Bad professional install advice (long)

[Drowner 10+ year member]

I purchased a KDC-X979 from a local shop and had them install it along with some other equipment I had from a previous car. They charged me $300 for the install which I thought was a bit steep but I wanted it done right and I couldn't do it myself for a few months (busy busy) so I was ok with it.

Here is what the installation included:

HU.

Front components with the tweeters flush mounted in the door.

Crossovers in the door.

Two amps attached to a piece of carpeted MDF screwed onto the seat.

Speaker and Amp wiring.

I built the subwoofer enclosure myself. All they had to do is run a speaker wire to it.

I figure a simple install like this would take 2-3 hours if you know what you are doing and take your time to do a good job. They estimated 3-4 ($75/hr minus one wiring kit if your counting). I figured they were giving themselves some wiggle room which I took as a good sign that they were going to take their time. They were booked for 7 days until today (Friday) and put 9am-3pm for the install times on the invoice which really didn't bug me too much.

Well... after having my car from 9am to 4pm I gave them a call and they said "sorry not ready until 6pm" which was closing time for them. 5:50pm rolls around and I get a call that it's done. I run over there to pick up the car and they try to add on $15 bucks for spacers in the door. I said they should roll that into the $300 due to being 5 hours late with the car and the guy threw a fit saying "I can't roll it in, the computer won't let me" blah blah. Well, he finally ate the $15 bucks and threw the receipt at me. When I said "Thanks man, have a good one" he ignored me. So I chuckled thinking "not comming here again" shook my head and walked out the door.

So now I'm in my driveway setting up the HU when the windows started to fog up so I tried setting the AC to defrost. The fan kicked in and I felt cold air but I couldn't get it to change the direction of the air flow. I was like "oh crap... what did they leave disconnected." Then I tried the temperature nob. Nope, that didn't work either. I started to pop the dash off to see if it was something simple and I notice they didn't put any of the screws back in! I peeked at the HU screws and they looked just shy of stripped!

At this point I feel totally ripped off. They must have rushed the install so much that they couldn't even screw my dash back togeather?! I paid $300 for piece of mind and now I'm left wondering what else they broke. What am I going to do, take the door panels off and re-check all of their work?

Any ideas on how I should proceed? I don't think I trust n over there to pick up the car and they try to add on $15 bucks for spacers in the door. I said they should roll that into the $300 due to being 5 hours late with the car and the guy threw a fit saying "I can't roll it in, the computer won't let me" blah blah. Well, he finally ate the $15 bucks and threw the receipt at me. When I said "Thanks man, have a good one" he ignored me. So I chuckled thinking "not comming here again" shook my head and walked out the door.

So now I'm in my driveway setting up the HU when the windows started to fog up so I tried setting the AC to defrost. The fan kicked in and I felt cold air but I couldn't get it to change the direction of the air flow. I was like "oh crap... what did they leave disconnected." Then I tried the temperature nob. Nope, that didn't work either. I started to pop the dash off to see if it was something simple and I notice they didn't put any of the screws back in! I peeked at the HU screws and they looked just shy of stripped!

At this point I feel totally ripped off. They must have rushed the install so much that they couldn't even screw my dash back togeather?! I paid $300 for piece of mind and now I'm left wondering what else they broke. What am I going to do, take the door panels off and re-check all of their work?

Any ideas on how I should proceed? I don't think I trust them enough to fix what they messed up at this point. Ideally, I would take the car to the dealer, have them fix it, and have these guys pay the bill...

Thanks in advance!

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[packerfan 10+ year member]

Edit, nvm...

 

[BIG_SUPERMAN72 10+ year member]

Yea, id even take them to court man. You pay someone to do work espically $300 they better do it right. I mean thats bullshit. Im paying a guy 30/hr to put in a underbody kit.(neons) just because i dont wanna break a tube. I even bought a high priced kit from him. Which i coulda got a better one for that price. He was a cool guy. He says come check out my work to show you im not a hack job. He has a badass jeep wrangler i dont care for his audio equipment. But he does a nice job. He also makes custom Deck holders and he places neons behind them so they glow through. BTW: he told me and my buddy it would take about 2 hours to install. He said putting mine through the firewall should be easy. But he said Im gunna put that you will not pay over 270$ which would be 3 hours worth of work. Even if he has to work 20 hours. I thought that was something people should do to ensure that their work isnt "hurry through hack jobs".

Back to the taking to court. My mothers taking a guy to court because he did cement work around my pool. he figured out how much it was a sq ft for the cement. Well he overcharged her $800. My mother wasnt happy. She offered him the chance to come fill in more area so she could get her money back some how. he never even showed up. He did two other cement jobs on my street was the bad thing. Still no show. His house burnt down but still. Im sure he has time to schedule in a simple job. Because thats What he does for a living.

 

[mattj 5,000+ posts]

Go back and demand your 300 dollars back or to have it fixed. If not, talk to the manager and see what he said. Dont be scared to threaten with a lawsuit.

 

[Drowner 10+ year member]

Forums don't like Mozilla or Firefox? I didn't type the message twice. Maybe a mod can fix the message for me? I can't even seem to edit the **** thing. It just gets worse...

