i am curious how you define "involvment of the club"? if a viper tuner or a dealership for instance are giving poor service, are not returning phone calls, dont tell the truth, do shoddy work, are involved in numerous lawsuits, whatever, are you saying that the members of the viper community should not find out and be informed through the club??
Caveat Emptor for sure. but i think it is important that we find out if a service provider is having "issues" that could affect us all as customers. i dont care how much money you make, or what kind of car you drive, or how smart you think you are, you will eventually be taken advantage of, and the odds are increased big time if you are not being kept informed or are being told the truth about what really goes going on.
i WANT the club to be involved (to a point) and i think we are not being informed enough. trust me, i KNOW.
That's what the message forums are for---what I don't agree with is the censoring. I don't think it accomplishes anything. Or have a vendor rating section like Viper Alley has---hugely useful.
I don't know anyone who has done it, but it's not very complicated. Sit down with your tuner (another pet peeve of mine---people who send the tuner money and a car without ever going to see his shop, look him in the eye and shake his hand) and ask him a few questions:
-What EXACTLY are you going to do (get a complete list of labor to be performed and parts to be installed to attach an as addendum)?
-How long is it going to take you---this can be tricky because of things out of the scope of a tuner's control like supplier and machine shop issues, but a clause can be inserted for an agreed extension of time for third party delays which are verified in writing?
-How much is it going to cost me?
-When are payments due?
-Who is responsible for transport?
After you get the broad strokes down, leave a copy of your notes with the tuner and send a copy to a local lawyer to work out the legalese. Once everyone is happy with the agreement and it's signed, you're ready to go. As to the penalties for not meeting deadlines, I haven't really though about it though at first blush I would suggest applying a per diem interest rate to an amount based on the agreed upon value of the vehicle plus the funds paid to the tuner at that time. By the same token, there should be a penalty if the owner fails to make timely payments under the agreement.
If you're having issues already, then this is not the course of action for you. This is the ounce of prevention that is worth the pound of cure.
Chuck, I disagree, I think chances of collection are a lot better. More importantly, most tuners are pretty smart and if you've locked them down to an agreement written by a lawyer and they see you are not a pushover, you're NOT going to be the client they try to bulldoze. Like everyone else in the world, they will take the path of least resistance and will take advantage of the guy who doesn't have a contract.
By the way, TVC, I'm not licensed in Fl, but has your attorney found out if this guy owns a house or any real estate. In La (and plenty of outher states) you can just file your judgment in the property records of the parish/county in which any property is located and when they re-fi/sell the property, you get paid. Until then, the judgment is building judicial interest. In La, you have to renew the judgment every ten years, but can do so indefinitely.
Kenny
