The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club - View Single Post - Gulf Coas Motorworks- Bonita Springs, FL

indirocz28 · 11-06-2012, 08:59 AM

Here is an e-mail from Kevin @GCMW attached is his invoice:

Jeff,
Attached is the latest update of your invoice reflecting the latest payments applied by Progressive insurance. The balance due reflects the $1000 deductible and overages not covered by the insurance company.
At this moment we have not received the replacement clutch slave cylinder and the injector spacers you had sent. No further diagnosis has been made to the engine running condition at this date due to removal of the rear driveline to access the slave cylinder.
We will contact you and the insurance company when further information is available.

Happy Motoring,

Kevin Whitney

Service and Parts Manager
ASE Master Technician
Gulf Coast MotorWorks

Followed by my e-mail:
Kevin,
I went over your invoice, and added everything together, and then figured in what the parts actually cost that I gave you numbers for, plus actual cost for balancer and slave & bleeder, and the belts.

Just to be clear, there will be NO MARK UP on these items. I simply won't pay it because most of these parts I did the work to find at the best rates and get them to you. Also to add that GCM purchased the balancer before consulting me as the owner/customer. I have included shipping costs for items found online, and I have included 6% sales tax on items that could be bought locally from an auto parts stores and GM.

Also, you are trying to charge me $1336.75 a 25% mark up of engine cost- which will also not be paid for since Gulf Coast had nothing to do with getting the new engine besides making the check to Action Auto. I did the work to find an engine, get the parts to the assembler, and have it delivered. So as you can see, there is absolutely no way any person would pay for something that a shop did not do.

I am not trying to start any arguments or get any type of nasty, but your figures are wrong for my job.

Below are the figures that I found and am willing to pay. Also, I included the shipping and sales tax on the items as mentioned above.

$213- Towing
$68.05 -Air filter
$12.60- R&R filter
$5347.00 ( What you say INS paid for engine, If we resolve these price discrepancy on GCM's part, I have no issues calling it $5400 for the long block)
$2431.00- Labor @ 110/hr
$84.79- Oil & Filter ( I know oil and filter are only about $65)
$55.00- Coolant ( $13.99/gal x2 gal +tax = $30. I'm not making a big deal on the oil & coolant charges so I left them at your quoted prices)
$50.93- Spark plugs $6.10 e/a +tax
$150.00- shop supplies
$194.98- Slave cyl/ & bleeder shipping was free for purchases over $100
$189.45- Gasket sets from Rock Auto- shipping included in this price
$800.00- Clutch
$79.45- GM Parts price for balancer + tax included
$51.92 for belts +tax included

TOTAL: $9673.17 Tax included (since it was included in your invoice)

Insurance paid: $10592.99 TOTAL PAYMENT INCLUDING SUPPLEMENTS
-$1000.00 -Deductible
=$9592.99

Your previous e-mail said the balance due of $2359.32 reflects the overages and the deductible due.
Well the INS already charged me for the deductible by taking it out of the initial $10,592.99 ( supplements added) check, and the rest of the balance is due to a price inflation made by GCM which I will not pay for since Progressive Insurance paid GCM $1336.75 as a mark up for the engine, which GCM had no part in obtaining when I set everything up except GCM issuing the check to Action Auto, and giving Action Auto a time to deliver it.

(I will admit I DID make a mistake here and that the INS didn't actually charge me for the deductible. However, I don't see why I should have to pay that to GCMW for an EXTRA $1000 in their pocket when they are already getting so much )

I hope we can work out these discrepancies. Also, if it is found that the BCM is bad, that needs to be charged to insurance as well, since the car did start and run before G&C Towing came and picked it up on their flat bed.

Thank you for your time Kevin.

Followed by his e-mail back to me:

Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 8:30 AM
Subject: RE: Jeff Trowbridge 2004 Corvette

Jeff,

I think you are heading down a road you do not necessarily want to travel. The 1336.75 is a 25% mark-up that the insurance company paid me (or any shop) to use the engine they supplied, Whether you supplied it or they did. The only items I am charging you for are the belts, balancer and clutch parts that were not included in the estimate amount paid by the insurance company. All the other parts are paid by the insurance company and at the standard 25% mark-up. Most parts mark-ups are 50% but I thought I was cutting you a break and at the same time giving the insurance company what they wanted without any fight. The $5347 is what was paid by the insurance company for the engine assy. You had us pay $5400 for your parts, so if you want me to charge YOU the $53 dollars that was over-paid I certainly will. The balancer was found while assembling the engine and to expedite your vehicles stay here with us, I decided to get it coming as fast as possible, I made the mistake of assuming the insurance company was going to pay for it, really believing they would. They amount charged was again at our cost (GM Dealer) + 25%, giving you a break. I can mark it at retail if you desire. While we are there let’s discuss the 8.7 hours to remove and reinstall the rear drive train to replace the leaking clutch slave that you had me purchase from Tick performance. It’s not this shop’s fault that the slave was defective so I guess the cost of the labor is your responsibility, $957.00. Oh, while we are at it there is diagnosis time for the computer systems that are malfunctioning at this time when we are trying to start the car (which is still not fully diagnosed). I believe there is around 3.5 hours charged at this minute, $385.00. Then there is time involved to remove and replace the fuel injectors you had me install, you want the short ones on now with the spacers. Wait, you wanted me to tune this on the Dyno when all finished…. All of these items I was willing to absorb, within reason, as the cost of doing business. Now you are threatening me with “what you are going to pay”????????
Your $1000 deductible was not “charged” to you by the insurance company, YOU (or any customer)is responsible that amount when the car is picked up from the body or service facility.

