HeadSwap Question, Need advice

Man this is my soapbox! First off, you should ask them why you can get a full exhaust from California in 4-5 business days, but it takes them a month to get in some head gaskets that they should have in their warehouse anyway. And also, how many other cars have been there for a month and a half, that deserve to get in front of you. You have to remember that you are the customer. They are working for you, not the other way around. You should not have to suffer because these mechanic lackeys are screwing you around. All that you have to do is ask to speak to a supervisor and say,"I thought when I bought this ford from you, I was also buying great service. If I thought for one second, when I was still considering buying this car, that something this simple would take sooooo long, then I would have thought twice about buying it. And if this is how your mechanics prioritize people at random, then I cant understand why people buy from you at all." The thing is, no one wants to have an unhappy customer on their hands. Especially not in front of other customers. And the great thing is, its not like a restaraunt, where the cook can spit on your burger because you looked at him wrong, and he knows that you will never check, because if they are doing the work, then it should be under warranty. I had some *******s working my car for about two weeks, just trying to figure out why it wouldnt start. First they said that my flywheel could have a bad tooth in it, but I told them that I checked that before I brought it in. Then they said that they thought it was the fuel filter.....COME THE @#$% ON! Like I would let them fix something like that for $500! I checked that also before I brought it in. Turns out that when I talked to the manager of the service department, my car was diagnosed that afternoon to have low compression, and likely bent valves. Now theres an answer. Just try getting a little bent out of shape, and dont worry about looking like a jackass, because anyone without a car for 1.5 months would understand as well. Theres my answer. Sorry about that.

tell them they are full of crap and if they don't have it finished in the next 2 days you are coming to get it and not paying them a dime. It should take no longer than 2 days to do the headswap. You can have the gaskets next day if you order from the ford dealership. I wouldn't pay them anything and if they want to get mad about it tell them you will go get a lawyer. a lot of mechanics nowadays aren't worht a crap. Most high performance shops have bad names because they don't have trained profesionals they have people that say that they can turn a wrench.

man thats messed up, ur caught between a rock and a hardplace on this one. I wouldnt wanna talk **** unless you can stand guard over ur car to make sure no ****face sabotages it on purpose. But then again, when u had enough call and say that ur coming w/ a tow truck to haul your car outa there, and on the way will be givin the Better Business Bearuea a ring to have the shop placed on their black list. youd be surprised how much things can get moving as soon as they figured out that ur not just some moron they can take for a ride..

97GTSTANG said:

yea, thats what i have to do is go and pick it up with a tow truck, but i dont want to pay them anything because they didnt do what i asked them to do for me to pay them. but then again i wont get my keys if i dont pay. so i dont know what to do. i am prob going to wait a few more days and see whats goign on

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Sorry to hear about all of your troubles! I think you will probably do best to try to be patient with them, while not taking and "stuff" from them. I have found in the past it is not good to rush a mechanic or body man. They can get it done fast, but not necessarily the way it should be done. By the way, where in VA are you? I want to make sure I don't get involved with this shop. Please PM me the details, and I will fill you in on a shop or two I know in VA. Thanks and good luck!

Tell them if they dont have your car ready in 2 business days you will be contacting the BBB. If they made a verbal agreement with you on time that is good enough to file with the BBB. As long as they dont have you sign anything that voids any specific then your fine and they should be very responsive to you once you threaten.

kirkyg

I work at a privately owned performance shop. If I were you this is what I'd do:

Call and BE VERY NICE and ask to talk with the guy in charge of their Service Dept.
Explain to him your situation and think of a good reason you need your car back soon
Compliment everything you can with the guy.

This will give the owner sort of a guilt trip, and he'll get things done for a nice guy long before he will get things done with an *******.

Good luck!

I would call them until I am blue in the face.Like every hour, call them and ask if its done, until they tell you when you can expect it...like tomorrow.If you bug them enough they will get it done.Also go there EVERY day and check if its done.Pretty soon they will get mad and just finish it, hopefully they wont do a bad job.I would go back over all the head bolts and check them just incase the left on loose on purpose because you were bugging them...on second thought check everything.

70stangcoupe said:

I work at a privately owned performance shop. If I were you this is what I'd do:

Call and BE VERY NICE and ask to talk with the guy in charge of their Service Dept.
Explain to him your situation and think of a good reason you need your car back soon
Compliment everything you can with the guy.

This will give the owner sort of a guilt trip, and he'll get things done for a nice guy long before he will get things done with an *******.

Good luck!

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with all due respect i think the guy is being TOO nice. He isn't even pushing them he is just asking. They are not treating him like the shop you work for would. Believe me i hate nothing more than a hard to deal with customer at my job that starts talkinga bout calling the BBB etc. But its all in how you deal with the customers. If you treat them right and they are just unbelievably hard to please then its not the businesses fault. However, the BBB was founded to deal with disputes between the two groups and indeed this guy has a MAJOR dispute. He might not have evenr put his car in their hands if he knew it would take even half of the time its already been in there.

I believe he is beyond the being nice stage. And its proved to get him nowhere.

kirkyg

first off.. waiting on gaskets.. thats BS any parts store in the united staes has a gaskets set for the 4.6L, so thats crap.. an headswap can be done in a day.. i asume your doing a PI head swap.. thats a 4 hour job at my work..