| nismo240r |
I dropped car off at Autodream June 1st. I was getting some rear-end repairs, body kit, suspension, wheels & tires, and a paint job. They gave me a quote for everything, but no clear timeframe. I talked briefly with Marvin, before I left the car with them and returned to Yellowknife. I work at a diamond mine in the NWT for a rotation of 4 weeks in, 2 weeks out. I kept in touch with Autodream every week to see what the progress was like.
The first rotation (4 weeks) some parts were coming in. The rear end was repaired and paid for ($4277.56). The first week of July, I got a phone call from Marvin saying that Ronnie the autobody guy came in and gave an estimate for the paint, labor, and rest of the bodywork and asked for my go-ahead. I said yes. The initial quote was for $4000.00. I left for another rotation at work. My wheels were custom made in japan and took the most time to get overseas. I was planning on going ahead with a DC sports header but that was taking it's sweet time as well. Half-way through my rotation, I was told that my car was in for painting, but the quote had gone up to $5500.00. I said keep going then, it needs to get done. 2 more rotations went by with my car being delayed again and again for bodywork and paint. I went down to Calgary thursday, October 19th to pick up my car. I was promised my car would be finished by then. It wasn't. Marvin said that the bodyshop guy would have it done by lunch on friday, and then it would brought down to Autodream to put the wheels and header on. It wasn't. I told them i will be picking it up saturday at noon, wether it was finished or not; it was already months overdue and I didn't want to wait in Calgary any longer.
My car finally arrived Saturday afternoon, and what a sight it was. It had undergone a widebody, kouki conversion, and a new paint job. Marvin and Paulo proceeded to put the rims on. I cancelled the header because there was no time left and i was considering going turbo next year anyway. I started noticing some defects on the car.
My coolant reservoir was removed and missing entirely. Oliver had said that Ronnie the autobody guy had cracked my front bumper while backing it out of his shop. My spoiler was supposed to be made up of 3 pieces, only the center piece was installed. My front headlights wiring was a mess, so Marvin worked on those and got them working, but no high beams. My "silvia" emblem on my dash was ripped off and thrown in my glove compartment. A dozen cd's were missing, my cd case was thrown in the trunk with a whole bunch of junk, everything covered in a white powder. My faceplate for my dvd player was also missing. My battery light kept flashing on and off and my speedo and odo did not work. Marvin went underneath my car to check the wiring. I said not to worry about it, just tie them in so they don't drag. He came out with a harness and gave it to me saying "I don't know what this is for". Marvin also installed a coolant reservoir from Nguyen's car.
As I went to pay Nguyen, he told me that Ronnie had changed the price for the work to $6500.00 and said that he had talked to me and it was ok with me. I DID NOT agree to this. I paid them $5500 for the paint job and the rest of the bodywork, and $5333 for parts.
I phoned Nguyen and told him a list of things that I found wrong with my car. I learned from him that Ronnie took out my speed sensor and gave it to another customer. . . WTF? He said that he had a "talk" with Ronnie. I asked for Ronnie's phone number and he said that he'd phone me back with it. Still no reply. He explained that the missing faceplate was them taking it off for security reasons. Marvin said that if they didn't find it on monday the 22nd, that they'd replace it for me if i were to show a receipt. I phoned him thursday the 26th and he said he'd look into it. Still no reply.
I am dissapointed in the incomplete work on my car. I am very dissapointed in the customer service given to me during these 5 months. I phoned many times and told different things when talking to different people. I was promised many times that my car would be finished on a certain date, which never happened. I was constantly being put on hold when I was seeking a simple answer. I was contacted a few times by Autodream only for money and the go-ahead on the bodywork. Nguyen told me that Ronnie will finish the work for free on my car next spring if i were to bring it back down. It will not be going back down. 5 months for unfinished bodywork? Honestly, if i'm paying over 10k worth in work done to my car and all this shit happens to it, what should i expect from him if he's doing it for free?
Here's the list of issues with my car after the autobody: Speed sensor removed, wing incomplete, cracked front bumper, no high beams, faceplate missing, cd's missing, trunk "silvia" emblem missing, paint on sunroof, tape still on sunroof, battery light, no coolant reservoir, driver door lock doesn't work, door trim ripped and some missing and hood latch issue. |
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| Wookey |
| i've heard too many dissapointing stories of shops such as Autodream and Speed Tech. :( Sorry to here whats happened man. Hope somehow everything works out. |
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| STiPWR |
I wouldnt have paid and brought them to court... simple as that. Maybe even charge them for theft of your faceplate/cd's/emblems.
