EDIT: ITS WORSE!!! Major problem- need advice- WARNING: LONG

[Kroe]

Mitt, I agree but there are some outrageous charges on that bill; see Derby's reply (my favorite was the $250 charge for finding a powder coater). Either way I can't imagine a shop that would do this without clearing nearly 5k worth of work without written approval.

ParadisC, what you're looking at is a good old fashioned lube-free @ss rapin'. Contact your chamber of commerce for info on your local BBB. Then get some legal consultation to see where you stand. State your case to the shop owner (the GF) and advise them that this was not agreed upon and what your course of action will be.

Good luck

[paradisecity]

Kroe- actually the powdercoat for 250 is a legit charge (even though I already paid for it in our previous agreement).  It was for the actual powdercoat.

[mitt]

Yep, there are some outrageous charges, but some are in line too.

I don't see the 250 for finding the powdercoater, I see 250 was paid to a powdercoater for powdercoating, and he is passing that to the customer.

What I am saying, is that the bill isn't 100% off, so if you adjust it, and say it should be 1000 less, can you pay for an attorney and time for that?

What was the OP originally thinking it would cost for a custom bike of this level?  

mitt

[SSSA]

This is a terrible story.

[printman]

OK, I will say, your gonna get screwed either way. Sorry, but thats what I think will happen.

Things I see, is repeating charges under different names. EXAMPLE:

R/I Speedometer gear assy, and rebuild , should be under 1 charge

it does not take 3 hours to mount handlebars, unless they won't work period...

Why does it take 1.75 hours to mount a footrest?

what Derby said on consultation

He's nickel'n ya on the battery an other little stuff at .25 hours, when it should be like 5 minutes each

Rear master cylinder at 3.5 hours 

It took him less time to bleed everything than it did to put it on at .65 hours WTF is that. Takes me a few minutes to put it on, and half hour each to bleed properly.

Front forks, to put back on dont take 2.5 hours, maybe to take them off rebuild them and put them back on would be closer.

driven sprocket damper and sprocket should be able to be done at the same time under the time of one.

Why are you using a 530 chain? Turbo? 

The things like evaluate, should be free

The only things I saw that i said, I can see that is the paint, and the exhaust fab work, everything else is padded.


Now how to prove that?

[Kroe]

Yep, there are some outrageous charges, but some are in line too.

I don't see the 250 for finding the powdercoater, I see 250 was paid to a powdercoater for powdercoating, and he is passing that to the customer.

What I am saying, is that the bill isn't 100% off, so if you adjust it, and say it should be 1000 less, can you pay for an attorney and time for that?

What was the OP originally thinking it would cost for a custom bike of this level?  

mitt

Doh, sorry, I interpreted the powder coat outsourcing wrong! & agreed a customization of this magnitude was not going to be cheap.

PS, What have you paid them so far?

[COWBOY]

Christ.  I don't know why everyone says months of legal action.

#1 Go see an attorney.  Most consultations are free and you will learn something.
#2 After consultation the attorney will be able to offer advice and at minimum write a letter on your behalf outlining your position, the law and you're proposals. cost 2 hrs tops.
#3  The guy either decides to a. agree to your proposal b. negotiate or c. get an attorney.  if C is his option then it was from the beginning and you saved yourself months of hassle.

IF the law is strongly on your side then you negotiate from a position of strength and potentially have the boys in blue there as you collect your bike. 

Fact is You don't know the law or your rights.   You need to learn that before you agree to spend 1 dollar more.

[derby]

Christ.  I don't know why everyone says months of legal action.

#1 Go see an attorney.  Most consultations are free and you will learn something.
#2 After consultation the attorney will be able to offer advice and at minimum write a letter on your behalf outlining your position, the law and you're proposals. cost 2 hrs tops.
#3  The guy either decides to a. agree to your proposal b. negotiate or c. get an attorney.  if C is his option then it was from the beginning and you saved yourself months of hassle.

IF the law is strongly on your side then you negotiate from a position of strength and potentially have the boys in blue there as you collect your bike. 

Fact is You don't know the law or your rights.   You need to learn that before you agree to spend 1 dollar more.

[c_rex]

morbid curiousity has me coming back to this thread.  I keep expecting to see a picture or link to a story about some guy's shop mysteriously burning to the ground. 

