Autoscope Motorsports Raffi HELD for RANSOM Dallas , Texas
Customer: Rick and Jean S
Mechanic: Raffi
Raffi suggested he needs to start with the building of the oil cooling system to improve the design of the engine which included (high pressure 30mm) oil pump, oil coolers, full flow oil filter and running of oil lines from and to auxiliary mounted coolers. System was completed and first test run was scheduled.
Note: engine expired during test run due to oil pressure relief valve which caused overheating and blowing of oil seals and filter. Raffi called in second opinion for any ideas what the problem might be, he was then told to check the pressure relief valves, which he did. He ordered new valve replacements and they were installed, engine was re-started but by this time the engine was fried no compression, oil leaks and seals broken. He calls me and asks me what do you want me to do. I said can you re-build it, he yes if I can get the parts. I said I will get back with you. I called back and said can you order a new engine and let me know what it will cost, he said he would.
He found an engine guy and told me the cost and I said will you guarantee the engine, he said yes, that he would buy the engine and I would pay him for it, and therefore the guarantee would be with him. I agreed and he started the process of ordering and having the engine built. It was now Feb. 24, 2010.
E-mail to Raffi:
Update from:pick-upandtest drive May 28, 2010 (Friday) (New engine was placed in car March 18, 2010, 1strun showed defects).
Ref: 1956 Porsche Speedster replica.
Jean called Autoscope, talked to Raffi at 11:30am and he told her the car was fixed according to said repair work order and ready to pick up, the items were fixed although, the center part of the new engine was still making noise as before but, he said we could drive the car anyway it would not hurt anything.
We arrived to pick car up at Autoscope (12:30 p.m.) We (Rick and Jean) were told that Raffi was not available for comments, Doris called Raffi then, and Raffi talked to Rick on phone said leak was fixed, but the engine noise was still coming from same area as before with same tempo- rate. Raffi said bring the car back for him to continue a fix Tues. June 1 (Tuesday). Rick made another appointment as requested with Raffi to again work on same issues. Appointment made with Raffi, and I (Rick) was told to bring car back in again on June 1, 2010 (Tuesday).
Going back to the Bay Area inside the garage as directed by Doris she said I (Rick) could drive the car out of the garage area and she would see me next Tuesday morning June 1, 2010. As I approached the car and opened driver side door, I immediately noticed one large muddy print on left side of drives seat, when looking further I then noticed up the side back rest of the seat a tear in the newly finished, seat material. (I had just had the entire interior re-finished by Custom seats and Interiors two weeks before I brought it to Raffi) I then showed Doris the said condition of the seat and ask her to witness the fact. She did, but did not know about it and would tell Raffi when he got back. I then proceeded back to my residence and parked the car in my garage. I immediately called Autoscope at 1:15 p.m. (May 28, 2010) in which Raffi answered the phone, and I again told him that the same problems existed as it did when I brought the car in on May 24, 2010. (This was a follow-up from the same failed fix on May 14, 2010).
I mentioned the areas as: #1. Engine oil leak, as before (Drivers side)
#2. Center part of engine still making same noise as before. #3. And now (as noted above) I have a tear in my front drivers side seat.
I then said I would bring the car back to Autoscope and see him on my appointment date:
Tuesday June 1, 2010. End of phone conversation:
Concerned: Rick and Jean S
JUNE 1, 2010 (Tuesday)
Scheduled meeting with Raffi in brining the car back for the scheduled fix that did not work from previous appointment on the 23, of May.
The inside of the car was wrapped with visqueen buy me to protect the new interior from any further damage as noted above by Autoscope and delivered to Autoscope the morning of the 1st of June the scheduled date. We arrived at 8; 45 am meet Raffi on site at Autoscope. I said I need to get my car fixed, today I have had the car with you for this continuing problem since you installed the new engine back in March 2009, I feel this has given you and your company more than enough time to fix the 2 problem areas I have constantly been trying to get fixed with no results insight.
