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omg35s · 06-21-2011, 10:12 AM

I’d like to start out by saying that I’m being as honest as possible. Here’s how my experience went down at Vinny Ten Racing:

As everyone knows I tried installing my RTP’s myself and was unsuccessful and stripped my passenger’s side top bolt. I stopped there and figured it was a job for a professional. I called VTR and spoke to Brandon. I made an appointment for Thursday, June 16, 2011 @ 9:30am.

Thursday comes by and unfortunately I couldn’t find my RTP’s. (I’m currently moving so everything is boxed up) I called VTR and explained I’d be late. I get there an hour later @ 10:30am. I tell the mechanic about the strip bolt. He attempts to remove the bolt and fails. VTR ended up sending me home (about 1 hour drive one-way) and re-scheduled me for today Monday, June 20, 2011 @ 9am. I was originally quoted $85 for the RTP installed but that changed to $125 since they would have to bolt-out the stripped bolt. I wasn’t upset with this at all since I was late to begin with and the bolt was stripped.

Monday comes by and I get there @ 9am to find only 1 mechanic and no Vinny nor Brandon in the building. We had a good conversation and chatted until they came in. My car finally gets on the lift an hour later around 10am. They start working on my car.

To make a long story short, it took VTR 6 hours to install my RTP’s. I came in and expected a 1-2 hour job as those on the forums have mentioned even with a stripped bolt. It turns out that the stripped bolt wasn’t even the issue. They had to extract both the stripped bolt and non-stripped bolt the same exact way! Yes, these bolts are notorious for not budging but by no means did I expect to stay there for 6 hours. In addition there is no waiting area or any chairs to sit down. I was not offered somewhere to sit and when it came to lunch time they had asked almost everyone in the shop what they wanted for lunch except me. I walked a few blocks and found a deli and had my lunch.

In addition to the six hours the mechanic had accidentally torched the rubber covering my fuel lines! It went on fire and the mechanic had to run for water to extinguish the flames. He insisted it was fine and that they are steel lines and there is nothing to be worried about. He went ahead and bandaged it up with heat tape. I took his word since he seemed honest.

After this grueling experience it’s finally done and I’m ready to pay and leave. I go into the office and I’m surprisingly told that I owe $350 for the work. Supposedly they are giving me a discount and charging me for fewer hours. I protested and stated that it’s unfair because I was never told it was going to cost me more than the original quote that was $125. If I had known it was going to take VTR 6 hours and it was going to cost me $350 for the install I would have never done it. I understand mistakes and new problems arise but the business must let the buyer beware. Unfortunately, Vinny and I had an argument about this situation. He had insisted that I should have known and it was my part to know that I will be charged per hour instead of the install cost initially agreed upon. I disagreed with him. For example, when a dealership realizes that a new problem arises or something needs to be done they give you a courtesy call stating the problem, giving you a new quote, and then finally asking for your approval to continue. I was more than willing to pay more than what I was quoted but it was the manner that I was approached with the issue is what frustrated me.

Has anyone else had this issue before? Have you ever gone to a shop agreed on a price and returned to a bill that is triple than what you expected? Am I supposed to just cough up the money and move on? I didn’t think so. That’s poor business ethics to me. If I was told ahead of time I would have most likely backed out or worked out a new price and then taken it from there. Vinny also stated that I was driving a $60,000 car and the money shouldn’t be an issue. I worked my *** off part time for 5 years and I’m currently unemployed as I am going for back to school for my MBA. What business is it how much money I have? If I drove a 99 Honda Civic you I have been charged differently? He also insisted that they used his method to remove the bolt and that he had invented it. Why did it take 6 hours to complete if they already had a method to remove these top two bolts? I know from personal experience and on the forums that many have successfully removed these top bolts (even stripped top bolts) in an hour or two. And that’s without a lift. It was also insisted that they were the best mechanics and much better than Nissan head techs. I even tried to tip the mechanic but unfortunately, Vinny came out running and forced the tip back to me and made a scene in the shop.

I can go on and on but I don’t want to turn this into a book. I would have been more than happy to fork up some money if it was handled differently. I had gone to VTR because of their reputation with our cars and I thought I was going to the best shop. I was willing to pay a little extra for knowing that I had the best shop working on my car. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as I had expected.

On a positive note, the mechanics and visitors were friendly and easy going. There were a lot of nice cars in the lot.

By no means am I trying to bash VTR or have any hard feelings. I’m just giving my feedback and my experience to the forum. I’ve heard good and bad stories about the shop and unfortunately, I didn’t have the best experience. Vinny did state that I am still welcomed to the shop but we’ll have to discuss the financials before any work was done. Honestly, after this experience I’m not too comfortable going back. After spending all that time there and seeing all the boosted cars I really had the urge to one day TT my car. It’s a shame that I had to experience this and I definitely didn’t want to leave on a bad note.

The day did not get any better. I did not expect to spend all day at VTR. I left around 4pm and I am my brother’s assistant coach of his baseball travel team. I had to have a friend pick him up and take him to the game. I arrived in the in the fourth inning. I’m also currently getting a CEL light with my GTM RTP’s. They did do a beating on the bolt to try to remove it. I’m going to reset the codes and hopefully the sensors are still good.

Didn’t mean to write a book but I just needed to vent. I’d appreciate and feedback. Good or Bad. This is my first time going through such a rough experience with a business.

Thanks

BTW.. I did leave paying the $125...

FYI: Since I left VTR my car is hesitating and throwing a CEL code p1148. It seems like the broke my header 02 sensor....

