kent has over 350 hours getting the metal work done and getting it ready for paint.

One example for the die-hards. I wanted late model doors with the crash bars and better, (IMHO) window mechanisms. Scott said he had a set of perfect doors he would sell me. I paid him $300 for a set of doors and then he charged me another 2 hours to remove them from the car they were on and then 6 hours just to straighten one of the doors. So figure about $850 or so to that point. When we got the car to LA, Kent discovered the doors were rusted out, rotten shells. Scott then said "On the east coast, those are good doors." Really? He never said, "perfect for the east coast". He said "perfect." How would you feel. We removed those junk doors and put a set of perfect doors on the car that needed very little work to get them metal finished.

I have a lot of pictures but am reluctant to post them as I do not want people to confuse those photos with the work Kent has done. I am considering posting pictures of the Scott work here. But I also do not want people to get overloaded and feel like I am beating a dead horse. But if people need more convincing, let me know and I will post a few key photos.

OK, sorry. I didn't want to do that but reading others posting that Scott is such a great guy got me a little wound up.

Oh trust me Ill be responding. I'm just waiting for Michael or Mike to accuse me of being a pedophile, racist and rapist first. They seem to be taking their cues from CNN and FOX news.

I'm in the middle of painting right now. I'll let this run on a bit more to see how far you all go

No worries. I do not make baseless accusations.

Cairo, I have admired the way you have been handling this whole thing but I feel that starting an online shit storm is not conducive to you or anyone involved. It's not your job to "save the world". In the wise words of Voltaire... "cultivate your own garden"

Right you are. Even in my rant, I feel I was pretty restrained.

Scott just chimed in at after midnight his time to say he was painting a car...... and in essence is alledging I am making this stuff up with his Fox news comment.

However, I do believe you are right Alltitude411.

So here it is 1:44 a.m. and I am here dealing with this. Michael, when I was alerted to this I was a bit perplexed as we have been having a regular back and forth email exchange trying to sort this all out and seemingly out of the blue you start this thread. I went back through my emails to see if I missed one from you and in fact I did. I have told you I don't check my email often, and in the past if you didn't hear from me in a time span you expected you would text me to make sure I knew you had sent me something. I got no such notification from you to make certain I checked my emails, and yes, in a string of probably 30+ emails I sent to the trash folder yours was there


Now where do I start....how about with the easy ones.

I have not been on this or any other forums for a couple reasons :

1: I have a life. I spent 5+ years immersed in my business getting it up and going, and then trying to get it until I had my health issues you spoke of. I now have a shop full of current , backlog, and future work, I have a great girlfriend, and I have all of those other life issues everyone deals with. Simply put, I have no time, need, nor desire to sit in front of a computer wasting my time

2: As stated, I am trying to finish up a backlog of work, finish up a couple problem jobs left from when I had helpers, and move on to the next phase, hence still working at 1:30 a.m.

You borderline slanderous statement of me being a dope fiend and living in my shop. THIS is my reference to CNN and FOX news. you throw some outrageous statement out there for everyone to see to get their attention, and to make that first impression stick. THAT sir is a very childish, ignorant, bully-ish tactic that will backfire on you. PLEASE let me know what parts of my body you want pics of to show the track marks that don't exist.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the soonest flight to Va you can, set up an appointment at the drug testing facility of your choice and I'll gladly let you hold my dick while I piss in the cup. Then as soon as the results are back we can post them online for everyone to see PLEASE do this for me. I want to make sure everyone sees what a petty little vindictive person you can be

As for where I live.....at least 3 members of this forum have been to my house several times. We have a new years party every year, and most of those invited have been there more than just then. I have many pics of the house, dogs, work done on the house etc I'd be more than glad to post for you to see, but in the end, what fucking difference does it make where I live ? Yes, when I started the business in 2009 I did live in the office, then I built a "suite " above it. Not paying rent or a mortgage for 5 years allowed me to buy equipment like the Cellette bench, a top of the line spot welder,Mill, lathe multiple lifts, a paint booth, tool box, etc. etc. etc. So now your going to fault me for saving money to expand my shop ?????



BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE !!!!!

On to your car. I have EVERY email back and forth between us form the beginning, I have EVERY PM between us from the beginning ( unless they have been deleted by someone other than myself ) so ANY emails or PM's you want posted let me know. I'll be more then happy to dig through them WHEN I HAVE TIME and post it.

