Is 600 to much?

[Icehouse]

I was going to start out by asking, would you pay 600? Then I thought it might be better since we are all cheap datto guys if I asked. Would you swap all the below for 600 bucks?

 

 

So Frank and I swapped a dash and engine harness in a Z car plus got everything working. It all started because the battery fell over and fried some wires in the harness. At first we though we might be able to fix the existing harness. After digging in we realized that to may wires had been melted and a new harness would be a much better solution. The car I might add needs a shit ton of work. So after the owner brought us a dash, engine harness and a few 5 gallon buckets of parts we continued are quest. It the devils in the details that takes the time. Anyone who has done a dash swap in a datto know where I'm coming from. Anyways we told the kid what we charge for piece work and he agreed. After telling him what the end price is he isn't paying!!!

 

 

Things we did to the z car,

 

1. dash swap

2. engine harness swap, both which require taking out the old and putting in the new.

 

the first 2 items are the main part, these are the details

 

3. reinstall the side markers/get them working, aka go through the 5 gallon bucks and finding all the pieces.... pain in the ass!

 

4. finding the missing headlight and taping it in since all the screw are broke off. (are job is fixing the wiring)

 

5. fix a few plugs for the front turn signals that the PO had but connected together.

 

6. Find bulb for glove box light and clean terminals ( I want one for my dime!!)

 

7. Fix dash lights

 

8. Find short in break lights.

 

9. find 2 shorts in headlight circuit.

 

10. fix main power wire.

 

11. Find break in horn ground. (I hate fixing horns, to many places for fucked up wires)

 

12. Mix and match column switches to make one good set (back to the buckets.)

 

13. We even switched the vin plate on the dash!!

 

14. clean grounds.

 

15. add battery tie down so it doesn't happen again!

 

16. fix reverse light wires.

 

17. Make sure its charging (we haven't done it yet since it was late and we didn't want to piss of the neighbors. If he would have been nice it would of happened.

 

I'm sure there is more but you get the point, we both work at the same time and this is just stuff I was mainly involved in if Frank was here I'm sure he could easily add more items to the list.

 

So the question again. Would you expect to pay any less? I can see if its a good friend or something but this is just some dude who has heard about our work. We even gave him a worse case scenario. Which we didn't even come close to.

 

 

One last thing, after hooking up the "good dash" the only thing that work was the hazards, if that gives you any idea of what we had to go through.....

[lynchfourtwenty]

since he took it to u an not a shop i say 600 is pretty fair really.. he could have paid a hell of alot more thats for sure

[Icehouse]

thats what I thought, if you agree then you should pay up in the end.

[lynchfourtwenty]

and always get it in writing... i watch court television shows...

[kiznook]

Seems pretty fair. Sounds like you have a LOT of hours into the work, and had it been at a real shop, labor aint cheap!

 

I can see being iffy on the price since you AREN'T a real shop, but when all is said and done, it's a pretty good deal.

 

Take $500, call it good, and never help the fucker again!

[djmoreron]

that sux. i know a guy that owns a shop and people still try to pull the same nonsense. i feel bad cuz hes a real stand up guy and charges a fair price. when i have friends help me out i never let them under-charge me for their services, even if they didnt complete something correct or follow thru. i value their effort and time more. either way i agree with kiz, take $500 and never do this person a favor again.

 

ive always turn down dj gigs because i know certain people will either be too much of a pain in the ass or try to lowball me on the price, and thats including family. i dont have the patience to let people take the fun out of something i love to do

[69FJWagon]

Just from being aroung Troys shop and doing misc. work down there I would say $600 is close to what you should have charged (figure low shop rate here is $50 an hour my friends mustang shop charges $85-$90 an hour)... if you were just swapping out an engine harness and fixing a couple burnt wires and rewrapping it anywhere from 450 -600 would be fare. Troy doesnt charge by the hour but by the job and sometimes it works to his benifit and others the customer. You and Frank do great work from what I have seen on here and that should be enough for most not to think twice about a price you give, if the job you guys took on was easy the owner would have done it himself. tell em $550 and if he still doesnt pay rip it out and leave it in the front seat in the bucket and let him take it to a real shop and get charge ALOT more

[banzai510(hainz)]

all started because the battery fell over and fried some wires

 

the bungy cord again!!!!!!!!!!!

[djlotus]

tell em $550 and if he still doesnt pay rip it out and leave it in the front seat in the bucket and let him take it to a real shop and get charge ALOT more

 

This is one of those situations where being vindictive won't get him anywhere. Sometimes you just gotta cut your losses, or turn the other cheek, as they say.

