Driveshaft woes

[8BAK465]

Its silly O Clock in the morning and Ive literally had no sleep all night and I just want to vent as right now theres nobody I can really talk to about this

My car is being delayed by a bunch of idiots who call themselves driveshaft specialists and right now I feel very trapped by the whole situation

I better go back to the beginning of the story

Back when I bought shitey we had previously run out of luck with a trusted garage as we had been taking everything we couldnt do to a trustworthy garage who we not only trusted implicitly but was one of those rare mythical places that never ripped you off and went above and beyond

Then the original proprietor retired and it went downhill as it was bought out by a one make specialist who took bids off the wall and all of a sudden bills trippled with claims that everything took a minimum of three hours even it was a lightbulb

Ok so end of an era we found another garage better than the first then history repeated itself six months later when they changed management and we were back to rip off city

Then by chance we bumped into a long serving mechanic from the first trusted garage who recomended going to see his mate

Turned out his mate was a yank specialist who had his own business but not doing yanks but did yank stuff from home in his spare time.

I feel incredibly lucky to have met this guy and hes now my mate

He is really differcult to pay as its even lower than mates rates its beer money and I dont want to loose him or his friendship but he took care of my driveshaft by sending it to his trusted place which as you may of guessed have turned out to be a bunch of tossers and I feel terribly trapped by the whole situation hence why im not sleeping

Because my mate was away and he had left a spare key to his garage with us we agreed to drop the driveshaft off at his preffered place

We delivered it Monday 3rd June and was told there and then ordering a yoke from america would be 10 working days so two weeks give or take.

Since said componant turned up a bill that should of been around £100 has spiralled to £300+ to have my whole transmission rebuilt only cost £700 and they want over £300 to sort a bloody metal tube

But its been excuse after excuse after excuse they have been extremely rude to both myself and Sam they have closed the shop up for days on a run and disappeared then reopened again without any explanation.

Not answered their phones etc etc yadda yadda.

I cant loose my temper with my mate and ive reassured him I dont blame him but I feel its putting a strain on a valued friendship

Id like to take it back and take it elsewhere but I know that would probably end our friendship I just feel trapped.

And the worse thing is thats been keeping me awake is even when its done Im not sure ill trust it

Being as its through him I doubt ill get an invoice and for £300+ I think im entitled to one as if anything goes wrong I want those to be the ones liable not my mate!

After several weeks of them bouncing back they were not happy with measurements (just an excuse I think) and broken promise after broken promise I was promised early this week.

Now early this week to me is Monday or Tuesday at the latest and Wednesday is not early thats Midweek! Ive missed about half a dozen meets because of being lied to by them now yesterday my mate leaned on them and they say it will be done today but

A Im not holding my breath

B im scared itll now be rushed to be ready for the end of the day

Im just really cheesed off with it all

So yeh I just really wanted to vent as me and Sam are at each others throats about it and I just want closure now.

Please feel free to offer advice or just console me

Jo

[LynehamHerc]

Jo,

Once it's back on the road this will fade away.

My MGB sills spiralled from a max of £1,500 per side to what looks to be £5,500 for both and it's now been in the garage for a year. It's due to have the work done starting in early August, the guy I deal with at the garage is always very busy and the guy he's getting to do the welding is the same so the date for him to inspect it just kept on drifting.

I'm one of the most impatient people you could meet, according to my missus and kids, but have just had to accept it. I've reminded them regularly but that's about all that I can do as at the end of the day I'd rather not fall out with them. The same is true of my T2 that went in for a max of 2 weeks and stayed for 10 with a lot bigger bill than I expected. This was because they had to take the elevating roof off to properly treat some rust starting in the gutters, a notorious rust spot in these.
I'm not happy about it but accept it as a fact of dealing with old cars and dealing with people who are in great demand.

[8BAK465]

Jo,

Once it's back on the road this will fade away.

My MGB sills spiralled from a max of £1,500 per side to what looks to be £5,500 for both and it's now been in the garage for a year. It's due to have the work done starting in early August, the guy I deal with at the garage is always very busy and the guy he's getting to do the welding is the same so the date for him to inspect it just kept on drifting.

I'm one of the most impatient people you could meet, according to my missus and kids, but have just had to accept it. I've reminded them regularly but that's about all that I can do as at the end of the day I'd rather not fall out with them. The same is true of my T2 that went in for a max of 2 weeks and stayed for 10 with a lot bigger bill than I expected. This was because they had to take the elevating roof off to properly treat some rust starting in the gutters, a notorious rust spot in these.
I'm not happy about it but accept it as a fact of dealing with old cars and dealing with people who are in great demand.

