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Report: #1244758

Complaint Review: Outlaws Rod & Custom - Norfolk Virginia

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  • Reported By: L CJ Cary — Rocky Mount North Carolina USA
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  • Outlaws Rod & Custom 2712 Wyoming Ave Norfolk, Virginia USA

Outlaws Rod & Custom Outlawsrc.com Beloved Corvette Destroyed By Asa Wilson & Outlaw Rod & Custom-Norfolk, Virginia

*Consumer Comment: Outlaws Rod and Custom is a Reputable Business

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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA - CONSUMER PROTECTION SECTION

OFFICIAL CONSUMER COMPLAINT FORM

 

Complainant……Continued from Page 1

L. CJ Cary

(((redacted)))

Rocky Mount, N.C. 27804

(((redacted)))

 

July 20, 2015

Respondent:

Asa Wilson

Outlaw Racing

(((redacted)))

Norfolk, VA  23513

 

Motor  Vehicle Complaint Continued from pg 1.

 

1994 Corvette LT1: 383:  Vin: xx2389

 

During  the latter part of July 2014  I took my beloved, 1994 Chevrolet Corvette to Asa Wilson and his Outlaw Racing company.

 

My car had a new engine, with a minor exhaust backfire.  When I delivered my vehicle to Outlaws it was a complete running vehicle.   Engine was running with only problem known was backfiring.

 

My car was driven off trailer by me & driven into Outlaws shop by Asa Wilson.

 

Asa Wilson in an email before I took my car there, advised me that if his shop could not determine what was wrong with my car, he would not charge me.  (Exhibit 1).

 

That along with Asa being Navy retired, or so he claims, along with the many performance cars in his shop, gave me confidence to believe in him.

 

What should the approach be to diagnosing the backfiring?  They were to check the engine timing, since on a previous motor, the timing was off.

 

There is more than one way to verify timing.

 

  1. They could have pull spark plug #1, check for TDC Top Dead Center on the crank and piston positioning .  If a problem found, they should have reported back to me the owner for follow-ups.
  2. They could do as they did, and pull the front of the timing chain cover off.  Upon doing this, they found the timing was correctly set.

 

Next they convinced me my new engine had a used or bad timing chain. They did this by showing me what is called looseness in the chain.

 

I said ok If you all think the chain  should be replaced.   Unfortunately they gave me no quote on how much.  Keep in mind there was to be no charge, if they did not find the backfiring problem.  Since they had the timing chain cover off, (their choice) and they convinced me the chain was bad, I said ok.   This required nothing more than removing the harmonic balancer and installing the replacement chain. 

 

Unfortunately Outlaws couldn’t figure out how to get the ATI harmonic balancer off: So they did the following:

 

This very complicated engine was removed from my car. Total incompetence and disregard for me the customer.  Without consulting me and certainly without my consent they took my engine out and damaged parts and never returned some parts.  See photos attached below as to the state of my car when delivered and when Asa Wilson asked me to pick it up.

 

They then sent me several  invoices weeks apart.  One for 1200.00, 1600.00 and one for just over 2100.00 or so.  Attached.

 

When I asked why I was getting invoices with no work being completed? I was told they Outlaw, do something called advanced billing.   I was like what?  Advanced billing?  Bill before work has been approved or done?  Keep in mind they told em they would not charge me if they did not find the problem with the backfiring.  The timing chain was not defected nor was it the cause of the backfiring.  So there should have been no charges, but they were sending bill after bill. 

 

Maybe this was because they know what they will charge, since they know what they would do to a customer’s vehicle even if their approach was in error.  Charge anyway and later recover from the error at the customers expense.  Unbelievable!

 

Shortly after dropping off my car I and another customer, over heard one of their employees bragging about a late model sports car he says he got real cheap.  The other customer and I sort of shrugged it off as hum wonder what that is about?

 

 After my vehicle was torn apart, I quickly figured out such was how Outlaw employee may have gotten control of the other sports car.  

 

Since they..