 

Like the pther guys have said, take $500 if he's willing to pay at all, if not then just hold onto the car untill he pays up. All the work has been done, why destroy it? Regardless of what happens, don't ever help this guy again. And next time get something down on paper. Even though a verbal contract is a contract its not easy to prove what was laid out unless it was recorded.

[]2eDeYe]

I agree with the $500 and don't do work for him again.

 

Some people seem to think work isn't hard if you know what your doing...mostly cause they don't know what's involved...

[69FJWagon]

This is one of those situations where being vindictive won't get him anywhere. Sometimes you just gotta cut your losses, or turn the other cheek, as they say.

 

Like the pther guys have said, take $500 if he's willing to pay at all, if not then just hold onto the car untill he pays up. All the work has been done, why destroy it? Regardless of what happens, don't ever help this guy again. And next time get something down on paper. Even though a verbal contract is a contract its not easy to prove what was laid out unless it was recorded.

 

I wasnt saying be vindictive I should have said "pull" instead of "rip" I know its work to take all the finished work that is done out and leave him in the same position as when he brought the car to them

[Bleach]

$600 or keep the car.

 

I filed a mechanics lean on a car recently. I know how to do it. You can get the title to that Z. Whatever you do, do not let him take his fixed Datsun before he pays.

[banzai510(hainz)]

cash up front with datsun people!!!!!!!!

 

or have you and him go to the cash machine and ck the accounts

[Figbuck]

...EXPENSIVE LESSONS.

 

I'm going to bite my tongue here and give you guys the benefit of the doubt. I have been a licensed building contractor for 27 years. I have dealt with a few contracts, made piles of money and lost piles of money. I started to write a book a long time ago. Every job I did became a chapter.

 

Chapter one: Expensive Lessons

Chapter two: More Expensive Lessons

Chapter three: Even More Expensive Lessons (not more as in more lessons,

but MORE EXPENSIVE!)

Chapter four:I Can't Believe that I'm Learning the Chapter One lesson Again

 

Right, you get the picture. I'm on Chapter 150 now. Like the crazy developer that I did between two and three hundred thousand bucks worth of business with for three years and then he pulled the same crap this Z car guy did, but for $135K. Never got the money and dumped fifteen grand into lawyers too.

 

I did an insurance job for a lady that bred race horses. Her stupid son got the throttle stuck on a little International bulldozer and drove it through the front door and into the living room. The insurance company issued her a check for $93K and she owed me $63K. When the job was complete and passed final inspection I billed her. I didn't hear anything for a week or so and I needed to make payroll. Finally tracked her down and she said, "Oh, I bought a horse for a hundred grand, I'll get it to you when I sell some other stock. All you contractors make lots of money anyway." No shit!

 

When I first started contracting I worked on the huge custom house for a year and a half. There was an old stone mason that had been working on the project for two and a half years before I ever began framing. He and I worked together for months getting the three huge fireplaces constructed. He told me that the owner was this best customer that he ever had in forty years.

 

The mason said that usually when he built a chimney he would take a pane of glass and morter it into the last row of bricks or blocks at the top of the flue. Then he would submit the bill. If he didn't get paid, he would walk away. He said it happened a lot. The owners would light a fire and get smoked out. They would call him and bitch about the crummy job and that's why they didn't want to pay him or some non sense. He would tell them the reason that it didn't work was that he didn't get paid and it had Bad Flue Mojo. The flue would work like magic if he got the money.

 

He said the first time this happened, the owner paid him on the spot. He took a broken brick and tossed it up into the chinmey, the glass went kischss... OK the magic worked!!:fu::fu:

 

I have done so many jobs for friends over the years. No more. I do it for free or not at all. Too many chapters here to relate.

 

You have already outlined the scope of the work. That's great. It's hard to argue against the fact that this stuff was done. The argument is not WHAT got done, but what it COST to do it. Wether it is a good deal, bad deal, just a deal, is not at issue for him. He must not think that the price is WORTH it to him. (or he can't come up with the money in the first place and he is trying to squirm out of it cause he is a broke sukka). If it is worth it or not can't be used as an argument.

 

Don't back down on your price. That was the deal right? I have had iron clad contracts in writing with plans, specifications, inspections and still didn't get paid. In the end when push comes to shove, it doesn't matter if its verbal with a hand shake or with lawyers, contracts in court, it is still up to the two honorable parties to perform on their end. You did and he should. In order for an enforceable agreement to be in place you need to have a Scope of the Work, Start and Completion Date and a Payment Schedule. Since the first two are already history, the payment schedule needs to be tweaked.

