Looking for advice how to handle an issue with a shop
 

What paperwork / contract did you have when you paid them the money?

What shop is it?

realistically, you're screwed. If any amount of work was done at all then they're going to find a way to keep a large majority of the money if not all of it. If you start kicking and screaming then you risk them not doing the work correctly. If you continue to wait then you will continue to wait. If you try to go against them legally then you will lose and you run the risk of having all the above consequences happening in tandem. When working with these shops, unless they have a reputation of being timely, always negotiate payment terms. Paying all up front bends you over the table for them to do what they want. They've been paid already.

I wish you luck either way. Hopefully something good comes of it. If anything, just show up one day and collect your parts. No warning. Just show up and get your stuff and leave. There are plenty of other shops that will do right by you. Either take the loss on the money and move on or get your stuff and chase them down afterwards. Just keep your optimism in check when it comes to a refund.

West Coast Angel Motorsports?

This sounds an awful lot like something John Vargas pulled with another guy a few years ago.
Get your paperwork together, take a picture of it, and send it to him in an IM that has a read receipt, iMessage, FB Messenger, etc. and say "In April 2017 I paid you in full to build an engine for me, it is now mid-January 2019, when will it be complete and ready for me to pick up?" See what he says.

I'm afraid cr-rex is right...without a contract for the work signed by both parties you don't have much of a legal leg to stand on.

There's also a good chance at this point that your engine is long since parted out and gone. You might have a shot in small claims court for the value of the parts, but that won't be anywhere near what you paid. (You probably won't be able to get a recovery on the labor not performed, but since the parts are a tangible asset you might have a shot there. Not much of one, but maybe.)

There's a portion on this form for listing "The Bad Vendors." Read the rules first, then maybe leave a warning for others.

Sorry - this sucks!

Damn homie.... even if you got the motor back tomorrow you would cut it pretty close to be ready for school. I would advise make decisions as if this was a total loss and recoup later. You have a little time now to set yourself up before class, use it wisely. Get a car situation sorted. Either borrow or get a whole new car. Don't let this COMPLETELY screw you up.

So im guessing you guys dont have a small claims tribunal or some other legal avenue for recourse.
lesson learned, never pay in full up front.
i guess all you can do is kick up a massive stink with this lowlife piece of human waste, and threaten to name and shame. If he doesnt come to the party make good on your word and nsme and shame thd shit out of him on here and all over the internet.
fuck him.

The small claims process is different from state to state but regardless it's a joke. Unless you have absolute overwhelming evidence to support your claim then it won't end well at all. It's a he say she say situation in small claims court and when it comes to consumer vs "shop" it's not a good standing for the consumer without piles of paperwork or proof. Sometime people get lucky though. Best case scenario is if the other party doesn't show up. Then it's pretty much a win at that point.

I feel your pain
 

I made the same mistake with a shop in Orlado and my motor was garbage from day one. I heard the complaints from others who had there engines worked on but I figured they were just talking crap. I thought the guy was a friend but I was so wrong. I almost got out of the rotary scene all together. Then I went to Kilo Racing and my engine problems have been resolved. 3years of abuse 16psi on 93 pump gas and no problems. A lot of rotary crooks in Fl for sure. Good luck brother I hope things work out.

Good! Now start saving all those messages so that if SHTF you have little bit of something to go on. Here's hoping this is the turning point though!

Damn, I was reading through this getting ready to bet 100:1 it was the Angel Motorsports chodes, but Molotovman beat me to it.

The east coast Mike Vargas critter totally screwed a friend of mine in a similar situation. Across a 3 year ordeal that guy halfass built a motor over 6 months, blew a seal on his own dyno because he forgot to install the fuel pump that was in the passenger seat, sent the owner home with the busted motor, did a total crap job tuning the car (I still have the tune file, appears to be written by a 6 year old with a crayon), refused to respect his warranty because someone else (me) looked at the tune, called it crap, and informed the owner that his issues were not just tune related but that he should also check compression as the logs suggested there was an issue. After Elliot of Turblown assessed the same car and tune file I had remotely he came to the same conclusion that the tune was worthless and the engine was busted. At this point, Varg-a-larg decided to respect his warranty and my friend dropped the car off for re-rebuild. Then something like a year passed before dilweed touched his car, because he was busy with "new business" aka building that stupid triple turbo 3 rotor for the ex-heroin dealer that never paid him.......

So end result being he he ran a 25+ year rotorhead out of the rotary game for good with his antics.

And the only interaction I've ever had with the west coast brother was when a friend of mine bought a patch harness from him, then his car blew up on the first drive under load, without boost.

I'm just not a fan. I think no matter how loud you scream you're just going to get boned unfortunately. You should probably cut straight to the chase and get a lawyer with some teeth...

Skeese

Just talked to John about this situation . He messaged me that your motor was put in the back because you paid for the rebuild out of a 9939.60 invoice all the parts are there and are only waiting for the founds to get the rest of the build going. Only thing paid is the motor plus some machine work. Your outstanding balance is still 6229.90.In his mind he's waiting on you to put it together it takes about 2 days to assemble for it to sit for 2 years collecting dust while you get the rest of the parts. Motor will be together this week he messaged you to come pick it up. As far as him not contacting you he has been in contact with you. the shop has been relocated to a bigger location and has been busy moving motors parts and cars this whole month too. As far as all the cars you see going in and out are paid for cars with no open invoices.

Skeece know the facts before talking. The car you are talking about sat in pf supercars for 7 years. We built the engine making 476hp at 16 psi after that we asked the owner to replace the fuel pump which he never did. After we checked compression months later we found out the owner was messing with the tune as he was using adaptive tuning on the adaptronic which sucks ass and if used improperly can mess up a map. So after we checked compression we opened the motor up replaced the seals because the housings were scratched and installed the fuel pump he was supposed to have done since he picked up the car. We opened his motor in good faith and he paid nothing. And the new owner of the car loves it and enjoys it every day because he's not fuking with the tune after it was done.

In California even if you do win in small claims court. Its up to you to collect what is owed to you. The court wont force the shop to pay u back. Happened to a friend of mine. Court ruled in her favor. Never got a dime back. She gave up on the whole court bull shit. Settled it another way.