Engine BUilder being disrespetful

upstateracing said:
We sent our flathead engine and they got it and tore it apart to estimate it at $900 so we ask them if they could send it back. SO they send it back and charge us shipping plus a fee to tear the engine apart. and to come to find out they didn't even put the engine back together and sent it back in pieces. I think this is extremely disrespectful to their customers products and property
Click to expand...

I dont see where this is unreasonable. You have to pay to have it shipped back to you, plus you need to pay for the builders time to tear it apart. If he were to put it back together, he would have to charge you labor rates to "build it" again, so he left it unassembled to save you money
 
i wouldnt think that this was out of line. it's labour they did for you, tearing it down and checking it all over. then if they reassemble it they have much more work to do!
 
upstateracing said:
We sent our flathead engine and they got it and tore it apart to estimate it at $900 so we ask them if they could send it back. SO they send it back and charge us shipping plus a fee to tear the engine apart. and to come to find out they didn't even put the engine back together and sent it back in pieces. I think this is extremely disrespectful to their customers products and property
Click to expand...

Seems very respectful........they complied with your instructions.
 
I guess I have been disrespected for about 3 decades then. I believe that the policy of the builders I utilized are just how you described. The cost to disassemble an engine is related to the time spent doing it and the evaluation of the parts that need to be replaced or improved. Include the time the technician uses to locate the parts and formulate an estimate for your job too. No one is obligated to work for free nor should one feel entitiled to expect free service from a service provider if that is not agreed to beforehand. If my engine came back in a bunch of little boxes I would feel the builder did me a favor by not putting it back together. I would not want to run an engine that is in need of repair and I would be able to see the 'defective' parts and judge for myself if I wanted to reuse them. Heck, I may come to the realization that this engine is soooo easy to work on that I can fix it myself. Its how I learned to do it.
 
upstateracing said:
We sent our flathead engine and they got it and tore it apart to estimate it at $900 so we ask them if they could send it back. SO they send it back and charge us shipping plus a fee to tear the engine apart. and to come to find out they didn't even put the engine back together and sent it back in pieces. I think this is extremely disrespectful to their customers products and property
Click to expand...

Maybe you should have told him how much you were willing to pay for a rebuild before you wasted his valuable time!
At least the next builder you give it to won't need to disassemble your junk to quote you.

There is certainly disrespect here but it is not the builder!!!!
 
I built engines for a long time and encountered this situation often!
Came up needing way more than they thought and figured just send it back, or I will come get it.
They were none to happy about having a bill on it.
I had rent, machine payments ,utilities , supplies no one ever even thinks about., A house to pay for and a wife.
So give me one good reason I should spend 2 hours of my business time to tear your engine down, inspect it, research parts and quote it for free.
180.00 that could be spent doing profitable jobs
When I had tons of other things behind yours that would nine times out of ten pay more than a kart engine.
Sorry your upset but look at it from the other side of the fence.
Does your boss ask you to work 2 hours for free? And if he did would you?
I don't know many that would.
The builder did do you a favor because if I had to reassemble your engine your looking at least 90.00 more.
You would have been 270.00 plus shipping if reassembled to send back.
I finally realized one day car engine machining was much more lucrative than kart engines.
 
900 for rebuild wow is all I can say. Agree somewhat but I would not have charged to give an estimate but would have charged for shipping but 900 come on guys ridiculous lol
 
The cost of a rebuild or a build in general is about ridiculous by any means and as inflated as they come. A generator or Garden tiller engine cost almost as much as a small block chevy rebuild crazy.... stupid!!!! But hey its the American way!!
 
was it the original builder?
had you dealt with them before?
Get ya a set of rings ,a couple valves and springs and give it a shot . cost less than shipping.
 
graphic edge said:
I built engines for a long time and encountered this situation often!
Came up needing way more than they thought and figured just send it back, or I will come get it.
They were none to happy about having a bill on it.
I had rent, machine payments ,utilities , supplies no one ever even thinks about., A house to pay for and a wife.
So give me one good reason I should spend 2 hours of my business time to tear your engine down, inspect it, research parts and quote it for free.
180.00 that could be spent doing profitable jobs
When I had tons of other things behind yours that would nine times out of ten pay more than a kart engine.
Sorry your upset but look at it from the other side of the fence.
Does your boss ask you to work 2 hours for free? And if he did would you?
I don't know many that would.
The builder did do you a favor because if I had to reassemble your engine your looking at least 90.00 more.
You would have been 270.00 plus shipping if reassembled to send back.
I finally realized one day car engine machining was much more lucrative than kart engines.
Click to expand...

Does my boss ask me to work 2 hrs for free? And do I do it? Why yes I do!! But then again I am a truck driver where they do that a lot and don't get paid for it.
 
graphic edge said:
I built engines for a long time and encountered this situation often!
Came up needing way more than they thought and figured just send it back, or I will come get it.
They were none to happy about having a bill on it.
I had rent, machine payments ,utilities , supplies no one ever even thinks about., A house to pay for and a wife.
So give me one good reason I should spend 2 hours of my business time to tear your engine down, inspect it, research parts and quote it for free.
180.00 that could be spent doing profitable jobs
When I had tons of other things behind yours that would nine times out of ten pay more than a kart engine.
Sorry your upset but look at it from the other side of the fence.
Does your boss ask you to work 2 hours for free? And if he did would you?
I don't know many that would.
The builder did do you a favor because if I had to reassemble your engine your looking at least 90.00 more.
You would have been 270.00 plus shipping if reassembled to send back.
I finally realized one day car engine machining was much more lucrative than kart engines.
Click to expand...

X2..
 
This might be a "perspective" issue. Builder vs Customer

For what it's worth:
We charge $35 to tear down, tech, and inspect an engine.
This charge is absorbed into our rebuild fee IF we are doing the rebuild. (We do not charge the tear down, tech, and inspect fee in addition to the rebuild fee of $175 + parts.)

Now, if the customer simply wants the engine returned and not have us rebuild it, we will gladly do that - $35 fee +shipping.

I will not re-assemble an engine that is not being rebuilt to our standards (ie just put it back together "as is.") The problem you run into is that when the guy gets his engine (that obviously needs a lot of work) back from the engine builder, you'll find he lists it for sale as "just back from being professionally built by engine builder "X"". = BIG problems!!
I've seen this all too often.

A couple years back (if you remember the guy from Florida selling spray painted 14 HP flatheads on ebay) I got in one of these basket-case engines from a customer. Out of all of the parts on the engine that I got in, I could only use the crappy spray painted sheet metal and bolts. (aluminum bore block, pull choke carb & tank, worn crank, stock rod, etc etc -- total junk!)

Imagine having to tell the customer that it wasn't worth the $35 to ship it back, let alone the $35 tear-down fee.

I regularly have a half dozen engines here from customers who have to make a decision on how to proceed with their engine that needs more parts than it's worth.

$900 is unreasonable only if you can find someone better to rebuild it for less I suppose. Is the engine worth $900 fresh? Maybe, maybe not. Could you likely buy another engine fresh (quite possibly even better) for less? Absolutely!

We regularly sell fresh flatheads for $600 - $850. I have also rebuilt many flatheads that the rebuild bill comes out this high. Throw a new rotating assembly - crank, rod, & piston, a new carb, and new sheet metal and it's very likely you'll be in the $800 - $900 range.


--
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cuts
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
Celebrating 25 years of service to the karting industry
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top