Rather than repeat all of the emails conversations I will simply copy and paste my last couple emails for everyone to see

You see folks, Michael sends all of his emails with a privacy notice at the bottom so I can't legally post his for you to see how he WILL NOT engage me in a civil conversation on this subject, all he does is keep sending me the same broad statements. I have asked Michael REPEATEDLY as you will see, for photos of his complaints and all his has done for 3+ months is threaten to start this very thread " exposing me.

Now to the nitty gritty, as I have told you Michael, and I will now tell others, and I will soon post emails proving I told you this,......when I started my business I had a plan to give customers will small budgets the freedom to make set monthly payments, and TO DETERMINE THEIR SELVES what the quality level is. I RELY ON YOUR FEEDBACK throughout the process. At ANY time you can tell me the work is not at the level you want and we can gladly restructure the project. For the WHOLE time your car was here, I posted picture after picture and was told how great it looked, You came out here IN PERSON and we went over the car. I showed you the work Bryan did that I needed to re-do, I SHOWED YOU THE GODDAMNED DOORS you are now bitching about. I NEVER told you they were perfect doors, I told you they were the best I could find and that they were good for what I run into on the east coast. After seeing all of this
IN PERSON you had me take a picture of you in front of the car with a big grin, and proceeded to tell everyone in the thread how good everything looked. Should any care to actually look into this car and it's history with me all you have to do is go through the first thread.

Your ONLY verbal complaint you EVER expressed to me was the dissatisfaction with what I foolishly trusted an employee to do while I was down, and the time span....which was due to my injuries

As I told you in an email. I have had 3 cars invited to Amelia Island now, I have had 2 cars in a PCA mag, and last year a cover car on the Rodders Journal. I did not get to this kind of work by being a dope fiend, scammer, liar or thief.

What I believe has happened here is you have made this car your identity. You live for the attention it gets you, and when I got behind on work you weren't getting your attention. You then took the car to another shop to be finished. Once there, the work that you instructed me to do, and approved of, was nit picked by a shop that more than likely had been through similar issues in the past that they now do what I m doing. If it comes in my shop, it gets done my way. The customer no longer has any say, and I am no longer doing patch work, and anything less than my best. The glamorous idea of letting the customer call the shots was a major cluster fuck I have to live with. In addition to the accolades I have had, I have many cars that are far below my level out there that the owners think are wonderful, and I find an embarrassment. One mans driver is another mans show car, one mans show car is another mans grocery getter. I am not a mind reader, neither is any other shop out there. We work based on feedback, and YOUR feedback was never negative, instead you heaped praises, and even openly sent other customers to me while your car was here

You bring up the mney I ffered and made the vague statement that I never sent you a dime. That's a pretty weak half truth. As we will see soon, what I said was that was my offer ( at the time ) until you provided me with EVIDENCE of the complaints, and I would not send you a dime until this matter was completely resolved. It is in plain writing in the email I will be posting. I will state here, publicly the same. My offer since then has come up based on my reviewing , your demand has come down, but I WILL NOT SEND YOU A DIME UNTIL WE HAVE AN AGREED SETTLEMENT THAT IS FAIR. I do not have time to constantly deal with this, and I will not allow it to drag out by send you x amnt now, then you decide to demand more and more and more later. This is a standard practice for anyone with half a brain. In addition, once we have PRIVATELY agreed on a settlement there WILL be a contract drawn up and signed by both of us before I send you anything. you clam to be so understanding and chivalrous throughout this but this thread you have started proves to everyone otherwise. If you want to show how wonderful you are, give me open permission right here, right now, and also mail me a written statement allowing me to post all of your emails to me so everyone can see how you refuse to respond to my questions, statement, photos, links. I n return I get damn near a carbon coy email with the same outrageous demands, none of the evidence I have asked for, and ZERO replys to my evidence I have presented

By your actions with this thread you have now escalated all of this from a private amicable level, to a level that will serve neither of us positively, but I can promise you I will NOT back down to your bully tactics. I WILL defend myself with the same evidence I have presented you in private, only this time I will do it publicly if you wish to push this further

I will further ask that no one else come and post in defense of me. I am not trying to make this a battle, Michael and his buddies, with no idea of what truly transpired are. The know nothing minions have also now decided to jump on board. I see people I have never seen on this forum when I was here, are posting, shit talking me based on what they read on the internet, NOT on any actual knowledge, and this whole dope fiend thing is quickly approaching a dangerous level Michael.

qwerty

lkjh

mnbv

Wow. I have emailed Scott multiple times and after not hearing from him in a reasonable time, 2 weeks generally, I would call or text him. Scott would tell me of course he got my email, he gets all of my emails, but is very busy and typically only checks emails weekly, etc. So then I email him and wait a month for a reply and when I get no reply, because he always gets my emails, I believe he is just done dragging this painful event out. So I posted what I posted out of frustration that I could not even get Scott to acknowledge his work on my car was not quite up to par. Then of course he says he never got this particular email because he is just to busy to check his emails (related to business). No matter what, I am always wrong.

