HELP...Block and heads being held Hostage

Pay by credit card, if nothing else, it will cost him 1.5 to 3%. I would think you would be viewed by the court in a lesser light if you decided to immediately contest the bill by "stopping payment" before you have fully investigated overcharges i.e. itemized statement. It would be far "cleaner" to litigate the bill in court (we have small claims court here that can behandled witout an attorney). Stopping payment indicates that you think the shop isn't entitled to anything at all. If the overall quality of work is there that may be a tough argument......

 

Your situation fits under the Repair and Storage Liens Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. R.25.

A practical approach might be to immediately go there and ask them to stop all work because (i) the remaining work may cost you a fortune and (ii) if they really have spent that many hours their inexperience may do more damage to a very expensive engine block. Put it in writing and, perhaps if possible have them acknowledge receipt of your hand delivered letter wherein you have asked them to stop work at a certain date and time. Make notes of all communications and dates relevant to the matter.

That being said, it is always better to negotiate than litigate. Speak reasonably to the owner, ask why and make notes of your conversation afterwards. If they cut their fee in half, maybe consider paying and walking away the wiser.

If you do go the court route, you can commence an application to settle the matter, disputing the amount of their lien under section 24 of the Act. They need to give you written notice of the amount of lien, then by paying that amount into court to the credit of the action, the court registrar can issue an initial certificate, which stands as substitute security for your parts. The shop must release the parts within three days of being given the initial certificate.

Then it's simple math. How many days between the last day you saw the items were untouched and the day you sent the letter asking them to stop? What is the hourly rate? How many hours per day would they have worked to earn that fee? Is the amount reasonable given fees charged from others for similar work? Ideally you know an expert who can provide some evidence. Rocco would be great but I doubt he wants to go to court or provide an affidavit in support of an application. Under the Act the lien is only for the amount you agred to pay or the fair value of the repair.

Nobody will want to litigate and justify their bill. You should hopefully get some of the posted money back. As well, given the amounts you might be able to use small claims court without needing a lawyer, although I would check the rules about the ability of small claims court to hear applications (which do not require verbal evidence).

 

Careful - I believe that is fraud.

Cancelling the check definitely is. If you cancel a check for any reason other than it being lost, you're committing fraud, IIRC.

 

Nobody has suggested that the block and heads might not even be there. It is very possible that the whole job was subbed out to a another shop, which would explain the delays, the marked up pricing, and the lack of info about the process.

I would ask to actually SEE the parts. I would also recommend to just go get the parts as is, and then sue them or eat the cost. They are not going to take a check or a credit card anyway, you're going to be required to pay cash. Bring a film camera, and take pics of the parts while still on the premises, because I bet you some parts will be missing anyways.


Jay

 

That is without doubt, the worst option.

 

Im not advocating not paying anything to the shop. The problem is the shop is able to hold parts hostage until the OP pays them whatever they deem is owed to them, and the OP has no leverage to bargain with. I had the same thing done to me with a moving company that was holding my furniture hostage after I balked at paying a bill double the initial quote. Once the OP has regained possession, he has a much better position to negotiate a fair settlement from.

 

I totally agree.

I would pay the $5k to get the parts back.

I would then go to a reputable shop to have the car put right.

I would forget about the five thousand dollars. It's gone.

I would never tell the wife.

 

That is probably the best post in the thread.

 

I concur - when you're being raped, you don't hand your rapist a condom and let him keep humping away.....there is no 'settlement' when the shop has all your money. When they have all your money, they are DONE with you. What do they care if the job is done right or not? They got paid-in-full. If you come back for more 'service', they get to pump you AND your wallet some more. If they don't see you again, there's some other sucker whose next in line.

 

Boy, I would think twice on commencing further with these guys.....You are surely asking for greater pain & misery...

Cut your losses & bail out NOW

 

It's all been laid out here but I am another who advocates getting your parts back and moving on. I lost >$1500 on an independent mechanic (not anybody around here ). Nice guy, kept trying, lots of stories. But in the end just couldn't get the job done. You can sue. You can go to small claims court. You can consider how much your time is worth. You can consider how much those parts mean to you. You can choose your battles.

In my case I think the guy had good intentions but was incompetent. Live and learn. Life is short. Any road do what's best for you and your car.