Actually no, If that was my car the shop would be burnt down.
My brother works up north at a diamond mine aswell... he's a civil engineer.. names jordan.. |
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| bluciv93 |
| omg thats gotta be the worst story car story ive ever heard man id be choked too if that were me. i dont know maybe file a law suit agianst them :dunno: |
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| nismo240r |
| I'll be phoning Nguyen tomorrow first thing, I'll keep you guys posted. Thx for reading guys. |
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| shawley |
that sucks man
so that was your s14 i saw there all summer long with the NWT plates on it every time i stopped in there |
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| nismo240r |
| Yeah that was it |
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| Driven |
| Sorry to hear man.. that's a pretty sour situation. |
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| Var!able |
| This kind of thing reminds me of something you would read about EZ up here. Something just like this actually happened to a civic that they worked on. I guess its buyer beware. From what I had seen about autodream on the NECC board I would have thought your car would have come back looking like a million bucks.. I guess I was wrong. :( |
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| 95IntegraRS |
| Editted - Sponsors - please use PM system - Admin |
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| JonJonPoPong |
| Wow thats so ghey, I cant belive you acctualy paid them for that bull shit. |
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| nismo240r |
I phoned Autodream and talked with Nguyen for a while today. I got a lot of clarification on the work missing/defects on my car.
Ronnie's Autobody in Calgary was the shop that did my bodywork - not Autodream - and it was their guy that "lent" my speed sensor out to another customer. Nguyen talked to him and told him how unacceptable something like that was and Ronnie will be buying a new one. I got the number for Ronnie and talked with him as well. This is the first time talking to him since i received my car. He claims not touching anything in my engine bay but once i confronted him about my coolant reservoir and speed sensor, he backed down and became very apologetic. I asked him why my wing wasn't completed and he claimed he never knew about it until it was too late, which is bs because Marvin went down there before the rear end was complete and showed him the 3-PIECE WING. Once again he became friendly and apologetic. I asked why the price of the bodywork went from $4000.00 to $6500.00. He claims he'd never do a car for $4000.00 and that he ran it by me that it would be $6500.00. BS and that i agreed to it. Once again BS because when I went to pay for the car, both Nguyen and I were stunned at the price, especially for incomplete work. I asked him what will be done about everything here and he said he'd pay for the missing parts and finish and repair what is needed.
Nguyen mentioned that Autodream doesn't do major bodywork, so that it was sent out to get the work done, and they probably won't be ordering body kits anymore as it isn't cost or time efficient (lots of $$ for shipping). Autodream bought the parts needed for my car and installed my suspension, the rest was up to Ronnie's Auto. One of the last things that Ronnie admitted to me was that he was told by his boss to "just get the car out of there".
I appreciated the phone call from Nguyen and the time he took to explain things, as it wasn't a short call. He said that he'll see to it that I become a satisfied customer, that means a lot to me. This is the type of communication that I like. I'll keep you guys updated. |
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| charger_guy |
| thats good to hear you are solving things. It seems in todays world it so hard to trust ppl. Its almost like the mind set is half assed. I hate it. My car is going for body work...im scared what some company might do. I think i'll go bodyshop shopping to see who and what their finished products look like. hopefully ur car turns out. |
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| REFLUX |
This kind of "subcontracting" seems to always end up in dissatisfaction.
Especially when bodywork is sub'd out.
Hope things turn out well :)
Seems like Nguyen is making a sincere effort to straighten things for you. |
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| hondaluva |
quote:
Originally posted by Wookey
i've heard too many dissapointing stories of shops such as Autodream and Speed Tech. :( Sorry to here whats happened man. Hope somehow everything works out.
Speedtech is full of arrogant reps who think they know it all but I've heard so much bad news about them - no accountability, sorta like an E-Z motorsports of Calgary. Never going there again. Autodream seems much better. GL on the car. |
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| Turbo_Civic92 |
| ive been hearing some dissapoinments from autodream aswell. One of my buddies waited 2 months to get his wiring harness for an sr20 spliced on a autronic harness. And we called countless times to hear that is "on the way". |
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