06-21-2011, 10:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
omg35s Base Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New York Posts: 63 Drives: XXX Rep Power: 15	Vinny Ten Racing I’d like to start out by saying that I’m being as honest as possible. Here’s how my experience went down at Vinny Ten Racing: As everyone knows I tried installing my RTP’s myself and was unsuccessful and stripped my passenger’s side top bolt. I stopped there and figured it was a job for a professional. I called VTR and spoke to Brandon. I made an appointment for Thursday, June 16, 2011 @ 9:30am. Thursday comes by and unfortunately I couldn’t find my RTP’s. (I’m currently moving so everything is boxed up) I called VTR and explained I’d be late. I get there an hour later @ 10:30am. I tell the mechanic about the strip bolt. He attempts to remove the bolt and fails. VTR ended up sending me home (about 1 hour drive one-way) and re-scheduled me for today Monday, June 20, 2011 @ 9am. I was originally quoted $85 for the RTP installed but that changed to $125 since they would have to bolt-out the stripped bolt. I wasn’t upset with this at all since I was late to begin with and the bolt was stripped. Monday comes by and I get there @ 9am to find only 1 mechanic and no Vinny nor Brandon in the building. We had a good conversation and chatted until they came in. My car finally gets on the lift an hour later around 10am. They start working on my car. To make a long story short, it took VTR 6 hours to install my RTP’s. I came in and expected a 1-2 hour job as those on the forums have mentioned even with a stripped bolt. It turns out that the stripped bolt wasn’t even the issue. They had to extract both the stripped bolt and non-stripped bolt the same exact way! Yes, these bolts are notorious for not budging but by no means did I expect to stay there for 6 hours. In addition there is no waiting area or any chairs to sit down. I was not offered somewhere to sit and when it came to lunch time they had asked almost everyone in the shop what they wanted for lunch except me. I walked a few blocks and found a deli and had my lunch. In addition to the six hours the mechanic had accidentally torched the rubber covering my fuel lines! It went on fire and the mechanic had to run for water to extinguish the flames. He insisted it was fine and that they are steel lines and there is nothing to be worried about. He went ahead and bandaged it up with heat tape. I took his word since he seemed honest. After this grueling experience it’s finally done and I’m ready to pay and leave. I go into the office and I’m surprisingly told that I owe $350 for the work. Supposedly they are giving me a discount and charging me for fewer hours. I protested and stated that it’s unfair because I was never told it was going to cost me more than the original quote that was $125. If I had known it was going to take VTR 6 hours and it was going to cost me $350 for the install I would have never done it. I understand mistakes and new problems arise but the business must let the buyer beware. Unfortunately, Vinny and I had an argument about this situation. He had insisted that I should have known and it was my part to know that I will be charged per hour instead of the install cost initially agreed upon. I disagreed with him. For example, when a dealership realizes that a new problem arises or something needs to be done they give you a courtesy call stating the problem, giving you a new quote, and then finally asking for your approval to continue. I was more than willing to pay more than what I was quoted but it was the manner that I was approached with the issue is what frustrated me. Has anyone else had this issue before? Have you ever gone to a shop agreed on a price and returned to a bill that is triple than what you expected? Am I supposed to just cough up the money and move on? I didn’t think so. That’s poor business ethics to me. If I was told ahead of time I would have most likely backed out or worked out a new price and then taken it from there. Vinny also stated that I was driving a $60,000 car and the money shouldn’t be an issue. I worked my *** off part time for 5 years and I’m currently unemployed as I am going for back to school for my MBA. What business is it how much money I have? If I drove a 99 Honda Civic you I have been charged differently? He also insisted that they used his method to remove the bolt and that he had invented it. Why did it take 6 hours to complete if they already had a method to remove these top two bolts? I know from personal experience and on the forums that many have successfully removed these top bolts (even stripped top bolts) in an hour or two. And that’s without a lift. It was also insisted that they were the best mechanics and much better than Nissan head techs. I even tried to tip the mechanic but unfortunately, Vinny came out running and forced the tip back to me and made a scene in the shop. I can go on and on but I don’t want to turn this into a book. I would have been more than happy to fork up some money if it was handled differently. I had gone to VTR because of their reputation with our cars and I thought I was going to the best shop. I was willing to pay a little extra for knowing that I had the best shop working on my car. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as I had expected. On a positive note, the mechanics and visitors were friendly and easy going. There were a lot of nice cars in the lot. By no means am I trying to bash VTR or have any hard feelings. I’m just giving my feedback and my experience to the forum. I’ve heard good and bad stories about the shop and unfortunately, I didn’t have the best experience. Vinny did state that I am still welcomed to the shop but we’ll have to discuss the financials before any work was done. Honestly, after this experience I’m not too comfortable going back. After spending all that time there and seeing all the boosted cars I really had the urge to one day TT my car. It’s a shame that I had to experience this and I definitely didn’t want to leave on a bad note. The day did not get any better. I did not expect to spend all day at VTR. I left around 4pm and I am my brother’s assistant coach of his baseball travel team. I had to have a friend pick him up and take him to the game. I arrived in the in the fourth inning. I’m also currently getting a CEL light with my GTM RTP’s. They did do a beating on the bolt to try to remove it. I’m going to reset the codes and hopefully the sensors are still good. Didn’t mean to write a book but I just needed to vent. I’d appreciate and feedback. Good or Bad. This is my first time going through such a rough experience with a business. Thanks BTW.. I did leave paying the $125... FYI: Since I left VTR my car is hesitating and throwing a CEL code p1148. It seems like the broke my header 02 sensor....