Ever gotten money back from a machine shop?

-
Yote said:
Had a ( malfunction) with a machine shop years ago. Not auto related. Explained to owner the problem. He listened without a word, and replied " wait a minute " and left the room. When he returned he handed me the check that was made for payment and explained "when something leaves our shop you shouldn't have to mess with it , you owe nothing". I tried to at least pay for the materials involved ( not labor) , but he said "no".
Absolutely the best shop experience that I have had.
Yote
Click to expand...

Sort of how I feel, Yote. The builder is a nice guy. I like him actually. I just think he took over the business and is in a little over his head. That's all. I'm willing to give him a chance to make it right.
All I'm asking for is what I'm out. Not looking for anything else.
 
There was a bit about the dist shaft bushing, as well as the oil slinger. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone. Its what you do about it that counts.
 
just had an issue with an engine machine shop , it was like pulling teeth to get him to stand behind his work . after he got paid , and still i had to fit more stuff he didn't take care of . so i called more then a few time . never called me back . so he did not get this rebuild job , it went to a different shop . see how this one does .
 
hosehead said:
I didn't go into the situation wanting money from the guy. I just wanted what I paid for and didn't get it. That's all. Not looking for and "free lunches" either. Lol. Those are your words, not mine. After we discovered the first of THREE basic mistakes, I discussed with my friend(who is obviously more experienced in mopar engines than the builder), we concluded that if I went to the trouble of packing the motor back up, taking time off work, driving across town, etc. he would probably fix the mistake and send me on my way. We felt that we could fix it, then and there with the same end result.
Also, as I stated before, they built a 340 for me last year when the original owner was still in charge. We have mutual friends, etc. and have discussed many parts options, so 440 source was one of those things. He uses 440 source at times as it is nearby.
Also, there was no "coupon clipping". I bought an expensive set of pistons and paid the going rate for the short block. He also checked and installed a set of trick flow heads.
I'm not a wealthy guy and work all the time, so my being busy was a factor. This is why I had a shop build the engine. Next time I will probably try and do it myself but I'm not an experienced engine builder. I guess we can agree to disagree but I don't feel like I got what I paid for. One mistake is one thing but after three, I'm saying something to the guy tomorrow.
The new owner/builder is a good guy. He just made too many mistakes, in my opinion.
I respect your opinion, we just happen to disagree. Cheers, Cory
Click to expand...



I can almost agree with you. Except you made the decision, in your best interest, to not wait and let the guy fix it. I can say I agree with you in not waiting to let him fix it, if you were comfortable with the fix. So, I actually agree with you in essence.

My disagreement comes from wanting something after you made the decision to fix it on your own.


BTW, I had customers that were far enough away if something went wrong, I'd pay for them to fix it. But it was my decision. Sometimes I was just too busy, it was too far to make them come for something simple or it was actually better for the customer. Then I'd pay for gaskets and whatever else they needed.

If they cut me out of the decision on what to do, then I didn't think I owed them anything.

Did I say it better this time? It's not a not wanting to help thing. It's letting the guy who is eating the loss, decide how to eat it. Who knows...if you called him, he may have said I'll refund the parts and gaskets...something. But you didn't let him in on it. That's all I'm saying.
 
had a motor that i bought , wnt through a bunch of dizzys in . finally i pulledn it down to the cam and lifters . everything checked out in good shape putting the cam back with the new double rololer chain . i looked there was no bushing in the block for the intermedit shaft . so closer inspection shows signs of that shaft gear getting bashed around . new bushing new shaft and all back together again . runs way better now , lol . and no more timing issues , lol .
 
yellow rose said:
I can almost agree with you. Except you made the decision, in your best interest, to not wait and let the guy fix it. I can say I agree with you in not waiting to let him fix it, if you were comfortable with the fix. So, I actually agree with you in essence.

My disagreement comes from wanting something after you made the decision to fix it on your own.


BTW, I had customers that were far enough away if something went wrong, I'd pay for them to fix it. But it was my decision. Sometimes I was just too busy, it was too far to make them come for something simple or it was actually better for the customer. Then I'd pay for gaskets and whatever else they needed.

If they cut me out of the decision on what to do, then I didn't think I owed them anything.

Did I say it better this time? It's not a not wanting to help thing. It's letting the guy who is eating the loss, decide how to eat it. Who knows...if you called him, he may have said I'll refund the parts and gaskets...something. But you didn't let him in on it. That's all I'm saying.
Click to expand...

