1 problem down, now you just need to move the Haus to AZ that way i can come gawk at your work all day

quote Originally posted by Raydar: You cannot rate a member that has been banned! Close This Window

I tried too

[This message has been edited by CowsPatoot (edited 07-26-2010).]

bmwguru, thanks for fixin' those that are lucky enough to visit you. As far as the Big E situation, sorry for your troubles, hopefully you won't re-encounter any.....

"In God We Trust" -- All Others Pay Cash

BAN for the win! Sorry for the loss guru.

quote Originally posted by randye: Just out of curiosity, what would be a total reasonable labor cost for doing the following work on a Fiero? 1. Replace both R & L transmission axle seals on a 4 speed Muncie 2. Rebuild the passenger side axle, ( new inner CV tripot and both the inner and outer CV boots replaced with new ones, clean and paint) 3. Replace the oil pan, (2.8 V6) 4. Replace both valve cover gaskets. 5. Inspect and repack the rear bearing hubs 6. Clean the engine block, transmission,starter, heat shields, suspension, axles and misc. wiring of approx. 5 pounds of accumulated grease, oil and dirt... I'm very curious what others think this is worth, (not including parts). I just finished doing this on someones Fiero and I won't disclose what I charged them, but I suspect I basically did some "charity" work.....

For that amount of work, probably 1400$. @ 65$ / hr.

quote Originally posted by ShaddowGt: 1 problem down, now you just need to move the Haus to AZ that way i can come gawk at your work all day

Agreed! But this humidity lately is horrendous!

quote Originally posted by bmwguru: I'm seriously concidering going back to making it a German only repair shop after this.

so you will be working exclusively for us german members then ?

and sorry to hear about that story , made such experiences myself too lately ...

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1984 Fiero Sport
1987 Fiero
1984 Fiero SE
1999 Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.3 LX LPG
SKYPE: Fieromaniac
*** nuclear winter cures global warming ***

Sorry to hear that bs. This is another proof of why buisness have to charge high rates just to keep alive thanks to thieves.

Small claims court is easy and cheap, just to put the bas*ard off on his day. Also, if he has a regular history of doing this to merchants, it's criminal fraud.

[This message has been edited by weaselbeak (edited 07-27-2010).]

Bummer... one reason why we don't do many installs -only a few very select customers- of our headers, intakes or Lotus shifters etc. Just too many SOBs out there. But like someone said, most -maybe 99%- PFF members are cool. I would not leave the Fiero crowd if were you. Your pricing is not out of line at all. You should lots more Fiero biz.

BTW: We've had more problems with shops doing installs for our customers than with members doing it themselfs! Seems the shops just won't read the instruction sheets and make the jobs way bigger than they should have been.

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[IMG]




trueleo.com
RSpiderII@aol.com

This a**hole gives MERA owners a bad name. I know that it takes some time but I hope that you do fight the chargeback.

Nelson

quote Originally posted by weaselbeak: Small claims court is easy and cheap, just to put the bas*ard off on his day. Also, if he has a regular history of doing this to merchants, it's criminal fraud.

Judge Judy!

Sorry to hear about your troubles man...

Dave. Theres a bad apple on every tree and this hobby is no exception. I'm a firm believer in "what goes around comes around". You treated this individual fairly and he gives you the shaft.
First thing is that I would turn this over to a collection agency. If you have his cell phone give it to them. They will badger him to death with repeated calls. They wil take 20% of only what they can collect but in the end its worth it to have this guy feel the heat. They will also put him on a bad credit list. Too bad he was not a NJ resident as you could take him to small claims court but I have a better idea. You have his credit card number, just charge him again and let him dispute, Then charge him again. That should soften up the azzhole.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

I'd go with dennis's idea and let a collection agency hassle him
if they only take 20% its worth it in then end if you got nothing from the agency back at least you had the enjoyment of knowing he got hassled to death by them.
and it's true "what goes around comes around" god works in mystrious ways

Assuming the part he didn't charge back covers your labor, I would suggest he owes you some parts back. Do they make parts collection agencies?

I don't recall the exact breakdown of parts and labor, but I believe he did the chargeback for the labor and left me what I had paid for the parts. The merchant services that handles my credit card processing told me that the reason I wasn't notified was he stated that he tried to despute the charges with me numerous times and I wouldn't budge. That was untrue. His car left my shop a few months ago and this is the first I have thought about it.

