Trying to bite my tongue here,but I feel I know longer can when I think about the $$$ I have burned due to one of his products.I had a PAE switch pitch torque convertor that wiped the thrust bearing on 2 different motors(on 2nd motor wiped the crank)& wiped 1 trans.Had to beat the POS off the trans with a sledge hammer!Have had PM'S from some other folks here on the Board had similar issues with his convertors.
I think we need to add section of "sticky poles" in the buyer/seller feedback regarding engine builders and body shops. Let people vote on good experiences all the way down to NEVER take your parts there, maybe a 1-5 scale. o No: We worry about a $80 part for sale than a $80,000 resto.ou:
I don't know the shop in question but I think with the downturn in the economy some shops have had to reduce their workforce. So some are now somewhat understaffed and aren't in a position to refuse any potential work or be reallistic about delivery dates as to scare off potential customers? Thus even reputable shops delivery times may be somewhat overestimated and if you can't drive by everyonce in a while, you may slip down the list? As long as the shop is in business, patience will be the key and hopefully and/or ultimatly you'll have an engine that will give you years and years of good service and reliability even though you've had months of questionablility and/ or heartaches. The buick comunity is small so hopefully this will get resolved for you with some help from other members in the circle. Gord
This is not the problem here, even if you get a part or engine, you need to have it checked out right away for it blows up in your face. And patience is here not the key, only :dollar: will work and its your choice will it be his or yours. JB is not worth the heartaches, nor the medical bills. I'm a nice guy, but JB has rattled my cage one time to many. :af: I hope I never meet him in person, if i do i will put a nice rusty and abused chebby block up his.:moonu: .:shock: ok can't say that sorry,:error: Or I will use him as my personal brakechute on my race car, ok not my personal brakechute only, some of you can lend him when you feel the urge or need to do so. This will be one of my last posts in this Topic, cause I noticed that I was checking out the prices of airplane tickets to Texas and was hearing Darth Vader breathing and I was not wearing my racehelmet! ou:
Todd, Based on what you have posted so far you will be SOL considering other cases like this that I have seen. Chances are he hasn't done anything on your project for a long time and has no intention of doing anything. I hope you haven't paid him too much yet. Waiting any longer to take action likely won't get you anywhere except more frustrated. If he is having problems and it gets worse you may never see your engine again. What makes this really bad is the distance between you guys which makes a small claims lawsuit very difficult. I don't know him nor have I ever heard of him but if the information posted so far is accurate, the guy is a deadbeat and thats all there is too it. I would try and make arrangements ASAP to go get your engine. Once it is back in your posession you gain complete control from there on out. Until then you are relying on a deadbeat and that usually ends up unfavorable no matter what the situation. Once you get the engine have someone else (reputable) inspect what he did and check everything thoroughly. You can not and should not trust any work this bozo did.
*IF* you are to proceed with him you need to have a clear future spelled out and the first step for that is to determine EXACTLY where you are as of this exact moment. PICTURES and description of exactly what work has been done to date - the more details the better, and How this work already done pertains to what ever monies have changed hands already. This will give you a basis and starting point to move foward. Next, you need a detailed description of what is left to do along with a schedule when each task will be completed. Each task will not be considered completed without pictures proving so. You are getting the classic run-around here and there are not many good possible outcomes, but by taking control of the project, you can see it through. The first and foremost thing that needs to be done is that a schedule for communication needs to be set, i.e. every monday morning at 9am we are to talk to discuss what was accomplished last week, what was started last week and carries over into this week, and what new tasks will be started this week. Ideally, this would be prefaced with the detailed pictures taken last week. Im neither friend or foe with Mr. Burek but I've seen the pattern that his actions have been taking over the past year or two and those of you on the loosing end need to band together now and set his course straight once and for all - or you will all loose. I would bet money that the only reason he called you was because of this thread and someone close to him ringing his bell that a storm was brewing.
Excellent post Allen! I am going to do exactly what you suggest. Calling him twice a week, not just calling but actually talking to him. The only reason I haven't pulled my parts out and demanded the money back is the distance. I will be all over him like stink on a skunk. I appreciate all the help guys! It's unfortunate we have to deal with this kind of stuff in our community. But we police our own. Cheers,
I don't know Jim either, but I totally agree with Alan. He told you what you wanted to here. I would be very surprised if you get your engine back.
