Lack of Communications from RB Oriented Shops

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

2 hours ago, r32-25t said:

They sell a header tank separately, I don’t understand why it’s separate considering you can’t fill the radiator without it 

Yeah IDK. to add, its around $700 aud too. fkn wild

[TurboTapin]

Here's a long story, but I'm currently having roughly the same issues. I dropped off a rear differential for some work at a local shop June 6th and I set clear expectations that I wanted it back in time to get it installed for my June 28th dyno day. 

June 10th I get a call that parts will take 3-4 weeks to arrive (Side shims and pinion bearings) by a gentlemen named Alex. This is were things started going awry as the parts were available from the dealer within a week. I presumed they were trying to buy time to work on other projects but I let it go. 

I call and email them everyday between June 20th-29th to get an update and finally get called back around the 30th, two days after my scheduled dyno day and I'm told that the guy who was working on my diff (Lordan) took personal time off and would be back July 6th. I'm told nobody else is aware of the diff. This is bullshit because the guy who is away did not originally start working on my diff. I ask about the other guy (Alex) and I'm told he has no idea either... 

I call July 6th, 7th, but only get a call back on June 8th by Lordan who took time off. He states that the shims are back order. I ask him for the specific part number because as per Nissan EPC, all the shim thicknesses are still available. He says he'll send me the part# in an hour or two. To add insult to injury, he never sends me the part# and the next day when I call, I'm told he's gone for a week to a karting competition. Once again, I'm told nobody can help.

July 17th, Lordan calls back saying that he is waiting for the part# from Alex. I'm surprised to hear this as I was told Alex originally knew nothing about my diff but now he seems to be once again running the show... 

July 18th, I asked to speak to Lordan. He's away again this time climbing Mount Everest, or who knows what. Lordan is the owner of the shop and clearly needs to spend more time at said shop. The fun part is I then ask to speak to Alex... I'm told he is no longer employed by them. 

Many futile calls later, I get a call back by some new guy on July 21st being told that the shims I need do not have a part number and cannot be ordered. While chuckling I ask wtf does that mean exactly... He states they have to be custom made and that they cannot help me any further. This new guy recommends I bring it to another shop which he names and states they bring their Nissan diffs there when they have issues. First off, not only is that not reassuring at all but the worst part is I know this other shop and I'm convinced they do zero work on Nissans. I hang up right away knowing this is bullshit and call the other shop. I ask them about doing work on a Skyline R200 rear diff.. he states they have never worked on nor will they ever work on Nissan diffs. Absolutely furious I call back and ask wtf is going on. He changes his story at this point and says he only gave me that shop name as an example.... best part is he then asks me when I'll come pick up my disassembled diff. I impolitely ask if he believes it's normal that I dropped off a working diff almost 2 months ago and I'm now expected to pick up a box of diff parts ? He says he'll speak to Lordan.... I'm told 2 hours later that they will make it right and they will have it done by another shop and it will be taken care of.

This ladies and gentlemen is why I do all of my own work. I'm calling tomorrow for an update. If I hear anything other then "It will be ready in a week by the other shop and here's the contact information" and the story matches after I call the other shop, I'll go in person tomorrow night and put an end to this gong show. 

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

6 minutes ago, TurboTapin said:

Here's a long story, but I'm currently having roughly the same issues. I dropped off a rear differential for some work at a local shop June 6th and I set clear expectations that I wanted it back in time to get it installed for my June 28th dyno day. 

June 10th I get a call that parts will take 3-4 weeks to arrive (Side shims and pinion bearings) by a gentlemen named Alex. This is were things started going awry as the parts were available from the dealer within a week. I presumed they were trying to buy time to work on other projects but I let it go. 

I call and email them everyday between June 20th-29th to get an update and finally get called back around the 30th, two days after my scheduled dyno day and I'm told that the guy who was working on my diff (Lordan) took personal time off and would be back July 6th. I'm told nobody else is aware of the diff. This is bullshit because the guy who is away did not originally start working on my diff. I ask about the other guy (Alex) and I'm told he has no idea either... 

I call July 6th, 7th, but only get a call back on June 8th by Lordan who took time off. He states that the shims are back order. I ask him for the specific part number because as per Nissan EPC, all the shim thicknesses are still available. He says he'll send me the part# in an hour or two. To add insult to injury, he never sends me the part# and the next day when I call, I'm told he's gone for a week to a karting competition. Once again, I'm told nobody can help.

July 17th, Lordan calls back saying that he is waiting for the part# from Alex. I'm surprised to hear this as I was told Alex originally knew nothing about my diff but now he seems to be once again running the show... 

July 18th, I asked to speak to Lordan. He's away again this time climbing Mount Everest, or who knows what. Lordan is the owner of the shop and clearly needs to spend more time at said shop. The fun part is I then ask to speak to Alex... I'm told he is no longer employed by them. 

Many futile calls later, I get a call back by some new guy on July 21st being told that the shims I need do not have a part number and cannot be ordered. While chuckling I ask wtf does that mean exactly... He states they have to be custom made and that they cannot help me any further. This new guy recommends I bring it to another shop which he names and states they bring their Nissan diffs there when they have issues. First off, not only is that not reassuring at all but the worst part is I know this other shop and I'm convinced they do zero work on Nissans. I hang up right away knowing this is bullshit and call the other shop. I ask them about doing work on a Skyline R200 rear diff.. he states they have never worked on nor will they ever work on Nissan diffs. Absolutely furious I call back and ask wtf is going on. He changes his story at this point and says he only gave me that shop name as an example.... best part is he then asks me when I'll come pick up my disassembled diff. I impolitely ask if he believes it's normal that I dropped off a working diff almost 2 months ago and I'm now expected to pick up a box of diff parts ? He says he'll speak to Lordan.... I'm told 2 hours later that they will make it right and they will have it done by another shop and it will be taken care of.

This ladies and gentlemen is why I do all of my own work. I'm calling tomorrow for an update. If I hear anything other then "It will be ready in a week by the other shop and here's the contact information" and the story matches after I call the other shop, I'll go in person tomorrow night and put an end to this gong show. 

That's so f**ked!!!

Shops just are a damn mess sometimes, all the time.

If time, access and tools are on my side then I do my maintenance myself. Shits so stressful to deal with and I hate the fact that a company, shop etc take me out of my stoicism and make me wanna hulk the f**k out.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

jesus...

and I thought some Australian shops are bad.

 

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

1 minute ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

jesus...

and I thought some Australian shops are bad.

 

Man, his exp is bad. How is everyone in the shop that clueless???

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

5 minutes ago, SLVRBAKSLPZ said:

Man, his exp is bad. How is everyone in the shop that clueless???

it's just shimming a VLSD (I'm assuming it's a viscous diff), it's not hard!

Sure if they were re-packing the clutch discs inside a mechanical diff, then there are a few more brain cells required but fk me!

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

3 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

it's just shimming a VLSD (I'm assuming it's a viscous diff), it's not hard!

Sure if they were re-packing the clutch discs inside a mechanical diff, then there are a few more brain cells required but fk me!

Rt. just look at the schematic out of the manual and go.

[joshuaho96]

2 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

jesus...

and I thought some Australian shops are bad.

 

The information asymmetry and resulting disasters I see is pretty bad out here.

[alexj]

Turbotapin don't let them rebuild the diff, they don't know what they are doing and will get it wrong. Pick up the pieces and find someone else or worst case do it yourself.

[Murray_Calavera]

Absolute worst case, you could ship your box of parts to a specialist workshop over here who you can be confident will do a good job.

[GTSBoy]

If it's just a VLSD, you could throw it back together with a handful of sand and two broken bastard files and it would still work as good as it ever did. If the pinion shaft hasn't been pulled out of it, there's no science in putting one back together. Shimming a VLSD is the equivalent of the sand and the files anyway, so who cares?

TT, put it back together yourself. Give it a spin. It'll likely be fine as. If it turns out to be noisy, then you go looking for qualified alternatives. FWIW though, If you're a diff/trans specialist, you do not need to know anything about R200s to set up an R200. They are no different to any other diff.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

24 minutes ago, Murray_Calavera said:

Absolute worst case,

I have another worserererer scenario, just buy my car for $40k USD   

[MBS206]

4 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

If it's just a VLSD, you could throw it back together with a handful of sand and two broken bastard files and it would still work as good as it ever did. If the pinion shaft hasn't been pulled out of it, there's no science in putting one back together. Shimming a VLSD is the equivalent of the sand and the files anyway, so who cares?

TT, put it back together yourself. Give it a spin. It'll likely be fine as. If it turns out to be noisy, then you go looking for qualified alternatives. FWIW though, If you're a diff/trans specialist, you do not need to know anything about R200s to set up an R200. They are no different to any other diff.

Just turn VLSD into a Stick Locker... Least then you know it'll spin both...

[Something_witty]

Yea it’s super frustrating and beyond unprofessional. I trusted a shop with my car expecting it to take maybe 2-3 months because some parts had to be ordered. Time frame goes by, no update.  Ask for updates and they are haphazard.  Months go by again, ask for another update, “the car had some issues, we are working through them and replacing parts” =more money spent and no results had. Fast forward to the car being “ready for pick up”. Parts aren’t installed, smoking when coming down in RPMs and while shifting. Check engine light on while accelerating. Car dies and doesn’t want to start up again and more. Not happy with my first experience with a performance shop to say the absolute least. 

[TurboTapin]

17 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

If it's just a VLSD, you could throw it back together with a handful of sand and two broken bastard files and it would still work as good as it ever did. If the pinion shaft hasn't been pulled out of it, there's no science in putting one back together. Shimming a VLSD is the equivalent of the sand and the files anyway, so who cares?

TT, put it back together yourself. Give it a spin. It'll likely be fine as. If it turns out to be noisy, then you go looking for qualified alternatives. FWIW though, If you're a diff/trans specialist, you do not need to know anything about R200s to set up an R200. They are no different to any other diff.

I brought it in for a Nismo GT LSD and Speedtek 3.33 gear install. Had it not been for the pinion shaft removal, I would have done it myself. 

I was stuck at work late but I plan on visiting them tomorrow. I'm confident I'll report back tomorrow with another funny story. 

[Butters]

Also having fun waiting on parts from a shop here in Aus(near 9 months now)

 

This was a bit to close to home to be funny 

 

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

3 minutes ago, Butters said:

Also having fun waiting on parts from a shop here in Aus(near 9 months now)

 

This was a bit to close to home to be funny 

 

These situations will make you think, how can i punch this guy in the face and not get in trouble lol. Its super fkn frustrating.

[SLVRBAKSLPZ]

On 7/25/2023 at 6:58 PM, TurboTapin said:

I brought it in for a Nismo GT LSD and Speedtek 3.33 gear install. Had it not been for the pinion shaft removal, I would have done it myself. 

I was stuck at work late but I plan on visiting them tomorrow. I'm confident I'll report back tomorrow with another funny story. 

What happened with your diff?

[TurboTapin]

13 hours ago, SLVRBAKSLPZ said:

What happened with your diff?

I forgot to update this. Well still no diff in hand... 

After many calls, the next time I spoke with Lordan, was July 28th. I was assured that they had brought it to another shop and that the owner was going to take care of it personally. I was told it would be done within a week, latest Friday August 4th. This was the first time I was given a firm date that was so close, so I didn't escalate it more then that. We'll that was a dumb mistake as August 4th came and went... I was not surprised. I called yesterday morning August 7th, was told it would be this week, I said you said the same thing last week... He said he'd call the owner to confirm a date and get back to me within 20-30 minutes. 3-4 hours later and no call so I once again started calling and didn't get a response.

He picked up the phone this morning. After my usual bickering, I got the shop information where the diff is and he asked that I deal with them directly moving forward. Being such a kind individual, he mentioned that he isn't charging me a mark up (Like I give 2 shits). Good news is the differential is at a very well known and reputable shop that has been open for decades. I was not originally aware they did diff work, but I did have them machine and assemble a built Honda D16 block for me roughly 15 years ago with no issues. The funny part is after calling and explaining my situation to them, they mentioned that it was impossible I would of received it august 4th as they were closed and on vacation the last two weeks... Hopefully it's the last time I have to deal with Lordan and his constant lies. 

This new shop didn't want to answer too many questions as they were not made aware of me and were still looking at the other shop as the client which is respectable. They did confirm that it would be done in 2 weeks though and that they would call the original shop to clarify. 

So just to recap, I dropped this diff off June 6th and in theory I should now receive it ~August 21st. Bananas is all I can say... Hopefully I'll get to dyno tune it and enjoy it a bit before winter hits. I'll be leaving them a terrible review on Google, Facebook and across our local boards but sadly I think that's all I can do at this point. If they had just been upfront from the get go, I would of either avoided this work until winter or purchased another used diff for all of ~400$ so I can continue using the car. What a shame that after countless days last summer and this winter to get my build complete and ready for this summer, it was all put on hold by something so trivial. 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

@TurboTapin might be easier for you to buy my car, and ship it to Canada. Turn key and ready to go, no need to wait for workshops.

Ready for skids/track/street takeovers (seems common for you lot on that continent  )