He needed the rest of the front suspension to be redone, but he didn't want to pay for the tie rods, shocks, lower ball joints or bushings. He also wanted the clutch done, but he was very pushy about the price and timeframe I estimated for him, so I declined doing that repair. I'm very thankful that I listened to my instinct and did not lose more money.

At the time his car was here, I was running a 102+ degree fever for a week and was working solo. Joey was on the road, Nick was out of the country and I was looking for a third full time technician which Ryan filled in that spot recently.

The ironic part is my German car customers had no problem with me taking a bit longer than planned on their cars....and some offered to come and pick up and then came back the following week to get the repairs done after I was feeling better.

I have no interest in wasting my time trying to get back a few hundred dollars. A day in court will cost me more in lost revenue. BUT, if he pulls any more crap with me, I do have a lawyer on retainer that will make it hard for him to sit down for a while.

Dave

i say a community keying is in order...orsomething more of my style...solvents...

I'm sorry but if the work was done and he signed the credit card slip he can't just charge it back, you should call the credit card company and file a fraud complaint.

Dave, sorry to hear about this issue. You are one of the good guys and it always sucks to see this happen.

Maybe someone here has pictures of the owner and car. No reason to "key" the car. The car is not responsible, the owner is. Odds are the car is insured anyway. Banishment, and public exposure on the forum will let him know he is in the wrong on this.

quote Originally posted by Hockaday: i say a community keying is in order...or something more of my style...solvents...

True, True. Solvents have their merits.
But chemistry says that BATTERY ACID will also adversly effect paint, (and even metals).

As they say in Brooklyn, "What goes around, comes around."
This Big E guy had better be watching his back. Bad karma has a way of catching up on you.

~ Bob

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"Its nice to be important.
Its more important to be nice."

Has anyone ever heard the saying "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

What I am trying to get at is that I am not so sure banning is the best thing for a member that does something like this. When someone is banned from this forum there is not much stopping them from signing up with another user name in fact I have seen it encouraged by Cliff in the past. So now when BIG E comes back to the forum he will have a different username and none of us will know him as "the forum member formerly known as BIG E." I personally would like to make sure I don't ever have any mall transactions with BIG E but I won't be able to do that now.

It is too bad that the feedback system in the mall couldn't cover these kind of situations or could it?

Can a lein be put on the title for this?

quote Originally posted by Scottzilla79: I'm sorry but if the work was done and he signed the credit card slip he can't just charge it back, you should call the credit card company and file a fraud complaint.

bingo.. you shouldn't let this just "go" he has probably been screwing people like this for a while, also his credit card company needs to be looked into for doing such a thing without proper investigation. IE physical proof he tried to dispute the charges. please do not just let this guy go, you're gonna let him screw someone else.

that's what mods are for... IP match him... if he scammed someone using the mail.. then an IP ban would be in order... ban all the IPs in the area or block the IPs from sending PMs or using the mail... we need to keep scammers off the forum... banning does very little.. we need to keep track of them.

Also... users should make 100 post before using the PM system or to PM Admins ONLY, they should be blocked from using the mail till they have 100 post...

he made 30 post in 7 years... banning was kinda pointless... he will be back with a new user name to scam someone else..

quote Originally posted by Jefrysuko: Has anyone ever heard the saying "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" What I am trying to get at is that I am not so sure banning is the best thing for a member that does something like this. When someone is banned from this forum there is not much stopping them from signing up with another user name in fact I have seen it encouraged by Cliff in the past. So now when BIG E comes back to the forum he will have a different username and none of us will know him as "the forum member formerly known as BIG E." I personally would like to make sure I don't ever have any mall transactions with BIG E but I won't be able to do that now. It is too bad that the feedback system in the mall couldn't cover these kind of situations or could it?

quote Originally posted by Jefrysuko: When someone is banned from this forum there is not much stopping them from signing up with another user name in fact I have seen it encouraged by Cliff in the past.

I never encourage signing up with multiple usernames for any reason.

I've only said in the past I disagree with that people should get banned because they ripped someone else off since by doing so, you are giving them a legit reason to stay silent. You are feeding them with excuses to not answer for their actions ("hey I tried to set things straight with you but I was banned so I couldn't respond", "sorry but I never received your PM since I was banned and had no access to my PMs", "I wanted to send you your stuff but I had your address in a PM and could no longer access them").