I totally get what you're saying Yellow Rose. My friend and I discussed the fact that by me tearing into the motor it would probably void any warranties.
My friend who was helping me has built tons of motors. I wish he had the time to walk me through building this one but we both work like crazy. So, we decided we were better off just doing it ourselves. So we did.
If it had been just one mistake, this post wouldn't exist right now. But it was three basic ones. Also, it took longer than I was told and the cost exceeded the estimate.
I've had Mopar's for a long time. I know the drill. It was a culmination of all these things that left me feeling I didn't get what I paid for. Tomorrow I'm going to honestly explain all of this to him.
I probably will build my own next time but would love to give him a chance to keep me as a customer for machining. Simply put, it's just business. I'd have a hard time giving him more money/business if he doesn't at least acknowledge the mistakes and offer to make it right. I worked too hard for too long to be able to afford this engine. All I want to do is get back to the track! Lol.
 
hosehead said:
I totally get what you're saying Yellow Rose. My friend and I discussed the fact that by me tearing into the motor it would probably void any warranties.
My friend who was helping me has built tons of motors. I wish he had the time to walk me through building this one but we both work like crazy. So, we decided we were better off just doing it ourselves. So we did.
If it had been just one mistake, this post wouldn't exist right now. But it was three basic ones. Also, it took longer than I was told and the cost exceeded the estimate.
I've had Mopar's for a long time. I know the drill. It was a culmination of all these things that left me feeling I didn't get what I paid for. Tomorrow I'm going to honestly explain all of this to him.
I probably will build my own next time but would love to give him a chance to keep me as a customer for machining. Simply put, it's just business. I'd have a hard time giving him more money/business if he doesn't at least acknowledge the mistakes and offer to make it right. I worked too hard for too long to be able to afford this engine. All I want to do is get back to the track! Lol.
Click to expand...
In the end be glad you caught this stuff before any real damage was done.
 
the problem is that all the machine shops are disappearing and the older dudes that had the knowledge on the older stuff are disappearing too. It's a tight margin when you have to compete with turn-key crate engines that are tested before they get shipped. I believe the younger fellow who took over the shop may have a big learning curve ahead of him. If you are 'swamped' you need to convey that to the customer and come up with a plan. Like the saying says, poor planing on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. I think in exchange for the screw-up, maybe he could give you a break on some future work that you may have done. I think I would give him some time though to see how everything plays out in terms of a reputation. He's probably a decent machinist in general but maybe a not so good business person yet. I know the local shop here in town gets swamped with circle track engines during certain times of the year but the guy will tell you that ahead of time. Good luck.
 
hosehead said:
i have a little WWYD scenario for you guys. Kinda long.
I had my 440 rebuilt by a shop I've used before. When I dropped it off four months ago, I was told it would take 6 weeks. I was also told that the owner(whose name is on the business) had sold the shop to his employee whom I knew from my previous build. New owner is a younger guy but he always seemed knowledgeable so I went with it.
During my 4 month wait, I would call the new owner and always hear how busy he was.
Also, part of that time was waiting on back ordered Pistons, which I found in stock at 440 source. Kind of annoying.
Fast forward to Friday, when I picked it up. I was a bit disappointed as the damper wasn't installed, nor was the oil pump. New guy mentioned the distributor shaft bushing was "tight".
Long story short. When he pressed the old bushing out, he left part of it in. Then when he installed the new one, it wouldn't seat properly and distorted. My buddy and I had to drive an hour round trip to get another one on Saturday as most stuff was closed.
After we got that squared away, we moved forward to priming the pump. We primed forever but could not get any oil pressure. Finally, after discussing with my buddy who is an engine builder, we figured he might have left out one of the oil galley plugs. So after much cussing and still no oil pressure, I decided to tear the front of the motor off. Sure as ****, he left the plug above the crank out. And no slinger either. So we fixed all that stuff and fired the motor. Seems like it will be fine but we ran out of time to open the oil filter, etc. I'm going back Monday to my buddy's place to change the oil, run it some more and bring it home.
My question to you guys is: am I out of line for asking for a couple hundred bucks back? What I thought would take a few hours took twelve. I had to raid my buddy's stash for gaskets and other little stuff. We had to drive an hour and when we got to the machine shop charged me $20 bucks for the bushing. Pretty annoying.
I just want my engine to run good, which it seems like it does. But my time is definitely worth something and I went out of pocket for more parts AND I paid for an engine assembly.
Enough of my rant. What do you guys think? At least it sounds good, even though we finished up in the dark! Lol. Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...
in regards to post number #20 yes it was joe balboa who moved to melbourne from NY DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD ?
 
Agreed Omaha. I was thinking he could do something instead of cash but he is super busy and isn't cheap so he may be doing okay financially. Lol. The other thing I was thinking is he was talking about HIS helper who is also a young guy. He could be responsible for some of these bonehead mistakes, possibly. I'm sure he'd like to know if it's the helper who is making the errors and learn from them.
 
No offense meant, but in my opinion if he had no opportunity to fix the deficiencies, he owes you nothing. If you gave him that respect, and he either failed to satisfy whatvere you ageed to, then most certainly you are entitled. But if you just said "I'll take care of it", then you took care of it. I wouldn't be looking to refind anything either.
 
Sorry, leaving plugs out is engine building 101. When I did engines I always put oil in them and hit them with a primer and gauge before they went out the door. Still you won't get anything back, how does he know you're not making things up. It does happen. Once that motor is out the door you just don't know what people have done to it. Like said above, you would have needed to let him figure out how he was going to handle the issue.
 
Again, thanks for the opinions guys. We just happen to disagree. In my book, paying for "engine assembly" means just that. Assembling the entire engine. Not leaving important and basic parts out.
I realize that my doing it myself he might claim that I was the one who monkeyed it up. If he doesn't want to give me anything, that's totally fine. I'm the one who chose to open it up.
I can also choose to take my business to a more mopar proficient machine shop next time. That is all. I think him offering some discounted machine work is more than fair, but that is just my opinion.
 