Here is my last email to Scott, June 25th, that received no reply:


EMAIL:
Thanks for the reply Scott.

Just so you know, though I am disappointed with a lot of the work done to my chassis and the 61 months my car sat with probably only 1 year worth of actual work, (granted you injured yourself and had health issues) I still wish you no ill will. I occasionally get upset when I look at the car and the work done, which I believe was generally of a lesser quality than promised, and certainly not the type of work one sees on a concours car or even close. Thankfully, my chassis is now perfect and ready for color after about 350 hours of work. I know you no longer go to 914World, but if you go to my thread you will see the work done by Kent. I believe you will appreciate and agree it is quality work, the level I expected from day 1.

Off the top of my head, the replacement late model doors you vouched for as in near perfect condition, needing only to be stripped and requiring very minor metal work to metal finish - $300 for the doors, (I was fine with that assuming they were as represented) $315 to remove from the donor car and strip, then $525 to correct damage/rust to just one of the doors. So, $1,140 and the end result was doors that are not of sufficient quality to use as they were badly rusted/rotted. I can send you pictures as you have requested, although you should remember the condition of those doors. I never remember your qualifying the doors you had as the best available on the east coast.

I really would like to end all of this. Forcing me to post photos of your work and what you charged me, I do not believe will benefit you or your shop. Despite your not having an on-line presence any more, people still shop for restoration shops on-line. The doors above is but one example of what I am referring too. I am still willing to resolve all of this. If, and only if, I do not have to go through all of the pictures and post them, (it just upsets me) or send them to you, I will call this settled at $7,500 - and you can make payments if necessary. That means for what you did, you got a running 3.0 motor, and $22,100 cash. If you do not think that is more than fair, then I will go ahead and do what you have asked.

I do appreciate your willingness to continue sending me my parts. I would have preferred they were together at pickup, but I am glad you are finding and shipping them. Were you able to find my stub axles? For the $400 you are charging me for the steering rack and the $30 shipping, I will send you a steering rack to replace the incorrect one you sent even though you told me, when Mark offered to ship it back, tell Mikey914 (Mark) to keep it as you had a lot of them.

I know you are very busy, but please let me know what you think.

END OF EMAIL

So, that was my last email to Scott that got no reply. I believe I was more than fair and also pointing him to the pictures posted in Part 2 of my build would surely answer his questions as to why I felt he owed me money. I didn't know what else to do with this at that point. I really wanted to recover some of my loss and also alert others that they may want to beware of Scott as this seems to be somewhat of a pattern, at least with the World and Dorkiphus members I have been in touch with.

Scott - Your first words about the car - "Since there seems to be very little rust to deal with it will allow me to spend more time than usual on the body and paint work"

If you can find one unedited post, email or PM telling me "scabbed together P.O.S. that I told him from the start wasn't worth fixing, and he wanted to cheap out on" I will take back everything I said. Early on I posted- "I told Scott I don't want to do it if it needs major work. No long replacement, major panel work, ect. If it needs that, I'll put it away and buy a car that's already been redone". But, I was told by you they all have issues so we might as well fix what you have.

If we even believe I didn't pay you for 2 years, what happened to the other 4?

I know Michael and I aren't the first to have major issues and I'm sure we won't be the last.

Can we all just squash this...Cairo found a shop that he likes (that's closer to home) and though he Scotty moved on, only to have it brought up every couple months.

Chalk it up to a learning experience.

Stuff happens: heck one shop that works on my Audis I wrote off a crooks in the past but after sitting with them and watching them work I understood them better (they run like a factory shop...)

Anyone reading this thread could easily understand that Michael is right, he got ripped off by a person who is a pathological liar.

It's obvious. The pictures don't lie.

Shutting this down for a BUNCH of reasons. If people have issues with me shutting this down, feel free to PM me.

Zach