Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/01/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On or about July 27 2022, the shop owner at Florida Classic Custom Auto picked up my 1970 Chevy Nova from the Whole 9 Yards shop in Titusville FL. At the time I was in NY. The reason was that the Whole 9 Yards shop no longer had a mechanic and he knows someone to do the work. Mr. F**** (owner at the Florida classic custom auto) first question to me was " How much money do you want to spend?". My request for him was to install the parts that were inside the car, not to do mechanical work. Mr. F**** told me that my car engine need to be replaced and so on stating "If I see a problem, I'd rather fix it" Meanwhile, I never agreed with his estimate let alone extra work that he did. In fact, the estimate paper does not have my signature on it and also stating the work can not be done without the car owner's signature. For the time being I visited his office when I am home and he agreed monthly payment verbally and I paid initial 2500$. This week, I found a letter saying that he put a mechanics lien on my car and if I do not pay what he asked for, he will put the car on auction which had a selling date of 4/24, 10 am, 2023. I did not receive any notification or phone call (although my phone number is on file)since I was out of FL. I was not aware of the situation. Mr. F**** took advantage of my position. I demand the lien will be released immediately and negotiate the proper payment plan because the work was not authorized by me. The only reason I got the attached estimate which was NOT signed by me is because I requested it otherwise he was not going to.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/10/2023

  We spoke to Mr. ***** about picking up his 1970 Chevrolet Nova from *** ***** **** ***** after the paint work was completed. The description of work as per the initial conversation was to install parts that were inside the car and get the vehicle running. The car was picked up from the paint shop on July 27, 2022. We then spoke with Mr. ***** and advised that the valve covers had been left off the engine during the painting process and the engine was full of dust and paint material. Mr. ***** was advised that the parts in the vehicle were not everything to complete the engine and even if all the parts were included this engine needed to be cleaned and machined before being assembled due to the state of the internals. Mr. ***** was very upset with the painting company and stated we have to do what we have to do I just want my car running. Herb advised the customer that our labor rate here is $120 an hour plus materials. The customer asked for a ballpark estimate on what the total build would cost, and Herb told him to give him some time to price everything out and get a handle on everything that needed to be done as the trunk was full of miscellaneous parts and the engine was in pieces. On August 11, 2022, Herb spoke with Mr. ***** and advised him that the engine build would be in the range of $6,000 to $9,000 dollars. Once again Mr. ***** agreed and paid a deposit over the phone of $2,940.00 as he was out of town at the time and would come by the shop to see the progress when he returned. When Mr. ***** arrived at our shop after his trip to see the car Herb advised him of the progress and let him know a flywheel and clutch would be needed as well. The engine installation was completed on November 17, 2022. That day we called and spoke with Mr. ***** and let him know the vehicle was running and the engine was mechanically sound (the vehicle is still not road worthy as it needs suspension and brake work as well). We advised Mr. ***** after the deposit the balance due currently was $7,234.70 and we would need to collect on some of that bill prior to proceeding on the rest of the work to make the vehicle roadworthy. Mr. ***** stated he had fallen a little behind financially and would need a week to pay his bill. On December 1, 2022, we called and spoke with the customer again and offered for him to pay it off payments and he said that would be fine but never followed up with any sort of payment nor did he ever come by to see the vehicle. On December 22, 2022, the customer spoke with us on the phone and said he really wanted to pay it off in payments and would start after the holidays, however Mr. ***** never reached out and still had not come by to see his vehicle. On January 6, 2023, we called and spoke with the customer, and he said he would like a breakdown of charges, so we emailed a copy of the invoice to his email. In response to the email with the invoice Mr. ***** asked what the minimum is we would take on our invoice, as well as how much he could get for the car if he sold it. We advised once again that the balance due was $7,234.70 and if he would like to work something out to stop by and see Herb and they could discuss this. On January 17, 2023, the customer stopped by the shop to view his vehicle and said he would like to work out a payment plan. Herb told Mr. ***** that we would work with him in any way that we could, but we needed him to make some effort towards paying this bill even if it was $100.00. The customer stated he did not have his credit card with him but would call us that afternoon with his first payment which he said would be $1,000.00. We have not since heard from the customer and he has made no attempt to make any payments towards his balance. We offered multiple times to work with this customer and each time the customer made no attempts to resolve this issue. Each time we spoke Mr. ***** said he wanted to make payments but never paid 1 cent after the initial parts deposit. Although these estimates were verbal over the phone the customer was fully aware of what this project entailed and knew that he would owe money on completion. If any effort at all was made by the customer to resolve this the lien paperwork would never have been filed.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/24/2023