 

Exactly.

What got you into this problem is never asking for a written estimate. I've done the same thing.

But, like the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

You are going to let these guys keep your stuff without a written estimate of what it will cost to complete the job? I can see another nice big round number in the future.

There are only two explanations for why this has cost $5000.
1. They are ripping you off. In which case they are going to continue because you are a "rich ferrari owner."
2. As Rifledriver also said 10-20 posts back, they have put the time in to justify the $5K, but since the job shouldn't require that much time, it means they are inexperienced and therefore will probably do a bad job.

The principle of the thing way to go, is probably to go get the parts back, get a receipt so you can follow up later if something looks strange, but otherwise get out of there, and like the OP said, never speak of this transaction to your better half.

 

Here in PA it cost $100 to file a case in small claims court and you can sue for up to $8500. It's very easy.

Pay the $5000, get the parts back, then file a small claims case and see if you can get the money back if you have anything like that up there.

 

I don't know what one could sue for. It sounds as if the shop was actually working on the heads. They can probably very easily come up with an account of the number of hours they spent, at x dollars an hour. It would, in my opinion, be yet another $100 added to the $5k.

 

Other than the one you made way back at post #6.....

"You can lead 'em to water, but you can't make 'em drink!".....

 

First, congratulations on getting the heads (and block) back, and in great condition! That's a real victory.

Second, I would just forget about the money and move on.

You ended up paying $5000. How much would the job have cost at a reputable (such as Norwood Performance here in Dallas) shop? (Since they did a good job, maybe at the high end of a reputable shop's price...) The difference is the money that you're really out. (Maybe for grins, find out what a Ferrari Dealership would have charged for the job.) Even if it turns out that you overpaid by $3000 (which I doubt it'll be that much), anything that an attorney could do to recover the $3000 would cost you more than $3000 in legal fees. (By the way, I pulled $3000 out of my butt. I have no idea what the amount is.)

 

Let's see the work, what did they actually do?

 

This isn't legal advise, just my opinion based on past experiences.

I'm not sure how things work in Canada but in the states, your ability to succesfully "negotiate down" to $5K from $6.7K -(after the fact and without evidence of coercion) , suggests you consented to that as "a new agreement" - with full knowledge of all prior extenuating circumstances and in lieu of any older agreement. You'd be hard pressed to go back and get additional concessions based on what you presumed to be- the old agreement.

If the shop refused to release your material unless you paid an amount - that you neither agreed to or that could be shown to be unreasonable- then I think you could reasonably stop payment on the check and argue that this was a necessary drastic measure to retrieve your property and then - dispute the charges as a violation of a prior agreement. That's a much harder arguement to make NOW after you "agreed" to pay 5k upon seeing the completed work and being asked to pay 6.7k despite all the delays.

At this point, I'd write the shop a letter to document your dissatisfaction with the time frame and cost of the work in the absence of the requested estimate. I'd put them on notice that you no longer trust their integrity and that should any defect be found with their work, you'd be seeking monetary compensation to have another shop correct any deficiancies.

 

Me ? I'd sue the btards. Just for giggles. This is what courts are for; to sort through all the BS.

Did you contact your attorney generals office ? BBB is a joke and not a very good one.

 

wish i had a butt like that
could use one once in a while, my months are always longer than my paycheque

 

NM, I see you got your parts.

 

Take the sheriff with you so that you can keep the peace and it may intimidate them into doing what is right. Some dept. will do this for residents. Also ask for a complete breakdown of the charges and let them know ferrari tax is illegal in your town.Good Luck!

 

What if this complainer went to a reputable shop, got the message he had a clunker, didn't want to believe he'd been so stupid to buy a piece of junk, (The actual message was, " Sell it, swallow the $5K loss, call it education and move on."), and went to an unsophisticated shop and tried for the el cheapo solution? And now wants sympathy! Get with it folks. Sometimes one of us does something stupid and won't admit it. Why are you all jumping on the shop?

 

You seem to think that an "unsophisticated shop" is entitled to provide poor quality service.

I'm still wondering if the shop ever asked for a list of dimensions and tolerances, or if they had access to this info. What if they decided to grind 1/8" off the deck height on the block, in order to get a flat surface? It would look OK, but the pistons will be hammering on the head and valves.