John Bradley says on Jan 25 2018, 10:14
I also forgot to say, as far as starting the car and driving it onto the trailer, it can be done. However, the engine runs so rough and has so little power that it is very difficult. My car is far from being tuned, and runs poorly at best ! When I start it, the engine surges and dies.This shop should be called Scam Speed Shop instead of Scram Speed Shop. For a vehicle that “runs better than it has in years”, which Steve falsely claims I said to him, this is not consistent. I never said the car runs better than it has in years, and it doesn’t. I will never deal with Scram Shop again as they are money DESPERATE and will LIE about any and everything to inflate their charges, which they ALWAYS DEMAND up front before any parts are purchased or any work begins.
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· John Bradley says on Jan 25 2018, 10:00
Let’s start off by saying Steve does absolutely nothing for free, and his claims that he did multiple things on my car for free are an OUTRIGHT LIE. He charges $ 75 per hour for anything and everything. I took my car there after I spoke with Steve on the phone back in early October of 2017. I told him I wanted to install fuel injection on my car and was looking for someone to do it. He said they could do it and the cost would be somewhere around $ 7,000 TOTAL for parts, labor, tuning on the Dyno and putting 5 engine tuning programs on my Laptop computer. He stated the cost for the parts would be $ 5,000 and they would have to be paid for in advance of any parts being ordered or before any work would commence. I, thinking they were honest, sent him a check on 10/4/17 for $ 5,000. I asked Steve how long the build would take, and he said one week to install the fuel injection parts and one week to tune the engine on the dyno. Steve finally called me late in October and said they had received all the parts and work could begin. I did not hear from Steve for two more weeks, then finally he contacted me. He then proceeded to tell me that he underbid the job and would need more money, over and above his $ 7,000 original estimate. On November 15th we went to his shop to discuss what was going on and why he needed more money. He told us he had 26 hours of labor in the car at that point and there was a miscellaneous charge for $ 50 (non-taxable). I paid Steve $ 2,000 in cash on that date.
On November 17th we were at Scram’s shop again and Steve told us he had underbid this job at $ 7,000 and that he needed an additional $3,000 to complete everything he had originally agreed to do at $ 7000. This represents an UNFORGIVABLE 42.857 % cost increase over their original estimate !. However, I wanted to have my car finished and I paid them $ 3,000, in cash. on that date. At the same time, both Steve, Kyle (Kyle is a Scram Speed Shop partner and mechanic) agreed that the car needed a Methane Injection system, with the parts being $ 550 for the complete system. I told them there could be no more charges for parts, labor or tuning on my car since they had missed their original estimate by more than 42 % I told them I would pay the additional cost for the Meth System. Kyle and Steve both agreed to complete ALL WORK installing the Meth Injection, tuning on the Dyno and loading the tune-up programs on my Laptop computer. Steve and Kyle agreed and a contract was drawn up and signed by myself and Kyle (representing Scram Speed Shop) that everything was to be completed at a final bill total of $ 10, 993.37.
On November 27th we were told that they could not continue with tuning the engine because it had developed a misfire and was not running properly. Steve told us that they had attempted to correct the problem by installing new spark plugs. We, once again, went to their shop and picked up the car and took it back To Springfield, IL. to my engine builder, Mcquinn’s Auto Service. We told Steve we would have the vehicle back to him in 2 days with the engine misfire problem resolved. Kyle DEMANDED that we pay IN ADVANCE once again, for the Meth Injection system and other charges totaling $ 993.37 before we took the car out of their shop. This brought the total charges paid to the maximum, out the door, contract amount of $ 10,993.37. I paid Kyle by credit card and told him I didn’t feel right about having to pay the full contract amount before the work was completed, but he INSISTED. We told Kyle we would have the car back in his shop in 2 days to have all outstanding work completed.
Dennis Mcquinn found the problem to be the gap being incorrect on new spark plugs installed by Kyle at Scram’s shop. After correcting this problem, caused by Kyle, the engine ran well and was ready for the completion of the Meth Injection system and Dyno testing/tuning. Then when I tried to get my car back to Scram’s shop to have the work I had already been forced to pay for in full, IN ADVANCE, Steve turned into a complete jerk, telling lies about how the work was all finished and how they had done many hours of labor free of charge on my car. He simply told lie after lie, and we relied on Kyles honesty and integrity to keep Steve in line with the commitment’s they had agreed to. Now that They had collected all the INFLATED COSTS for this job Kyle just bowed out of the picture and let lying, phony, crooked Steve handle the entire matter. Steve is an expert at lying and denying any responsibility to complete this job as per the signed contract. At the same time Steve attempts to attack me personally, alleging all types of character flaws and lying. He is the LIAR and a THIEF on top of that.
This entire mess went on for more than 10 weeks and numerous trip to their shop.I talked to Kyle the installer and partner and he informed me that he had never installed one of these before. They were basically learning on my car and on my money. This is why the install job and inflated parts costs were so much. During this entire mess I finally had enough and was going to pick up my car because Steve was trying to steal as much money as he could from me. We finally sat down and agreed on a price with everything done for 10,993.37. I then had them sign a paper with that amount with everything installed and the car tuned and programs for tuning installed in my computer. They insisted that I pay the bill in full before I left. I told them I was concerned about paying the whole bill in full because the job was not done. They assured me that as soon as the misfire was addressed and fixed I could get the car right back to them, so they could finish it. I agreed and took the car to Mcquinns Auto the people that built the engine. Dennis Mcquinn went over the whole car and the only thing was wrong is Scram speed shop had the wrong gap on the spark plugs. I then called Steve at Scram Speed Shop and told him the car was fixed and ready for them to finish. He then told me it would be over two more weeks and that I was not there only customer and was very rude. I said that is not what we agreed . I called the next day, but they would not return my calls . I was afraid that once I paid in full Steve would not finish the job and I was correct. I have no idea what the cost will be to finish my car and put the tune-up programs in my computer. I also have a witness that was with me when all these promises were discussed and agreed to. You cannot rip people off and get away with it and not get sued. If this does not get resolved my next step is get my lawyer involved and it will cost you dearly. I told Steve to treat me fair in the beginning and I would him, but he would rather steal and lie from you than to do the work. If they continue to do business like this in the future they will not be open long.