 

Since there is no argument for if the job was worth it or not, the discussion is how to get paid. Six hundred lousey bucks was consideration for the job as a whole, lump sum bid. Do I understand that right? You can argue all day about what was needed or necessary to perform the work or quality but six hundred bucks was what was agreed upon. Is that how I'm supposed to interpret;

 

"we told the kid what we charge for piece work and he agreed".

 

For me piece work is a Scope of the Work with line items, followed by a Schedule of Values that tells what each item costs. I'm confused by;

 

After telling him what the end price is he isn't paying!!!

 

Do you mean you told him some hourly rate with a time estimate on what the job should take? Estimates aren't Bids.

 

I would say, tell him that he can make installment payments, because you are such nice guys and love to help out fellow Ratsunistas. I wouldn't back off the price. Get him to sign a note, promising payment of certain amounts on certain days. I guess he already got the car back and is using his newly refurbished electrical system? Should have hung on to the car, or wired in a secret mojo kill switch. If you pay us it will light up like Magic! :fu::fu:

 

On to Chapter Two...

[dat620]

dude been there ,done that, i do body mods, and interior on the side, and i've been where your at now, i agree get it in writing no matter what, family friends, who ever, it always comes back to i don't think it cost that much, even thou they don't have a clue as to what takes what to do...get your 600.00 and part ways..:D

[nismopu]

Seeing how I did this exact same thing with my friends 260z, I would say 600 bucks is more than fair. A local car electrcian told me it would be 1k to fix it and it would never happen again. Sounds like you have yourself a new Z car if he isnt paying. peace.

[Icehouse]

We still have the car :) I like the kill switch idea :) When we got the car we got 200 down on the work, and told him electrical is a hard thing to quote on such an old car. We told him worst case it would be 800. The reason we called him was Frank always wants to go above and beyond thinking the costumer wants us to fix everything. I told frank we should call him before we do any none wiring work since the deal was wiring only. Anyone who we have done work for is always happy. I just think he is a cheap dick head. When ever we do work its fair priced and cheaper than anywhere else, he should be happy I think....

 

 

Thanks for the replys guys!

[0.C.]

How many hours did that take you?

When I do jobs on the side for friends, I charge them $30 an hour and always get 50% of the total up front to get me started.

I agree with everyone, just take the $500, and tell him to take his car and never come back again that there's no warranty.

[hang_510]

for the $200 down, id take all the work out you and frank did, keep the parts and give him back the car in essentially the same condition, bungy cord or not.

then let him see what it really would of cost!

 

verbal contracts are a PITA in court (if it went that far) and possesion is 9/10 of the law.

$500 to end it seems logical... :cursing:

 

:fu: im cheap, but ida paid the $600 for it if i couldnt do it myself

[banzai510(hainz)]

Jeff just get what you can from him

 

I thought maybe remove what you put in also back into the buckets, But Youll be a better man to leave it in.

 

Get his address or write his lisence plate # down also.(Incase)

 

let him pay ya what ever he can.

Then right before he leaves you say.

Im gonna get on every Datsun/Z car Forum and tell people not to deal with you and dont ever come over here again and next time Give your money to Z Specialties in Everett instead!!!!!!

[Bleach]

:D Z-Sport or Z Specialties would have charged him $2000 for that kind of work.

[lynchfourtwenty]

yeah i say if he dont pay keep the car... maybe sell it after u get the title.. or drive it even

[banzai510(hainz)]

Jeff drive it to Rainer Beach

 

set it on fire then call the cops and say it was stolen

[Jason]

This sucks Jeff. I say that a deal's a deal. If the dude AGREED to pay you guys the $600, that's what you should get, that's a hell of a lot of work and time. If he can't pay you guys, hold the car until he can, give him say 30 days and then get a lien on the car and sell it for what you can and then give him the balance after you deduct what you're owed. Don't ever do work for him again too! Just my 2 cents.....

 

EDIT

 

One of my friends up here did a REALLY bad job wiring up his 68 510. Long story short, after the fire in his dash, he paid someone $2000 to redo the wiring, labour and materials only, no parts included. You guys gave him a hell of a good deal in my opinion.

[lynchfourtwenty]

this guy gives ratsun people a bad name for sure.. i've paid everyone i've done a deal with an never ripped em off.. i think theres a few people that can vouch for that. as i can vouch for them.. i think this guy just owns the car.. and isnt really a ratsun person