It's odd, some of the itemized component pricing looks legit while others are so obviously inflated/marked up its nuts. Also the amount of labor (time, but also cost) he is attributing to what you're describing is around 40-50% more than what I'd expect.

Also, whats up with all the piece meal invoicing? Unless it randomly crops up or plans change drastically I always throw everything on a single invoice then apply an itemized reduction for partial payment options. As a business I'd expect him to be able to front load all of these costs after a reasonable deposit so as not to get completely ripped off.

 

 

Kinda reminds me of when I had an assembly-line job in the summer between college semesters. The time-study guy came around to see if he could shave anything off the allotted time to do one station's worth of assembly. The guys that worked there full time told me in no uncertain terms to include as many useless tasks and moves across the line as possible so the slow, lazy guys would have a time cushion. So when the time-study guy timed me, I used up almost double the time it took if I did the work as efficiently as possible.

 

They claim to do weekly invoicing so you don't get any "surprises" at the end of the build/work. I actually signed a very simple agreement that states they give weekly invoices that are to be paid in full upon receipt. They most certainly did not invoice weekly. I would've put a stop to it quicker or at least questioned it more so if I was receiving it weekly and not two groups of invoices months apart.

 

There are so many things wrong here I don't even know where to start. Wow.

 

Post the shop name.

 

If I charged or treated my customers like that I would be linched for sure , You have been ripped off

 

I am waiting for a call back from my counsel. I want to make sure everything is kosher first. I don't want this to turn into a defamation case or anything, it truly is not my intent. I just want to be billed fairly for the work requested on my car.
I hope to have an update soon!

 

I waited a year after paying in full up front for an engine from a reputable shop on this site.
Almost three years and over 20k later I'm still finding shady ****. A few weeks ago while hunting for yet another gremlin, we found zipties holding open actuators.


The rotary scene is dying and the shops that are left have a monopoly.

My set up:
New streetported engine, new BNR stg 3's, new wiring harness, new SakeBomb igniton, new tune for the PFC, newly cleaned injectors, new new new parts everywhere.

I made about 200hp to the flywheel on the dyno.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates. I received an email from a lawyer saying he will call me tomorrow. I will update everyone tomorrow after the discussion!

 

The billed labor hours seem astronomical.

 

Any update on this?

 

I am still waiting on a "rundown" of labor costs and how they are connected to my original scope of work. It was supposed to be delivered to me yesterday but not surprisingly it wasn't.

 

Total ripoff.
cut your losses.
Bring car elsewhere and sue them.

 

I am going to head to the shop today and talk face-to-face with the mechanic. I never received the rundown of labor costs. I will have an update tonight hopefully putting this ordeal to rest!

 

Hope you get some resolution...

 

Wow....

 

What state is the shop at?

 

We talked face to face yesterday and came to a reasonable agreement on cost. The car was not drivable so I had to trailer it home. It was mid-tune when I asked him to halt all work so I guess it is understandable that it isn't running quite right. All said and done it was still around $15k price tag for everything and the car still needs quite a bit more love. At least she is back in my garage!

The name of the shop is Synaptic3 Performance in New Hampshire. Although it was a rocky road I can honestly say, as I first suspected, Dana is really a stand up guy. I think we had some miscommunication on expectations of the build but at the end of the day he truly wanted to make things right. I wish them the best of luck.

Thank you everyone for helping me out on this. This is an exceptional community and I look forward to contributing back to it as much as I can in the future!

 

That guy ripped you off. Idk how you can say he's a stand up guy. It's the business' responsibility to communicate and maintain expectations with customers. There is a reason you never hear that shop mentioned on this forum. They have no reputation and obviously don't know how to run a business. Taking $15k from someone is well past the stage of a hobby shop where not knowing how to run a business is somewhat expected.

 

Do you remember the Temptations song Smiling Faces tell lies.

 

I seem to remember my old friend Chris Carlisi went to that place for a subframe for his 20B engine and the result wasn't useable at all, so he scrapped everything they'd done and took it on the chin as a lesson.

 

I agree - just because he looks you in the eyes and talks convincingly doesn't make him a responsible can-be-trusted businessman.

 

 

I absolutely agree! It is important that people come to their ownconclusions based upon my experience documented here. Sorry for having to be a bit cryptic but it is best that I leave it at that.