Machine Shop Scam....Maybe?

[inquisitive lobster]

Hi There,

Not sure what forum to post this under so I'm putting it in General Forum (I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place).

My situation is as seen below:

I had made a request for a machine shop to fix a motor. It needed to have the wedge and the brake pad replaced. They said I had to pay a deposit of 2,000 baht first beforehand, which I did and later quoted me a total price of 2,300 baht. Upon returning the motor to me, both my engineer and I saw that they fixed the brake pad however, the wedge they made for the motor was too small and was too loose in the machine (meaning it would not have worked). We told them about this and they said they will try to fix it. Later that day I got a call stating that they were to afraid of breaking anything inside the motor and that we should find someone else to do it. My engineer told them he would remove the shaft for them so that they can remake a proper wedge to which they had agreed would be included in the 2,300 baht quotation. When I sent someone to pick up the motor, they refused to give them the motor unless they paid the remainder of the balance (which was 300 baht). After the person paid them the 300baht, they gave them the previous wedge they had made before as well as the motor. We called them about this and they told us that they will do this job for free after we bring them the shaft. I asked them to prepare this in writing and send it to me (send me in writing that they would do this for free), but I have yet to see any email from them.

I am worried that if they do not send me the email verification stating that they will make the wedge for free, and I send them the shaft, they will charge me for it again.

I am not sure what to do in this situation.

Any serious advice pertaining to the topic at hand would be highly appreciated.

[krisb]

Wedges are a huge issue in Thailand.

[pigeonjake]

its ok if you have a big wedge to start with,,,, being in thailand it will allways get smaller

[Seastallion]

Sometimes you just have to trust people. Not all Thais are dishonest or scammers....in fact I'd say a minority are.

Trust him, and argue about it later if it turns pear-shaped.

[Don Mega]

One of my pet peeves is when the wedge is not as described.

[h90]

forget the lost money and move on......normal in Thailand

[roamer]

Sometimes you just have to trust people. Not all Thais are dishonest or scammers....in fact I'd say a minority are.

Trust him, and argue about it later if it turns pear-shaped.

A pear shaped wedge, the plot thickens.

[chickenslegs]

Wedges are a huge issue in Thailand.

Don't you mean wedgies?

I know I get that problem in the warm weather.

Edited August 11, 2015 by chickenslegs

[CharlieH]

Give the guy the benefit of the doubt and if it goes wrong....go here: Consumer Protection Board. http://www.ocpb.go.t...?filename=index

[Woodsie888]

Sounds like you might be getting the thin end of the wedge.

[SOTIRIOS]

?????????

[Lee4Life]

I don't agree with the others who say don't worry about it, I have found that when I am dealing with a shop and something makes me feel like things are going to go sideways...they usually do. It would be different if they hadn't charged you for a substandard repair when you had already pointed out the problems with it and they had agreed to make it right.

[pigeonjake]

when you say wedge, do you mean the key that fits in the key way on the shaft?

if your engineer can take the shaft out why cant he make a new key,?

high tencile steel and off you go, cut it and file it to size

[northernphil]

when you say wedge, do you mean the key that fits in the key way on the shaft?

if your engineer can take the shaft out why cant he make a new key,?

high tencile steel and off you go, cut it and file it to size

Oh ,that might be it. I got lost after the 3rd wedge.

[lvr181]

I empathise with you on this one. BUT scams do not exist in Thailand (so we are told) therefore it must be a problem of your own making?

[blackcab]

It's not a scam. They are just not very good at what they do. Give them another try, or else move on and find another machine shop.

Sometimes it takes a few goes to find good contacts.

[sammygood]

in case one is incapable here, they just lie

same as every doctor in the world, when you ask them a question they don't know the answer to, instead of admitting it, they will just lie

[lvr181]

in case one is incapable here, they just lie

same as every doctor in the world, when you ask them a question they don't know the answer to, instead of admitting it, they will just lie

Really? Want to enlighten us with some examples? Or are you an expert in medical diagnoses?

No, I am not a Doctor or in any way connected to the profession in any capacity whatsoever. Just a little "bemused" by your extravagant claim.

Are you in marketing or sales by any chance?

[NickJ]

The wedge helped to put Triumph out of business. It wasnt the shape to come.

