I hope my rambling story doesn’t bore anyone.

Last fall, a guy approached me about building a transmission for his 94 Impala SS. He told me he bought the car as a roller (no engine/transmission) and had been gathering parts to put it back together.

He brings me a transmission, says build it. I tear it apart, tell him what I find, discuss upgrades/parts/price, all goes well. A week or so later, he picks it up and pays the bill.

Fast forward a few months (basically 3 weeks ago) he calls me and says “hey, that transmission doesn’t fit!!” Turns out what he brought me was a 2002 4L60E, designed to fit a LS engine. At no point did he tell me what engine he was using, I assumed since he brought me a LS style transmission, he planned to go LS engine. Maybe he did tell me, or maybe he didn’t know there was a compatible issue? Either way, I try to make it right.

I located a “correct” 94 4L60E and proceed to autopsy it. It turned out to be an excellent core. I then disassembled his 2002 trans, I removed the frictions, band, servo, etc to use in his correct 94 transmission. The ONLY things I charged him for was the correct core transmission, gasket kit, the valve body spacer plate, basically the stuff that wasn’t compatible between the 2 transmissions. All told, the parts and transmission totaled 340 bucks. I then built his correct transmission.

We make arrangements yesterday for him to pick up his transmission. He pays the $340, then asks where his 2002 LS transmission is. I pointed to a plastic tote full of transmission parts, and he comes unglued!! He says he has that transmission sold, and needed the money to finish his car. It begins to dawn on me that he expected me to build another transmission for him, and he intended to sell his first one, basically expecting a replacement transmission for free.

At this point, I flat out told him I built the transmission YOU provided, then spent probably 20 hours of my own time locating a core, tearing it apart, cleaning parts and reassembling it, in an attempt to correct YOUR mistake, and he still isn’t happy.

After probably 5 phone calls/text messages, I told him I’m done with this discussion. I told him I’ll agree to give him half the core transmission charge, and take the tote of parts, or he can wait until life slows down enough for me to throw the parts back together (minus the upgraded parts that went into his 94 trans) but it certainly won’t be a functional transmission, or he can pay for another rebuilt transmission.

As I mentioned, I’m not sure exactly how the mistake started. Maybe he did tell me the plans for the car? Maybe I misunderstood him, the end result is what I built for him wouldn’t work. In an attempt to make the best of the situation, I tried to fix the problem as cheaply as I could. And believe me, the time I had in the solution definitely wasn’t in my favor!!!

I normally enjoy the high performance transmission work. It’s a bit of an ego kick to see coverage of NMCA and Drag week events, and see cars with transmissions I built. And obviously, I enjoy the extra “fun” money. But people like this really make me question if it’s worth it. I’m guessing anyone who runs a business occasionally has customers you just can’t please.

End of rant. I’m curious what people in readerland think?

 

This is why I don't do side jobs. Ever.

 

I would have charged him full boat for the second trans and told him to have a nice day.

 

His first mistake was when he provided you with the wrong transmission. His second mistake was expecting a second transmission to be built for free.

I would find out who referred him to you and I'd "blackball" him too and let it be known why.

 

Sounds to me like you went above and beyond to make things right for a jerk. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

Communicate and document.

 

You owed him nothing, you went well above the call and obligation. I’d tell him the tote with his parts is at the curb and he probably shouldn’t dilly dally as a scrapper might beat him to it. Give him the tote for free.

​​​​​​…

 

I would tell him to go **** up a rope.

 

Cut of contact with that guy. The only thing he needs to know is that if he comes back to your shop then you should call the police.

 

Sad, This type thing sours people from wanting to take on work as a favor or to fit someone in. Then they pull a "KAREN" over it.
Don't let this sour you from helping others, not everyone is like this.
I'd not even rebuild the wrong unit. I'd hand him the tote and say, I built you one transmission, If you want this one built also it'll be another x dollars.
When he barks, Ask him if HE works for free? That normally shuts them up fast.

 

As I mentioned, I don’t have a shop, I do this for a little fun money and because I enjoy it. Over that last 8 years, the side transmission work has paid for a lot of vacations and college apartment rent for the kids.

Because the only advertising I have is word of mouth, I try to make people happy. I’m pretty well known around here, I like to think I have a good reputation. I work hard for that reputation, I would prefer to keep it that way. At the same time, it’s obvious some people are never happy.

Next time this guy calls, I’ll definitely Ignore the phone!!

 

What he said and totally double the price for stupidity. The guy was looking for something free when he was the 1 who screwed up.

 

His lack of knowledge and communication skills screwed the pooch. You have done more than a reasonable person would do. If he can't see that to bad for him

 

Sorry to hear. I'd say you're certainly getting taken advantage of, but the lesson learned is that communication can be a 2 way street. You rebuilt what he brought you... you didn't have the car. When he said it was the wrong trans after he picked it up, I would have paused, stood your ground, and given him options... he could bring you the right parts and that you'd help by switching things over, or he could elect to build a whole new trans with associated costs.

Unfortunately, it was like you got too involved by trying to help make it right... we've seen that in business before. It becomes a slippery slope when you try to help, and then you get so far in that you start to take ownership of the problem (and have stuff to get blamed for). In addition, some people are just losers... it will never get better regardless of what you do... IMO, it should change how you do business in the future, and consider doing a written agreement for the services. It doesn't need to be complicated but having scope, price, schedule on a sheet of paper means you talked about it.

 

I worked with a partner building transmissions for several years inclusive of rear axle work. I will not delve into details. After reading your post, I find that guy to be someone seeking to gain that he has not. By his words he really seems to be a shyster trying to test your limits. No offense, but we would have told him to leave or get knocked out.
* How's it going Matt?


Bonnie Parker.