North East Customs

Review: To, whom this may concern I [redacted] went to North East Customs [redacted] for my 56 chevy pickup truck to have some minor upgrades done to it on 12-28-13. After speaking with the owner whom I have known for some time ( [redacted]) agreed to the amount of $2000 total for work to be done within a month time period. We agreed that I'd bring him all the parts that I needed and I'd give him a deposit of $500 and if he need and thing like belts or fluids he would take it out of that money so I would get his discount prices as a dealer, and he was suppose to purchase a radiator the was the correct year for my vehicle.Work to be done to my truck was remove the manual transmission and install an automatic with a floor shifter (all provided my me). Change the radiator, add a custom gauge cluster, shifter kit in order to drive the vehicle along with the kick down cable, mechanical fuel pump,starter, battery kill switch, radio and speakers, windshield wiper motor for up grade, rebuild carburetor, drop the body ( meaning lower the front and rear of the truck by flipping the axles). Remind you this was a driving truck no issues at all just want some upgrade, he didn't even start my truck until a couple of weeks after taking it in, so it was getting close to the month mark they blew out the my new brake lines on the truck, so I had to replace them again. I asked when it would be done he said give him another week all the work would be done and that was the end January and the transmission hasn't even been done except he took out the old one. February comes he tells me I can come test drive my truck the transmission has been done and the radiator has been changed out. So again I go down to northeast customs to test drive the vehicle, I asked the owner if it's safe to test drive it that everything has been done (he says yes), and both me and my husband take it down the road and it wasn't driving right at all! The truck know pulls extremely hard to the right and the transmission won't shift at all, so the vehicle has no power. We go back to the shop and tell him what's going on and he says to us, oh I forgot to hook up the kick down cable that's why it's not shifting and the vacuum lines aren't hooked up still. At that point I was getting upset because my truck ran and drove fine before, he insisted that the pulling to the right was from the kick down cable not being hooked up. I tolled home that something's not right when applying the brakes, also on that day before test driving the truck we couldnt start the truck with a key because he took it upon him self to cut the wiring to my ignition, with no reason to why he couldn't answer us. So now in order to start the truck he had to rig the wires together and to shut it off you must disconnect the wiring in the dash (very unsafe). Now that I'm completely stuck because the truck wouldn't shift or drive safely I had to leave it to be finished. With addressing all the issues and all the time he swore that it would completely be 100% safe and everything fixed within a week.. So before the week was up I stopped by just to check on the vehicle and he wasn't their so I spoke with two of his employees and looked at the truck to see if anything has been done, and still nothing. When I looked under the hood at the (new radiator) it looked like someone smashed it with a hammer on both sides. Both employees didn't seem to know when the owner would be in, after 4days of trying to reach him In regards to this he ignored my phone calls and messages finally he called me. I spoke with him, and he swore it was a new radiator. I tolled him I refused to pay for that radiator because it looked like it came from a junkyard and I wanted a new one that I paid for, he said he can no longer get a new radiator from that company (which is a lie because I spoke with them). After yet another week he called and said it was completely done I can test drive it so I can take it, I expected all the work to be done that he was hired for. When we got their only the transmission was finish nothing else was done. We tested the truck and could even make it down the road, we pulled into the gas station and the truck wouldn't start we had to have him the owner come get the truck to start so we can bring it back to the shop. And when we go back to the shop march 8,2014 we had to call the cops because he gave me a bill saying I owed him $2757.34 on top of the $1500 I had already given him or I wouldn't be taking my truck back out of the shop ( no less it just broke down). I had to pay him and take my truck out before it got worse, the majority of the work didn't get done, and the work that did isn't correct at all. After leaving his shop I drove a quarter mile if that and the truck kept going off the road because of the pulling issue and when applying the brakes it wouldn't stop unless I slammed them to the floor. When I pulled over because of the brakes the whole cab filled with smoke and under the hood it was coming out the side, so I opened the hood antifreeze was shooting everywhere because the radiator had blown and the hoses snapped. Also the wiring that he had messed with for the ignition is all hanging down (fire hazard) and you still need to mess with it before it can start or shut off and the starter is bad and he put a hug whole in my exhaust when he had my truck on the lift, that wasn't their before. There are other things that I haven't mentioned but these are some of my biggest concerns. Everything on his invoice is the incorrect prices compared to the receipts he has doubled and tripled the prices along with everything else he has lied about. When going to north East custom I was tolled he was a certified shop and know I'm being tolled he is not, I appreciate any and all help so no one else gets hurt, I'm out a lot of money and a truck that doesn'tDesired Settlement: Id like all the money I have paid along with the money for parts thatvibhave brought to the shop that have been ruined by them and the ones that were not use on my vehicle yhatvi didnt recieve back. Along with cost for damages in the amount of $5000 to repair my vehicle the right way.