Got screwed by a local machine shop

[Guest]

I took my Falcon SS headers to a local industrial machine shop to ask if they would be so kind as to face the mating surface of the flange. I was experiencing a little blow-by on one corner. (I have since gotten in a gasket special for headers - thicker) The guy there said no problem, shouldn't cost too much. I should have had him put it in writing. The shop charged me industrial rates! $345.00! I was enraged, as I paid the bill. And these guys are supposed to be friends of mine. I can only pray that one of the owners has an emergency toothache. Moral of the story: get it in writing.... They didn't even do that great of a job.

Bill

 

[sammyb]

Charge it back on your credit card.

Look at the bright side, my friend had a big block chevy engine blow-up because a machine shop screwed-up. As I understand it, they took his engine, blew him off for about 6-8 months, then machined it wrong. When the engine blew, he went back to the machine shop, which hosed him around just long enough to allow the owner to sell the shop, so he had no recourse.

 

[Grantura_MKI]

Sorry to hear. Next time, take them to your local muffler shop. I live in a small village, and the muffler fitter will surface manifolds and headers in his shop. Best of luck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cowboy.gif

 

[SilentUnicorn]

Good lord.. that is absolutly ridiculous. i work in a machine shop, and while a job like that is what we call a walk-in, there is no way it would ever cost anything near that. Geeesh.

 

[dklawson]

Even with making some kind of special fixture to face this off it shouldn't have been that expensive! Sorry to hear about this. I hope that in the end everything at least seals up now!

 

[waltesefalcon]

I'd say go talk the owner about the charge, then talk to the better buissness bureau if you get no satisfaction from the owner.

 

[sp53]

Hi Sammy was that in Tacoma?

 

[bobh]

Bill,

To be fair to all involved parties. You should ask why they charged so much. Obviously there was some degree of miscommunication. Shops generally charge by the hour. Ask how many hours were required. If it seems excessive, ask them to explain the number of hours required.
My brother had the intake manifold for his TR250 faced to eliminate warpage. It was around $50.

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi Bill,

That *is* outrageous! I would ask them if they put the decimal point in the wrong place!

I had a similar experience when I looked for a shop to press and ream bushings into my TR's lower control arms.

It's not a big job and I'd do it myself, but the reamer is a pricey and specialized tool that I don't have. So, I provided all the parts, asked a local shop for a quote on the labor and was told $80 apiece.

That would mean $320 for about a half hour's work, to do all four of these bushings on a TR! Fortunately, I only needed two done. Still, I refused. As I walked away the price dropped to $60 apiece. After a little more haggling I ended up paying $40 apiece and still felt ripped off.

Worst part was, it turned out the shop didn't have a proper reamer either! They did the job with a drill bit and the result has a wink of play in it. I just got a new set of bushings and am shopping for a reamer, will re-do it myself eventually.

Most shops are professional, reasonable and earn every penny they charge. It's those few that are "making it up as they go along" that you need to watch out for!

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT17602L

 

[Mark Jones]

[ QUOTE ]
My brother had the intake manifold for his TR250 faced to eliminate warpage. It was around $50.

[/ QUOTE ]

My experience is the same. I paid about $50 for the intake manifold on my Spitfire to be planed.

 

[Guest]

To top this off, I ordered and got in a set of 14 chrome-moly head studs for my TR6 from M**S Motors, at a price of $159.00! The label on the ARP box said Toyota Supra. I called ARP with the code number and he said those are metric and should be a different stud. I told him to just ship the correct studs to me direct from ARP, at $101.00! If my math is correct, that is almost a 60% price differential.
What in the world is going on here. Is everyone in the world out to get us??? I will go to the machine shop tomorrow. I sent the check in because I am the type that ALWAYS pays my bill, no matter how badly I get screwed.

Bill

 

[Guest]

I've found that the markup at Moss is often quite high. I'm not knocking them to much, they are helping to keep our hobby alive, but sometimes the prices are just crazy. When I bought my Facet electric fuel pump Moss wanted over $80 bucks for it. I found it online at a VW supply store in Texas for $35 bucks. I still buy from Moss, but I usually do some research beforehand on the part to make sure it might not be had from somewhere else for cheaper. If the markup at Moss is only a few bucks I'll still buy it there to support them, but when you're looking at a 50-100% markup it's time to look elsewhere.

 

[vettedog72]

Bill:
Report him to the Gov's hot line for price gouging!
Hard to believe it would be >$50.

 

[jayjay]

I blame the demise of the small, local parts outlets. Used to be the parts house had a machine shop in back who would do most work reasonably, figuring that you would return for parts as needed. Now, with the advent of Advance, AutoZone, etc. the machine shops left (there is one here in my town) have to make all their money from the work they do. I had a h**l of a time finding one who would just do a simple flywheel surface. As far as prices from Moss, etc., you have to remember the exchange rate. Stuff they have to get from the UK just isn't cheap anymore, although I do think they area little on the high side.

 

[Hayfever]

[ QUOTE ]
I blame the demise of the small, local parts outlets. Used to be the parts house had a machine shop in back who would do most work reasonably, figuring that you would return for parts as needed. Now, with the advent of Advance, AutoZone, etc. the machine shops left (there is one here in my town) have to make all their money from the work they do. I had a h**l of a time finding one who would just do a simple flywheel surface. As far as prices from Moss, etc., you have to remember the exchange rate. Stuff they have to get from the UK just isn't cheap anymore, although I do think they area little on the high side.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stuff they have to get from the US is expensive too. For example:

Mity-Mite Battery Charger (Moss)

Same Charger (from the Manufacturer's website)

Another store (found with Froogle)