Machine shop did more work than I asked them to do, now what?

[bowsercake]

Cliffs: Machine shop did a valve job that I did not want (too much $). I have a spare head in good condition. What to do?

My machine shop did more work than I asked them to do. I dropped off my head and Rods and Pistons and I asked for cleaning and a mill on the head. I checked on my invoice and these are the only thing listed.

The mechanic asked me if I wanted a valve job and I said no because I did not want to spend that kind of money. He told me that he'd vacuum test it and then call me to see if I wanted it if they were leaking. They never called me.

Well, I called them yesterday and the bill is $575 instead of the $300 I was expecting to pay for the rods and the head. I ask them for the break down and sure enough they did a "Serdi Competition Valve Job" which was exactly $275. I guess the price wasn't bad because they charge Hondas $225 for 16 valves.

Anyways, my problem is that I have a spare head which is also in good condition, it had machine work done to it previously, so, I do not really need that head. I wish they would have just cleaned it and vacuum tested it so that I would have had the opportunity to bring them my other head and only be out $40 for the cleaning and testing.

Has anyone been in this situation before?

 

[supradan22]

I was in that situation also when I had my stuff machined they did a lot of stuff that I didn't ask for but the price it was right so I figured hey why not.

When working with machining on your motor its not the best Idea to pinch pennies. Plus the last thing you need is an angry machinist with all your parts.

 

[Idealsupra]

um if you didnt tell them to do it....then tell them that and tell them too fucking bad and give you your shit....

OR at the WORST i would offer to pay half price for the things they did that they werent told to do.

 

[bowsercake]

The thing is, I have a spare head in good condition that I got for free, so, if worst comes to worst that can keep that Head.

 

[Supracentral]

Bring them a copy of your invoice. Tell them that you never authorized anything beyond what is listed, and you will not be paying for unauthorized work.

There is NEVER an excuse for a shop to perform work the customer didn't authorize

 

[whudafux]

They can't charge you for it. If you said you didn't want it and they did it anyway, you should get the service for free. I don't kno why you'd let them keep the head. It's always good to have spare parts laying around...

 

[silvergsx623]

If they did something with out asking you, you shouldn't pay for it. Just make sure they did everything u asked them to do.

 

[jdub]

Does your spare head have a fresh valve job?

The purpose of a vacuum test is to determine the seal on the valves...if it failed, the logical thing to do would be a valve job. Also, did they replace the seals as part of it?

They should have called you...are you sure they did not try?

The reason I'm asking all this is some shops actually try to do the right thing. This could very easily be one of those...the price is not bad at all either, especially if it's quality work.

You might want to talk to the guy to see why he did the work before getting pissed off.

SC is right though...you should have authorized the work. That is piss poor communication on the part of the shop.

 

[AF1JZ]

Screw that nonsense. If you have the original ticket showing that you only wanted cleaning and a mill on the head, and they did work on the head, I wouldn't pay them shit and take the head. Granted it is a good price. But, didn't ask for it.

 

[jdub]

Well...getting pissed is not going to help either. The shop has the head. Being rational about it will work a heck of a lot better than getting into a yelling match. Depends on how far you want to go...if the shop is screwing around, you don't have to use them again...I do think I would want my head back.

 

[TurboWarrior]

jdub is right. Depending on how specific you were in the beginning. A machine shop that rebuilds a head and comes across something wrong will usually fix it without thinking about it because it needs to be done. So if you didn't very clearly state that you wanted nothing done beyond what you asked, then i would say this type of thing would almost be expected to happen.

 

[AF1JZ]

A machine shop that rebuilds a head and comes across something wrong will usually fix it without thinking about it because it needs to be done.

Yea, but any person with any common sense should know to call the customer if there is a change. It's $275 more that he's expected to pay and he said he didn't want to spend that kinda money from the get go.

But, jdub is right. Keep your cool and see if you can work it out somehow.

 

[tte]

Yeah. Just like SC said. Show them the invoice they gave you.

They should have called you if more work needed to be done.

but because they assumed you would say yes and did not call you, I dont think that you would have to pay. Just pay the amount you agreed to in the beginning.

Be calm about it when you talk to them. If they still insist that you pay the full amount, go talk to your lawyer or some consumer agency about it.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[bowsercake]

I am at work right now but I'm going to call them in an hour on my break so I will update later.

But yeah, I did explain to the shop that I had a second engine, so, at least the machinist knew that. However, I did not tell them that I would have liked to have them test the second head should the first one fail.

And also, this shop is pretty anal about stuff, which is a good thing I guess, but, the valves were not in that bad on condition based on the leak down test I did. The engine had 120k so it obviously wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad.

Anyways, thanks for the advice everyone. I'll update in an hour or so after I call them.

 

[T0DA]

This is kind of a wierd analogy but think of it like this.
If you are eating in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress keeps bringing you more drinks (like fountain drinks, not alcoholic...) and then puts all of that on your bill, you are not obligated at all to pay for that unless YOU ASKED THEM to bring you another drink.
Don't pay for something you didn't ask for man.

 

[Burntz]

In any kind of business, you have to let them know you want it, or they have to ask you, and then you have to say yes, for them to be able to charge you.

If you have an original invoice with only the stuff you wanted, thats proof enough, and you got a free valve job

 

[bowsercake]

Well, I just called them. I talked to the guy who I left my stuff with but he is not the same guy who did the work. He said that he left a note for someone to call me but it'd possible that they had the wrong number (might have though a 5 was a 6...). Anyways, he is going to give me a call back later this afternoon when he talks to whoever authorized the work.

 

[IJ.]

The shop "should" suck it up it's only labour.....

 

[Silvermk2]

You and shop are only on the hook for the work you authorized on your invoice. It should be in the fine print somewhere. Technically you can give them the finger and only pay for what you originally asked for. Although you might not be welcomed back again

 

[bowsercake]

I called them back and I explained how i did not want the valve job and about how I cannot afford it. The shop was nice because they had failed to call me and they gave me a discount. I did not get the valve job for free but considering the discount was for the entire order it was cheap. I feel bad but they were mostly at fault. oh well, it was only 150 over what i thought i might have to spend. it cost more when they realized i had 4 valves per cylinder...

hopefully i can just get my car running now.

thanks for the advice again guy.