Hi,
Short story:
My Zed is locked up in an indy shop with a sign on the door reading "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency." Calls to the shop go to voicemail. I received no notice of the closing.
Long Story:
I took my Zed to an indy shop for a new convertible top installation and seat leather repair. I paid a deposit to cover the cost of the top being ordered from California, and waited several weeks while the top was being made and shipped to my Indy. I then brought my car in for the install, which took about a week. The shop is staffed by one guy, the owner, a nice and knowledgable fellow, who came highly recommended from several people (he has 30 plus years in the business), so I wasn't worried. When I dropped off the car for the install, he told me (for the first time) he was going into the hospital for a routine procedure (colonoscopy), but he wanted to get my top done before going in for the procedure, in case there were any complications. That sounded right to me. I wanted my car back. He finished it the Saturday before the Monday procedure. When I picked it up, I noticed several issues, including the rubber seal between the trunk lid and roof being uneven from one side to the other (it sticks out over an inch on one side, and almost none on the other). He had taped down the ends of that rubber piece on both sides of the car, telling me they were curling up and he had applied an adhesive to keep the rubber from riding up. I could remove the tape the next day, once it cured, he said. I asked if he had tested the function of the roof; he said he had. He said he could work on that rubber section sticking out after his procedure. I took the car and paid him the remaining sum due, as I didn't want to leave the car there while he was in the hospital, for a day or a week.
The next day, I removed the tape and found a mess of black adhesive that looks awful, on both side of the car at the ends of the rubber. I then tried to lower the top, and it appeared to get hung on the glass window, pushing past the sticking point with an unnerving sound. The top went back up just fine. I tried to put the top down on 2 other occasions, even doing it slowly in a stop and start fashion, and had the same noise and resistance, likely due to the window snagging on the plastic inside the car, above the center storage. I called him the day of his procedure and left a message about the issues. A week later, I called again and left another message. He called me back 3-4 days later and said he had been in the hospital and had surgery following the colonoscopy. He was just getting back into the shop.
Out of caution, I gave it a week for his continued recovery before taking my car back for him to fix the issues. I dropped it off on July 6, and he admitted he may have "messed it up" as he had never installed a Z4 top. But, he said he would make it right. I told him to take his time; doing it right was more important than doing it fast. I even offered to take off from my job and help him lift off the top or remove the seat if needed. He said he had it covered.
On July 9 or 10, my sis passed by the shop and told me the indy had the top off of the car and had taken out my driver' seat. Today, July 14, I passed by the shop and noticed the "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency" sign on the door. Calls go to voicemail. While I could reinstall the seat myself, the soft top, if it is in pieces, is another matter. Getting a 3rd party to put it back together and take responsibility for any problems with the top is unlikely, and would cost me more money.
But first things first, I have to get to the car. I have receipts from the Indy showing I paid for the work, but it is locked securely in the indy's garage. I don't have his home telephone number or first name, and his last name is the most common out there.
I'm hoping someone out there has been in this situation and found a way to resolve it quickly.
Short story:
My Zed is locked up in an indy shop with a sign on the door reading "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency." Calls to the shop go to voicemail. I received no notice of the closing.
Long Story:
I took my Zed to an indy shop for a new convertible top installation and seat leather repair. I paid a deposit to cover the cost of the top being ordered from California, and waited several weeks while the top was being made and shipped to my Indy. I then brought my car in for the install, which took about a week. The shop is staffed by one guy, the owner, a nice and knowledgable fellow, who came highly recommended from several people (he has 30 plus years in the business), so I wasn't worried. When I dropped off the car for the install, he told me (for the first time) he was going into the hospital for a routine procedure (colonoscopy), but he wanted to get my top done before going in for the procedure, in case there were any complications. That sounded right to me. I wanted my car back. He finished it the Saturday before the Monday procedure. When I picked it up, I noticed several issues, including the rubber seal between the trunk lid and roof being uneven from one side to the other (it sticks out over an inch on one side, and almost none on the other). He had taped down the ends of that rubber piece on both sides of the car, telling me they were curling up and he had applied an adhesive to keep the rubber from riding up. I could remove the tape the next day, once it cured, he said. I asked if he had tested the function of the roof; he said he had. He said he could work on that rubber section sticking out after his procedure. I took the car and paid him the remaining sum due, as I didn't want to leave the car there while he was in the hospital, for a day or a week.
The next day, I removed the tape and found a mess of black adhesive that looks awful, on both side of the car at the ends of the rubber. I then tried to lower the top, and it appeared to get hung on the glass window, pushing past the sticking point with an unnerving sound. The top went back up just fine. I tried to put the top down on 2 other occasions, even doing it slowly in a stop and start fashion, and had the same noise and resistance, likely due to the window snagging on the plastic inside the car, above the center storage. I called him the day of his procedure and left a message about the issues. A week later, I called again and left another message. He called me back 3-4 days later and said he had been in the hospital and had surgery following the colonoscopy. He was just getting back into the shop.
Out of caution, I gave it a week for his continued recovery before taking my car back for him to fix the issues. I dropped it off on July 6, and he admitted he may have "messed it up" as he had never installed a Z4 top. But, he said he would make it right. I told him to take his time; doing it right was more important than doing it fast. I even offered to take off from my job and help him lift off the top or remove the seat if needed. He said he had it covered.
On July 9 or 10, my sis passed by the shop and told me the indy had the top off of the car and had taken out my driver' seat. Today, July 14, I passed by the shop and noticed the "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency" sign on the door. Calls go to voicemail. While I could reinstall the seat myself, the soft top, if it is in pieces, is another matter. Getting a 3rd party to put it back together and take responsibility for any problems with the top is unlikely, and would cost me more money.
But first things first, I have to get to the car. I have receipts from the Indy showing I paid for the work, but it is locked securely in the indy's garage. I don't have his home telephone number or first name, and his last name is the most common out there.
I'm hoping someone out there has been in this situation and found a way to resolve it quickly.
By the seaside...