You could have easily called myself or the insurance company whereas this could have explained to you in detail, however you obviously think you know more about the system than the rest of us.
I must have again made the mistake of trying to help someone only then they try to stab me in the back………….

As of 9:29 am on 8/30/12 work has stopped on your vehicle and will not proceed until this matter has settled.

Now it is up to you as to how you would like to proceed.

Kevin Whitney

Service and Parts Manager
ASE Master Technician
Gulf Coast MotorWorks

After this we had phone conversations and I ended up paying the "overages" to just get my car out of there.

Dyno sheet:

My car runs like crap, dies at random times, gets 8mpg, and has some VERY LEAN spots while just driving normally and not WOT like on the dyno.

The deal was I was finding the parts for them to put on my car so we could stay in budget- which they were fine with when I was there in person. But when I got back to TX and they knew I couldn't deal with it person to person, thats when things changed. Kevin even said on the phone to me " Yeah, this is going really smooth, you're list of parts for us and prices and where to get them is making it really easy for us" - Then he sent me the bill and I noticed all the mark up costs. Which drove the repairs over budget of the insurance check and what they supplemented.

Keep in mind, I would have been fine with paying a few hundred over, but $2360 is a bit much. I also have never had to pay a deducible to any place during repairs. We have ALWAYS worked around it. However, its not even about the $ anymore, its about me giving them what I asked for, them having more than ample time to complete the car. They were the ones who said it was done and ready to be sent back. And then I get it back in **** condition.

I really expected my car and repairs to be well taken care of by a place like that who deals with "super cars" and rich people all the time...

The repair estimate from the new shop here in Texas. After parts and labor, and new tuning fee the estimate is at $4600 & change...