I also mentioned and showed Raffi the torn drivers side seat where it has now been torn from the last time I brought it in. He made no comment when he witnessed the tear, He said about the oil leak he thought it was fixed last Friday when he told my wife and me we could take the car out for the weekend for a test drive but the noise from the engine was still not fixed. He then commented he did not know what the problem was. He said he can start working on the noise again when we come back Tuesday. When I reminded him of this Tuesday morning he said that he did not know I was going to bring the car in today (Tues. the day he made the appointment) This and many more instances my wife and I have had to deal with over the last 172 days since I brought the car to him back in Nov. 2009 and he took on the repair work (which was to fix the leak and adjust the carburetors) that has been done and I have since as of this date spent money and considerable amount of time waiting for him to finish. I feel that his priority has changed in fixing the car because now it is under warranty work, which was one of the reasons he wanted me to trust him with it before we started, to which I did. I have as of this date spent a total of $12.796.00 dollars in a matter of 7 months and still dont have a car that is fixed to the order he said it would be.
When I ask him when will I have it fixed? As of todays phone conversation he said he has not even looked at the car. I ask when he would; his comment was I dont know when. I said I would get back to him tomorrow (Wed, 2) he hung up the phone. In trying to call back to the main number at Autoscope many times that same day, the phone was never answered.
June 2, 2010. (Wed.) nothing was being done, still waiting.
June 4, 2010 (Friday)
Today I brought the single collector new exhaust down to the shop and Raffi cut the new one off and installed the one I had brought down. After he welled the exhaust on and waited for it to cool, he started the engine. After 10 min warm up run the engine started making the same sound it has since the beginning back in March. (Pinking).
After about an hour of going through several revving periods and tweaking with the carburetors, he said he was going to call George back at JCS and put the phone to the engine so he might listen to the sound and maybe tell him what it might be then. (Boy; thats Hi-Tech.) George was said to be out but would call back in about 20 min. I then ask Raffi if he had ever tried raising the car with it running and listen to the sound from underneath, he said less try it. He raised the car after starting the engine and we both could hear the same noise, except this time it was heard from the bottom of the engine.
He moved his attention to the left side of the engine (Drivers side) placing his hand on the valve cover he said he could feel some sort of vibration, he said he wanted to take the cover off, which he did. At this time he noticed and made comment that one of the rocker arms was moving on the shaft in a horizontal motion too much when it was slipped back and forth, left to right on the shaft. He then told me this might be the reason for the noise. He would also check the other side also. After which he left and called Mike at JCS> the engine builders (these are the ones that he hired) in California.
It was now 2:00pm deciding that the car was not going to be ready anyway, I left the shop and went back home. Raffi called said he talked to Mike @ JCS (the engine builders) and he (Mike) would send out some shims and ship them by UPS.
June 5, 2010 (Sat.)
Today I will return to Autoscope and find the S.S. filter caps and return them to the carburetors, to make sure they dont get lost in the shop while we wait for the shims coming from Mike at JCS. California sent UPS. This will probably take 4 to 5 days shipping which will put us another week in delays in fixing the tin- pinging noise.
June 6, 2010 (Sun.) No work done.
June 7, 2010 (Mon.) No work done.
June 8, 2010 (Tues.) No work done.
June 10, 2010 (wed) conversation with Jeff and Raffi, on return of engine to J.C.S.
E-Mail to Raffi:
June 10, 2010: (Wed.) Raffi: I now have the Invoice from Jeff (J.C.S.) showing what he billed you for on my new engine; the differences in price for what you billed me are quit reveling. Furthermore when I ask for the descriptions on different engine parts that were going into the engine, your comment was I should not concern myself with that. Again when I ask what cam size was it a 120 or 110? You told me it was a 120, to which now I find out from Jeff it is a 110.
You called my wife and said you were shipping the engine back because of unsolvable problems on your end, and you and Jeff (J.C.S. Engine Builders) had decided through phone conversations dated June 10, 2010 (Thursday) that it was best at this time to have the engine delivered back to (J.C.S.) in California for them to evaluate the problem and possible fix. When Jean ask if there were to be any charges to us to do this, you said there would be no charge to us. Jean said ok.
E-Mailed to Raffi; June 10, 2010
Your time line for the above action was quoted by you as follows:
Thursday 10, 2010: you would start removing the said engine from car.
Friday 11, 2010: you would build the crate to house the engine for shipping (as Jeff has requested).
Monday 14, 2010: you will have the engine picked up by the designated Freight Co. and expedited back to J.C.S., Calif.
Your estimate on delivery back to Autoscope was said to be June 28, 2010 (Monday).
Tuesday 29th and 30th would take to have engine replaced back in car fixed and ready to be picked up by Jean.
Note: Please review schedule and let Jean Sullivan know if you have any changes in this schedule or updates. This information will be recorded and noted in our case file documents.
Anticipating your future success: Rick and Jean S (Car Owners) End of E-Mail.
June 11, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope.
June 12, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope.
June 13. 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope.
June 14, 2010: No response from Autoscope.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010: Jean calls Autoscope this morning, no change in status. Autoscopes response is they dont know, but will call back latter.
Jean calls Autoscope @ 4:35pm; they say they are waiting for Freight Company to pick engine up.
5:00 pm. Autoscope calls house, says Freight Company has picked up engine.
Wed. 16th June, 2010...Waiting for any word from Autoscope on progress.
Thur. 17th. June, 2010...Waiting... E-mail sent by Jean, no response back.
Fri. 18th. June, 2010...Waiting; no response or communication from Autoscope.
Saturday 19, 2010: No response E-mail or feedback from Autoscope.
Sunday 20, 2010: No response
Monday 21, 2010; Jeff from J.C.S. in California called Rick at 10:30am this morning said he had received the engine from Raffi on Friday the 18th. They were in the process of putting it on the engine stand to start it and begin the testing evaluation and he would call me back later in the day.
Monday 21, 2010; Jeff calls back at 12; 00am says he has found four (4) things wrong so far; #1. The Exhaust system is leaking where Raffi brazed the end of the pipes. #2; exhaust header flanges where they attach to the heads had loose connections and nuts were not tightened, also there were no gaskets between the flange and heads. #3; Distributor Cap was mounted backwards and crooked not attached to distributor drive housing squarely, inside of distributor shows excessive grove ware where rotor has worn the groove into the side of the cap, causing it to malfunction. #4; Alternator shaft where it connects to the fan has a locking device which holds the fan secure was mounted upside-down, and backwards not working properly causing more additional noise, also valve adjustments were really off especially on #3 cylinder. Jeff said all four (4) of these items needed to be fixed before any other additional tests could be made on the engine. He will call Raffi tomorrow and tell him of any other findings. Jeff said he would call Raffi, and that he (Raffi) would have to pay for any and all charges incurred by his company. He said these items were not any fault of theirs.
Monday 21, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Tuesday 22, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Wednesday 23, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Thursday 24, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Friday 25, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Saturday 26, 2010; NO RESPONSE or communication from Autoscope
Sunday, 27, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscaope
Monday, 28 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope
Tuesday 29, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope.
Wednesday June 30, 2010; Jeff called from JCS. (Engine guys) gave me an update on engine re-work, said they found that the carburetor linkage that Raffi installed was faulty in alignment causing malfunctions of new carburetors and needed to be re-worked. Also they were in the process of removing the heads to check for any problems, and would get back with me and Raffi tomorrow.
Wednesday June 30, 2010; Jeff called back at 12:30pm said the linkage Raffi put in was not working properly and they were not able to fix it where it would. He said if I could, send him back the linkage set that came with the carburetors the last time and he would be able to use them to solve the problem.
Wednesday June 30, 2010; 2:30pm. I called Jeff back and told him that some of the parts from the new kit for the carburetor linkage Raffi had put on were lost, (there was no reason to call Raffi to hear him say he could not find any of the said parts to which I had heard from him so many times before,) so I would not be able to send him a complete kit. I ask Jeff if he could order another kit and bill me, he said yes. The cost again to me was $125.00 and he would not charge me to put it on, I agreed to the additional cost. I gave him my credit card number and he ordered the part and picked it up locally from his supplier. He then told me that in talking to Raffi early this week, Raffi told him that he was not going to pay the Freight Charges ($450.00) to send the engine out and back; he said it was not fair to him. Jeff then told him that they had not found anything wrong with the engine, except for all the listed items (items listed and recorded on video) they had found that Raffi had wrongfully installed; to which they had to fix for the engine to run properly, but they were not asking to be paid back for in return. Raffi still responded that the charges to him were unfair
Jeff told me then that the engine would still be fixed and on schedule ready to ship out this Friday (July 2, 2010). He would call Raffi and ask him to pre-pay shipping cost, if he refused then Jeff said he would not ship the engine back. Jeff said he would call me Friday when they were ready to ship and let me know any other findings or results.
Wednesday June 30, 2010; I have still not had any response or communication from Autoscope, or Raffi.
Thursday July 1, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope
Friday July 2, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope
Saturday July 3, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope
Monday July 5, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope
Tuesday July 6, 2010: 2:15pm. Jean called Raffi to check on status, was told he was on the phone, and would call her back. No call-back this day came from Raffi.
Tuesday July 6, 2010: 4:15pm.Jeff called from JCS, in California (engine builder) said engine had been tested and run for final inspection, engine checked out o.k. and they would prepare it for shipping tomorrow (wed.). Said if he had a problem with Raffi not paying for shipping, he would call me back and let me know what the next step would be. He also said he was sending me a copy of the recoding made on DVD of the engine running and a letter stating the items fixed on the engine that Raffi had assembled and were causing the engine to malfunction. Jeff said he would call Raffi tomorrow (Wed.) and send a copy of the DVD and letter of malfunctions also letting him know engine was ready to ship.
Wed. July 7, 2010: Raffi: calls Rick at 10:30am say he talked to the engine guys and they are ready to ship the engine back, but they wanted him to pay for shipping first. He said he did not think it was fair for him to pay. I ask him when my car was going to be ready and when would I be able to pick it up. He said he would call the engine builders back and try and get them to pay, if they did not pay he said that the engine would not be shipped, I dont know, I dont know, its just not fair. I will call you back.
Thursday July 8, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope.
Friday July 9, 2010; Jeff calls Rick from JCS, said engine had been shipped
No response or communication from Autoscope.
Sat. July 10, 2010; No response or communication from Autoscope.
Sun. July 11, 2010;
Monday July 12, 2010; Raffi, e-mailed said engine should arrive Tues.
Tuesday July 13, 2010; Raffi calls 11:30am talks to Jean, says the engine has arrived. He then proceeds to tell Jean whats wrong with it, first of all the Distributor is wrong, the carburetor linkage is wrong, and that the muffler is too big. Jean tells him he needs to talk to his engine builder. He then tells her he is going to send a picture to her and he needs her to sign-off on it. End of conversation.
Tuesday July 13, 2010 Contd. Raffi; calls 1:15pm says hes not happy, he says the distributor cap is wrong, and he will not be responsible if the engine blows up because of it. Jean tells him once more he needs to talk to his engine builder. Raffi told her he didnt want to bug the guy. But he would try and call him back later. He again told Jean he wanted a sign-off from us on the picture he sent us by e-mail. Raffi said he thinks the engine builder has sent him a different engine. Jean said how would we know, youre the expert that hired him, ask them. Raffi said he would call us back. End of conversation.
Wednesday July 14, 2010: No response or communication from Autoscope.
Thursday July 15, 2010: Raffia calls at 5:01pm says engines in, hes says hes still not happy with distributor cap, and there might be a slight ticking noise, but he said we could go ahead and drive it anyway. He would put the orange distributor cap on when it came in from California and we could come back then. Jean makes appointment for Friday morning to pick up car.
Friday July 15, 2010; Jean and Rick arrive at Autoscope to pick car up, looking the car over Rick noticed a scratch in the fiberglass body under the left head light. Rick points it out to Raffi and he says how could that happen it was on the lift for four months laughs. Rick also noticed front seat still not fixed says it will be listed on the bill along with the others, Raffia says nothing. Rick and Jean leave this place.
(256 days since initiation) these and many more documented events have lead me to be billed by this company know as "Autoscope' for more than $13,300,00 and the unwaranted stress which they told me early on would not be a problem if i chose to use them; Go figure!