Andrew's Mechanical Services LLC

This is a response to the complaint made by customer [redacted]. I was contacted by the customer via text message on April 5th 2017. he was interested in having his 1986 Suzuki cavalcade LXE 1400 worked on.He stated that he wanted to have a few things repaired on the bike, but that he...

wanted to source the parts out himself, and was interested in what my hourly wage was. I informed him that I am $60/hr  plus tax.I informed the customer that it was at least 2 weeks to even get into my shop. Summer is the busiest season for any motorcycle mechanic shop and most places are booked out for months during this season.  We eventually found a day that worked for our schedules and scheduled an appointment for him to drop the bike off for june 3rd On  June 6th, I supplied the customer with and estimate for $425.00, based on the box of parts that the customer had supplied me with to fix/replace, the 2 tire removal/disposal then new tire mount and balancing in addition to my hourly rate. Once I began to inspect the bike I found a list of written out things that the customer wanted me to complete within the bike,  in addition to the previous estimate. At this point I called him on the phone and explained to him that the initial  estimate I first gave him was incorrect, and that the cost would be much higher, based on the new list, and the work needed hourly to fix the things on the list. the customer said that he was ok with this, and that he still wanted me to complete the work. I also let him know at this point that the best way to correspond with me would be by phone because I did not like to do business over text message.  On Thursday  June 15th the customer contacted me and let me know that he was shipping additional parts to have me fix on his bike and that they would be to me within 3 days. I received the parts on Monday the 19th. It wasn’t until the 22nd that the customer informed me via text that his battery was going to need to be placed on a tender at all times because he had installed certain updates to his bike that would drain the battery if left  unattended. I had not completed ANY jobs on the bike at this point that would require me to turn the bike on and run it, so once I received this text inspected the bike and attempted to restart the bike,  but the battery had died. I called the customer immediately and apologized, explaining that the battery was dead and that I would place it on the tender to recharge it.  I also explained that I had a family affair from Friday until Sunday and that I was not going to be able to finish the bike until Monday, to which he agreed. Initially the battery was having difficulties charging on my tender.I called to inform the customer of this, but explained that I would continue to charge the battery throughout the day and see if it needed extra time charging overnight. He was incredibly upset by this information, telling me that I was an it, that I destroyed his new battery, and that I would be buying him a new one. at this point the customer actually hung up the phone on me before I could finish my sentence. I tried calling him back multiple times and left  a voice mail explaining this and instructing him to call me back to discuss all of this with him. The response I received was over text message saying that he would not be calling me again because he was too busy to talk over the phone, and that he was only going to text me from that point forward. That night ( the 23rd) from 1am until 7am the customer text messaged me continuously,  telling me that I needed to have his bike put together and ready for him immediately, and that he wasn’t going to pay me anything but the $425. He texted that he believed that I ruined his battery, that I was a worthless mechanic and that I was going to have to buy him a new battery. that morning when I woke up at 8am  I tried to call him again to discuss every thing, including that his battery was no longer dead, that I would have his bike back together and fixed by Monday, early afternoon and for him to return my call because I would not engage in a text messaging argument about business. The customer continued to refuse to call me, insisting over text that I return his bike immediately.  It was Friday and the customer insisted that I put his bike back together that day and have it ready for pick up on Saturday morning. Again I called to let him know that I had already stated that I could not complete the job until Monday, and that if he gave me the time that he would have his bike completed and ready to ride on Monday. He refused this over text, told me to not lay a hand on his bike again because he would not pay for anything that I was doing past the $425 and that I needed to fix and replace every thing for free and that he was going to call the police and tell them that I stole his bike if I did not agree to his terms. I called the customer again and told him over voicemail that he was free to come pick up his bike on Saturday, however since he did not agree to pay for the additional work needed to fix the job that I was in the middle of, that the bike would not be put together but that was his right as a customer to have me stop work and take the bike if he wanted. I was in the middle of repairing his clutch line on this bike which required me to remove/disassemble many parts to be able  have access to the area. Repairing the bike fully would have taken at least 3 hours and since he refused to pay for this I could not complete the work; Additionally I was leaving that morning (Friday) to go out of town and would not be back until sunday night, so there was no way for me to complete his bike even if I wanted to by Saturday morning. At this point the customer was so upset that he began insulting my person character, my intelligence, my business, and my family. he stated that he was going to call the police and report the bike as stolen if I did not do as he said and return the bike to him that day-friday. I told him that I would be happy to relese the bike to him, but that he would need to pay for the work that had been done to his bike thus far. initially he refused to pay and I informed him that he could have his bike as soon as he pays for the work. he told me initially that he would only pay me over paypal, and informed him that I was a business, and that I did not take payments by paypal, but that I accepted credit cards or cash, no checks. I sent the customer 2 copies of a breakdown of the work and the cost, and told him when he was ready to pay that I would be happy to take a phone payment, and once he paid that he could have his bike back. The customer continued to tell me that I was holding his bike hostage and that he planned to ruin my business because of how I had handled the situation. I was becoming concerned about the welfare of my family, home, and business, since I work out of my home and this customer was repeatedly threatening me, and acting irrational, so I decided to notify a police officer of the situation and have him watch my residence while the bike was picked up by the customer, seeing as how I would not be there and my 16 year old son would be at the house alone for a short period of time. The police officer agreed, the customer begrudgingly paid, and came to picked up his bike a few hours after I had left. hours after the customer had picked up his bike he continued to text me and tell me how I had broken his bike and ruined everything.I would respond with an apology,stating how the bike is not broke, it is just not fully put back together, which was his choice, and that had he allowed me the time he would have gotten his bike back on Monday fully operational. the customer tried to bargain with me a few times, telling me that if I finished the work that he would pay me $110 and then leave me alone. I informed him that I would no longer be do any work on his bike in the future and wished him good luck.  After a few hours of repeated aggressive unnecessary text messages I informed the customer that I think he misunderstands the meaning of broken, that his bike was not broken it was just not put together fully, that I hoped that he found a mechanic that he liked/ trusted to put his bike back together, and that since he had paid for the work and picked up his bike that our interaction was completed and that I would appreciate him stopping contact with me in this way. I stated further unnecessary aggressive text messages being sent is borderline harassment.The customer continued to tell me over text message that he was going to destroy my business and ruin my life, and at this point I stopped engaging in the text messages. I am unwilling to do any further business with this customer and have been advised by the police that it would be in my best interest to not have further contact with him. Due to this advice I will not be completing any future work on his vehicle.   Andrew's Mechanical Services LLCwww.andrewsmechanic.com