Learn from his mistake…
An Arizona man named Duane almost lost $12,000 he paid up front for the restoration of a 1962 Chevy Impala. For most people, that’s a considerable sum of money, so losing it instead of getting restoration work done on a classic car would be devastating. But that’s what happened to the man, until he turned to a local news station for help.
Find out why a classic car restorer was indicted on fraud charges here.
When the shop asked Duane for $12,000 up front he figured he would hand the money over and the work on the classic Chevy would be done fairly soon. However, after a year of waiting he showed up at the shop to find the Impala sitting in the same spot where he left it, not a thing done in the restoration process.
Upset, Duane took his car and demanded the $12,000 be returned. But the shop told him there were no refunds. That’s when the man contacted an investigative journalist at a local news station. With some pressure, the owner of the shop returned the money within 3 months.
With the money returned, Duane found another shop to perform the work. Learning from before, he didn’t pay the full amount upfront but instead put down a reasonable deposit. Sadly, we see people get taken like this all the time. The sad truth is not all automotive shops are honest and when you hand over the money before work is completed, the incentive to finish or in this case start a job flies out the window.
Everyone won’t agree on how large of a deposit you should pay on restoration work up front, but we will say paying the full amount from the get-go is a horrible idea. Learn from Duane’s mistake and don’t do the same.
Source: ABC 15
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