Absolutely on that. I try not to involve a lawyer if I dont have to ($$$) but absolutely do not get swept under the rug on this.

He gave you an approximate quote 10-15% over is acceptable, a little more than that is reasonable if there were big problems. Outside of that, he's a contractor and made an estimate. This is his bad, and he needs to cut his losses.

I can not stress this enough, do not give him even the slightest hint that this invoice is acceptable.

If you agreed on 8 hours, I can see accepting a bill with 10, plus any additional parts needed.

Justin

Quote from: aaronb on May 20, 2008, 06:14:15 AM
wow.  just wow.

did you get an initial quote in writing?  going from 6-8 to 60 hours (at $100/hour) is not an acceptable practice

also if he used vht paint on the pipes it will all burn of very quickly.  near your engine the pipe can reach temps in excess of 1000F (ever see them glow?  that starts around 1100F).  your only option for the pipes is ceramic coating. 

They were ceramic coated but because of all the welding and stuff and to keep it uniform we vht'd the box and pipes.  Any ideas how to keep this from looking like garbage?

Quote from: A.duc.H.duc. on May 20, 2008, 06:35:30 AM
Absolutely on that. I try not to involve a lawyer if I dont have to ($$$) but absolutely do not get swept under the rug on this.

He gave you an approximate quote 10-15% over is acceptable, a little more than that is reasonable if there were big problems. Outside of that, he's a contractor and made an estimate. This is his bad, and he needs to cut his losses.

I can not stress this enough, do not give him even the slightest hint that this invoice is acceptable.

If you agreed on 8 hours, I can see accepting a bill with 10, plus any additional parts needed.

Justin

The problem is that these agreements were made with a handshake not on paper.  I dont think he will lie about it though, unless his girlfriend makes him.  I know last night when I was talking to him he didn't disagree.  I forgot about the 6 and 8 hour conversation until after I talked to him and snapped out of my coma so that specific part didnt come up but the rest did.

My condolences, this looks like it`s going to turn nasty


Bike does look great though

BTW, his rate is 55/hr for labor.

Anybody know someone who could quote me out an estimate of the work?

I'd ask Leslie at BCM but I'd feel bad since he is a solid 3 hours away and won't actually be getting to DO the work...

Perhaps I should call him anyway...

My sympathy is going out to you right now. I had a 93 Mustang LX 5.0 done like this about 4 years ago. Worst part is the guy was a good friend. I ended up having to get a lawyer involved as he wouldn't release my car. He came to my job with a couple of his goons...It was not pretty. Needless to say he is no longer in business as he burned so many people. I really hate when honest, trusting and generally good people get burned. I really hope this works out for you. Good luck mang!!!

paradisecity, I haven't responded to this thread for good reason, I haven't been able to think of any good advice.  Well, here goes anyway.

I think two things went wrong here.  One is you have no contract for the work being done.  The other is, I believe, the person doing the work is in over his head and cannot absorb the loss.  Plus he has your bike.  This puts both of you between a rock and a hard place.  You will either have to come to an agreement with him that will make neither of you happy or take legal action.  Between a lack of documentation and the reality that his tapable resources are probably limited legal action is probably not a good idea.  Do speak to a local lawyer anyway so you know what your options are.

By the way, I have made similar mistakes, know better, but probably will do so in the future.  Just my trusting nature.  Good luck!

Just talked to him on the phone. He offered to drop a grand on it.  I politely asked for an itemized bill.   He said it would take him a couple days to put one together!  and he'd get it to me by thursday.

I would start calling a lawyer...just me.

Quote from: paradisecity on May 20, 2008, 12:19:03 PM
Just talked to him on the phone. He offered to drop a grand on it.  I politely asked for an itemized bill.   He said it would take him a couple days to put one together!  and he'd get it to me by thursday.

bullshit. takes an hour. there happens to be 24 available in a day.

he needs to burn the midnight oil and get the bike done in 1 week, or you + some friends + a truck should pick go pick it up, and get the hell out of Dodge with it.

