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Thread: Super Dissapointed in Calgary AutoWorks

  1. #1
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    Default Super Dissapointed in Calgary AutoWorks

    Working it out with CAW...

    Don't let this change your mind about going there, I believe I just didn't think about it enough and that I shouldn't be dissapointed.
    Last edited by Rocketright; 01-20-2011 at 04:42 PM.

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    .
    Last edited by Rat Fink; 12-04-2020 at 09:05 PM.
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    Sucks but I would do the same, I'm not running around getting little stuff for half my day taking time away from my day and not charging it. I've dealt with them before and it has always been pleasant.

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    I would have to side with the shop on this one.

    Based on your story, it sounds like they had to do alot of fucking around because you didnt supply ALL of the correct parts and didnt even have the courtesy to wash your car.


    IF and thats a big IF, I ever have to take my vehicle in to have any work done on it, I always make sure to wash it before hand.

    Having worked on vehicles in a shop previously, there is nothing worse than laying in puddles of water or having shit drop and fall all over you while working.. its just a common courtesy in my opinion.

    $5 bucks and 15 mins in a car wash could have saved you 30 mins worth of labour, at what $120/hour rate?

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    Your first mistake was e-mailing. Why would you do it instead of a 5-10 minute phone call? I'm surprised they didn't email you back telling you to call them.

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    i think you are in the right here man, wrong forum to try to vent about them. sorry to many fans here.

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    ...
    Last edited by Sugarphreak; 07-01-2019 at 12:21 AM.

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    Maybe my ego is fuelled too much by my car, but I'd be embarrassed to bring in a dirty pos for someone else to work on. Anyone who's worked on my car has always said the same thing, one of the cleanest, in the best shape. I've never been to Calgary AutoWorks, but it really does sound like they are in the right here. If you didn't bring them all the parts for the install, do you really think the time they have to spend tracking them down for you should be out of their own pocket? Same goes for taking the ice off the car. Shop rate is shop rate. I know you're young, but a little planning before hand could have saved you A LOT of money in this situation.

    A header install on an inline 4 is one of the easiest things to do, and would have given you great boost in confidence for working on your own car. I was doing headers on transverse mounted V6's when I was 16... and I have big hands!
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    Wow, it's pretty crazy how everyone on the board always chooses one side, whether it's right or wrong. I'm sure there's some fans of the shop here, but think about this logically.

    The shop shouldn't have charged him $800. From what I've gathered the shop rate is $100/hr. I see 3.5hrs including the defouler. I guess it did take them some time to order parts, maybe 1 hour MAX, now it's up to 4.5 hrs. Where does the other 3.5 come from?

    If they were in the shop working on another car or shooting the shit with co workers or something else that has nothing to do with your car then they should not be charging for it and it's that simple.
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    As I understood it

    - he emailed the shop ahead of time saying that some extra parts for the header might be required. The shop could have expressed concern to him before they started the work. It’s the OPs fault for not supplying all the parts, but it’s not like this was unexpected

    - Bringing in a dirty car? In -30 degreewinter weather? If I took my car to a wash now it would be dirty and iced over within 5 min of exiting the wash. It’s almost impossible to have a clean car on the road right now.

    - *hiding behind emails* Email is by far the best way to deal with this situation. Not everyone is a fast talking debater. With emails you can keep a calm head, construct arguments and make a coherent point outlining all the facts. At the same time the situation is documented incase it escalates.

    - You don’t bill someone $800 for a 2-3 hour estimate unless you inform the client during the work that the costs and estimates are going to change.

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    Great shop, but this situation is a little suspect. You should have made sure you had everything good to go for the install to save shop time.

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    You should be paying for the time they were working on your car (including cleaning the work area) and the time that their employee had to spend hunting down parts you did not supply. If you don't want to pay that, find out what parts you need and have them all there when you get it worked on.

    As for not paying, I find it really hard to believe that they let you leave without paying the whole bill. No one buys the part about a 16 yr old only having $500 on him and no access to more money when he is getting a 2006 RSX modded. Hopefully they will put a mechanics lien on your car.
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    I totally agree with ddduke. Everyone on here always sides with one side, even if it may be wrong.

    Op said he told the shop he might require more than the supplied pieces, they could have asked him which pieces and tried to get them before customer got there, or asked the customer to pick them up, but they didnt.

    And washing a car before bringing it in? Who does that? Maybe if you have a super nice car and want to have the image of always having a clean car, or maybe your car is always clean. But its kind of redic for a mechanic to expect a clean car, especially in the winter. Most carwashes are closed when its this cold anyways.
    Ive never cleaned the exterior of my car before bringing it in to a mechanic, and most of the time had it returned to me clean.