  In response to Mr. *****’s reply please see the attached photographs of the engine the day that it arrived at our shop. As stated by Mr. ***** at the time that it arrived at *** ***** **** ***** facility, they did have a mechanic on staff and were preparing to do a complete restoration on the vehicle. The valve covers were removed at some point before coming to our shop, we are not sure if they were removed by Mr. ***** or by the paint/body shop that was going to be restoring the car. The engine was covered in plastic during paint as seen in the photographs, however that does not fully protect it from dust and debris. The valve covers were not installed on the vehicle when it came to our shop, and you can clearly see they had been off for a period to allow an accumulation of dust, debris, and overspray. In the customers response he clearly states he was advised of the cost of the engine rebuild and paid the deposit to move forward. The customer was aware of what was taking place, he even came by the shop to see the vehicle during the process at which point Herb advised him the clutch and flywheel also needed to be replaced. The customer also never called back with the concerns he is voicing now that “that can’t be possible” regarding the condition of the engine. If Mr. ***** had reached out to say that it was not possible, we would have given him photo evidence that this was the case. We are a reputable shop and pride ourselves on honesty, integrity, and working with our customers to the best of our abilities to ensure they are satisfied. We offered to work with this customer multiple times. In the customer’s reply he even states that he had a $5,000 budget and paid a deposit of $2,940 so surely, he was expecting some sort of invoice at the completion of the project. Not one time after the final invoice was given did the customer make any attempt to pay towards the balance due nor did the customer reach out to us at any point after the paperwork was filed. Even to this day this customer has not contacted our business or anyone here at our facility to try to work this out. As soon as the deadline was up the customer started posting bad reviews and filed paperwork with BBB instead of reaching out to try and remedy the situation. The last contact anyone in our business had with Mr. ***** was on 01/17/2023 at which time he stopped by to see the finished engine and address his concerns with Herb. On that date Herb agreed to work with the customer and Mr. ***** said he did not have his card on him but would call back that afternoon with a payment of $1,000. Mr. ***** never called that day or any day after that. We were not aware that this customer had left the state again because the last time we spoke he was at our shop and was supposed to be calling that afternoon. This customer could have easily called that afternoon or any afternoon after that to let us know what was going on, but he did not. This customer had also previously communicated with our company through email. He could have just as easily sent an email saying he didn’t have the $1,000 that was promised on 01/17/2023 and asked for more time or leniency but he did not. After our last contact on 01/17/2023 we waited until March 9, 2023, to begin filing paperwork. That is well over a month that this customer had to reach out and try to work this out. Classic car restoration is very expensive, and our company understands that, and we work things out with our customers to the best of our ability but never have we had a situation like this one. We have never even felt the need to file lien paperwork on a customer’s vehicle, this is the first time this has ever happened. We are very easy to work with and this customer could have given us $100 to show us that he was trying to work this out and we would have been fine with it, however this customer showed no interest in making a single payment after the initial deposit and even asked in an email correspondence to our office how much he could get if he sold the car. I have attached a photograph of that email correspondence as well. You can also see in the email the customer did not dispute the charges on the invoice but instead asked if we would take less as if he would be paying the invoice all at once and asked for an estimate on moving forward with installing his rear end. If this customer thought, we were lying about the initial condition of his engine or that we were overcharging him for services performed why would he be asking for an estimate on more work to the vehicle? We have been more than fair and did not file any paperwork for four months after the engine work was completed. The customer had ample time to reach out to us and never did.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/25/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. please respond on if you sold the car, or not as of the public auction date as of 4/24/23. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *****