Pro Fabrications - Pfre - Fabrication

[fatz]

Brad contacted me to work out a deal

Will report back I'd he misses any timelines

[SRS13]

That's great to hear Fatz.

My car is there now getting a weld in cage, custom fuel system set-up and GT wing mounts directly to the chassis.

So far all is good.

To date, communication has been great with regular contact and Brad has given great advice and information to help with the decision making process.

I'm advised the cage is coming along well. We agreed to have the cage completed by this Friday or thereabouts and its looking very positive.

Will keep this updated.

[Chris32R]

Good to hear.

I'm hoping to get a few parts from Brad very soon.

Been waiting a while but hopefully the wait will be worth it!

Ill post pics when it comes

[SRS13]

Update:

Have not had a chance to go and check the car out, despite working 10mins away, but Brad has advised the main hoop is in, rear legs, rear cross and front legs are all in but tack welded for now. The cage was due for completion tomorrow and seems to be on track.

He has also completed strengthening the front control arms and has boxed it up which will minimise change of the front suspension geometry under load.

He is also doing some custom mounts for the GT wing which will tie it in with the cage and directly transfer the downforce onto the rear struts. This was his idea and I can't wait to see it done.

Have asked for pics which should be sent tomorrow and will post once received. So far communication has been excellent with Brad contacting me every few days to give updates and ask qns on the work to be done. Has also returned my calls very quickly.

Will update again soon.

[SRS13]

Went last week after not having been there at all for 2 weeks. Cage was well under way and was looking very good.

Brad had arranged the VPW rep to be there to arrange my fuel set-up. Was wrapped with how this went. Very efficient and it was great to see 2 guys making recommendations who were highly experienced on the matter. All parts were ordered and were onsite the next day!! I was worried about the fuel set up as i had no idea what parts and fittings i needed but this worked perfectly for me - one less thing to worry about!

Went again today to check it out and the cage is almost done! Very happy to see the progress on the car. The quality is awesome and can't wait to see it all complete. Will post pics of the setup when I can. The cage will be done on Monday and then the fuel set up will be done.

Brad committed to have everything done by end of next week and its spot on time. Brad has answered nearly all of my calls and returned them very quickly if not. Same with emails.

So far am wrapped with the service, quality and overall experience.

[fatz]

good that someone is getting loved

[DCIEVE]

Brad - you still owe me money. Please respond ASAP.

[fatz]

Brad - you still owe me money. Please respond ASAP.

I've had a fair amount to do with Profab over the years. Previously i've recommended brad/Profab to many people on this forum. One of those being Dcieve above, who has been trying to get cash back for some time.

I've also had a couple of my cars at brad's house (prior to profab) as well as at the Profab workshop, my r31 was one of them. In the case of the R31, the work was paid for up front, at an agreed rate. Almost 4 years later I have finally collected my car. I found it to be in a poor state, with only 50% of the work completed. I just got tired of the ongoing excuses and continued lack of communication from brad. Now I'm left with a car that still doesnt roll and, as agreed with brad, I am owed an amount of money for parts and incomplete work. I am still waiting for my parts and cash.

What irks me most is hearing from other customers (in passing conversation) that brad has informed them the reason why the r31 is still there is that the owner hasn't paid his bill.

I have kept quiet on here in the hope that brad would come good on his word.

I appreciate that occasionally a person can go through a rough time, however after 4 years of " rough times" and somewhat at times unbelievable excuses, I have had enough.

[noone]

bummer, those undercar surge tanks looked the goods :-(

Edited September 9, 2013 by noone

[Frosty]

What a bummer peeps. This is bad business practice as apparently has "personal problems" every few weeks. Fatz i hope you get it sorted mate

[Manuel Kasko]

Every time I click on this thread it's someone trying to get a response from this guy because parts haven't shown up or not as promised etc.

His username matches this...you're risking your money when you buy something from him.

[Greekos]

anyone got one of these under-car surge tanks, or going past pro fab from canberra??

[wedge_r34gtr]

anyone got one of these under-car surge tanks, or going past pro fab from canberra??

i've ordered one - not recieved yet. I was told that he had orders for about a dozen of them.

[Hanaldo]

Every time I click on this thread it's someone trying to get a response from this guy because parts haven't shown up or not as promised etc.

His username matches this...you're risking your money when you buy something from him.

I'm still proudly rocking his custom catch can in my car. Its unfortunate to hear about the problems others are having, but my experience with Brad was pretty good. Took a bit of time I guess, perhaps I was just more patient than most. But Brads work is outstanding, and he was pretty quick to communicate with me, so I'm still happy.

[SRS13]

I was aware of some of the issues before I took my car down to Brad and I must admit was very hesitant to do so. The quality of work, very competitive pricing, circuit car setup experience and the fact it was a one stop shop (cage/fuel setup/other fab work) is why I took the punt. Brad was open about the issues he has had to date (as much as expected) but assured me he would come good on his commitments and so far he has, in fact in some ways he has exceeded my expectations (doing work that I did not request but needed to be done ie seam welding the interior, using chromoly for certain fabrication when I expected mild steel, giving alternate and better ideas on fab work to improve the car setup, completely arranging the entire fuel system with VPW, sticking to his quote when clearly the work was more involved than first discussed etc)

So I am very glad I did trust him. My car is not finished yet but is well underway to being complete, on time and on budget as agreed but to a better quality than even I anticipated.

I appreciate others have not had a similar experience to mine and it may be difficult for them to read my feedback, but I can only comment on and share my personal experience at ProFab and and so far it has been very positive.

[Bozman1]

I've had a fair amount to do with Profab over the years. Previously i've recommended brad/Profab to many people on this forum. One of those being Dcieve above, who has been trying to get cash back for some time.

I've also had a couple of my cars at brad's house (prior to profab) as well as at the Profab workshop, my r31 was one of them. In the case of the R31, the work was paid for up front, at an agreed rate. Almost 4 years later I have finally collected my car. I found it to be in a poor state, with only 50% of the work completed. I just got tired of the ongoing excuses and continued lack of communication from brad. Now I'm left with a car that still doesnt roll and, as agreed with brad, I am owed an amount of money for parts and incomplete work. I am still waiting for my parts and cash.

What irks me most is hearing from other customers (in passing conversation) that brad has informed them the reason why the r31 is still there is that the owner hasn't paid his bill.

I have kept quiet on here in the hope that brad would come good on his word.

I appreciate that occasionally a person can go through a rough time, however after 4 years of " rough times" and somewhat at times unbelievable excuses, I have had enough.

You and I are in the same situation mate.

It is really starting to frustrate me, as I am usually not one to have a rant on forums. I would love to have a poll for people that have paid money and are owed work or items from Brad.

Answer my calls please Brad.

[fatz]

yup still no contact for me

[DCIEVE]

Likewise.

[No Crust Racing]

OK I've sat back for quite a while watching this thread, but will now put in my 2 cents. Well $2.50 really as there's a lot to go over.

Brad was very helpful when I posted my thread about wanting a basic cages a while back, you can see it in the motorsport section. He also came highly recommended by SAU.

After comparing his offering to many other basic half cages, his appeared superior and by ordering two (another member wanted one also) we'd get free freight. I was told it'd be a few weeks turn around top.

We paid up front and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I'm fairly active on the forums and I tend to be proactive about these things so I started calling, PM'ing and emailing.

I started receiving a number of explanations for the delay and assurances that it would be done soon. Some of the excuses were very personal in nature so I won't share them in case any of them are true.

I phrase the above as such because after months and months of delays and excuses, in the end it took over 4mths to get the two cages (more on that below), I started calling people around Brad who could confirm/deny the claims he was making as reason for delay because I had a strong sensation of being lied to and certain details did not add up.

I've taken screen shots on my mobile of the sms' that Brad sent where he claims a number of things so can prove that it was said and that I'm not just a jaded customer, which I do not feel that I am, but I would like people to here of my experience.

After digging through various threads and having personal conversations with a large number of current and ex customers, many of whom are listed in this thread (they can choose to reveal if they spoken to me if they wish), and after discovering this thread on PF (10 pages and is still active so worth a read) which mirrors a lot of what I'm about to say. The general consensus was the following, and I am paraphrasing here.

- Brad is a compulsive liar.

- Brad is extremely poor at time management.

- Brad constantly makes and breaks promises regarding time frames.

- Brad owes me money.

- Brad owes me work/products.

After extensive harassment and pressure from me, including calls to Fair Trading and the CTTT to discuss my options. I gave Brad an ultimatum to have the cages completed and shipped or I would pursue it with the relevant regulatory bodies.

The deadline was missed but there appeared to be progress being made, so I kept up the pressure.

After EXTENSIVE issues with supposed freight problems, lost items, missed collections etc (I have never ever seen anybody have as much issue sending things by courier or mail - ergo I do not believe half of what I was told was true in this regard) 2 cages arrived at the local freight distribution centre, not my house as agreed, so I had to arrange to collect them and get them home.

I then discovered that neither was labelled (one was for my S13, one was for an R32) and that there were no plates or bolts to install them, nor was there any instructions - though Brad did say to call him to discuss when I had the cage and he would talk me through it.

It took an extra few weeks and, apparently, 3 attempts to get the plates and bolts to me. It has then taken numerous attempts to get Brad on the phone to discuss install, a conversation I've now had and can proceed with.

I will say this, the product appears, to my untrained eyes, to be a good quality product, and the value is hard to beat, which is why I think a lot of people end up taking work there.

The customer service is great to start with and then in almost every case I've discussed or read about, falls away substantially once money is handed over or cars are delivered to the workshop, quite a few people also talk of parts going missing.

That said, if even half of the issues that were mentioned by Brad were even remotely accurate, he would have good reason to be performing so poorly. In my opinion he'd have been better off not accepting new work and being very honest with people about what was going on and the expected time frames. I genuinely believe he was not entirely honest with me during this process and while it's his choice whether or not he wanted to reveal the true reasons behind his delays, if nothing else, the reasons he put forth were not the sort of things that should be lied about. It is hard to be sympathetic when every person around him I spoke to denied the various claims he was making as absolute rubbish.

I do hope that the positive comment above is the start of a substantial turn around and that work begins to flow freely, without delay or issue, but given it looks like these issues have been the case before (as per the thread I linked) please use caution and make a call on if you can afford the risk.

It's either a case of a poorly managed business in general, or the case of a person who badly mishandles the situation when faced with issues in his personal life, letting it affect his work and his customers.

I would have a very hard time recommending ProFab to anybody who was not within driving distance and would recommend that an agreement be made not to hand over any money until work is completed, even if that is done in stages to ensure motivation to complete the task is maintained while material costs are being covered.

Edited September 11, 2013 by ActionDan

[Aggroman]

sounds like the beginning of a bad movie... like he owes money to a loanshark or something lol

not saying brad does, just sayin in general