Yes quite true, and I do laugh alot :grin: Yes he does that all the time. One time when I talked to him on the phone , adn wasn't getting straight answers I asked him what it would take to have my engine completed. With out any thought or hestation, he said with a smile you could hear true the phone, cause he was finding this funny I guess, :dollar: Money!! And I payed the engine in full allready, and he needed the same amount again to complete it, cause what I had learned is that when I payed him, he build the engine for someone else who was waiting along time and was ready to take him to court or something. He will not do anything if its not needed to save his one butt, and he will tell anything to prolong/delay it. That he phoned is good news, he's at least thinking about your buildup again. If you get it have it checked, cause he is now in a hurry to build it up for you, and likely will do what he has done also with my engine, take alot of shortcuts, will not clean check anything, use some spraycan paint (he doesn't know how to use that either) to make the block and parts look like new or that there has been done some work to it. His valve jobs are so bad, no single valve will ever seal up again. His machinework/shop is so BAD and so Quickly performed that a guy with a Dremel would have done a better looking job at least. But and this is the BEST thing to do, get your money back, the engine you will get WILL be all messed up taking alot of work and money to get it ok again. So don't get your hopes up like I did, when you finally get something out of him.
Here's my personal experience when he built my 551hp 350. It was years til it was completed and I was proceding legal action, where we went to an arbitrary session to get things settled out. I believe this is the process before it continues to a court. Anyways, I asked for my money back for the lack of progress and the time taken to complete my engine. In turn, we both agreed that he would have the engine completed in the specified amount of time. Don't go by a phone call and taking his word that he'll get it done. It's the same old routine he pulls. My personal advice would be to GET YOUR PARTS AND TAKE IT TO ANOTHER SHOP. You might as well forget about the money because, the amount it'll take to get it back in court you'll still be upside down. It'll be a continuous run around with the phone calls until you do. And, I guarantee you won't have it done by the time you need it. If I was to bet on this, I would be a very rich man. I'm not one for posting negative comments but, people shell out a lot of money to get their engines done. It definitely makes this hobby frustrating when you can't enjoy driving your car for years.
Sometimes alcohol/chemicals come in to play. Years ago I had a TA repainted by a 'show quality' painter. I had known of him and seen his high quality work. When I went to pick up the car, it was not a good job at all. I happened to walk by a garbage can and saw that it was full of beer cans-turned out he'd hired a kid also working part-time at a 'boneyard' close by to do the work (nice skill mix?!) while he sat around drinking beer. I put out 'the word' as best I could and he 'retired' a while later to finish drinking himself to death-
Again?! how many times did he get away with this? How much money does he owe to us all? There must be a good lawyer in the Buick member list, that would be willing for a reasonable fee to put JB out of his misery. And perhaps get some of our money back. I at least would have some peace of mind that he will not be able to do this to someone again. Has someone made the Bad Vendor section allready? Cause if he gets away with this again, were gonna need it to at least warn somebody for this man.:spank:
Sound like he is buying more time on something he has not told the truth about. I bet your engine is still a long way from rumbling! I bought a few parts from him and even had him port some items but that was years back and his name is not what it was back then. The Bulldog saga really hurt him. He claimed it was out of his control but one never knows. You had better get the full list of work done along with pics emailed to you. If you see things are not what they are supposed to be you might want to pull everything. Nothing worse than a guy pressured trying to throw an engine together in a rush! Don't know his situation but once bankrupt you may never get anything out of there again that's your's. I have seen it happen more than once during these hard times.
I'm happy this is finally coming to light on this board. I've been tip toeing around it for some time now. I sent him roughly $4,000 for an engine/trans in April of 2008. He wanted half up front and then a month later said it was half done and he needed the rest. I still have nothing. He said he had a 350/TH350 core. I'm sure he had no intentions of building them. Being that its over $3,000 I can't do small claims court in New Jersey. I'm sure he knows this. At the time that was all the money I had in the world, and it is becoming a sore spot in mine and my wifes marriage. I would be happy with a couple bucks repaid a month at this point. As far as reporting him to the BBB, I see he has 2 complaints on there, no details though. As far as his personal problems, I'm pretty sure his mom died in October. I'm about to become another problem for him. Pay me a^s h&^e.
Man I feel bad for you guys. Maybe we ALL should contact the BBB and add a few hundred more complaints from all across the country?!? I dont know about the legalities of that, but this is bull$hi+! Good luck fellas.