I'm the guy who would get a lawyer, tell him to stop all work, pay him ZERO additional dollars, and take it elsewhere. His bad business practices hurt the motorcycle community. You are being far too patient a person with somebody who can't set their shit straight.

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"   (Repeat 5x, yelling it out an open window)

First find out if he has a lagit bussiness licence to work on bikes. If he don't then no need to get a lawyer. Just go get your bike and take him to small clames court and get all your $$$$ back.

                                              Good Luck

I'd like to know how this all started, how you know him, what was the plan for mods, what was the plan for payment, ect. 

It sounds like this guy is in over his head, if you had a very casual aggreement and a very vague project plan for the bike in the begining, then I would like to hear all the details.

It sounds and looks like you got a lot of custom work done, that usually runs a lot of $$. I'm not saying you're in the wrong, or that he is, I'm just seeing a lot of posts here calling for lawyers. I'd just like to hear a bit more information about the begining of this entire thing.

Quote from: pt33 on May 20, 2008, 01:59:57 PM
I'd like to know how this all started, how you know him, what was the plan for mods, what was the plan for payment, ect. 

It sounds like this guy is in over his head, if you had a very casual aggreement and a very vague project plan for the bike in the begining, then I would like to hear all the details.

It sounds and looks like you got a lot of custom work done, that usually runs a lot of $$. I'm not saying you're in the wrong, or that he is, I'm just seeing a lot of posts here calling for lawyers. I'd just like to hear a bit more information about the begining of this entire thing.

+1 to that

This is one of the most painful threads I've ever read.  A lot of people are playing nice with you on this thread, but it’s time for a reality check. You've really made some huge mistakes.  You're a broke dick 25 year old on your first bike and you give a stranger a blank check for mods?  The bill you’re negotiating is worth more than the bike.

You mention the suspension is a “GSXR swap out”?  What guarantee do you have that the suspension is suitable for the bike?  If it's sitting up so high that it's about to fall over and the height is all the way down, there is something wrong and it could be dangerous.  

Being your first bike and you have no garage; you can expect to have it knocked over in the parking lot.  It’s also likely that you’ll drop it or lay it down as you’re acquiring riding skills.  Insurance won't pay a nickel on the labor cost of the mods and you’ll be real lucky to get .50 on the dollar for any parts.  Not to mention your warranty is probably out the window (if you have a warranty), but that’s the least of your worries.

To add icing on the cake, this clown is f_*&ing you in the ass and he’s not even kind enough to use lubricant.  I’d be real worried when he does finish it, you could have a real bomb on your hands.  You got to find an out immediately and lawyering up isn’t likely to settle the score and it certainly won’t lower the bill.  It's a little late now, but someone should have said "go easy dude, it's your first bike".  

It started by getting a few things fixed .  But since he wasnt fixing stuff i started buying some mods and talking to him about it.  After a little while he came to the conclusion that we were doing a lot so he wanted to sit down and establish where we were, and cut off what was going to be done.  We did that and he estimated 6 hours to put it back together, since I had paid him for everything else already.  I said itd be more like 8.  Ok, say 20.  At 55 bucks an hour he's saying that its taken him over 70 hours to put the bike together.

I'm not really sure the amount of "custom work" other than painting the engine with a rattlecan, which was included in previous deposits.  The exhaust was custom welding but it didnt need to be. He guaranteed me that he could get it done for less than just buying a different one (the one for the 800) and sending that one back (250 bucks would have been my cost.  This cost was also included in a previous deposit).

The rest is putting a bike back together with new pieces.  It takes just as long to put together a bike with carrozzerias as it does with Marche's....cyclecats as OEM...etc.  Will it take a little longer because of the different parts?  Yeah, sure.  But they are still bolt on.


BigTime- definitely a learning experience for me.  Some of the stuff you speak of is definitely true.  I appreciate your candor