I'm crushed - Indi Repair Shop

[avi8torny]

Trying not to be a drama lama, but I am honestly crushed....

I've known the owner of an Indi repair shop going on 35+ years. Relationship started when I was a LEO in the town where his shop was and "Joe" was the guy we called for all the tow's and maintenance repairs on our own cars. Through the years I always stopped in, brought coffee, mostly chit chat some time away and brought him the inspections and repairs that were outside the scope of my time and/or abilities.

Fast forward to this past week, the A/C in my daughters 2010 Civic ****s the bed. It just quit. Fan still runs, but no cool. Brought it to Joe and he thinks the compressor is bad because the bearings typically crap out over time. Great.....do what you think is necessary.

Picked it up today. New compressor plus labor. The invoice says it's a new Compressor from Honda. $500 for the part and 3.5 hrs labor because it's a pain. $900 total. I ask Joe if the OEM Honda compressor is from Japan and he says yes.

Get home and discover it's a UAC Compressor from ******** from China. My out the door retail is $179. His cost obviously less. WTF.........

Just a crappy feeling I am having. Not because of the $$, just a ruined relationship over a lie. People suck some time. I'm friggin' crushed.

Rant over, thanks for listening.

TD

[fintstone]

Maybe a mistake...ask the question before you judge/end a friendship.

[pavulon]

They look the same!

[island911]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Maybe a mistake...ask the question before you judge/end a friendship.

good advice.

maybe he though he bought an OE compressor and was given the another... maybe even in an OE box.

good to see you still chiming in, btw.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by avi8torny

from ******** from China. My out the door retail is $179. His cost obviously less. WTF.........

Shame your man didn't listen to Mr. Trump. Him say "no more China". Ya know, somethin like that. He will save us all.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by island911

good advice.

maybe he though he bought an OE compressor and was given the another... maybe even in an OE box.

good to see you still chiming in, btw.

Please don't encourage fint

Me smells a rat. I'd go have a face-to-face with him...listen and decide then.

If as you suspect....done !

People suck, and when it comes to $, some REALLY suck.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by KC911

Me smells a rat. I'd go have a face-to-face with him...listen and decide then.

Could always go in and ask politely "Are you sure that's a Japanese compressor? I see such and such on it"

Then hear the story. May be worth a couple hundred $$ back.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Boat payments aren't cheap.

It's probably not a mistake. Honda compressors come in Honda boxes. UAC compressors don't.

best advice, do it face to face, bring the car, be ready to show how it's not the compressor you were expecting.

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

...go in and ask politely "Are you sure that's a Japanese compressor? I see such and such on it"

Then hear the story. May be worth a couple hundred $$ back.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Could always go in and ask politely "Are you sure that's a Japanese compressor? I see such and such on it"

Then hear the story. May be worth a couple hundred $$ back.

You are right Bob....

But when he tells you the Made in China is 'cause the Japanese can't speel their own country correctly...then what ?

Could be an "honest" mistake...he'd make it "right" and his story is what matters imo....not the $.

[manbridge 74]

He’s the owner not the installer, he might not even know this happened. The parts guys here? I always double check what parts I’m actually getting against my list and even then things slip through the cracks. The install guy might not have been told your request etc. You should at least call the owner...

[Noah930]

I hate confrontation yet I would still go back and ask about the discrepancy between the invoice and the installed part.

If you told him "do whatever is necessary," that doesn't necessarily mean fix with OEM/factory parts. But if I paid for a Honda part, then I want a Honda part, not aftermarket. Either refund the difference, or go back and install the correct part (and I'm not paying for the extra labor, 'cause I've already paid for it once).

[avi8torny]

Update
Joe is the owner, installer and parts man. Went to him this A.M. and laid it out. He said his parts supplier charged him $300 for something that I can buy for a little more than half that and then invoiced me $485. I told him I don’t mind paying for the lights, but not the boat.

He wanted to “talk” with his parts supplier on Monday because he feels he is getting screwed. I’m thinking that I’m the only one on that train. Suck.

[KFC911]

I'd tell him straight up...don't bother....this train has left your station.

Utter B$....over $

[manbridge 74]

OEM parts come from the maker. Not sure how this guy thought he was getting a Honda part to hang on your car from anywhere other than Honda. Which he then installed anyway.

[island911]

^ strong point ^ from afterburn 549 as well.

Originally Posted by KC911

Please don't encourage fint

Me smells a rat. I'd go have a face-to-face with him...listen and decide then.

If as you suspect....done !

People suck, and when it comes to $, some REALLY suck.

Hard x understand U L8ly

crypt weird nessy

U ok? no?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by avi8torny

Update
Joe is the owner, installer and parts man. Went to him this A.M. and laid it out. He said his parts supplier charged him $300 for something that I can buy for a little more than half that and then invoiced me $485. I told him I don’t mind paying for the lights, but not the boat.

He wanted to “talk” with his parts supplier on Monday because he feels he is getting screwed. I’m thinking that I’m the only one on that train. Suck.

Over the years, I've seen many, many people (women and men) screwed in small and very large ways by repair shops. It's really, really hard to find a good shop. Maybe times have gotten tough for him somehow. Maybe he's just been slowly slipping further and further from being one of the good guys over the years while trying to compete. Maybe he's still honest and you're both getting screwed. Once you've got doubts, it's really hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

My condolences on your loss (really, I understand).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by island911

Hard x understand U L8ly

crypt weird nessy

U ok? no?

He's been possessed by the spirit of OJU.

[island911]

He's been possessed by the spirit of OJU.

ODDJOB UNO that's it!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

some bad information in this thread so I went downstairs and talked with the manager at the parts runner below me. This the warehouse parts supplier that repair shops call to have parts delivered.

First, they can get genuine Honda, Honda box and everything, parts. They just call the dealer and the dealer brings it to them and a runner brings it to the repair shop.

Second, and sadly not the case here, each car mfg. has it's own source for brand new cars. Honda doesn't make alternators, they get them from Denso. Same with AC compressors. So if TD opened the hood and had found a Denso with no Honda labeling anywhere on it, he would be assured that it's the same part Honda has at the dealership.

I do this all the time with my BMW. Find out who the OEM mfg. is for a part, like coil packs, and the get those for 1/3rd the price of what the dealer wants.

Manager also said your shop owner would know what he put in, no real chance for mistake.

[manbridge 74]

While true above, there are often counterfeit parts out there which can’t compare to OE. “Made in *****” doesn’t mean what it used to.