Need legal advice

[herblove]

Let me start from the beginning. A few years ago I took my talon to this guy who well know in the sport compact racing scene. I had spun a rod bearing and decided to let him build me a motor from a 6 block (head included) At the time he was in a bind and had not received race money from his sponsor. We wrote up a bill on how much ever thing was going to cost and what I wanted done. I need money upfront since he didn't have any to get the build started. I gave him all the money upfront. (2800.00) His shop is about 30miles for where I live. I call and drove there countless number of times and he never ever would be starting on my car.( no one else car there ) After about 10months I was piss and ready to kick someone ass. He told me the money that I gave upfront went into the shop for light and lease payments. To make a long story short he finally finished my car after a year of having it. I drove the car for about 6 months and nothing was wrong with it. I then brought my new turbo GT12, SMIM,GM Maft translator, and 75mm throttle body. I put the turbo and GM Maft on myself. Had problems with the ECU and GM Maft (1st version) So I said what the hell and brought the AEM EMS.

So now I have a 75mm throttle body and SMIM but not the piping for it (3") So I take it to this guy again. Thinking to myself all he has to do is make me a upper intake pipe and hook up my AEM and take to his tuner. Same story but this time someone steals my AEM EMS from my car in his shop. He make a deal with someone who has a EMS and wideband and said he would put that on. I say Okay. (*free wideband) I forgot to say in the 1st paragraph that my car was broken into by someone trying to steal my turbo out of the floor ( They tried to break the lock and messed up my paint) Nothing was taken because they didn't get in. He paid for the door and paid for the rest of the car to get painted. ( it needed it)

Back to the story. This time it is 10months before I say F#%& It and went to get my car. I paid him 300.00 and took my car. They had given me a bill a week before for $2414.01 I was like WTFWTF . Said nothing and the next week got my car as stated above. After getting the car. A 2month past and I get a phone call from his new girlfriend asking when was going to pay. I said we will work something out. Tell HIM to call me. This happen about 2 more times and each time I tell her I want to speak with him. He is to busy to talk on the phone. I am like If someone that owes me money wants to talk to me then I will stop what I am doing to see what is the problem with getting my money. To make a long story short. He never spoke with me and now they have a lawyer trying to collect the money.

I need to know what do you guys think. I never sign a contract. He let me have the car without full payment. Here is the bullshit bill. You guys are going to shit your pants



Battery box and battery relocation 170.00
Timing belt pull down(I dropped the cam cover down in between the gears) 100.00
Fuel line (15ft return to tank) 105.00
Fuel line labor tear down and install (whole system) 200.00
MSD hookup 100.00
3" u-bend 28.00
Charge pipe Labor 175.00
Intercooler labor (had to make some brackets and weld) 125.00
O2 bunge and labor ( for wideband) 85.00
Wide band install 100.00
Misc wiring for AEM 100.00
Air temp sensor 40.00
EGR blockoff plate 25.00
CV shaft 92.00
CV boot labor 75.00 Fab throttle linkage 50.00
t-bolt clamps 17.00
spark plug 30.00
10 push lock fitting for vacuum lines 80.00
AEM tuning 657.01
tow and pickup 60.00



I went in just to get the intake pipe and AEM tuned. After 10 months of not having your car you find other things that need to be done to it. Hell since it here go ahead and fix this to He charge me a 100.00 a hour for labarWTF WTF There is 12 hours of labor over a period of 10 months and you have the nerve to charge me 100.00 a hour. The tune was done outside of his shop by another guy. I agree I need to pay him. Even though my car is still not tuned right. Cold start is not right on the AEM.


Enough talk. Help me please with some legal advice..

 

[robs90tsi]

You're not from connecticut are you?? I know someone who you may be talking about, hes a moron, but from the sounds of it you let him push you around, and if you agree that you owe him this money, which i see that you do, then you will be forced to pay him, its as simple as that, especially if hes getting lawyers involved, if you agreed to pay it, then you WILL be paying for it, I dont know how it works where your from, but in CT youre screwed.

Thats the kill factor, that you agree that you owe him that money. I really dont know what you want help with if you agree that you owe him money, clarify a little.

 

[herblove]

I didn't agree that I owe him anything. There is no legal contract stated that. I said I agree that I owe the other guy (tuner) No I am not from CT. This guy's bill is bullshit

 

[robs90tsi]

OOOOO Ok now i get it, you agree that you owe the tuner, ok well then dont pay him anything, consult a lawyer, and see what they say. They should be able to tell you where you stand in this and what your options are. I mean theres really no better way to do it than that, unless we have a lawyer on here, wouldnt be suprised if we did.

Maybe someone who had a similiar situation can chime in here, good luck man.

 

[cs82685]

OOOOO Ok now i get it, you agree that you owe the tuner, ok well then dont pay him anything, consult a lawyer, and see what they say. They should be able to tell you where you stand in this and what your options are. I mean theres really no better way to do it than that, unless we have a lawyer on here, wouldnt be suprised if we did.

Maybe someone who had a similiar situation can chime in here, good luck man.

we might but lawyers are greedy and probably wouldn't come in here givin out free advice.

 

[EclipseSH21]

sounds like you're talking about Tony, rob...

 

[robs90tsi]

sounds like you're talking about Tony, rob...

howd you know? Your from farmington, huh, so then you know him, im not gonna get into anything, as this thread isnt about tony.

Back on track....as far as the lawyers, your probably right, but if they KNOW they can win, they will do it for free until a verdict is reached, well then again he wouldnt be getting money so i dont know, and not ALL lawyers are greedy, most but not all.