Did I mention that it took three times longer than originally quoted and I've missed all summer racing? Lol.
 
And again, not trying to disrespect ANYONE'S opinion. I think it's an interesting topic as well. I enjoy hearing you guys give your opinions to help keep mine in check. I did a lot of cussing yesterday, but I've now calmed down. :lol:
 
hosehead said:
And again, not trying to disrespect ANYONE'S opinion. I think it's an interesting topic as well. I enjoy hearing you guys give your opinions to help keep mine in check. I did a lot of cussing yesterday, but I've now calmed down. :lol:
Click to expand...

As mentioned...at least you caught it before it became a crisis. As for taking longer...it's actually the nature of the business. I've been lied to by suppliers so many times I double the time quote plus two weeks. If the piston guy tells me 4 weeks I told my customer 10 weeks. I was correct way more than I was wrong. But i was wrong in the right direction!
 
Aaaa, three mistakes one of which he admitted to as he gave it to him, that the bushing was all out of whack! And you want him to take the motor back to him again to do what!? Some more of that fantastic assembly work? LMAO
No s***! I'd be thinking, " I got it from here."
I'd do the same thing you're doing, go down and have a nice chat with him all calmed down. I think you're well within reason asking for the new bushing gaskets and some sealer money. And maybe a little trade time like machine worked time for the time you're out. And more so the admittance of wrongdoing.
I'm sure there's plenty of Jack wheels on Craigslist that'll "build ya a motor". This is supposed to be top dollar for top work. Not someone answering phone calls in the middle of assembly work! THREE TIMES!!! This is get it right the first time and double check it after that kind of money here.
And I can see easily where the pies sliced on opinions here. People that have had their Motors in shops and felt some of the same pains and the people who created the pain! LOL the people who own shops or work in them or have worked in them.
my opinion....
 
Yote said:
Had a ( malfunction) with a machine shop years ago. Not auto related. Explained to owner the problem. He listened without a word, and replied " wait a minute " and left the room. When he returned he handed me the check that was made for payment and explained "when something leaves our shop you shouldn't have to mess with it , you owe nothing". I tried to at least pay for the materials involved ( not labor) , but he said "no".
Absolutely the best shop experience that I have had.
Yote
Click to expand...
If you took pics of the problems before u fixed them, and then after fixing them, u could present them to him and asked that he`d do something about making it right ! Otherwise u were going to try to ruin him! You should put his name out there so he won`t screw anyone else, let the chips fall where they may !
 
I know everyone can make mistakes or be forgetful. I have. I would of talked to him first as it could be his flunkie that assembled it. Their isn't a lot of ppl that know mopars especially when the work on everything else out there. In this case I would be wondering if there would be any problems with the rotating assembly or valve train issues. R the cam bearings installed properly. As is this engine grenades we all know u own it. Kim
 
Well I gave my opinion now I'll add some facts. (Fact)lis my experience is when I went in for a bracket motor and my Builder called it a bracket motor. There's no warranty with this kind of motor! (end fact) The thing you really get here is an expert Assembled motor. (No flunkies) This isn't just a run-of-the-mill production stock motor to go in the daily driver. This is a triple check everything because this guy is going to put our shop reputation on the line every time he goes down the Dragstrip kind of thing. We're not going to back it up with a big warranty because we can't, but we are going to assemble this thing to the best of our ability should be the theme of the day in lieu of a warranty.
The unfortunate fact is unless you actually put it together yourself you never know what you got.
 
hosehead said:
Again, thanks for the opinions guys. We just happen to disagree. In my book, paying for "engine assembly" means just that. Assembling the entire engine. Not leaving important and basic parts out.
I realize that my doing it myself he might claim that I was the one who monkeyed it up. If he doesn't want to give me anything, that's totally fine. I'm the one who chose to open it up.
I can also choose to take my business to a more mopar proficient machine shop next time. That is all. I think him offering some discounted machine work is more than fair, but that is just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Thats why I suggested taking pics, before and after. But I might not have thot of it either. I build my own engines, and always have, it`s the machine work u gotta watch that way.
 
you get ,not one thin dime. you gave no chance for the shop to make it right.
 
Two of my experiences:

#1) Sent a chevy 350 pick up motor to be rebuilt by a well-known, reputable, highly recommended business. Did not know the place had actually changed hands. Got the pick-up back (they removed/replaced the motor also) and it had very low oil pressure. Sent it back and they found the oil pump was not torqued down.
#2) Built my own 273 bracket motor at community college. After I graduated, I went to a local shop for machine work to help with a refresh/rebuild. I assembled the motor at home. Before initial fire-up, when I was filling the radiator, it kept taking more and more and more water. When I checked the oil dipstick, I found it was way over the full mark. Pulled off a valve cover and found water shooting up from beneath a valve spring. When the machine shop machined the cylinder head for dual valve springs, they went too deep and the spring pressure broke right through the spring seat. Don't remember anything regarding "refunds", this was back in the 70's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top