 

[slick316 10+ year member]

go the shop, and voice your concern. let them know that you paid for a service and you didnt recieve it. be professional. let them know that you DO NOT feel comfortable with them fixing the problem as they took too long to do it in the first place and they didnt even do it properly. tell them that you should be refunded or that they pay for it to be done properly (you'll bring them the bill once its done).

be cool, see what they say. if they get on the defensive (lets say they blame you for it), raise your voice a little and tell them that you will take "further actions" if necessary.

hopefully they are professional enough to admit there mistake at the least.

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

yea, take them to court. even if you convince them to redo it for free (not likely) they may just screw up again.

 

[Drowner 10+ year member]

I am definitely going back. I just wanted to bounce it off you guys to see if I was reacting appropriately. I am also wondering if I should call the car dealer first to get some prices... I am so frustrated about this.

 

[`pr0digy 10+ year member]

I'd give them a chance to make things right (talk to the manager) before threatening law suits.

 

[jleecong 10+ year member]

In Florida a shop must call for permission to charge you more than the estimate. They can't just do work and charge you for it. So that’s a simple one they didn't call to see if you were ok to spend the extra $$$ so they ate it.

Don't go in and be like WTF. Just calmly ask for the manager, maybe even the owner’s information so you can contact him if you still have problems. Explain that while you received your car with everything installed, the XXX, and XXX are not working and that you are a little concerned with the quality of work that they performed.

Explain you understand being busy and the car being rushed (why it was late) you just want things right. I doubt they will pay anyone to fix their work. I also wouldn't say you took anything apart or off or they may just turn it around on you.

I just had this battle Thursday with Discount Tire and my mechanic. I had new tires put on last week, this week (Thur.) I had new shocks and springs installed only to be called by my mechanic to say 3 lugs were cross threaded and they would have to be broken off and replaced. To make a long story short after a lot of talking and dealing Discount paid for the lugs to be replaced.

 

[phycophonetech 10+ year member]

any damage incurred in any shop should be fixed for free , you shouldn;t be paying for there mistakes , go there show them the work and demand it be fixed and stay there and watch them do it ,

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

First off DON'T take anything apart to check it! They could say that you voided their install warranty by taking things apart insted of bringing it back to them if you thought something was wrong. In most states the law says that you have to give them a REASONABLE chance to correct a mistake with their workmanship even if you don't feel comfortable with them.

From this point forward document EVERYTHING that happens from this point no matter how minor it way seem. Times, dates, places, people involved, everything.

Go back and speak to the manager and make him aware of the problem and give him a chance to fix it. Like someone else said be polite, and professional, and no matter what happens keep your cool at all times.

If they make good then every thing is ok but if they don't, then this is what you do.

1) Go get 3 estimates for a repair from 3 different but reputable shops( 2 at the very least)

2) Get your system fixed by the shop with the lowest estimate or the middle estimate if they offer a better warranty. NEVER go with the highest.

3) Go file a small claims suit at the courthouse against the shop that did the crappy work.

In your suit ask to be repaid the inital $300 bucks you spent and however much the repair cost is ONLY! You can't claim time off work, harrasment and stuff like that. You may be able to include court costs and travel. You can only claim travel if the repair shop that fixes it is not reasonably close

4) When you go to court simply tell the TRUTH, don't exaggerate, keep it simple and straightforward. Remember to bring ALL documents and reciepts. If they will, have the installer from the shop that does the repair work come as a witness, or at the very least have a signed and notarized affividavit from them, but a live witness for the judge to question is always better.

Remember to take all three estimates to court with you! Do this and you should be fine. I've seen so many people loss in court because they were ill prepared or because they didn't keep good records of what happened.... Remember in court the burden of proof is on you to prove your case and the first thing the judge is going to ask is if you gave them a chance to resolve the matter in a TIMELY manner..... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[ShakinSupra 10+ year member]

A friend of mine and I went to a shop to get an alarm installed in his car, and when they pulled it into the garage, the guy curbed the hell out of one of his 17" chrome Momo Arrows. We were polite about it and asked for a new wheel or for the wheel to be fixed, and they said that they would get a new wheel. Well, they strung it along forever, we went in every few days to bug 'em, and eventually they said they couldn't find one because they were no longer in production and we were SOL.

Then he talked to a lawyer, the lawyer made one call to the shop and he went and picked a $500 check. Paid for the alarm.

The shop was Sound Advice in Everett, Washington btw.

 

[Drowner 10+ year member]

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

I went back and after two and a half hours, everything is fixed. I spent 1.5 hours talking to the manager and then the owner of the place. It got a bit heated and the adrenaline was pumping. The owner's arms were actually shaking at one point. Once we both showed an understanding of the others POV, he agreed to fix everything and even carpet the box I made.

I'm not sure if I'll take him up on that or if I'll ever go back there again but at least I have working AC now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suave.gif.858fc102f7646e678ee8af7e1fbc41d1.gif

Thanks again!

 

[velko 10+ year member]

Let me go off here - WHY IN THE **** CAN'T PROFESSIONALS do professional jobs!? This shit happens all the time in every aspect of life. I was gonna tell you like a few guys did, you gotta be cool with them first, let them WEASAL their way out of THEIR mistake before you can get legal on them. People get REAL defensive when you point out how ****ing stupid they are.

I'm looking for a shop in Los Angeles if anyone can recom a good one. The last place I went to used DRYWALL ****ING SCREWS to put the comps in my door!