 

[drivemusicnow]

Here is my opinion on this:

If there was a written estimate for the work to be done: AEM install, tuning, and upper intercooler pipe, than he is required by law to have the bill only exceed that by a maximum of 10% (vary's by state) now because you paid 300$ when you picked up the car, I would expect that it seemed liek that was the full balance to you. if he hasn't already paid whoever tuned your car, I'd bring it back for them to fix the cold start issue and pay them. If they were already paid by said mechanic, than you probably want to find out how much he charged for his services.

Now a breakd down of the bill:
Battery box and battery relocation 170.00 (if this includes labor, okay, if not.. BS)
Timing belt pull down(I dropped the cam cover down in between the gears) 100.00 (Wtf)
Fuel line (15ft return to tank) 105.00 (somewhat reasonable if including labor)
Fuel line labor tear down and install (whole system) 200.00 (define tear down and install? if pump and new feed line, than yes, but otherwise no.)
MSD hookup 100.00 (pretty ridic)
3" u-bend 28.00 (about what it costs)
Charge pipe Labor 175.00 (seems a bit much considering you can buy one for a HELL ove a lot less)
Intercooler labor (had to make some brackets and weld) 125.00 (also quite a bit over the top)
O2 bunge and labor ( for wideband) 85.00 (bung costs 10$ anybody who has welded before coul install in 20 min or less)
Wide band install 100.00 (hmm soldering 6 wires, and screwing in an o2 sensors takes an hour? BS)
Misc wiring for AEM 100.00 (isn't it plug and play? if the lost AEM made him have to do some wiring, that's his respsonsibility, not yours)
Air temp sensor 40.00 (about right)
EGR blockoff plate 25.00 (a little much, normaly like 10-15$)
CV shaft 92.00 (probably about right)
CV boot labor 75.00 Fab throttle linkage 50.00 Seems a little high
t-bolt clamps 17.00 (about right)
spark plug 30.00 (I think spark plugs themselves coost 10$, labor is about 45 seconds apiece)
10 push lock fitting for vacuum lines 80.00 (wtf seems umm. a bit over the top)
AEM tuning 657.01 (I'd say way high, but it's possible they spent 4-5 hours working on it
tow and pickup 60.00 (reasonable)


Now, if they did all those things, and you wanted them to do all those things, than I think you just need to haggle the price, but you're going to have to pay. He probably needs money so that could work to your advantage. If you DIDN"T ask him to do some of those things, you're in the right to ask to speak with him before paying, and dispute the charges.

YOU NEED TO WRITE DOWN EVERY CENT YOU"VE PAID HIM, WHEN, and for WHAT. YOU ALSO NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF EVERY CONVERSATION TIMES/DATES/WHAT WAS SAID. Believe me, these will help you immensely should it come down to a court case. You will want to talk to a lawyer, the sooner the better, in the end it's worth paying a lawyer 50-100$ to know if you have a leg to stand on versus possibly all of it later.

Also, what the hell were you thinking letting a shop keep your car for 10 months!? That is beyond patient and into the realm of dumb.

 

[Flash]

There was a verbal contract created between you and the shop owner. You created a breach of contract by not paying him. He's taking legal action.
Sounds fine to me. I'll double check my notes from my Business Law class
Time for Performance, which bascially means, if there was no deadline stated in the contract (lack there of), then a reasonable time is implied. And he did not take a 'reasonable' time.

I don't have all my notes on hand to examine the 'verbal contract law' further.

I'd contact your lawyer and seek his advice.

 

[herblove]

There was a verbal contract created between you and the shop owner. You created a breach of contract by not paying him. He's taking legal action.
Sounds fine to me. I'll double check my notes from my Business Law class
Time for Performance, which bascially means, if there was no deadline stated in the contract (lack there of), then a reasonable time is implied. And he did not take a 'reasonable' time.

I don't have all my notes on hand to examine the 'verbal contract law' further.

I'd contact your lawyer and seek his advice.

There was a verbal agreement that I wanted work done but not at his fee and not over 10 months. No money was agree upon. His new girlfriend came in the middle of this and actually wrote the bill. I have deal with this guy before and he wouldn't charge me like this because of my patients. So my verbal contract was with anyway ,which again price was not discuss. Like I stated in the 1st paragraph he built my engine and charge me only 2800.00. Now I get a bill for $2414.01 for some welding and running fuel lines WTF come on.

 

[robs90tsi]

See, I told you someone who knew what they were talking about would chime in here, Flash seems to know what hes talking about, Id follow his advice, I think you can come out of this one a winner, so good luck.

 

[FORMONTOYA]

And this is an example of how things can go horribly wrong when modding a car. Learn from this guys mistake (verbal agreements are a good way to get screwed, especially when several thousand dollars are at stake).

While having work done at a shop have a clear concept of the work to be performed......when a shop is found and BEFORE work begins:

Agree on a price (it WILL cost $XX to do XX work...period, etc.) and work to be performed.

Set a money cap NOT to exceed a certain amount (as there will be "unforeseen" things pop up, have a little set aside for these items).

Stay on top of the work, I don't mean "be a pest", but it's within your rights to get updates on progress.

There should be a time limit (the shop, if it's worth a damn, knows what kind of "backlog" it's running).

If there is ANY deviation from the above, you are to be notified before anything goes forward (even on the "unforeseen" items, before work is started)......period.

That's just a few "basics" that any shop should be able to agree upon, if not, stay away from it............

And really, get it all in writing.


Sorry it doesn't help you now, but maybe someone else in the future.......my 0.02

 

[Defiant]

I call and drove there countless number of times and he never ever would be starting on my car.( no one else car there ) After about 10months I was piss and ready to kick someone ass.

So now I have a 75mm throttle body and SMIM but not the piping for it (3") So I take it to this guy again.

Sorry about your learning disability. However, the name getting out locks the thread.

Your recourse is probably small claims court. Consult a local legal assistance outfit for details.