By not banning them, they don't have an excuse for staying silent. In fact, most of the time when they do try to defend themselves, they usually remove all doubt that they are in fact scam artists.

And the other way around is true also. If you are in fact one of the "victims", I'm not going to remove perhaps the only way you have left contacting this person.

So there you have it. That's why I will never do an administrative ban when someone has ripped someone else off. Not because I don't want to, but because it's in the best interest of the scammer's victims. Unfortunately some people don't see it that way and have called me a f****** a******** for not trying to protect my members by banning scammers (you know who you are).

quote Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: If someone is out to scam others, there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent that.

Except, of course to protect yourself and do your best to keep others informed, which was executed beautifully in this very thread.

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"He took my stapler. I could burn this building down."

[This message has been edited by TheRealShadowX (edited 07-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: By not banning them, they don't have an excuse for staying silent. In fact, most of the time when they do try to defend themselves, they usually remove all doubt that they are in fact scam artists.

Cliff, I've asked this before, is there a way to un ban somebody? Can those who gave a negative take it back?

And as stated before, it's not the cars fault the owner is an jackass. don't be a punk and take it out on the car, confront the owner.

this is why I take cash! if you don't pay I sell your car! credit card companys don't care if someone gets screwed as long as they get their part of it.
i don't like them in any way and when I do take them I have to charge more because they take anywhere from 3 to 6 % from me.

quote Originally posted by whodeanie: this is why I take cash! if you don't pay I sell your car! credit card companys don't care if someone gets screwed as long as they get their part of it. i don't like them in any way and when I do take them I have to charge more because they take anywhere from 3 to 6 % from me.

Technically, if you read your merchant service agreement, you're not supposed to charge more for a credit card payment. You're also not supposed to check id per the MC and Visa rules. It's not exactly business friendly. I will say now though if you don;t take credit cards, you're cutting your potential business in half. If you do business through the net at all, you're completely killing your business by not taking them.

Dave,

Sorry to hear this guy duped you. That sucks.

On another note...

There have been a couple comments made about keying this car or as 1 person said...

quote Originally posted by windowlicker: maybe we should key every mera in the area..

This has got to be 1 of the dumbest things/ideas I have ever heard. The car did nothing. If you have a problem with someone take it up with the person not their property. Destroying property is the cowards way out.

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Click here for all your Fiberglass part needs

I don't believe that destroying a person's property is the proper way to handle this. I would not want this to happen to me as an act of revenge.
He did send me an email yesterday simply telling me to call him, but I figure I'll wait until he can call me....he has my number.
Besides, I've got bigger fish to fry......like trying to get a Porsche owner to come and pay his $5,000 bill so that I can stop looking at his car every morning.
Dave

quote Originally posted by bmwguru: I don't believe that destroying a person's property is the proper way to handle this. I would not want this to happen to me as an act of revenge. He did send me an email yesterday simply telling me to call him, but I figure I'll wait until he can call me....he has my number. Besides, I've got bigger fish to fry......like trying to get a Porsche owner to come and pay his $5,000 bill so that I can stop looking at his car every morning. Dave

Dave,

If that Porsche owner does no pay, let me know and I'll come pay the bill and take the car out of your way.

Sorry to hear that Dave, from what i heard your a nice guy and apparently you do nice work if you own a successful german auto shop. If you know what i mean.

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1988 Pontiac Fiero Gt (has every option available from that year including factory leather, 5-speed, and the rare T-Tops: Black w/ gray interior and blk wheels)
1992 GMC Typhoon #0203
1971Chevorlet Corvette 454cu/ LS5/ 4-speed/ convertible
1993 BMW 850 Ci 6-speed V-12

quote Originally posted by bmwguru: Front upper ball joints. Front upper control arm bushings. Steering damper Repack front wheel bearings balance all tires Four wheel alignment. Parts and labor totalled: $525.00

$525 for all that? That would barely cover the cost of parts from any mechanic in this area. What a cheap lowlife.

I hope you reconsider working on forum member's cars, finding a good mechanic is such a PITA.

quote Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: I never encourage signing up with multiple usernames for any reason.

Yes, I should have worded my statement better. Banned members have been allowed to re-register under a new user name in the past if they wanted a second chance is my concern.

If Big E wants to come back to the forum do you think you will allow it under his original username or will it be a new one?

I thought there was such a thing as a "Mechanic's Lien????"