07SGT0517 Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 So I installed my new Tociko shocks and steeda hd mounts last weekend. And took my car in the the shop to get an alignment and get my camber set (Wednesday). I get the car back, it was raining. So I wait to check it out. Finally its dried up some. I notice a 5 inch scratch on my hood from them taking out my hood-pins. So I was pretty pissed about that. I ordered some new bushings for my sway bars because mine where getting a little worn. So I go to take off my wheels, and each hole for the lug nut its burned through clear, paint, straight down to the aluminum and the aluminum was chewed up(Saturday). I have the black cs-56 wheels. So that is a little back story on what I am dealing with. And those of you who don't recognize the Winkler name, the owner raced in the mustang challenge series red #43 and then the world challenge series. So I go in this morning (Monday) and talk to the owner and of course I get the run around. He is happy to take care of the scratch they left on my hood but tells be basically to go f### myself on the wheels, there is no way to prove if the damage was there before it was taken in there or after. You can clearly tell they where chewed up by an impact gun. I never use an impact gun on my car mainly because I don't own one, always a torque wrench. So here in lies my question. Should I be as pissed as I am? They have worked on my car previously with no problem. And is that kind of damage something i could take to a wheel repair place? or should i just strip them down and have them powder coated? I am fuming right now. Michael 07SGT0517 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Holmes Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I'd be pissed too! This kind of crap always happens to me! People just do not give a crap about other peoples cars - whether they are a beautiful ride or not! I say push back and push back hard and let this Winkler clown know that you are going to broadcast this lame-ass customer service to whomever you can - multiple forums, etc. Why? Because he/ they messed up your ride and the right thing to do is fix it! Very simple - black and white. So tired of one step forward and two steps back with the folks that service our automobiles. Oh, and I NEVER take my SGT to anybody with the hood pins installed - they are just not used to them and always pull the latch... THUNK! Go get 'em and be professionally relentless. The keyword here is "Unacceptable!" Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07SGT0517 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I just filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I will continue to press them about it. However I will be out of the state for the next 9 days. Just depressing... It was around this time last year I slid into a light pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywickedshelby Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 Sorry to hear about the damage to the car Michael, I hate it when shops do stuff like this and then you call them on it and they dont even care! filing a complaint with the BBB was a good place to start. Announcing the shop name and telling everyone you know (in local mustang clubs and every forum you frequent) to stay away from there would be a good follow up. I dont know what else you can do............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobradad Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hey Michael, +1 on being upset with the work done. We take our cars to the "professionals" expecting them to treat our cars right. Sadly there are alot of shops that could care less. Before having any work done on the cars, the house, going to a restaurant or anywhere else I will be spending my money I go online and check Yelp. People can evaluate places they have been based on service. 1 to 5 stars. Here is another place besides the Mustang/Shelby forums to create a write up on what happened and the service you got. Obviously a 1 star job.Winkler Automotive Service Center Yelp link Right now there is only 1 5 star entry from 2009. From what you mentioned the following sounds like a joke. Meet the Business Owner: George W. Established in 1982 George Winkler, the owner of Winkler Automotive Service Center, started the service center because he saw the need for the consumer to find honest, competent, reasonable automotive service. George worked in the automotive business since he was 14 and attended many automotive schools. After working for a local car dealer for 8 years, he realized the consumer really needs a dealer alternative for quality automotive service. That was 28 years ago and we are proud our customers have continued their confidence in us and allowed our success Keep us updated on your fight. Edited for spelling, sheesh.... Clarence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harristotle Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 It's these stories that are making me really nervous about taking my Cobra to the dealership tomorrow... I hope things get worked out for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffIsHereToo Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I would take them to small claims. Bring the service records, show when you bought the wheels, have a few other shops provide a statement of how the damage would have occurred. And see what happens! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Greenwell Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 It's these stories that are making me really nervous about taking my Cobra to the dealership tomorrow... I hope things get worked out for you! On my last visit for an oil change and tire rotation I taped a big sign on the steering wheel, "do not slam hood, watch for hood pins" Do not use impact wrench on lug nuts. I also went directly to the store manager who I knew and told him this is a Shelby and I don't want anyone slamming the hood or messing with the hood pins. I am a strong believer in murphy's law........ GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harristotle Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 On my last visit for an oil change and tire rotation I taped a big sign on the steering wheel, "do not slam hood, watch for hood pins" Do not use impact wrench on lug nuts. I also went directly to the store manager who I knew and told him this is a Shelby and I don't want anyone slamming the hood or messing with the hood pins. I am a strong believer in murphy's law........ GG Yeah, I'm thankful it's the Cobra going in and not the Shelby. Any time I ever do work on either car I try to do it all myself. I've got an electrical issue on my Cobra though, that I've been battling for 2 years. It's gotten to the point where I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and pray to the dealership gods to not rake me over the coals with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07SGT0517 Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks for the support guys. I will start with this again next week. On a side note anyone down in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area of Florida? I will be headed down 95 today in the shelby,..10 more hours.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helix Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Wow; that's terrible. Don't back down no matter what. How dare they pride themselves on fancy words after crap like that. If that's the kind of treatment a Shelby Mustang gets, imagine my lowly little (lovable) Mustang. -gulp- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gth0007 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 So I installed my new Tociko shocks and steeda hd mounts last weekend. And took my car in the the shop to get an alignment and get my camber set (Wednesday). I get the car back, it was raining. So I wait to check it out. Finally its dried up some. I notice a 5 inch scratch on my hood from them taking out my hood-pins. So I was pretty pissed about that. I ordered some new bushings for my sway bars because mine where getting a little worn. So I go to take off my wheels, and each hole for the lug nut its burned through clear, paint, straight down to the aluminum and the aluminum was chewed up(Saturday). I have the black cs-56 wheels. So that is a little back story on what I am dealing with. And those of you who don't recognize the Winkler name, the owner raced in the mustang challenge series red #43 and then the world challenge series. So I go in this morning (Monday) and talk to the owner and of course I get the run around. He is happy to take care of the scratch they left on my hood but tells be basically to go f### myself on the wheels, there is no way to prove if the damage was there before it was taken in there or after. You can clearly tell they where chewed up by an impact gun. I never use an impact gun on my car mainly because I don't own one, always a torque wrench. So here in lies my question. Should I be as pissed as I am? They have worked on my car previously with no problem. And is that kind of damage something i could take to a wheel repair place? or should i just strip them down and have them powder coated? I am fuming right now. Michael 07SGT0517 Michael, Sorry to hear about the problem. I purchased one of George's Mustang Challenge / World Challenge GTS cars and was very pleased with the whole transaction. The race car was exactly as stated and George was easy to work with. Prior to buying the car, I did some research and found George to be a very respected racer and Shelby enthusiast (GT-500 owner). I hope you can get this resolved as it's always a little sad when Ford enthusiasts have business issues. Good luck, Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gth0007 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 So I installed my new Tociko shocks and steeda hd mounts last weekend. And took my car in the the shop to get an alignment and get my camber set (Wednesday). I get the car back, it was raining. So I wait to check it out. Finally its dried up some. I notice a 5 inch scratch on my hood from them taking out my hood-pins. So I was pretty pissed about that. I ordered some new bushings for my sway bars because mine where getting a little worn. So I go to take off my wheels, and each hole for the lug nut its burned through clear, paint, straight down to the aluminum and the aluminum was chewed up(Saturday). I have the black cs-56 wheels. So that is a little back story on what I am dealing with. And those of you who don't recognize the Winkler name, the owner raced in the mustang challenge series red #43 and then the world challenge series. So I go in this morning (Monday) and talk to the owner and of course I get the run around. He is happy to take care of the scratch they left on my hood but tells be basically to go f### myself on the wheels, there is no way to prove if the damage was there before it was taken in there or after. You can clearly tell they where chewed up by an impact gun. I never use an impact gun on my car mainly because I don't own one, always a torque wrench. So here in lies my question. Should I be as pissed as I am? They have worked on my car previously with no problem. And is that kind of damage something i could take to a wheel repair place? or should i just strip them down and have them powder coated? I am fuming right now. Michael 07SGT0517 Michael, Sorry to hear about the problem. I purchased one of George's Mustang Challenge / World Challenge GTS cars and was very pleased with the whole transaction. The race car was exactly as stated and George was easy to work with. Prior to buying the car, I did some research and found George to be a very respected racer and Shelby enthusiast (GT-500 owner). I hope you can get this resolved as it's always a little sad when Ford enthusiasts have business issues. Good luck, Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 As an official for the Mustang Challenge Series, I worked very closely with George for the past three years. He is a major Mustang and Shelby enthusiast so I agree with Larry's comments on the stand up guy he is. He has been very successful with his business and has very dedicated customers. I'm surprised by the comments made. My confusion came with why did they even have to remove the wheels to do an alignment? Did you also have them do something else other than the alignment? Not doubting the claims, just curious why the wheels were removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie65 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I wish you the best of luck with getting this resolved. It amazes me when businesses act like this towards a customer as this is why shops have insurance. I had a similar experience a year ago when I switched out my CS69 wheels with a local tire shop. They managed to damage my 4 CS69s while removing the tires and all 4 brand new GT500 wheels when mounting the tires... but my situation was handled much differently. I noticed a scratch around the circumference of all the wheels before loading them in the truck and after a quick chat with the front desk guy (who I later found out was the owners son), he assured me they would make it right. Within a week, I had 4 brand new wheels at their expense along with a check for the lost value on the CS69s as I was able to sell them at a huge discount to someone who wanted to fix them. They even delivered all the wheels/tires to my house as I did not have access right away to a truck. I found out one of their tech's had just installed a new head on the mounting machine and it had a burr on it... my wheels happened to be the first set mounted. They have a customer for life as they continue to treat me great everytime I use them for tire purchases or mounting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harristotle Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I wish you the best of luck with getting this resolved. It amazes me when businesses act like this towards a customer as this is why shops have insurance. I had a similar experience a year ago when I switched out my CS69 wheels with a local tire shop. They managed to damage my 4 CS69s while removing the tires and all 4 brand new GT500 wheels when mounting the tires... but my situation was handled much differently. I noticed a scratch around the circumference of all the wheels before loading them in the truck and after a quick chat with the front desk guy (who I later found out was the owners son), he assured me they would make it right. Within a week, I had 4 brand new wheels at their expense along with a check for the lost value on the CS69s as I was able to sell them at a huge discount to someone who wanted to fix them. They even delivered all the wheels/tires to my house as I did not have access right away to a truck. I found out one of their tech's had just installed a new head on the mounting machine and it had a burr on it... my wheels happened to be the first set mounted. They have a customer for life as they continue to treat me great everytime I use them for tire purchases or mounting. It's a shame that more shops don't understand this principle. A little pain right now in going the extra mile for costumer service usually means you've earned a long time costumer, not to mention the positive reputation that will stem from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobjshelbys Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I would write two letters. The gist of the first is: Brought my car in for some routine work, damage was done during th wheels and paint that work, company corrected some but nothing was done to correct the problem with the wheels. It was not a pleasant experience and I will not recommend them to anyone. The gist of the second is: Brought my car in for some routine work, some damage was done to paint and wheels but the company accepted responsibility for everything, covered all repairs or replacements. It was inconvenient but in the end I was made whole. It was a good experience and I know that they will stand behind their work and the consequences. Take them to the owner an ask which he would rather you send to the BBB and show to everyone you know (including parading with a placard on Saturday morning outside his shop for a month). If he opts for #1, then small claims court is also in order. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjohnson2615 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I brought my Shelby GT to the Ford dealer near me to get an alignment.This is a dealer that sells quite a few GT 500's and has the Rousch line as well,so they are familiar with our cars and performance mustangs in general.I drove in and dropped the car off and told them I would wait. I gave them no directions or did not make a fuss about do not do this or that.I just wanted an alignment and the new camber bolts installed before I mounted my new Razors at home. Thirty minutes after they took my car in the garage,the mechanic came out looking for me,and says "I am sorry but I won't be able to align your car" I said why is that? he said he did not want to be responsible for damaging my wheels.He said it would cost him a weeks pay if he scratched them and had to replace them. While I appreciated his concern and care for my car,I had to ask him Why?I said these are factory mustang wheels(19" bullitts) with the tires that Ford put on.Nothing custom at all. He said the alignment machine does not like the tires with the bead near the rim and he would have to deflate the tires to fit it on and it still might scratch??? I said thanks for your concern and left and went across the street to the Porsche dealership I have dealt with in the past with another car.They laughed and agreed they would have to let air out but it was no big deal and the job is done. I guess alignments on our cars are not the easiest to do without damaging the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07SGT0517 Posted November 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 To awnser the question about why the wheels were taken off. I also had my wheels rebalanced while It was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMORINE Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 im sorry to hear about this 517. hopefully you get everything resolved. on a side note your car looks GREAT with the second gen cs56's. i have the same wheels on my car and i LOVE THEM. why did you go to tokico shocks? any noticeable difference in performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.