Protect Yourself When Buying Big-dollar Parts And/or Work

[straughsberry]

Hi All,

Due to my own recent experiences and the experiences of multiple others I have talked to or heard about, I thought I'd post a couple of simple tips about how to protect yourself when buying expensive parts or getting big-dollar work done.

For those of you who don't know, I am still owed $8000 dollars by a shop who promised a refund but only paid back $2000 dollars of a $10,000 dollar deposit. It has been weeks and many promises have been made but all of them broken. Stall tactics, excuses and outright lies are all I've heard.

During my last phone conversation with the shop owner over 3 weeks ago, I asked where my $10,000 dollars went because he obviously didn't have it. His reply was "something came up and I had to spend it". What the? You spent my 10k on something that "came up"? Con artist, rip off merchant, swindler, liar, cheat, hypocrite, arse-wipe, and down right turd-muncher are some words I would use to describe that kind of behaviour. So, to avoid this possible situation for yourselves, consider the following.

Never hand over large deposits on a promise of parts being ordered or work being done. A shop should have at minimum 30 day terms with any supplier. This is there so that they can order and receive parts on account and pay for them after they have completed a job or after customers pay. Too, it is much easier for them to reconcile accounts all at once instead of paying for multiple items throughout the credit period. And if the customer doesn't pay, they can return parts quite easily. And if it work that is to be carried out, consider progress payments. Remember, a desperate person will do desperate things.

Consider progress payments. If it's big-dollar work that is to be done, pay as the work is progressing. This is a perfectly legitimate and fair way of doing things and an honest operator should not have a problem with progress payments. You pay a reasonable deposit and an agreed to amount of work is completed. If it is not, you don't continue handing over money. If the work is done, then you hand over more money, and more work is done. And the cycle continues...

One shop I know of has had a car for 2 years and still can't reproduce the efforts of a previous shop. And to to think, they rubbished the previous builder. Yet 2 years on they've only managed to match the previous builders efforts. 2 years!? Ahahahahahaha looooser!

Always ask for an invoice. Any parts and work being done should be accompanied by and invoice. If a shop tells you they only deal in cash, you have to ask yourself why that is? Credit terms are provided to a business for the above reasons and the most likely reason a business would not have credit terms is because they have been refused credit by the supplier. Bad credit history? Consider a credit and background check. This might just reveal certain details. Web sites provide some basic information for free such as Consumer Affairs or ASIC, or you can pay information brokers for more detailed information about an individual, business or company.

https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/cav/br-se...ria?mode=bnextr

http://www.search.asic.gov.au/

http://www.search.asic.gov.au/gns001.html

My two cents. Feel free to add any thoughts. Have a nice day

Steph.

Edited 10/06/09 03:20 AM by straughsberry

[azasturbo]

Absolutely, As much as you want to trust people you cant. I will never pay for a job until it is completed and completed properly.

Its times like this it pays to develop a relationship with a mechanic and maintain it. My best mate owns a shop out at erina and is an absolute guru when it comes to engine building etc - When I mention how much people pay for "built motors" on this forum he almost has a heart attack. Some people charging close to 5k labor to bolt together a straight 6 is ludicrous.

If only he would tune Ts (which is why im going to see the lads at c&v) but he is more of an old school and motec sort of a guy but will happily build an engine for anyone at alot better prices and with guarunteed better results than alot of 'engine builders'

As an example when he built my xw motor and driveline he had just opened a new shop, no customers bar me and a few mates and he had no dramas getting me close to 15k in parts and wouldnt have asked for a cent till it was built and we had gone for a drive together to check everything is the way I wanted it.

Drive the dodgies out of business, name and shame em if they want recourse they can sign up and voice there side of the story.

[Trough Lolly]

No offense mate, but your a fool for handing over cash before the job was completed!

If a shop requires a deposit to order large $$$ parts, fair enough as alot of shops require a 30% or so deposit.

[Mat]

Agreed about big deposits or paying for stuff up front.

I wont ever be paying up front again for car parts... 10% deposit down and the other 90% the day it leaves the workshop / supplier. This way people dont gin around, stuff you around and take their sweet time.

Good luck getting your money back quickly and easily!

[tab]

Just to clarify before this goes any further...

Drive the dodgies out of business, name and shame em if they want recourse they can sign up and voice there side of the story.

...is not acceptable. You cannot post unproven and one-sided comments that verge on slander. The only acceptable form of ‘outing’ is court transcripts.

Strawbs has started this thread in a professional manner for everyone's benefit, if it turns to sh*t it will either be locked or the whole thing will disappear.

[azasturbo]

Fair enough fanta

Lodge a claim then when it goes to court and you win post up the transcripts.

[our06t]

would be nice to know who it is though , save anyone else the pain . But it is a dickhead like this who would probably try an sue the site for slander .

[jimmy1234]

straughsberry, mate did you get a receipt for the 10g's? Was it cash of some type of traceable transaction?

If you have documented your phone calls/correspondence ect... I think you will be a chance of getting your money back.

But man what a headache, I feel for you. You acted in good faith and have not been given the same in return.

I hope you can get it sorted and if it goes to court and ends in your favor Please post up those court papers on every forum available.

Let this be a lesson to all

[straughsberry]

No offense mate, but your a fool for handing over cash before the job was completed!

If a shop requires a deposit to order large $$ parts, fair enough as alot of shops require a 30% or so deposit.

None taken. It was about 60% deposit. Because I had some sort of relationship with him and he had done small jobs for me before, I trusted him. Enough to hand over 10k deposit for an 18k job. But in hindsight, it seems he set me up to get at my money. I can only conclude he was in financial difficulty and became desperate. And now that I have talked to 2 or 3 people about him, it seems I'm not the only one. It's a habbit with him and the fact is, he is a low life con-artist whe steals from people without remorse.

straughsberry, mate did you get a receipt for the 10g's? Was it cash of some type of traceable transaction?

If you have documented your phone calls/correspondence ect... I think you will be a chance of getting your money back.

But man what a headache, I feel for you. You acted in good faith and have not been given the same in return.

I hope you can get it sorted and if it goes to court and ends in your favor Please post up those court papers on every forum available.

Let this be a lesson to all

Yes mate, I have proof of him ripping me off. I can prove:

I gave him 10k for a build (bank statements)

The build went bad and he promised a refund (SMS to me and another person)

He refunded 2k (and no more to this day)

Legal proceedings are on the cards and I will post the results.

[Under-Pants]

Nice write up Steph, very professional & well thought out.

It's a shame that con-artist sandbag's like this are protected by the red tape, when in reality it should be working against them.

I do agree that it was farkin stupid to hand over that amount of cash in advance.

Hopefully this will prevent other's getting into a similar situation.

Good luck, & I hope it works out right