    And to the hiding behind emails comment, he voiced his displeasure face to face on the spot and followed up with an email, I dont think there would be a better way to do this.

    Lastly, the fact that the shop let him leave with only paying 475 or whatever shows they dont really care about the rest of the payment that much considering he told them hes gonna fight the total charge. They probably tried to scam him realised hes gonna stand up for himself and then backed off.

    props to OP. rest of the guys are chumps. if they were in your situation and were quoted however much for a simple install and it was doubled and you witnessed them working on other cars and screwing around while charging you they would eat thier words. they wouldnt be ok with it.

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    Never had any issues with CAW. Sam has always been very professional with me and I have been going there since I was 19.

    In my opinion, there must be more to the story than what was presented. It sucks that you had a bad experience, but maybe it's worth posting your invoice so that we can see what all those hours of labour were spent on.
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    Originally posted by Sugarphreak


    Washing your car before you take it in to a mechanic is common courtesy... last time I checked, having a shop wash your car was the common courtesy.
    This.

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    Custom parts are always a risk.
    Last edited by D. Dub; 01-14-2011 at 02:30 PM.

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    Originally posted by BigMass


    - *hiding behind emails* Email is by far the best way to deal with this situation. Not everyone is a fast talking debater. With emails you can keep a calm head, construct arguments and make a coherent point outlining all the facts. At the same time the situation is documented incase it escalates.
    +1. Always email. You also have a paper trail of the conversation.

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    First off, what does 16 have to do with getting ripped off. Did they ask for your age? I've been going to calgary autoworks for over a year now and im only 18. They're not treating you different just because you're a "kid". Myself and my dad have had great service there.

    If you were there for that long, why didn't you speak up and say something. A simple how far along is my car or how much longer will it take isn't that hard to do. If i have this right you got there at 9 and left at 5? So you were there sitting for 8 hours didn't say anything?

    Im not sure so don't quote me on this but theres only one tech at caw. So Chris and Sam standing out front doesnt really have anything to do with it.

    Also you if were there for 8 hours and got charged for 6.5, no they did not charge you the whole time.

    That being said aftermarket parts do not always go smoothly. Especially when you do not have everything you need there.

    Lesson learned pay up. Im surprised they let you pay half of it and go.

  19. #19
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    Originally posted by Errol.
    First off, what does 16 have to do with getting ripped off. Did they ask for your age? I've been going to calgary autoworks for over a year now and im only 18. They're not treating you different just because you're a "kid". Myself and my dad have had great service there.

    No they didn't, but they may think its easier to get off with just one kid coming in.

    If you were there for that long, why didn't you speak up and say something. A simple how far along is my car or how much longer will it take isn't that hard to do. If i have this right you got there at 9 and left at 5? So you were there sitting for 8 hours didn't say anything?
    I did, they said that it was a few minutes away. 30 minutes later were waiting for parts, and I was waiting on a gasket for like 4 hours.

    Im not sure so don't quote me on this but theres only one tech at caw. So Chris and Sam standing out front doesnt really have anything to do with it.
    Chris was in the back working as well a few times.


    Also you if were there for 8 hours and got charged for 6.5, no they did not charge you the whole time.
    Thats because they didnt start till about and hour after.


    That being said aftermarket parts do not always go smoothly. Especially when you do not have everything you need there.

    Lesson learned pay up. Im surprised they let you pay half of it and go.




    Also to all of the people saying "Clean ur car next time".

    The ice was from me cleaning my car in the cold weather, lol it was -25 that day, think it would work very good? No.

    They didn't "Hunt Down" parts, they used one shop and called them and told them to bring three different sizes. They did make 1 or two trips, but that didn't take more than 20 mins each trip. Well, when Sam left.
    personally a phone call shouldn't cost $2 a minute.
    I warned them about me maybe need bolts/gaskets. I assumed since they said 9am was good that they would have everything that was needed. I also told them about the defouler and everything.
    Last edited by Rocketright; 01-14-2011 at 06:50 PM.

  20. #20
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    Ignorance in this thread is high.

    Since Lawrence sold the business CAW has been in the shitters. The new owner who shall remain unnamed drove out his best tech and single handedly killed of a lot of his loyal customers. A lot of guys with deep pockets walked away from this fool. Taken him 10 years to build a shitty vw that doesnt run. Yeah, I want a guy who ISNT A TECH running a shop.

    Almost as bad as beyond technicians lolololol.

    Stories like this are VERY common these days. You are by no means the first or last person that has encountered these issues.

    -1 for all the fags up in here being on CAW's nuts when they've never even been there. They used to be top notch, I was a huge fan, and even before they became beyond sponsors I was preaching about lawrences skill. Before you run your mouths verify what you are saying is true.
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