This time,the customer IS right

[sstabeler]

wow. Beung thta stupid, how on earth did they fill in the nessecary forms to legally operate as a business? lets see, fitting a part on BACKWARDS ( which I very much doubt can be done accidentally, by the way.), not to mention damage the vehicle (welding up the track bar) and also over-pressuring the tyre (I know its within the maximum safe limit to avoid a blow-out, but it is too high-pressure for conditions, so it's over-inflated) and to top it off, doing this ina small town so their business's reputation will go straight down the sewer. ( I know the usual phrase is go down the toilet. it's likely to down further than people usually mean whne they say that though.)

[protege]

I know they thought that if they ignored me I'd just go away,they're about to learn that was a very bad idea.This is also a very small town,they have no idea who I know (for the record,it's a whole shitload of people,including the former mayor,the fire chief-my neighbor-every single Realtor,all my former clients& a buncha friends) so I'll make sure the word gets out.When I win this case I intend to take out ads in the local papers detailing what happened.

When I went through similar crap with the MG, I found myself in a similar situation. The shop that had "restored" the car, was well-known in local circles. With that said, you'd think that they'd not want to piss off their customers. But, after chatting with several MGB owners, they all told me that "everyone's had a car at (garage) once." With emphasis on the "once." After seeing how they operate, it's no wonder that people, myself included, no longer rely on them. In fact, from what I understand...said shop has had to cut back on hours...and is no longer a major player in the classic-car maintenance field.

When I had issues with them, my first reaction was to go over there with a bat, and go "GTA" on their asses. They weren't answering phone calls, the owner would 'disappear,' etc. I'd had enough. Had they come out and said "Hey, we fucked up, but we'll take care of it" I probably wouldn't have wanted to throttle them. But, considering that I put up with delay and excuse after delay and excuse, I was tired. I wanted my car back, dammit! Sorry, but putting a bumper on should *not* take a week. Seems (and I've heard this from other owners), that if you're dropping by to see how things are going...they'll drag things out. I don't exactly understand that--you'd think they'd want to get the cars finished, and to get paid quickly!

But, I pity the guy who owns the '58 Chrysler 300B--that's been in there since I started going over to that shop...roughly 20 years ago!