B&B Automotive Service & Restorations

1964 GTO – [redacted]In August of 2013 we were contacted the customer about a 1964 GTO he purchased on the internet which was close to our shop. We were originally told it was a highly valuable car that would need minimal bodywork, paint and assembly. We provided a quote on 08/25/13. When we...

picked the car up on 09/06/13 and brought it to our shop, it turned out to be in a lot worse shape then anticipated. We sent an updated estimate of $31,273 for the restoration on 09/08/13, and told him it could go higher. We set up a 4 payment schedule of approximately $7,800 for milestones including Initial Deposit, Completion of Frame and Suspension, Completion of Bodywork, Completion and Delivery. We were given the green light to proceed based on this estimate and schedule (I have an email dated 09/11/13 ” Jim, Please proceed as per your 9/8/13 estimate and yesterdays telephone conversation. Thanks, [redacted]”  . We were assured money was not an issue. This is where things started to unravel.Instead of the agreed upon $7,800 for the deposit, he was only able to send $3,000 on 9/30/13. We were told that another payment would be sent as soon as possible. In good faith, we proceeded to start work on the car. On 10/07/13 we only received another $550.00. This became the ongoing struggle. On 12/09/13 we received another $3,000, which still did not bring us up to the initial deposit. We worked on the car, and provided constant updates from 09/11/13 to 01/16/14. I have over 149 back and forth emails to this effect, including over 150 pictures.In January of 2014 we had to get another payment to proceed. We sent several emails and phone calls which went unanswered. Again, to this point we had only received $6,550.00. At this point we had no choice but to put it in storage as of 01/16/14 and move on to paying customer projects. We did not receive another payment until 06/29/14, almost seven months after several promises of payment.In this time frame, it should also be noted that he sent us thousands of dollars worth of parts to store. We also did not charge any storage charges for the car or parts  while waiting for payment, which we could legally do.We did finally receive another $5,000 on 06/29/14 via PayPal. We did make a mistake, as it was erroneously assigned to another project, and after apologizing profusely the adjustment was made. However, due to an increasing workload on our side, we were not able to get back on the car for some time. Basically he lost his spot in the line up due to lack of payment.In April of 2015 we pulled the car out of storage and decided the best course of action was to get the car blasted. Unfortunately the car was stuck at the blasters until 11/16/15. This was beyond our control. After receiving the car back form the blasters, the extent of the rust and damage from previous repairs was extremely visible. We informed the customer and at this point, the car had to go back into storage until a spot opened up. In April of 2016 we were informed that the customer had lost his business and could no longer proceed with the project. We came up with a plan to complete as much as we could with the positive balance we had of $4,385. This included replacing the trunk pan, inventorying and packing thousands of dollars of parts,some assembly for transport and putting the car in a heavy coat of epoxy primer. I did inform the customer on 08/01/16 that there was not time or $$ to complete the rear quarter, and we would refund any balance he may have. On 08/31/16 he was issued a refund of $190 for the remaining balance.We prepared the car and all the parts for transport on 08/05/16 (a Friday), which we were originally told was when the company would be picking up the car. We were not open on that Saturday, and the customer and driver were made aware of that. We were told to put a note with the car and parts releasing it to the shipping company (I still have a copy of the note). The driver picked up the car and parts on Saturday I was told there were no problems with the pickup and delivery. The customer had every chance to inspect the car and parts at that time.We received a call on 09/28/17 from the customer stating the VIN tag was missing. I informed him that it was indeed attached when it left out shop SIXTEEN months ago. There is no reason we would detach it, and it is off no use to anyone once it is reported to the DMV. He insisted that we must have taken it and are responsible. Several times I requested pictures of the area where the VIN was supposedly attached and received nothing but threats. We did not remove ANY tags form the car, and have no responsibility in the matter. What happened in the SIXTEEN months it was out of our control I do not know.Not once was it mentioned about incorrect parts or glass in any of our previous conversations. The glass was all packed in blankets with care and were in one piece when shipped. As for the core support, this was a deal between the customer and the previous seller of the car, we only picked up the parts. Again, this is 16 months after the car was shipped.In summary, we have completed over 80 projects over the course of the last nine years with no official complaints until this one. As in any business, yes there have been issues with some customers that we resolved amicably. Our reputation is very important to us. This was a very difficult customer from the beginning, he did not adhere to the payment schedule listed in the estimate, and promises of payments were not kept. We tried diligently over the course of 3 years to work with the customer within the constraints of his ability to pay. We continued to work with him honestly right up to packing and shipping the car and parts. I can not reiterate enough that we have no idea what happened to the car and parts in the 16 months since it left us. We will not be held responsible for anything done to the car while out of our control, and will vigorously  defend ourselves in court if needed. I have over 140 emails and hundreds of pics to back up our claims.