[tomyumchai]

was this wedge wood, me old china?

[JohnnyJazz]

"I got a call stating that they were to afraid of breaking anything inside the motor and that we should find someone else to do it"

As Blackcab said it's not a scam. They are not qualified for the job and they are honest about it. After that phone call you should have pay for the job they did right, ask for a refund for the job they can't do and look for an other repair shop. At this stage, if you can't get any refund just forget it. If you can afford to employ an engineer a loss of THB 2,300 is not going to bankrupt your business.

Should you send the motor back to the same shop ? Now I'm wondering about your own qualification. You're obvioulsy being lazy, you know they are not qualified, what do you expect ? Cheat me once blame on you, cheat me twice blame on me.

[anto]

Still dont know what a wedge is ?

[giddyup]

Still dont know what a wedge is ?

It's a golf club used for getting balls out of sand traps etc, has a high lift.

[malt25]

A wedge. When I'm in a shout, drinking with mates, & I, or someone else feels the need for a beer before the next round of drinks is bought, go & buys oneself a beer. That's a wedge. As in, the extra drink is wedged in between shouts.

Probably just an Aussie thing. Not impolite or bad manners. Just tell your mates you are having a wedge & not bailing out of the shout.

Cheers.

[KittenKong]

in case one is incapable here, they just lie

This is the big problem. Thais dont plan properly and they take on things that they cant do. Then when it goes wrong they cant admit that they dont know what they are doing and they invent some ridiculous excuse which is often a lie.

When I worked I only took on jobs I was sure I could do. As I'm not perfect every now and again I got it wrong but in that case I explained to my customer that I screwed up and I didnt charge them. Or if I had actually made things worse then I paid to put it right out of my own pocket.

This is what being professional is but you dont see much of it here.

As for wedges, dont those go in a gin and tonic?

[inquisitive lobster]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my late reply.

Thanks for all the answers (both the good and the bad), and also for those of you who are unfamiliar with the word "wedge" in relation to motors, it is a small piece of metal that fits between the shaft and the brake.

Not sure how you could confuse it with a social term relating to drinking when I stated in context that it is related motors (unless you guys are in fact getting drunk on motor oil....) or how it could be related to golf let alone wedgies (unless you somehow made a connection between hitting golf "balls" and getting jock "itch" using the context of the words balls and itch. Think I maybe overthinking this.).(And also thank God noone mentioned cheese "wedge" in the same context as the previous two....makes for a grisly picture...... >_>")

Anyways, the reason why I gave them a deposit was because I had done business with them in the past and I had decided to trust them, but I didn't expect them to pull this stunt.

So anyways, I decided to go down there myself and talk to the owner, and we sorted everything out by reaching a proper mutually beneficial arrangement in which they have agreed to do everything for free which is great.

As for my qualifications, some of you were right, I am not qualified to be doing electrical work, hence the reason why I hired an engineer in the first place.

Regarding the reason as to why I am making such a fuss over 2300baht is not because of principle or personal matters as some of you may think, but because of the fact that in doing so, it sets a precedent about the way I intend to do business from which both my employees and suppliers can use to learn about me (not sure about you guys, but whenever I do business with someone I like to do a little bit of research beforehand).

It is especially useful when placing extremely large orders with suppliers who sometimes think that they can slightly increase the cost of their goods and think I won't notice (or will notice but will not care). Little savings like this can help your company save thousands of dollars (yes I said dollars) at the end of a fiscal year and can go even further as to give you more flexibility with pricing for customers who buy in bulk.

This is of course speaking from my own personal perspective and experience.

Anyways I would like to thank you all for reading through my wall of text and moreso like to thank you for participating in this thread as it has given me the opportunity to learn from you guys and the various methods of thinking in which you employ to solve your problems (still not to sure about the Golf balls, Jock Itch and Motor oil though o.0).

Take Care and Have a Good one.

[sipi]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my late reply.

Thanks for all the answers (both the good and the bad), and also for those of you who are unfamiliar with the word "wedge" in relation to motors, it is a small piece of metal that fits between the shaft and the brake.

Not sure how you could confuse it with a social term relating to drinking when I stated in context that it is related motors (unless you guys are in fact getting drunk on motor oil....) or how it could be related to golf let alone wedgies (unless you somehow made a connection between hitting golf "balls" and getting jock "itch" using the context of the words balls and itch. Think I maybe overthinking this.).(And also thank God noone mentioned cheese "wedge" in the same context as the previous two....makes for a grisly picture...... >_>")

Anyways, the reason why I gave them a deposit was because I had done business with them in the past and I had decided to trust them, but I didn't expect them to pull this stunt.

So anyways, I decided to go down there myself and talk to the owner, and we sorted everything out by reaching a proper mutually beneficial arrangement in which they have agreed to do everything for free which is great.

As for my qualifications, some of you were right, I am not qualified to be doing electrical work, hence the reason why I hired an engineer in the first place.

Regarding the reason as to why I am making such a fuss over 2300baht is not because of principle or personal matters as some of you may think, but because of the fact that in doing so, it sets a precedent about the way I intend to do business from which both my employees and suppliers can use to learn about me (not sure about you guys, but whenever I do business with someone I like to do a little bit of research beforehand).

It is especially useful when placing extremely large orders with suppliers who sometimes think that they can slightly increase the cost of their goods and think I won't notice (or will notice but will not care). Little savings like this can help your company save thousands of dollars (yes I said dollars) at the end of a fiscal year and can go even further as to give you more flexibility with pricing for customers who buy in bulk.

This is of course speaking from my own personal perspective and experience.

Anyways I would like to thank you all for reading through my wall of text and moreso like to thank you for participating in this thread as it has given me the opportunity to learn from you guys and the various methods of thinking in which you employ to solve your problems (still not to sure about the Golf balls, Jock Itch and Motor oil though o.0).

Take Care and Have a Good one.

And so now you can do the right thing and remove the word "scam" from your thread title?

[h90]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my late reply.

Thanks for all the answers (both the good and the bad), and also for those of you who are unfamiliar with the word "wedge" in relation to motors, it is a small piece of metal that fits between the shaft and the brake.

Not sure how you could confuse it with a social term relating to drinking when I stated in context that it is related motors (unless you guys are in fact getting drunk on motor oil....) or how it could be related to golf let alone wedgies (unless you somehow made a connection between hitting golf "balls" and getting jock "itch" using the context of the words balls and itch. Think I maybe overthinking this.).(And also thank God noone mentioned cheese "wedge" in the same context as the previous two....makes for a grisly picture...... >_>")

Anyways, the reason why I gave them a deposit was because I had done business with them in the past and I had decided to trust them, but I didn't expect them to pull this stunt.

So anyways, I decided to go down there myself and talk to the owner, and we sorted everything out by reaching a proper mutually beneficial arrangement in which they have agreed to do everything for free which is great.

As for my qualifications, some of you were right, I am not qualified to be doing electrical work, hence the reason why I hired an engineer in the first place.

Regarding the reason as to why I am making such a fuss over 2300baht is not because of principle or personal matters as some of you may think, but because of the fact that in doing so, it sets a precedent about the way I intend to do business from which both my employees and suppliers can use to learn about me (not sure about you guys, but whenever I do business with someone I like to do a little bit of research beforehand).

It is especially useful when placing extremely large orders with suppliers who sometimes think that they can slightly increase the cost of their goods and think I won't notice (or will notice but will not care). Little savings like this can help your company save thousands of dollars (yes I said dollars) at the end of a fiscal year and can go even further as to give you more flexibility with pricing for customers who buy in bulk.

This is of course speaking from my own personal perspective and experience.

Anyways I would like to thank you all for reading through my wall of text and moreso like to thank you for participating in this thread as it has given me the opportunity to learn from you guys and the various methods of thinking in which you employ to solve your problems (still not to sure about the Golf balls, Jock Itch and Motor oil though o.0).

Take Care and Have a Good one.

Interesting! For us, we just give up and blacklist a company that doesn't work well. Never buy there again. But we are in a different situation we only place very small orders in Thailand. Everything large is imported and sold in Thailand.

[chuang]

LOL........

[callaway]

Just find a shop that supplies keyways and buy some and cut to suit. Otherwise you may not end up with hardened steel then you can do all the job again soon. Bangkok will have suppliers.