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  #11  
Old 09-29-2010, 08:42 PM
CARS CARS is offline
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Pat,

I know you just asked for opinions (which you received a bunch of), but what has happened in the last couple days?

I'm really curious how the customer responded to you when you told him/her what happened.
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  #12  
Old 09-29-2010, 09:28 PM
ShawnMarsh ShawnMarsh is offline
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I have to agree with the majority of what has been said. Setup and measure is 2 hours, and usually each sway is an hour (I assume you had 2, one on each rail) which means most (all?) body shops would be in the same 4-5 hour range. They did business wrong, but the result is the same approximate cost no matter where it ended up and it saved money to not have it measured at a 2nd shop.
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  #13  
Old 09-29-2010, 10:31 PM
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patman patman is offline
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Hey guys sorry for the long wait been neck deep on other projects but I would like to thank all of you for your advice and support I have calmed down about this so we told our customer what is going on and apologized for recommending this shop so he was cool about it and I asked him if he wanted me to go with him to talk to the other shop and he said "no its ok ill get to the bottom of it" And yes guys Im fully aware that there would be a charge to put it on the rack and measure it out and I would have been fine with that but they charged the customer for 16 hours without the customers consent but here is the kicker NO suspension damage NO bend in the sub rails so they pulled the radiator support and front surround Im not a frame guy but that seems like a bunch of hours and all they did was pull till the gaps where right thats what they told the customer!!!!!! That seems fishy to me so when I look at the car and if im not happy with it I will be the most polite pain in their but, they will work on it untill I am happy with it and so is the customer!! All the hoops that we jump through for our customers they can jump through one!!!!!!!!!!!! But really guys thanks for the advice when I was told about it I was pacing around the shop with my big stiles and herman hammer! One more time thanks guys!!
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  #14  
Old 09-29-2010, 10:43 PM
CARS CARS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patman View Post
but they charged the customer for 16 hours without the customers consent but here is the kicker NO suspension damage NO bend in the sub rails so they pulled the radiator support and front surround Im not a frame guy but that seems like a bunch of hours and all they did was pull till the gaps where right
Oh my......

I could have done that with a log chain and a porta-power. (In a couple hours )

Did they R&I the front sheetmetal??? Maybe, and just maybe, you could spend 2 days pulling and setting the front clip but those gaps better be damn perfect. (IMHO)
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  #15  
Old 09-29-2010, 10:51 PM
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NO I took the clip off when they came to our shop to look at it and then they came after the fenders later that day that we took them the car and the but Im calm now the guys at the tire shop across the street feel safe to walk by the windows agen!hahaha

Pat
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  #16  
Old 09-29-2010, 11:03 PM
Rondo Rondo is offline
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Wow!!! 16 hrs. Ins. would of given me 1hr setup and 2hrs pull time for sway. They should of pulled to frame measurements, not to fit. Hopefully front end alignment will be ok. Hate to see this stuff, glad that you have a good customer to work with.
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  #17  
Old 09-30-2010, 08:48 AM
John Buchtenkirch John Buchtenkirch is offline
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Yes, 16 hours sounds more like they had to open up one or two rails to hammer out buckles (which you say there wasn’t any) so I’m guessing they nailed you for an extra day of labor but I haven’t heard their side of the story. I would say you should consider buying some type of used power post & put some tie downs in the floor for light pulling. I can’t tell you how many times thru the years that just a light tug on a new replacement panel gave me perfect gaps so having even minimal pulling capacity in the shop is a big asset . ~ John Buchtenkirch
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  #18  
Old 09-30-2010, 08:49 AM
CARS CARS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rondo View Post
Wow!!! 16 hrs. Ins. would of given me 1hr setup and 2hrs pull time for sway. They should of pulled to frame measurements, not to fit. Hopefully front end alignment will be ok.
You are right but I have to admit I have used a frame rack to "perfect" gaps. I want to say it was the Superbird, so '70 Road Runner...

If memory serves me correctly the tolerances were +/- 1/4". That means even if it's within tolerances it could still be swayed up to 1/2". It's either use a ton of shims or just nudge it over to where the sheet metal gaps look as good as they can get.

Back on Topic...

I got to thinking about that Superbird I did. The customer had talked to a few other shops that had more experience than I did at the time. He made the comment in the beginning as when the final bill was in his hand. "I think they were basing their estimate on the value of the car."

Pat could be running into the same thing. A Challenger convertible is a very desirable car. Do you think a $20,000.00 Dart would have only taken 8 hours???
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  #19  
Old 01-25-2012, 11:07 PM
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Pat, The only saving grace here is that they have played their hand and billed 16 hrs for what several here agree should have been 5 maybe 8 hr job. They screwed you, flat out!! Regardless of how much they charged, they did not do a quality job. "Pulling to fit" is cobbled. It's a bad deal, best thing too do is to make the shop do it to you / your customers standards. Consider this, they told you they needed it on the rack to give an est and you had the front off? What could they not see? Getting it "set up" is part of measuring the veh to specs. Good luck,

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  #20  
Old 01-26-2012, 05:13 PM
larry kaempfer larry kaempfer is offline
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WET THE DRIVE OUTSIDE OF THE SHOP WITH THE HOSE, ROLL THE CAR STRAIGHT IN AND LOOK AT THE TIRE TRACKS , TO SEE IF IT TRACKS STRAIGHT ??? FRAME GAUGES TELL YOU IF IT IS RIGHT??? NOT THE DOOR GAPS , THESE GUYS ARE ROOKIES AT BEST !
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