I will not pay for work before it is done.

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zhandfull

zhandfull

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Called a local place to shorten and respline my axles. I have already been warned that the place takes forever to get things done. Their working hours are 10am to 5pm.

I call today to take them down and drop them off. Just want to make sure they are there and the guy tells me cash in advance. I tell him no thanks I don't work that way.

I just don't want to be in a positioned to get double $crewed if you know what I mean. It would be bad enough if they screwed up or lost my parts. But if I had already paid them kind of leaves me as a lame duck.

If he has my part and I have his money I feel a lot better about both of us getting what we want in the end.

Rant over. :violent1:
 
Your only defense in a bad situation is to withhold payment. I have never heard of payment in advance for service work. They have your parts or car, so they know you are coming back. Sounds shady to me. I would go somewhere, anywhere else. This is just trouble waiting to happen.
 
The way the economy is shops--and others--have been screwed over by customers who never come back with the money. Then what do they do, try to sell your parts that few people want to buy.

If its a engine block and along with it you drop off new pistons to fit in the bores, then they got something worthwhile to sell, your shorten axles would have few buyers if you pull a no show.
 
If you have to worry about it that much then maybe this ain't the right shop. I'd gladly give Tony or Matt from my local body shops the $2k up front to paint my Dart if they really wanted it that bad. Small town, recommended by one of my best friends, etc....

It's best to start off on the right foot with the shop you plan to use. Trust is a 2-way street. I agree on the 1/2 now & 1/2 when complete as a good suggestion.
 
mopar head said:
1/2 down
other 1/2 upon completion.
should make both partys comfortable? jmo
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To me there is always risk of the parts being lost, stolen, or not serviced right. If any of those things were to happen I wouldn't feel comfortable losing half my money in addition to the part not being returned or being made useless.

dodge freak said:
The way the economy is shops--and others--have been screwed over by customers who never come back with the money. Then what do they do, try to sell your parts that few people want to buy.
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I see it differently. The way the economy is I'm not sure if the shop is going to be there tomorrow. Then if there gone with both my part and money guess I get double screwed.
 
Where exactly are you located? I don't know what they are going to charge But I had Moser do a pair last year and it was $110 plus shipping both ways. They called when they were done and I paid with a credit card or they would have returned them COD if I wanted.
 
Its getting crazy out there. Friend had some crank work done, and the guy was taking forever, after ignored calls, he finds the shop padlocked and emptied. No forwarding address on the stacked up mail. So he lost a cast crank (not a huge loss) but he lost it non the less. 1/2 in advance would have been 1/2 lost. Its getting so you cant trust anyone these days.
 
zhandfull said:
I also see money as an incentive to motivate people to do work. Well at least it motivates me.
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I agree, maybe that's why they have been slow in the past, customer drops parts off pays in advance, now you are at their mercy.
 
furz4 said:
Where exactly are you located? I don't know what they are going to charge But I had Moser do a pair last year and it was $110 plus shipping both ways. They called when they were done and I paid with a credit card or they would have returned them COD if I wanted.
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That sounds fair and I might end up doing this or just ordering some new axles.
 
I'd never pay or service work in advance.

Why should they do the work on any kind of schedule once they've got your money?

Lots of chassis and engine shops go for the half how half later thing. Then they spend the 1/2 they got from you to finish the last guys job and have to wait for another sucker to come in to get the money to finish yours.
 
zhandfull said:
The way the economy is I'm not sure if the shop is going to be there tomorrow. Then if there gone with both my part and money guess I get double screwed.
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Yea that is a great point, big problem with pre-paying for anything. This has happen to folks who pre pay for a vacation and then the travel company goes under and they got nothing.
 
LXguy said:
I'd never pay or service work in advance.

Why should they do the work on any kind of schedule once they've got your money?

Lots of chassis and engine shops go for the half how half later thing. Then they spend the 1/2 they got from you to finish the last guys job and have to wait for another sucker to come in to get the money to finish yours.
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That's kinda my point about paying up front. To me it shows weakness in the business in general. If they can't cover labor and overhead for a service for a couple days or even a week. Then my thought is will they even be here when I get back.
 
Please tell me that wasn't Mondo?

There are quite a few places somewhat local to you that can cut and spline axles.
 
crackedback said:
Please tell me that wasn't Mondo?

There are quite a few places somewhat local to you that can cut and spline axles.
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It was Sutton

Nothing against the companies that have this pay first policy. It seems to be a good deal if you can get it.

It just doesn't work for me as a customer.

I guess just a little surprised about the split in people that are willing to turn over parts and money before they get anything in return. Most strong reputable companies will do service work like brake jobs and machine work without any deposits. Longer jobs of course should have progress payments as work is completed like paint and body as an example. IMO

If you have local companies that can do this work maybe you can PM a couple to me.

Thanks
 
If someone wanted something like that, I'd charge it on a credit card... At least you have some recourse.

Not sure what's going on with Mondo et al. I do realize that they have a pretty specific part left if you did bail.
 
crackedback said:
If someone wanted something like that, I'd charge it on a credit card... At least you have some recourse.

Not sure what's going on with Mondo et al. I do realize that they have a pretty specific part left if you did bail.
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Thats what they were saying to many people not picking up parts. Hard for me to understand that, but guess it could be true.

I just don't like the balance of power by paying first. Seems to be a bad position for the customer and thats why in most cases I won't do it.

I understand nobody wants to loose any money but there are risk for both the business and customer in most all transactions. However if you pay first then all the risk is shifted to the customer or at least thats the way I see it.
 
Its kinda like going to eat, the greasy not so great places like McDonald's make you pay first, but a nice restaurant will have you pay later after experienceing all the services provided. Same hold true for just about any other industry.
 
NOOOO thank you! LEARNED my lesson! hard way!!! been there done that. didnt get what i was promised still paid full. took the guy to court and had no proof....
 
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