Its not the money its the fact of the lies,the rudeness and ive never known a business like it they close up whenever they feel like and take a week off no explanation no contact

My point is they have been lying and promising for over three weeks,my mate I dont blame him not one bit I just feel we are both stuck in the middle of these knobheads who have no comprehension of home to treat a customer

Im damned if I do Damned if I dont

I accept the driveshaft was buggered I even accept they had to get the yoke from the states but feel im entitled to an invoice as without if their work fails what comeback do I have?

And dont trust the fact that what others claim will take 3 days has taken them 37

And now they are claiming they can do it in a day

I do wonder if itll be up to the job?

If they had been strait with me from the start id have more faith but its been lie after excuse after lie after excuse after lie

My issue now is I could take it elsewhere but that would drop my mate in it and probably end a good friendship because of a firm of cowboys

[LynehamHerc]

The boss at my local garage , who's my contact, goes off without me knowing.
I don't expect him to tell me- why should he unless we've arranged to meet on a particular day?

They may be closing up to go to events, I believe that a lot of the more specialist firms do.

In my experience a lot of firms are optimistic about what they can have done and when, especially when the customer is adamant that it has to be done asap.

I think you just need to see what the situation is at the end of this week and then discuss it with your mate.

[cros]

Many firms take on too much work and operate in a chaotic fashion. I know a few restoration people who take on a realistic number of jobs and work through them methodically. Ironically these people are often fucked about badly by customers, delaying payment causing workshops to be blocked with half finished cars.
From memory Jo's driveshaft has, for this country, unusual joints; could a dedicated driveshaft builders not make something up? I've used Parkinsons at Boston who charged me £170 for shortening, replacing the bearings and balancing my van prop. Bailey Morris is a larger company who still do one-offs; though they might be a bit more expensive, I've been round their factory and they do a huge range of stuff.
Those MGB sills sound a nightmare, getting towards a new shell at that price. I've not done sills on one though I know there's a lot of work to it.

[Junkman]

I haven't found a proper garage in the area since my garagiste retired a few years back despite I told him he can't do that. The place turned into a "window tinting" shop, which is newspeak for money laundry, I guess.
There are practically no garages left that would as much as look at my cars. If they do, they give me cost estimates of the kind that means "we don't want to do it".

[LynehamHerc]

Those MGB sills sound a nightmare, getting towards a new shell at that price. I've not done sills on one though I know there's a lot of work to it.

The quote is for about 90 hours including paint but I've told them to leave them in primer and I'll 'paint' them. The rest of the car is rattle canned so I don't want to pay for them to stand out.
The sills and lower wing panels are £600+ for the parts alone.

My local garage always has old cars in it, ranging from an Aston DB5 to a London to Brighton De Dion to a convertible P6. They're difficult to deal with at times but not it's necessarily their fault, one 1950's Rover had its engine rebuilt 3 times, by an 'expert' firm which then delayed my MGB as that was the next in line in the restoration queue.

[cros]

I've just read that FX4 taxis had bolt on outer sills. These vehicles are maligned in many areas, but having just emerged from beneath my gaylander (maligned in all areas) where I had weld up a couple of holes, it sounds like a nice idea.
After everything cooled down I covered the bare metal with some 'rust busters' two pack epoxy paint. Nice and gloopy it sets good and hard, a wider buy than the vehicle I've daubed it onto.

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[8BAK465]

Update on this

Was supposed to get my driveshaft back yesterday and again they lied! They told my mate who is a mechanic by trade it would be ready at 12 noon yesterday so I rang and immeadiately got a torrent of abuse over the phone being told it was non of my business (its my fucking driveshaft) Then when Sam said it the background,just worked it out they had it 37 days he told me to put the fucking asshole on in the background

As soon as its back i will slate them everywhere to high heaven.

In all my years I have never ever been spoken to ever and I mean ever in such an appauling manner. I get the feeling this prick has no people skills whatsoever and isnt used to dealing with the public and thinks its his god given right to talk to women like scum after getting off the phone he rang up my mate who gave as good as he got and pointed out everything we had already said as he backtracked as he then claimed it had been finished it just needed balancing if its not back today it will only prove he has lied again.

Just cheesed off by the whole thing and its booked in for panelbeating Monday its been booked in for three weeks and cancelled twice already