Opinions needed

[sithot]

One of my fondest pastimes is to network. I learned it in business from my father. He was the master. He made a lot of money for other people and never asked for anything in return. Like him, I know no strangers and if I see a fit with someone I know, I make it happen.

As for a mechanic/shop: You may be good but your ass can be replaced and these cars are not rocket science although you would be led to believe they are. As my friend who does a lot of work for my other hobby said; It is measuring (knowing how to measure) and knowing how to use the machinery that counts.
Common sense and experience is all that's left. He is a phenomenal machinist who welds (heads, cases, etc.) better than 99.9% of anyone I know and his work always comes back impeccable. Plus, he is a sweetheart to deal with. He makes no promises and if he tells you it's going to be 3 months that is what it will be. No longer.

Do the work right THE FIRST TIME. Treat people fairly and honestly. And for some reason they keep coming back. This chap doesn't advertise either!


Tom

[Mr9146]

Okay, here we go. The vendor advised that he got a bad ring and pinion from his supplier. That he knew there was a chip or missing small piece before he installed it, and that he did not think it would be a problem. Well, it did matter!. He calls his supplier who will not take it back and now this becomes my problem in the mind of the re-builder. As a business owner, one is responsible for their acts and how they run their company. This is not about the client as they have no relationship with the supplier and do not really care about third party problems which have nothing to do with them. Would it not be great if all companies that make mistakes, can say well my supplier is the problem, but now it is your problem. Goodness, where do some get this idea from?!

In addition to this, he has admitted to doing a poor job cleaning the case as shavings were left. When you put these two seperate issues together, one can see how and where the problems are. I have asked that he pay 1/3 of the bill for the added work given his errors. He is not getting it and fails to understand that this is about him and no one else.

I hope he wakes up to see that he indeed has a responsibility here and does what is fair and proper. I kind of feel like this may be up there with believing in the tooth fairy!

Who's idea was it to outsource the job in the first place?

If your shop supplied the guy who rebuilt the trans then they, in an indirect way, supplied the transmission and should be considered fully responsible for the job. In that case it would be up to your shop to make good on the job and up to your shop to work it out with the vendors they chose; you should not have any part in the transaction beyond dealing with the shop you're paying to do the work. They are the go-between and therefore are expected to assume responsibility for the work their vendors provide.

If you picked the place to have the trans rebuilt then you are considered to have supplied the parts and all responsibility for the parts' viability falls to you, including the parts and labor required to remove and install the trans again.

In my house, if the client supplies the parts we make it clear that we will guarantee the labor but not the part. If the part itself fails, you pay the labor to fix it again. Obviously there are areas of gray, but this is the general rule we adhere to. If we supply the part - either directly or indirectly (i.e. via a recommendation that the client purchase the part from a particular vendor) - then we'll guarantee the entire job ... parts and labor.

Look, everyone makes mistakes ... we're only human. But this situation clearly illustrates why it's important to choose qualified shops with the tools and ability to perform these types of services IN HOUSE; this ensures accountability to uphold a certain standard of service.

Good luck.

[Chuck Miller]

Do the work right THE FIRST TIME. Treat people fairly and honestly. And for some reason they keep coming back. This chap doesn't advertise either!

I completely agree....

I've been meeting with more and more craftsman in our trades that are, and want to be, completely 'off the grid', no advertisement, no web sites.... and still a back log of a selective cliental just through word of mouth and networking....
For the most part these craftsman smile and have normal blood pressure....

[Frank Beck]

In my house, if the client supplies the parts we make it clear that we will guarantee the labor but not the part. If the part itself fails, you pay the labor to fix it again.

Marco, Saint Of Perpetual Freebies.

We won't use customer supplied parts at all in the course of normal repairs (unless it's unusual circumstances). Reason being our name is on the job and when a part fails, even if the customer supplied it and they were clearly told there was no warranty, it's still my reputation on the line. (Funny how all a third party downstream hears is: "A shop rebuilt my trans and it failed right away". They conveniently leave out the fact that they supplied the failed parts.) As a shop owner I need to protect the customer, company, and employees in the course of business. That's done by having complete control over the process and doing everything I can to insure the quality. I can't do that with parts that I don't source. I don't mind falling on the sword down the road as long as it was our baby, soup to nuts.

The other reason is purely economic: I can't stay in business by simply charging labor. Profit margins are designed around parts and labor.

[Mr9146]

Marco, Saint Of Perpetual Freebies.

We won't use customer supplied parts at all in the course of normal repairs (unless it's unusual circumstances). Reason being our name is on the job and when a part fails, even if the customer supplied it and they were clearly told there was no warranty, it's still my reputation on the line. (Funny how all a third party downstream hears is: "A shop rebuilt my trans and it failed right away". They conveniently leave out the fact that they supplied the failed parts.) As a shop owner I need to protect the customer, company, and employees in the course of business. That's done by having complete control over the process and doing everything I can to insure the quality. I can't do that with parts that I don't source. I don't mind falling on the sword down the road as long as it was our baby, soup to nuts.

The other reason is purely economic: I can't stay in business by simply charging labor. Profit margins are designed around parts and labor.

Never been called a saint before...

While I tend to conduct business in a similar manner, you know there's always a gray area, Frank,especially when dealing with rare, hard to find parts for these early cars. Late model stuff with readily available parts is a different matter altogether.

[steve shea]

Who is the trans builder? Carquip? We need to know. Motor Scheister has clearly been mentioned. I think we should start an Angie's list or a Blackie's list. It would save a lot of pain and focus the business in a direction to those who care. I have some stories. One recent which seems to be handled by an honest shop keeper. I'll let everyone know when it is resolved but so far so good. And conversely, lets start a Kudos list for a job made right when a screw up happens.

[gsjohnson]

This repair may cross the line from warranty defect to negligence...

[denson]

I did not post the name of the firm as this was not about bad mouthing them, but about trying to find "fair". The person is enormously reputable, so the issue of going with reputable people was done and established. I had to out source this work as my shop does not do that type of re-build. There are few local people that know these older cars, so I went out of state to someone who has been around for 30 years.

My work with him is not done, so I will let everyone know how it worked out. I agree with Sithot, this is about doing the job properly the first time. When we do not, we are supposed to resort to our character and integrity in guiding us, or that is what is supposed to happen anyway!

And yes, this was more about being negligent than having a defect, but we are back to the character and integrity issue once again.

[Kris Clewell]

Sometimes you just gotta learn from and cut your losses and move on... However I know sometimes its more about the principle than the money. Maybe the guy doesnt care about his reputation?

[Frank Beck]

Who is the trans builder? Carquip? We need to know. Motor Scheister has clearly been mentioned. I think we should start an Angie's list or a Blackie's list. It would save a lot of pain and focus the business in a direction to those who care. I have some stories. One recent which seems to be handled by an honest shop keeper. I'll let everyone know when it is resolved but so far so good. And conversely, lets start a Kudos list for a job made right when a screw up happens.

Easy Cowboy Steve!
"Kudos list for a job made right when a screw up happens?" Huh? How would you feel if your kid's school publically posted their name on the school's "Most Improved List" because they went from an "F" to an "A"?

How about we all keep our skid marks to ourselves? Publically airing dirty laundry, even if it's cleaned up, still casts doubt in some people's minds. Let the gentlemen handle it between themselves. If you have something negative to say regarding a vendor, do it privately.

There's a fine line between serving the interests of the whole and mob mentality.