who to send a block to ?

[TEXAS20225]

Tommy 3 weeks is correct you better then anyone knows how many blocks we sent to ruck for nic work and no fiddle fartin around with 4 hour work days jim work 12/14 hours hours because he was proud of his word "HE KEPT IT" now day an excuse is common delay tool which is nothing other then a lie with a reason

[WillySteve]

Ron had a 150 promax of ours from October-end of February. It needed 1 sleeve. The work looks good, but 4.5 months is a little much. And I don't think the ole 150 spent a whole lot of time getting nikasil . I don't want to talk bad about the guy, but some communication would be helpful.

Exactly, 3-1/2 Months with little to slim on the communication!!
He did call to say he had received the block, and then after 5-6 weeks went by, not being able to reach him again we were calling the local, (Wisconsin), Sheriff's Dept trying to find out if maybe he had died!!!!
Communication would have at least soothed out my concerns!!!!!
I owned a repair shop for dang near 50 years and never treated a customer as such nor never would even if I didn't like the customer......and yes, those kind are out there when you deal with the public

[Chaz]

Willie ,
I'm just curious here .

If you sent a block with a very specialized type of bore , to the shop who is considered to be " the best in the world" and in reality , "one of only a few" who are willing to deal with that type of bore ....

Would you think that they were sitting around waiting for something to do ?

If your's was the 20th one in line , would you expect your's to get done ahead of the other 19 first ?

If they said , well we do have a $1000 per every 5 units expedite fee , would you think he was a rip for charging $4000 dollars "just" to go to the head of the line?

You did say he had little communication. Obviously not as much as you would have liked. And I understand that .

Would you be willing to wait another month , if he called you and the one's ahead of you , as well as the one's behind you once a week to tell you he hasn't touched it yet , but told you where you stood in line ?

Would you thank him for the courtesy call ?

Or would you , tell him over and over how important it is that you have your block back ?

Would you be mad if he mentioned the expedite fee again ?

If you have to wait because you waited till their busiest time of year , Is that their fault ?

You do know shop's that do good work are always busy ?

Do you think your that important that they should work round the clock , just for you ?

Do you think they should build your dream's , out of their pocket ?

How long should they be "stuck" with a project that was left with no deposit , before they can sell it to recoup their money ?

I ask these question's not to slam anyone. We all seem to have a bit of the double drive thru line at McDonalds type mentality. Some are worse than other . All these "reality TV garage" shows don't make it any easier . Every one of them packs a three month build into a half hour show ... and all of them complain that they have a deadline to meet. Really , where's the fire ?
They made it to the taping , it aired on time ..

[WillySteve]

Chaz,
Not running down anyone here but in answer to your questions, plus!
What you're saying here is it's just fine to lead customers on? Were I told it would be 3.5 mos. to get a sleeve and chrome job it would have been just fine. I was led to believe I was looking at about a Month tops. Then when I Called and eMailed 100 times in a 5-6 week period with Calls and eMails totally ignored I have to say YES, I did get concerned!
When I finally reached the shop I was finally given several timelines which none came to pass.
Finally after a call from myself I was told everything was done and being boxed to ship to me.....THAT was last Monday!
To this date there is no UPS shipment coming to my shop!
As stated....I have owned a repair shop since 1970.....I HAVE NEVER treated a customer like this!
Cordial, Yes I was treated cordial, but if I tell you something you can bet yer Bippie it will come to pass or I'll tell you why it won't happen!
ALSO, I NEVER expected my work to be put in front of others, I know better, You can bet yer last buck that I know how things work in the industry....remember, I have dealt with machine shops for 46 years!
I as anyone, expect an answer, WHEN GIVEN, to be an answer that I can hang my hat on or at least a follow-up call for some kind of explanation!
Running a business is way much more than being able to do a good job in what you do! If you want to succeed then you better treat the public as if they are your best friend.....give answers to their questions regardless of how stupid the questions are and NEVER totally disappear from the scene and leave them hanging for weeks!!!
Now, let me ask you how you treat your customers? Do you treat them with the respect they deserve since they're spending their bucks with you instead of another?
Do you ignore correspondences with your customers?
When you give a timeline, do you evade the customer whenever he tries to contact you?
Maybe I'm the only person out there that expects respect and to be treated like I have treated others in my 68 years of fighting this crap!
I'm sure my work will be just fine but I will never forget the ordeal with communications being virtually non existent over 3.5 Months, not to mention I was assured my packages would be on the truck no later than Tuesday......I'm beyond getting excited at this point!!!!!

