Man that SUCKS,:rant: sorry things didnt work out for you. I believe I would take legal action since you got absolutely nothing but lip service for your money.
Sounds to me like you should have sent it to TA... I'd start a thread in the Feedback section, potential customers NEED to know!:af:
Sorry to read this. I'm a retired guy, so been around awhile and have seen these kind of situations many many times over the years. My wife says I'm a bit cynical and she's right! It's one of the reasons I've had the policy to do as much as I can in life myself=don't write too many checks-it's worked out pretty well
Yes that is/was me. Sorry to hear about your problems, I to after reading the Topic name knew allready which shop this would be. You have 2 options: 1) go there in person and sort it out get your money/parts out and tell everyone you can not to go there anymore, to prevent this from happening again! Yes lets add him to the BAD VENDOR list. 2) Take him to court/sue him. And no Jim Burek is NOT an ethical man! I have a long list of people who got treaded badly, and even when they got there parts... the machinework was REALLY REALLY BAD! Or/And they didn't get the parts or work they payed for. I have been on that road to, I got all of my "parts" out. But many parts could not be used at all for my build or they had to be machined/rebuild to be useable again. And this was also the case for NEW PARTS were he did work on! :rant: I have all the info on the parts and can show the work PAE / Jim Burek does or lets his machineshop do and sell it to you as a ok part. His family problems I don't believe, cause he told me the same thing in october/november 2008. I will believe he has other "family" problems, but these are related to the long list of Buick Family members he has been messing with. Jim Burek may have been an good rep Buick Builder but those years are gone, and he has done nothing the last 3 years or longer to get his good rep back. In some way I pitty him, cause you can buildup a good rep, but if you loose it, it will be even harder near yet inpossible to get it back. But I have more consideration for his customers, were with there money he feeds his self and his family with, and doesn't seem to care a bit that he has taken the hard earned money from good people. And if he is given the chance, he will not give them anything in return. Jim B, has or has had many friends and that makes it even worse..and I was one of them. If he had come clean about his problems right away there may have been a solution for things. But we will never know, cause that was not the path he has taken.
My resolution was to have JW from Trishieldperformance build me an engine. And you can put JW from Trishieldperformance in the GOOD Vendor section!:TU:
Yeah, I'm not the letigious type by nature, but after a year of being put off I would have begun the process of taking him to court for parts, refund, interest, and legal fees. I dont see how someone that does that is still in business, or able to sleep at night.
Well I will contact him and hold him to his word. I really can't wait anymore. I am moving and I hope he finishes it soon. I really wanted it to be done by now.
I am reluctant to write this as I don't like to burn any bridges, but this bridge is worth the loss. And I don't normally ever say anything negative...especially about people or there business. (just check any of my other posts) So I guess that's a bad thing on my part in not protecting others...sorry about that. But I did not realize other persons got burned by Jim B. Yes, from the dealing I had with him (back in 2004'sh) I aslo rate him as unethical, and apparently his ability questionable. I only had this one dealing with him and never had or will have any other work done by him.. Guy
There have been some attempts over the past couple of years by a few members to tell of their bad experiences with Jim B. Seems to me every time it happened, many other members who'd had good experiences with him in the past, and maybe knew him personally, came to his defense. That's understandable considering their personal experience. However, it seemed to drown out the warnings that some were trying to put out there.
wow..............its like enron............. I was considering Jim B when I decided to farm out my engine build.............. Saw his name in that performance buick engine book, and figured he was one of the best. Luckily for me I chose Jim W and the experience has been awesome so far:TU: Good luck to all of you that were hosed - i sure hope it works out
I sent him just about every engine part except for the pistons and block. He has the rest. If it's close to being done, that's fine. I really rather have the engine completed and back instead of parts and money. I am on a tight deadline. So if anyone who lives down there wants to drop by and check if he is OK, I would appreciate it! Thank you,
Another option would be to contact the Better Business Bureau (the office closest to his business) with a detailed explanation of your experience, especially your efforts in trying to resolve the problem directly. Ive had to resort to that about five or six times within the last 20 years. With only one exception (a well known aftermarket vendor for classic cars), the business in question actively resolved the problem within five days, complete with apologies and even (in one case) a refund of $400 that was not previously due.
A good idea. I have been calling and leaving one nice but firm message daily this week and at least one message a week for the past month. I really hope to hear from him soon.
Update: He just called me and gave me the status. He said there are some other issues going on and would not elaborate. But just an FYI that he called and the progress he told me was encouraging. I won't relent on the phone calls and keeping tabs on the engine progress. I told him how I am moving next month and need to drive the car and not tow it and he appreciated that. Anyways, I'll keep you posted. Thank you for the ideas and encouragement guys! Cheers,
Yes I had all the parts except for the block and pistons. He already had those. It's a '67 430 block. It was very expensive to ship my block all the way to El Paso. I am keeping the original block in stock condition for down the road use someday. Thank you,
No it doesn't put me at ease either. I'm happy that he called, but the leash is still extremely short and suspect.