11-06-2012, 08:59 AM	#2
indirocz28 Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Cape Coral, Ft Hood,TX Posts: 6 Name :	Here is an e-mail from Kevin @GCMW attached is his invoice: Jeff, Attached is the latest update of your invoice reflecting the latest payments applied by Progressive insurance. The balance due reflects the $1000 deductible and overages not covered by the insurance company. At this moment we have not received the replacement clutch slave cylinder and the injector spacers you had sent. No further diagnosis has been made to the engine running condition at this date due to removal of the rear driveline to access the slave cylinder. We will contact you and the insurance company when further information is available. Happy Motoring, Kevin Whitney Service and Parts Manager ASE Master Technician Gulf Coast MotorWorks Followed by my e-mail: Kevin, I went over your invoice, and added everything together, and then figured in what the parts actually cost that I gave you numbers for, plus actual cost for balancer and slave & bleeder, and the belts. Just to be clear, there will be NO MARK UP on these items. I simply won't pay it because most of these parts I did the work to find at the best rates and get them to you. Also to add that GCM purchased the balancer before consulting me as the owner/customer. I have included shipping costs for items found online, and I have included 6% sales tax on items that could be bought locally from an auto parts stores and GM. Also, you are trying to charge me $1336.75 a 25% mark up of engine cost- which will also not be paid for since Gulf Coast had nothing to do with getting the new engine besides making the check to Action Auto. I did the work to find an engine, get the parts to the assembler, and have it delivered. So as you can see, there is absolutely no way any person would pay for something that a shop did not do. I am not trying to start any arguments or get any type of nasty, but your figures are wrong for my job. Below are the figures that I found and am willing to pay. Also, I included the shipping and sales tax on the items as mentioned above. $213- Towing $68.05 -Air filter $12.60- R&R filter $5347.00 ( What you say INS paid for engine, If we resolve these price discrepancy on GCM's part, I have no issues calling it $5400 for the long block) $2431.00- Labor @ 110/hr $84.79- Oil & Filter ( I know oil and filter are only about $65) $55.00- Coolant ( $13.99/gal x2 gal +tax = $30. I'm not making a big deal on the oil & coolant charges so I left them at your quoted prices) $50.93- Spark plugs $6.10 e/a +tax $150.00- shop supplies $194.98- Slave cyl/ & bleeder shipping was free for purchases over $100 $189.45- Gasket sets from Rock Auto- shipping included in this price $800.00- Clutch $79.45- GM Parts price for balancer + tax included $51.92 for belts +tax included TOTAL: $9673.17 Tax included (since it was included in your invoice) Insurance paid: $10592.99 TOTAL PAYMENT INCLUDING SUPPLEMENTS -$1000.00 -Deductible =$9592.99 Your previous e-mail said the balance due of $2359.32 reflects the overages and the deductible due. Well the INS already charged me for the deductible by taking it out of the initial $10,592.99 ( supplements added) check, and the rest of the balance is due to a price inflation made by GCM which I will not pay for since Progressive Insurance paid GCM $1336.75 as a mark up for the engine, which GCM had no part in obtaining when I set everything up except GCM issuing the check to Action Auto, and giving Action Auto a time to deliver it. (I will admit I DID make a mistake here and that the INS didn't actually charge me for the deductible. However, I don't see why I should have to pay that to GCMW for an EXTRA $1000 in their pocket when they are already getting so much ) I hope we can work out these discrepancies. Also, if it is found that the BCM is bad, that needs to be charged to insurance as well, since the car did start and run before G&C Towing came and picked it up on their flat bed. Thank you for your time Kevin. Followed by his e-mail back to me: Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 8:30 AM Subject: RE: Jeff Trowbridge 2004 Corvette Jeff, I think you are heading down a road you do not necessarily want to travel. The 1336.75 is a 25% mark-up that the insurance company paid me (or any shop) to use the engine they supplied, Whether you supplied it or they did. The only items I am charging you for are the belts, balancer and clutch parts that were not included in the estimate amount paid by the insurance company. All the other parts are paid by the insurance company and at the standard 25% mark-up. Most parts mark-ups are 50% but I thought I was cutting you a break and at the same time giving the insurance company what they wanted without any fight. The $5347 is what was paid by the insurance company for the engine assy. You had us pay $5400 for your parts, so if you want me to charge YOU the $53 dollars that was over-paid I certainly will. The balancer was found while assembling the engine and to expedite your vehicles stay here with us, I decided to get it coming as fast as possible, I made the mistake of assuming the insurance company was going to pay for it, really believing they would. They amount charged was again at our cost (GM Dealer) + 25%, giving you a break. I can mark it at retail if you desire. While we are there let’s discuss the 8.7 hours to remove and reinstall the rear drive train to replace the leaking clutch slave that you had me purchase from Tick performance. It’s not this shop’s fault that the slave was defective so I guess the cost of the labor is your responsibility, $957.00. Oh, while we are at it there is diagnosis time for the computer systems that are malfunctioning at this time when we are trying to start the car (which is still not fully diagnosed). I believe there is around 3.5 hours charged at this minute, $385.00. Then there is time involved to remove and replace the fuel injectors you had me install, you want the short ones on now with the spacers. Wait, you wanted me to tune this on the Dyno when all finished…. All of these items I was willing to absorb, within reason, as the cost of doing business. Now you are threatening me with “what you are going to pay”???????? Your $1000 deductible was not “charged” to you by the insurance company, YOU (or any customer)is responsible that amount when the car is picked up from the body or service facility. You could have easily called myself or the insurance company whereas this could have explained to you in detail, however you obviously think you know more about the system than the rest of us. I must have again made the mistake of trying to help someone only then they try to stab me in the back…………. As of 9:29 am on 8/30/12 work has stopped on your vehicle and will not proceed until this matter has settled. Now it is up to you as to how you would like to proceed. Kevin Whitney Service and Parts Manager ASE Master Technician Gulf Coast MotorWorks After this we had phone conversations and I ended up paying the "overages" to just get my car out of there. Dyno sheet: My car runs like crap, dies at random times, gets 8mpg, and has some VERY LEAN spots while just driving normally and not WOT like on the dyno. The deal was I was finding the parts for them to put on my car so we could stay in budget- which they were fine with when I was there in person. But when I got back to TX and they knew I couldn't deal with it person to person, thats when things changed. Kevin even said on the phone to me " Yeah, this is going really smooth, you're list of parts for us and prices and where to get them is making it really easy for us" - Then he sent me the bill and I noticed all the mark up costs. Which drove the repairs over budget of the insurance check and what they supplemented. Keep in mind, I would have been fine with paying a few hundred over, but $2360 is a bit much. I also have never had to pay a deducible to any place during repairs. We have ALWAYS worked around it. However, its not even about the $ anymore, its about me giving them what I asked for, them having more than ample time to complete the car. They were the ones who said it was done and ready to be sent back. And then I get it back in **** condition. I really expected my car and repairs to be well taken care of by a place like that who deals with "super cars" and rich people all the time... The repair estimate from the new shop here in Texas. After parts and labor, and new tuning fee the estimate is at $4600 & change...