Not a good day at all.

[charlief1]

Well a few of you know that I opened a shop this spring. I had a good arrangement with my land lord up until yesterday. He asked me to repair his 94 ford F350 4wd powerstroke that has quite a few issues. He paid for the parts himselfClutch needed replacing, turbo had to be resealed, water pump was leaking, and one valve cover was leaking. This is about 18 hours book time so I charged him $650 for the labor. I even discounted it $120 because he's a friend and he bitched about it. He tried telling me I wasn't worth it and offered me $400 instead. I explaned that I had already discounted it for him and didn't charge him everything but he still was pissed.

Well this has led to him raising the rent that I was paying so now I will have to close the shop down. He's decided that I can afford to pay more since I ripped him off. Am I missing something here guys?

Just so you know I charge $45 an hour labor and I discounted it down to $36 an hour to save him some cash. This isn't right at all to me but it's what I have to deal with right now.

 

[Buicksx2]

That blows.........does he have a clue what that would cost him at a Ford dealer.

Hopefully you can find another shop to rent.

 

[TexasT]

One word, lease. Sorry to hear. The guy obviously doesn't have a clue, especially in this economy. Well, I hope you are able to get some new diggs worked out. You should have charged him full price and then some. Good Luck!

 

[charlief1]

Not even gonna try right now. I was just keeping my head up in this economy.

I have 2 customers cars here that I'm supposed to R&R the engines on. I've been waiting for them to come up with a down payment and one of them has been here for 6 months. I feel for them and now have to call them to tell them I can't do it. I'll be selling some of my stuff off so I hope I can find another place, but for now I'm out of business.

 

[Phoneguy]

Damn Charlie, that sucks!! I wish you well, hang in there.

Bryan

 

[longball]

Sorry to hear that, Charlie. Good things happen to good people so hopefully in the end it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

[joey316g]

This is truly a mess.....your landlord sounds like he needs to develop a lethal illness.. this is what has held me back for years from opening my own place...people will nickel and dime their vehicle to death....you know, the thing that takes them to work and make them money only to go to the bar and drop a couple hundred on drinks....I dont understand it....sorry to hear this.

 

[Pronto]

So much for a so called "friend". Keep looking, there must be somewhere you can run your business.

 

[SGRIM]

That blows.........does he have a clue what that would cost him at a Ford dealer.

Hopefully you can find another shop to rent.

Really! A ford place would have charged him thousands...

He sounds like a SOB, look at it this way. You may have gotten off easy. This guy sounds like he could be "one of them," and wind up costing your more in the long run...

Good luck man!

 

[TR Custom Parts]

That sucks. Guess you can scratch him off the friend list. Labor here in CT is easily twice the rate you charged him. So, guess he would rather have an empty place not collecting rent?

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Sorry to hear that, Charlie. Good things happen to good people so hopefully in the end it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

plus 1

This is truly a mess.....your landlord sounds like he needs to develop a lethal illness.. this is what has held me back for years from opening my own place...people will nickel and dime their vehicle to death....you know, the thing that takes them to work and make them money only to go to the bar and drop a couple hundred on drinks....I dont understand it....sorry to hear this.

plus 500 this is also true for their houses.



Maybe you can rent a bay somewhere just to keep you going until you can find another shop for your self???

My Mechanic had to do this when his work slowed down and now he is doing better then before as he does work that the other mechanic doesn't do and he is now getting all of the referrals plus the splitting of expenses.

 

[1 in 2000]

Always remember if it's not free it requires a signed estimate, no suprises or confusion. It may seem awkward in certain situations but it's in everyones best interest to have one.

 

[PLAINWHITE T]

It's funny that when it comes to money, some people will show their true colors. I've been in similar situations where someone I considered a friend turned out to become something totally different when it came down to the greenbacks. I'm sorry not only for your situation, but also for the fact that someone you considered a friend turned out to be nothing but a greedy back-stabber.

 

[charlief1]

The worst part is that the 82 GN is in jepardy now because I know how he and his kids are about dirt track racing. Yes, they really would cut it up to make a dirt car, I know this for a fact. I've already called my nephew and we're trying to figure out a cheap way to get it over to him for safe keeping. I've been starting to pack stuff up already and taking inventory so I know what I have in case he decides to pull something. One other guy has been sharing the shop so he can work on his car and I called to warn him so he doesn't get screwed.

I've already put apps in to see if I can find something for now just in case the worst happens. I'm selling several of my project cars on craigs list and will be selling some of my personal weapons that I haven't used in years. The bad part is my toys are all customs I built when I was gunsmithing so I doubt I'll get what I have in them.

Anyone need a Mauser custom 300 Win mag?:biggrin:

 

[818GN]

Well a few of you know that I opened a shop this spring. I had a good arrangement with my land lord up until yesterday. He asked me to repair his 94 ford F350 4wd powerstroke that has quite a few issues. He paid for the parts himselfClutch needed replacing, turbo had to be resealed, water pump was leaking, and one valve cover was leaking. This is about 18 hours book time so I charged him $650 for the labor. I even discounted it $120 because he's a friend and he bitched about it. He tried telling me I wasn't worth it and offered me $400 instead. I explaned that I had already discounted it for him and didn't charge him everything but he still was pissed.

Well this has led to him raising the rent that I was paying so now I will have to close the shop down. He's decided that I can afford to pay more since I ripped him off. Am I missing something here guys?

Just so you know I charge $45 an hour labor and I discounted it down to $36 an hour to save him some cash. This isn't right at all to me but it's what I have to deal with right now.

Did you sign a lease for the shop space?

If so, and I hope you did, you have legal options to protect yourself.

 

[bison]

Get your stuff out of there and then spend a day getting revenge. Just do some google searches. You can easily shove it up his ass and make it so he can't easily rent it. Lots of things come to mind. I've been on both sides of the $ thing. More often owed thousands. There is only about 3 people I know of that I'd 100% trust with my $. Other than that I need to greatly benefit from lending $ or it's a no go. If you lend money you can't care about what the person you lent the $ go has to go through to pay you back or you simply don't lend it. To me your landlord sounds like a real piece of chit and needs to be kicked in the sack as much as possible. You could wait a few months and seek revenge also. He's probably f'd over so many he won't even know who got revenge.

 

[GNTIM]

$650 to do all of that work???? WOW, thats cheap. The average labor rate around the DC area is $100 an hour. If I got back into shop ownership, I would want to own the building. I used to own a high volume repair shop for 7 years and hated the fact that I was only renting the building, they were always trying to squeeze more money from me and were lazy about fixing the heat and whatever else. Good luck

 

[88 CuttyClassic]

reason #1 i never suggest to my friends that they take their cars to my dads shop for repairs.

 

[regal-nut]

dont sell them toys!!!!!

 

[rmar]

Charlie,Charlie,Charlie, seems like we can't win for loosing. And if that is the case charge him full price and see how he likes that.
And if and when he don't pay.. And he won't. Put a mechanics lien on his sh&t.

I sure wish you lived closer. At the moment buildings are one thing I do have laying around.
I just sold a win mag. but I would like a 338.....:biggrin::biggrin: