APMD Powder Coating

[lhinojos]

So where do I start. I recently purchased a Akebono kit from another member here on the forum, and decided to get them powdercoated before i installed them. After some research, I fount a place that had 5 stars on yelp and gave them a call, got a quote for 275$ and decided to take them there.

Upon arrival, it looks like a hole in the wall shop with a careless image, but I met the owner named Chris and he was pretty friendly And assured me that I would have my calipers back within two days(I dropped them off on a wednesday morning).

I texted him Friday morning to see if they would be ready for pick up, and he sent me a picture of them being masked(they had already been stripped of original paint) and said that they go in for blasting that afternoon and that they would be ready monday.

He sends me a text on monday morning with pictures, claiming that they were abosolutly flawless(LOL) and they were ready for pick up and that if I could bring the money cash that would be great because he didnt have card reader. I didnt think much of it because I had already planned on paying cash anyway.

I get there and the front door is wide open with the calipers out in the open and nobody watching them. I knock on the wall hoping for an answer and no one. I call him and he answers and says that he'll be right out. He finally comes out and proceeds to show me the calipers. I didnt take any pictures of the calipers but there were several blemishes that I noted. When I asked for the bolts that hold the calipers halfs together, he proceeded to look for them. At this point Im thinking someone probably just walked in and grabbed them bu the finds them and hands them to me........unpainted.

I asked him why he didnt paint them and said because they were on the back of the calipers so that they wouldnt be visible. I told him I wanted them painted and ended up painting them that same afternoon.

I pick them up the next morning and take them home to Rebuild the calipers to find a nice surprise. There was sand from the bead blast where the bolts thread into, and it even got one of the bolts stuck(if you seen my other post for help in the brakes section you'll see what happened). I text him about what happened and he told me to bring them in and that he would have them cleaned. So that's what I did. When I brought them in and told him what happened he acted like it was no big deal that the thread had gotten damaged and that I could probably get away with only 3 bolts to hold the caliper halfs together. So anyways I leave the calipers for the to be cleaned and come back the following day to pick them up. That day one of his employees came out and told me that it was my fault the caliper threads messed up and that it only happened because I put the bolt in crooked( which i am 10000% sure I didnt because it threaded fine until I reached the bottom where the sand was) We went back and forth Until I realized I was arguing with a Stubborn kid that wont accept his mistake, which was not cleaning the calipers after blasting them. So I just let him finish what ever he had to say and took my calipers home to install the next weekend.

This past weekend when I sat down to rebuild the Calipers, I found that one of the calipers was not cleaned . So I put that one aside and rebuild the rest. I dropped the caliper off monday morning and told them they forgot to clean it, so a worker took it inside quickly to use compressed air on it and brought it back like she was done, But I had a bolt on me luckily and tried to screw it in and I showed her that it still wouldn't go more than halfway in the thread. She asked if I could leave it with them, I agreed and them came back this tuesday afternoon to have her try to explain to me that thats as far the bolt is supposed to in

I told them again that no I could still see and feel sand in the thread and they needed to get it out. I'm going back tomorrow morning and I really and done being patient with them. If they cant clean it out I will ask for them to pay for replacement caliper. But I really question they're integrity and Im almost certain that they will not agree to do so.

In total its been almost three weeks for a process that they promised in two days. Now I made the mistake of paying cash and also not opting for receipt of the transaction.

So what are my options here?

I also want note that they lost the bolts that hold the rear calipers brackets for the lines(Claiming that they never had the bolts to begin with)

And Im also still waiting to rebuild the front caliper that had the bolt stuck in it( no hardware stores have a 12mm x 1.25 tap so Im waiting for one that I ordered onine)

[Zbrah]

F those clowns and I hope you get the last caliper back in one piece. Post this review over their yelp page and fb or whatever. They'll lose more business in the long run.

[njobe89]

not much you can do since you paid in cash... did you at least get a receipt?

this is why i like paying stuff with a credit card. something goes wrong and they don't want to fix it, dispute the charge and be on my way.

[OldFart]

When Mike was doing the calipers, he didn't do the bolts and as the guy said, you don't see them anyway and as soon as you go to tighten the bolts your going screw up the paint/powder coating.

In regards to the threads, I would of gotten the appropriate tap and cleaned the threads upon getting them back, but your at that point now. Hope it all works out.

[TreeSemdyZee]

Originally Posted by OldFart

When Mike was doing the calipers, he didn't do the bolts and as the guy said, you don't see them anyway and as soon as you go to tighten the bolts your going screw up the paint/powder coating.

In regards to the threads, I would of gotten the appropriate tap and cleaned the threads upon getting them back, but your at that point now. Hope it all works out.

"When Mike was..."? Is he not doing them anymore?

[lhinojos]

no he was my first option but he is no longer taking new customers.

Originally Posted by TreeSemdyZee

"When Mike was..."? Is he not doing them anymore?

[TreeSemdyZee]

Originally Posted by lhinojos

no he was my first option but he is no longer taking new customers.

Well poop.

[2009_370z]

Sorry to hear that man.. Hopefully everything gets resolved and you'll get your calipers the way you expected it to come out.

[jshare1]

Originally Posted by OldFart

When Mike was doing the calipers, he didn't do the bolts and as the guy said, you don't see them anyway and as soon as you go to tighten the bolts your going screw up the paint/powder coating.

In regards to the threads, I would of gotten the appropriate tap and cleaned the threads upon getting them back, but your at that point now. Hope it all works out.

I agree with this, stuff gets into threads, ya its shotty work that they didnt clean them well enough but if they messed up once Im not one to keep going back to a person.

[Mike]

I read stories like this, (also had a local guy who had problems) and it almost makes me want to go back to doing them, because I hate seeing people get screwed, but I'm really enjoying having my life back and only working one full time job.