[TEXAS20225]

dont take on more work then you have resources to complete, i was the production manager at a giant steel fab company for decades i succeeded because i knew the capacity of my resources, when the sale's force over sold (yes they worked on commission ) i farmed it out to company's of like capacity i met delivery dates because i kept my finger on the pulse, any company that successful like jim ruck had enough people to do 50/60 blocks a month every month if there was an issue you did not hear about it your block just showed up on time just my .02

[TEXAS20225]

im not sure how machine shops are in everyones neck of the woods but some of these texas guys like to take liquid lunch's everyday for a couple hrs and when they finally get back to the shop they cant hit the ground with their cap and then have tail gate party's everyday, thats a problem and its why i dont use any of them around here i all ready seen what they do

[Dave Strong]

When Ruck retired this sport lost a master. The new kid got some good training from him, no doubt he can do the work but probably had no idea what he was stepping into. I'm sure with time things will improve, he had some Big Shoes to fill.

Dave

[TEXAS20225]

Dave when Jim ruck was cranking them out i was using James Perry at the same time splitting the work up because some months i sold 4/5 motors but i kept 2/3 blocks in rotation at all times. James really does some very nice work just no nic, im not doing nothing like that now i see a old man i the mirror each morning now

[Dave Strong]

Sounds like Chaz has the Nic stuff going on. Would never hesitate to send that man anything and if you had to wait it would be worth the wait. The man is a perfectionist and have heard that from a few picky Azz people.

Dave

[tux974]

It seems like common practice for guys now days to say sure I can do that better then any one else but never get things done!
Simple, do not take on work you can not get done in a timely manner. My advice is to ask when do you need it done by?....yes, I can meet your expecti ons or no, I have other work a head of you at this time...to me, simple, clear and no misunderstanding.
If you promise a job done by a certain day get it done no matter how many hours in a day it will take!
I'm sure they know how much they will be charging without a minute of reservation!
Heck if you are that good and have done 100's then 101 should be a no brainer, I call BS!

[TEXAS20225]

X2 Tony X2

[stoker2001]

we've sent several blocks to ron @ rucks. Quality was still good. Treated me good. I will have more work done there.

what he said^^

[WillySteve]

Glad to hear that his work is good, no doubt!!
I'm just not happy with the fact that I have been more or less left hanging during these 3.5 Months with little to no contact and absolutely nothing I was told has come to pass as far as work timeline!
AND of course why was my block not shipped last week as I was assured it would be? As I was told, it was boxed up on Monday!
I'm old school on this.....my ol Daddy taught me not to Lie, Cheat or Steal....I live by those rules....If I tell you something it will happen or I will be contacting you with an excuse!!!!
I Expect the Same in Return!!!
It's all water under the bridge at this point...we'll see what happens from here!

[rock]

Good luck to you. I hope Ron has seen this and realizes we are not trying to rip on him as much as we would like to see a shop that was once regarded as one of the best get back to it's original status. With the good comments comes the feeling the quality is still there just not the ability to deal with it all, yet. Best of luck to all involved. We have a very short season in some places and having your block holding up the fun and/or business is really unacceptable and I'm afraid it could easily be enough to ruin his investment in a once go to business.

Rock

[WillySteve]

Thanks Rock! And yes, as I stated way back on this thread, he has been VERY cordial in our communications and I really find myself liking the guy! I really had no doubts about his quality, (even though I do like to hear the pluses others have made), or I'd of not sent it there to begin with!
My shop as most others also have timelines to meet and everything depends on the guy doing the work ahead of you. If one shop is slack on communications then it throws a Monkey Wrench in all others involved, including the customer in the end!
It doesn't matter how good you are, communication is essential to smooth out this process all the way down to the end result!
Cheers!