[paradisecity]

Crex- hahaha

if you haven't noticed that isn't really my style.  Until today I hadn't even raised my voice.  At one point today he hung up on me very early on in the conversation.  THEN, I started getting upset.

[roy-nexus-6]

I will be after the estimate comes back and I present it and am refused.  At this point I am building a case formyself by offering a fair offer and going out of my way to attempt to resolve the situation.  My efforts will be rewarded should, god forbid, legal action be necessary.

Remember, lawyers cost money too.  The threat of legal action is often more cost effective than the action itself.

Yap, it is the THREAT of legal action that is important.

Try not to get angry, loose your cool etc. Paradoxically, while you are nailing him to the wall, you want to be 'nice' about. Kind of like:

"Oh gee, well, I can see we aren't going to agree on hours.  Tell you what, probably best if I get a 3rd party to look over your figures. Then I can have a friend of mine who is a lawyer look over everything, put it all into a legal context. Then I'll be able to make an informed decision. While all of that is being done, probably best not to do any further work on the bike."

However, and this is important, you have to be prepared to carry out legal action if push come to shove - even if it is as simple as dragging his ass to small claims court.

I had a situation with a new laptop - worked for one week, 9 weeks of hell. Two hours after i dropped off the small claims forms, I got a phone call offering full cash refund.

Good luck. 

[Rogue Duc]

I haven't read the whole thread, but what I have read makes me angry / disgusted.

Owning a shop myself, I can understand that problems can and do arise, however this asshat obviously has been putting the work off and now is in over his head and behind on his bills.

My best advice?

Get the bike out of there ASAP.

I'm not sure about how the laws work in your state, but in many, a mechanic can legally charge you storage fees, eventually accumulating enough to offset the value of the bike, at which point a mechanics lien can be filed.

As stated earlier, try reasoning with the shyster and see if he'll knock some, if not all of the additional charges off the bill.

If that won't work, pay him with Amex and immediately when you get home, dispute the charge and let them go to work for you.
You can say the bill was supposed to only be say $400.00 and he charged you $1400.00, but didn't see that on the receipt till you got home.
( You didn't hear me say that, because if you do it "premeditated" you can be guilty of fraud.)

In life, I've always tried to be as honest and ethical as I can. However through the years, I've found that sometimes the only way to deal with an unscrupulous person who is trying to get over on you is to be just as unscrupulous. This guy definitely warrants some comeuppance.

Good luck.

[5891jonathan]

Dude, I don't know why you're screwing around with us on the DMF.  You have a specific problem - the shop has your bike and he'll slap a mechanic's lien on it if he doesn't get paid to his satisfaction.  He's not going to pay attention if you say "5891jonathan thinks you're padding the bill!"  It's OK to get some basic facts about the work he did and whether a different mechanic would have charged less, but don't be thinking you can whip up a letter, incorporate some comments from us here at the DMF, and knock the guy over with your good looks. YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY WHO HAS EXPERIENCE IN THIS AREA.   If you don't have an attorney of your own, get a referral from the bar association in your state.  It's easy.  I am a lawyer myself, but I ain't giving you legal advice here.  I am talking to you like I would talk to my son.  Quit fu<king around with us here and make an appointment with a lawyer tomorrow.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Well, he has my old forks, my old rear wheel, my old rear brake, my old front brakes, and my old front wheel that I supposedly traded for 11 hrs of labor at 65.00/hr, so if he doesnt actually go back on our deal thats another 715 off the bill.

What the hell is wrong with you? You're STILL trying to make this work.


He has your bike, your money, and is currently setting up to keep both. You could not be getting make the beast with two backsed worse. You need to find a way to sort this out.

To echo everyone else-go get an attorney, or at the very least a consultation. They will tell you where you actually stand, because right now, you definitely don't know.

Seriously, knock this crap off-you've been given good advice multiple times. If you don't take it, you're going to basically deserve what you get, because at some point, you're doing it to yourself.

[MikeZ]

morbid curiousity has me coming back to this thread.  I keep expecting to see a picture or link to a story about some guy's shop mysteriously burning to the ground. 

+1000000000000000000000000000
Can't believe his shop isn't a pile of ashes.
You are a saint for letting it go this long.
I have issues w/ the legal system and suing but that being said a letter from a lawyer may be enough to get things moving.