Zed Shed
- Thread starter pantherZ4LFC
- Start date
Attleborough, Norfolk
I went to him for advice a while back, before he set up his garage and before I had gained experience on these cars myself.Bear said:
You’ll appreciate it is along run from Norfolk so I asked a few pertinent questions before I committed.
He was rude, patronising, arrogant and basically insinuated that I wouldn’t be able to understand as he is the only person who knows what he is going with these cars. I chose not to go and taught myself to do the work.
Since then I have been banned from his pet fb page by his friendly admin for offering to drive to Cambridge and replace a roof control module for someone, asking only a contribution to my fuel costs.
This apparently made me a ‘trader’, even though his business is freely advertised on that same page. I’m sure this had nothing at all to do with me encroaching on his roof monopoly.
I am happily carrying on helping people and it really doesn’t impact on me at all personally, but having experienced at first hand his condescending attitude and seen some of the results of his roof relocations I can fully understand the negative press he gets.
He is running a business with overheads so I appreciate his time is money, however when I remove the parcel shelf support and see how the roof pipes are twisted and under tension due to just being pulled through and not loosened to allow them to lay naturally then it offends my engineering ocd. But the majority of customers don’t see that.
So there’s my opinion. You have obviously been more than happy with his work and that’s great. Your opinion will be the polar opposite of mine.
I met Mike at Zedfest many years ago and had a normal conversation with him regarding how we both do roof motor relocations I’ve never had an argument or conversation of any type with him since.
However, about a year or so back, when someone geographically close to me asked for some help on FB for a faulty roof and I stated I’m in Bristol and offered help, I got warned by his admin, Lisa via a FB message
Then a few weeks later someone else recommended me for a roof fix and I’ve been banned from his Z4 UK Owners Club FB group ever since and she now follows all my posts !!
What does that say ?
However, about a year or so back, when someone geographically close to me asked for some help on FB for a faulty roof and I stated I’m in Bristol and offered help, I got warned by his admin, Lisa via a FB message
Then a few weeks later someone else recommended me for a roof fix and I’ve been banned from his Z4 UK Owners Club FB group ever since and she now follows all my posts !!
What does that say ?
This is what I cannot understand? He has more than enough work to keep him fully employed, so why does he see the need to try to prevent hobbyists from helping out other owners. We do a little in our spare time and are never going to make any impact on his business. It seems a little bit paranoid to me.Number5 said:
I think there will always be happy and unhappy customers, but its about judging it on aggregate. Looking on a review website and seeing someone give a company 5 stars and raving about them because they changed their tyre when they paid them to, is just a nonsense. Its about the quantity and outcomes of the customer complaints that really matter.
Sometimes things go wrong, especially working on cars as there is a lot of moving parts, but if your response to those moments is to wash your hands of it, which we have seen repeatedly with this trader, then that in my mind makes them untrustworthy and unreliable. I would treat any trader the same way. I've seen traders on other forums have problems, but then bend over backwards to resolve it, and in that instance it would actually make me MORE inclined to use them as I know should any problem arise I will be ok. Its clear with Zedshed it wont be ok, and you will likely end up in a protracted period of silence and ultimately in court.
And again I go back to this idea that a person thinks that a Z4 is a specialist car, I've owned 2 now and they really aren't, as I say my family are generalist mechanics and they have done all my work no problem as they have worked on those engines on many other BMWs, they are everywhere! Now when I buy that Zonda, maybe I wont use them
I appreciate the roof mechanism is unique to the car, but that aside I would always be using a trusted indy on my cars who you know will look after you should things not turn out perfectly.
Sometimes things go wrong, especially working on cars as there is a lot of moving parts, but if your response to those moments is to wash your hands of it, which we have seen repeatedly with this trader, then that in my mind makes them untrustworthy and unreliable. I would treat any trader the same way. I've seen traders on other forums have problems, but then bend over backwards to resolve it, and in that instance it would actually make me MORE inclined to use them as I know should any problem arise I will be ok. Its clear with Zedshed it wont be ok, and you will likely end up in a protracted period of silence and ultimately in court.
And again I go back to this idea that a person thinks that a Z4 is a specialist car, I've owned 2 now and they really aren't, as I say my family are generalist mechanics and they have done all my work no problem as they have worked on those engines on many other BMWs, they are everywhere! Now when I buy that Zonda, maybe I wont use them
I appreciate the roof mechanism is unique to the car, but that aside I would always be using a trusted indy on my cars who you know will look after you should things not turn out perfectly.
Mike is clearly marmite and is very likely due to him having traits of a psychopath. A good example of what I mean is Donald Trump.
He came on these forums completely green about the Z4. He then harvested information from other members and at times he was really helpful with sharing what he had learnt.
Then with a snap of the fingers it all changed. He ditched the forums, owed people money, closed his off license and setup a garage.
The blurb on his website about his roof fixing capabilities just screams of his ego and 'look at me and bask in my glory.'
He came on these forums completely green about the Z4. He then harvested information from other members and at times he was really helpful with sharing what he had learnt.
Then with a snap of the fingers it all changed. He ditched the forums, owed people money, closed his off license and setup a garage.
The blurb on his website about his roof fixing capabilities just screams of his ego and 'look at me and bask in my glory.'
For those who don't know the original Zedshed was begun in 2013 by enthusiasts in and around the Basingstoke area and posted their exploits on the Z3 Forum. They operated from one of their home garages and did remarkable work on Z3's, their refurbishment of rear subframes are masterpieces. A few of us on the Z3 Forum also got involved with Z3 jobs and called ourselves Zedsheds, Zedshed near Lincoln, another one in Gloucestershire and the one I run , Zedshed Cymru in South Wales. None of us are businesses and only help other members of the forum out when they need something doing, I run mine on the basis that owners supply any parts and its up to them if they want to donate anything towards running costs for garage consumables that get used. The Zedshed subject of this thread and all the complaints made about it relate to the Zedshed that is run as a business by Mr Mike Fenlon who actually registered the name 'Zedshed' as a company much to the disgust of the original Zedshed.
My Shed is made up with Z3 and Z4 Forum members spread across the South Wales area although we do have members around Bristol and Gloucestershire and even further afield, we all keep in touch on a Whats App locally and on the respective Forums.
The original Zedshed is now called Zedshed HQ run by Lee, they have a Facebook page here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2700238586952805
As time went on they have expanded and now operate from a bigger unit.
My Shed is made up with Z3 and Z4 Forum members spread across the South Wales area although we do have members around Bristol and Gloucestershire and even further afield, we all keep in touch on a Whats App locally and on the respective Forums.
The original Zedshed is now called Zedshed HQ run by Lee, they have a Facebook page here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2700238586952805
As time went on they have expanded and now operate from a bigger unit.