You know what really grinds my gears.....

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:56 am

ASSHOLES!
I met up a while back with a real knowledgeable guy who works on SRT-4s. He used to work at a Dodge stealership but now works at a well known performance shop. Lets call him Jay. Not many know but my srt is in sad condition from the previous owner. Half assed work that I am trying my best to correct. Now Jay had no problem working on the car, he was actually excited to work on it. I offerd to repay him in some way with lunch or beer or anything but he really did not want anything. Its not like he did all the work on the car, I was right there helping. I took my car to his house ONCE for about two hours. Now out of the blue he is asking me for $20 an hour to work on the car. He said it was better than taking it to a shop and paying almost $100 and hour. I told him I don't even make that much and hour and I don't think he does either. He said he has no porblem working on the car with me, but he has no time now to help me unless money is involved. I can understand this if I just dropped off the car and said do this, this, and this. Its not like that at all.

I was not asking for free work, I offerd to repay in some way but there is no way I can pay this guy $20 to sit there and pull on wires and tighten a bolt or two. I'm sure most of you will take his side but there have been dozens of times when friends asked me to help do brakes, a water pump, intakes, neons/electrical work or just an oil change and I never asked for anything in return. This is just beyond agravating to me. Hell esteinmaier (Erick) helped me real quick and next thing I knew my friend and I were getting free beer. Anyone else here with me on this?!

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:52 am

Yeah... My Bro-N-Law helps me a lot with my car... lately he is working on his and is there if I have any questions or need help. On larger projects I take him and my sister out to dinner. He charges non-friends or family for his time however. So If you are/were a close enough friend then charging you kinda sucks.... if you are more an acquaintance then it kind of makes sense (it is still a deal in this sense too).

TeckNeon · Post by **TeckNeon** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:26 am

Sounds like he has honed his skill set enough to expect to be paid for his work. Nothing wrong with asking for money or turning down helping people for free/low pay.

I am a graphic designer of 10+ years. I don't ever do a resume or business card for free. Not even for a friend. There is always a barter network between us, though. He helps me install my header one week...and I do his resumes and print them for him (I have high quality stuff...not some $25 inkjet just so you get the idea).

Do you think he is charging too much? If so, try to negotiate with him and yourself out. If you think his skill set is not to your liking for the price he wants to charge you, then find someone else who can do your required quality of work for the price you are willing to pay. If that's not possible, then you need to rethink your position and find a way to afford the quality you need or get on fixing it yourself and save money that way. Trial and error is a pain but for every mistake you make, you learn something new.

Everyone is broke and down on their luck 90% of the time. If you weren't you would not be fixing a messed up SRT-4, you would be driving something else with a warranty. We all get it but to me, he is not asking too much if he is as good as you say he is.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:31 am

I can relate. I do not charge my family or friends for work I do to their cars. I have been kinda of taken advantage of by one person, and my good friends say I should charge for the work I do, but I can't bring myself to charge money.

And this isn't simple work either. One session consisted of a timing belt/water pump replacement, cam swap, ACR trans install with a limited slip added. We worked through the weekend, and I worked on this car till 4:30am so he could drive to work that day. I had to work that day as well.

There are a lot more jobs like this I have done as well. These are done in a driveway, without air tools, and many times in bad weather with no cover.

I may be a glutton for punishment, but I feel like folks who don't have the money to spend and need work done, and I have the ability to do said work, that I have an obligation to help.

If I felt I should charge someone for work (i.e. someone not a friend) I would not do the job for them. It wouldn't feel right to me.

/my.02

Xtian · Post by **Xtian** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:38 pm

titansxt

I know what you mean. And it really sucks!
If I were there I could help you right away with the SRT.

I never charge my family, friends or even people who I barely now. I don't ask for a favor in return, because I don't want this person to feel that he owns me something.

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:21 pm

I would not mind paying him if I was like here, put in this turbo and IC. All we are doing with the car is getting the wiring all cleaned up and trying to figure out what wire goes where so I can get my AVCR and DTEC off.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:39 pm

"In my opinion"..... I don't think he set out trying to "screw" you, and he isn't necessarily doing so now ..... BUT ......

I *bet* his financial situation has changed, or he's had a setback, since taking the job.
Now he's hard up for some extra money, and either creditors or a significant other is putting pressure on him. Just a guess ......

How I would handle the situation ??
I would offer to make him a "donation".

Not trying to sound like an ass..... I have had people "offer" me "free" stuff (parts, labor, etc.)
I don't want to take advantage of them, so instead of offering to pay them (which they sometimes refuse anyway), I'll offer to *donate* to them.

For some reason, that word goes down easier.
I can pay them something, they feel good about a little extra money, and nobody feels they have been screwed.

-Nick

kevo · Post by **kevo** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:54 pm

i was speaking to someone about this the other day. Seems as if here is a surge of douchebags in the neon community as of late.

jrumann59 · Post by **jrumann59** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:15 pm

kevo wrote:i was speaking to someone about this the other day. Seems as if here is a surge of douchebags in the neon community as of late.

Surge more like a constant stream, the new ones just replace the older more knowledgeable ones.

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:54 pm

jrumann59 wrote:
kevo wrote:i was speaking to someone about this the other day. Seems as if here is a surge of douchebags in the neon community as of late.
Surge more like a constant stream, the new ones just replace the older more knowledgeable ones.

100% true! I've been here since pretty much day one and I still love this place but it seems less and less technical questions are asked and the ones that do get asked get; "use the fucking search button!".

Anyways. About the donation of money, I did offer some cash up for him but he did not want it. I guess the part that really bothers me is when I was told that he has no problem working on the car but just does not have the time to fix other peoples fuck ups...Unless money is involved.