 

  1. Tore my car apart. (Without consent)..
  2. Hit me with very high bills
  3. Tried to force me to pay outrageous bills.  (Exhibits 2, 3, & 4).
  4. Here’s the big one…I was sure they were going to hit me with a mechanic’s lean if I did not pay.
  5. At that point, they would own my car.

 

I was told by another mechanic a year or so earlier, that some unscrupulous shops would get a vehicle in, then take it apart, without the owner’s consent.

 

 

Reason?

To create leverage, so that the shop would be so vested in the vehicle;  the Owner would be to afraid or intimidated to take the parted vehicle away.   Since any other shop would charge  more to put it back together. 

Plus the Owner would have to pay the offending shop then move their vehicle to another shop and be faced with a second bill.

 

When I heard my car had become victimized, I was just broken hearted.  I was on my way to Missouri and could not immediately get back to see what had happened.

 

However I sent an urgent message and told Asa Wilson, do not touch my car until I get back in town.

 

I cannot tell you just how hurt I was.  I took my car off the road in 1998 to build the very engine, transmission combination and body kit as now installed.  Just to have these incompetents take that very complicated engine out of my car.

 

They, Outlaws broke some parts, failed to return some parts, which will be described later.

 

Upon meeting with Asa Wilson after my return to Hampton Roads, I got the details.

Basically Wilson told his guys to removed my engine, because none of them knew how to get the balancer off, as mentioned elsewhere herein. 

 

I hastily told Wilson to load my engine in my pickup.  To my surprise he challenged me on that, by saying why?  I said none of your business.  It’s my motor and I am taking it, since you took it out.  What I did was take my engine to another shop for safe keeping  and an accurate review of what was wrong and what needed to be repaired.  This shop did the right thing, they did a compression test and  leak down test.   But only with my permission. They found that I had either a bent valve or some other head or valve or spring issue. 

 

The numbers showed the valves were not seating properly.  That is, were not closing completely, causing combustion to take place with the valves open rather than closed.  Easy enough to figure out.  That shop did not tear anything apart or make any decisions without contacting me.

 

They repaired the sticking valves simply by readjusting the rocker arms.  Another easy fix.

 

I asked this shop to get a new chain. They advised I should and they would install.   I acquired it and they installed.  After the install,  they showed me the new chain.  I did the same thing Outlaw did to the previous chain and sure enough this brand new chain had some looseness.

 

I said to the owner, wait why is this new chain loose?  He said oh that’s a trick sort of.  Then he showed me how a dishonest shop could fool customers into believing they had a bad timing chain when they did not.  He rotated the engine counter clockwise just a little and sure enough, that high dollar chain he just installed had looseness. 

 

Seeing the confused look on my face, he said oh, the engine turns clockwise which keeps tension on the clockwise  side.  If you turn it counter clockwise, the counter clockwise side will appear defective or stretched out of tolerances.  However if stretched, too far where the engine backfires, the chain is defective.  But if the timing is correct then the chain has not stretched beyond tolerances.  In this case the timing chain was correct.

 

However Outlaws duped me with that loose chain scam as I learned to call it.

 

After these events, I filed my first complaint with  Virginia  Attorney Generals Consumer Affairs  Office.  If I am correct, they did contact Asa Wilson.  I expect he advised he would find an amicable way to resolve the complaint with the customer, me. 

 

I also had my general Counsel write Wilson a letter of warning regarding the destruction of my Corvette.

 

When I met with Wilson again  he was quite angry about the complaints.  He said, look it’s my fault.  I told the mechanic Harry Deeds, to pull your engine.  He apologized and said, If you agree to not sue me,  I will fix your car.

 

I told him, I only want my car put back together.

 

Wilson agreed.

 

Wilson became ill and had to have knee surgery.  This put him out of the shop for months.  When he later returned, we discussed my car.  Wilson told me to get the engine back to his shop and he would repair what they had done, including putting my engine back in my car.

 

Photos of my car before and after taken to Outlaw’s.

 Engine in car and running

 The above photo was taken of my car inside Outlaws shop, before they destroyed the installation.

 I advised Wilson that his mechanic had broken several parts, while taking the engine out.

 My very expensive and complicated engine sitting on the floor of Wilson’s ship.  Unbelievable..  More after the fact photos below.

 Bolts, expensive spark plugs.  Bosch platinum

 ATI Super Harmonic Balancer

 Windshield Wiper Motor

 Alternator, Belt and Wiring Harnesses

 Electric Water Pump...

 AC unit was disconnected. In the 17 years since my Vette came off the road and 3 engines installed.  The AC unit had NEVER been opened.  These people had no idea what they were doing!

 Opti spark coil device

 Spark Plug wires and individual coils.  Should be 8 each.  Uncertain as to the number.

 Known damaged parts:

  The two sensors were broken where they connect.  This photo is of a unit that is not broken.

  1.  

   2. Coolant cross over pipe damaged by Wilson and his Outlaws.  This is the replacement pipe.

 1. Air Conditioning compressor..

 KNOWN MISSING OR STOLEN PARTS.

 1. AeroMotive Specialty Fuel Pressure Regulator.  This unit was on my corvette. Purchased new..

 1. High Torque Corvette Starter..

 This is not the actual starter that was on my vehicle.  This is the replacement unit.

 

  1. Various assembly bolts.  Too many to determine until re assembly completed.
  2. Various misc.  gaskets & fluids
  3. Towing Charges of 500.00..

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/27/2015 10:24 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/outlaws-rod-custom/norfolk-virginia-23513/outlaws-rod-amp-custom-outlawsrccom-beloved-corvette-destroyed-by-asa-wilson-amp-out-1244758. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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#1 Consumer Comment

Outlaws Rod and Custom is a Reputable Business

AUTHOR: Curtis - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, January 11, 2016

I ran across this report about Outlaws Rod and Custom (OR&C) when searching the web for their website. I had to read the report several times because I was not believing what was written by the reporting individual. You see, I'm current customer of OR&C and have been dealing with the owner of the business and his staff for the past two years. They have been building my 1950 Chevy truck and doing so with my input, coordination and their expertise. Has every step of way been smooth and without a bump or two? Well no, but nothing the owner (Asa Wilson) and I have not been able to work through without getting heated.

Asa, and I feel comfortable calling him by his first name, because we have a friendly relationship that has developed over the past two years. He is a retired Navy Chief and we share this in common. I spent 30 plus years in the Navy and believe me I would know if he was fibbing about being in the Navy.

As for Mr Cary's experience with OR&C, Asa Wilson or anyone on his staff, I cannot and will not say none of what he states is not true. I will say this: If I had read Mr Cary's report before initially contacting OR&C two plus years ago, I do not believe I would have called them nor visited their shop. I believe most of the information in the report is presented without solid proof and can be very damaging to OR&C's business, now and in the future. As a business, this report has to be troubling to OR&C. Who knows how many perspective customers read the report and said to themselve, "Let me go elsewhere!"

I have never been billed for future work, nor have the organization tried to scam me at anytime. All of my truck parts have been marked, documented and safely stored. I am no different than many of OR&C's customers: We believe we know what we want, but in many cases if not all, OR&C as the professionals, provide their input and recommendations to ensure our projects look and ride better than anything we could have imagined.

I could spend a lot of time writing about a number of different good experiences I have had with OR&C, but I will not. I just hope that anyone like myself reading about Mr Cary's experience and they have any second thought about dealing with OR&C, they should call and talk with Asa. If they are in the area, go to his shop, talk with his foreman and others to get a better perspective.

OR&C is one of a few Auto customizing shops in the Tidewater area. I have seen their work and they build some really great looking rides. I have and continue to deal with them on a professonal basis as well as joking around a bit. They are a great team of guys and I truly believe their leadership (Asa) is a much bigger person than is presented in the aforementioned report.

R, Curtis

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