IMZZ ELITE Jim at IMZZ Elite Ripped off and threatened. Fullerton California
Stay clear of this shop. I was referred to the owner of this shop Jim by a coworker at my job to do custom paint on my motorcycle. He doesn't listen to anything you as the customer has to say. He refuses to provide clear estimates. When you discuss pricing with him, he agrees, then the final bill comes and it's something totally different.
My issue began months ago. I took my bike to have custom paint and work done and made clear my budget was $3300. When I got my final bill, it was over $3000 with all sorts of incidental and double charges. One of the items he had done was a custom rear stretched fender. When he fabricated and installed the fender, it didn't fit correctly and was cracked. He also covered the access to the rear air shock, and the tour pack almost needed a sledge hammer to get on and off.
Reluctantly, I allowed him to convince me to come back and have the tour pack alignment and fender repaired. he avoided me for months, then finally after five months agreed to fix the warranty issues. I gave him a detailed list of the warranty concerns and told him I would pay him to paint some speaker grills and install some LED tail lights in the fender he was to repair. He gave me an estimate of $170 to pain the grills and I had a shop around the block that would have installed the lights for a couple hundred bucks. So, at the most, I was expecting a bill for $400 to $500 bucks.
Throughout the process, I attempted to check in and see if all the items were being addressed. As I previously endured, he was rude, arrogant and seemed bothered that you would be checking to see if he was addressing all the issues.
When I was told the bike was finished. I was met with a $1200 dollar bill that had charges for hours of removing and replacing the fender that he originally installed cracked and incorrectly on my bike. I attempted to negotiate the bill and charges with him; but he wasn't hearing any of that. When I got the bike home, I realized how many things he was supposed to do that weren't done correctly.
1) I ordered brake and tail lights which (by law) have to be red. He ordered yellow ones from the vendor even though I had offered to buy them and have them shipped to his office to make sure they were correct. He then painted over the orange lights with red paint which dimmed the lights and they still look orange. He installed them with permenant bonding materials that could crack or damage the fender should the bulbs ever stop working or need to be replaced. I now have to have someone take the fender off the bike, order the correct color of bulbs and have them installed. I will also have to pay for whatever damage is done to the fender while attempting to replace the lights.
2) He installed a custom speedometer with the original work and the fuel gauge warning indicator never went off. He agreed to fix this during the warrany visit. The light still does not function correctly.
3) With the original installation, he did not install the proper tour pack hardware I had purchased to be used on the tour pack. During the warranty visit, he stated he would replace the tour pack lid so the proper hardware could be fitted onto a new lid. He only replaced the hinges during the warranty visit, not the locking hardware. He also repainted the old lid which now had pits and blemishes in the lid and needs to be color sanded, buffed, and re-finished.
Because he had a police raid one day while I was attempting to check on my bike and because of his aggressive behavior when attempting to discuss charges with him, I had the Fullerton PD present when I explained to him that I would not be giving him anymore money for the warranty work he did not complete. When I picked up my bike, I gave him $475 of a reduced $1000 bill. The balance was supposed to be $525. But I explained to him there's more than $525 of work remaining on my bike and would not be paying that.
He called me today to say that if the $525 wasn't paid by close of business tonight, that he wasn't responsible for anything that happened to me. He wears 1%'er tattoos from a motorcycle club he claims to be from. I asked him if that's how we were playing this, and his reponse was yes.
I would steer clear of this shop at any cost. He is not honest or upfront with what the expected charges are going to be. He doesn't listen when you explain how you want your bike or car done. He charges you for work that he does incorrectly, then tries to charge you again when you ask for it to be done correctly. When there's still work to be done and he's not doing it and you've told him it will have to be settled in court, he calls and threatens you to say he's not responsible for whatever happens to you. I'm just glad my bike is out of there in one piece.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Imzz Elite
fullerton,California,
false information
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, October 03, 2014
I am not going to waste time writing a huge summary to these ridiculous statements, due to the fact this person has already wasted a large amount of my valuable time that could have been much better spent on important clients. This individual has a huge habit of distorting the facts to make the situation to his benefit such as the fuel gauge that dosent work properly which was a part he provided that we installed at no charge and now its our fault that his cheap gauge dosent work that he bought on a closeout sale. The customer has had work performed with us twice and both times was given an estimte, adds additional work during the build and when he picks it up wants to pay the original estimate amount and not for the additional work performed that he authorized us to do. His tourpak fit terrible from the time the bike came in, and the crack in our fender was due to him removing and reinstalling his tourpak improperly which damaged the fender. The LED lights that he ordered a color was not specified by customer he left it up to us to decide and after the bike was completed he didnt like the amber color, and neither the red or the amber are DOT approved these are strictly additional accessory lighting . As a custom bike and car builder it is not uncommon to get inspections at least once a year by the CHP to verify vin numbers on cars and bikes and the customer came by during our yearly inspection, not a raid as he is calling it. This customer has a common habit of stopping by whenever he feels like it and we are open by appointment only so he was asked to stop doing this it was costing us to much time, he did not like this but i cant have customers constantly coming to the shop for no reason at all other than just to listen to their bike stereo in my showroom in front of girls that he would bring with him that hes trying to impress.
We did everything possible to make this client happy but he is a crook and a liar and wants everything for free, champagne taste with a beer budget best explains his character. The customers bill was $1144 he explained to me that he over spent his budget what could we do to help him out. We agreed to lower his invoice to $1000 and he would pay $475 at that time and would be able to take the bike and we would use his credit card on file to pay the remaining $525 on the 2nd when he got paid, he was happy with the deal and shook my hand and rode away. He brought officers with him to the shop claiming he brought them to keep the peace when we had never even had an argument and i had never ever raised my voice at this customer to discuss lowering the final payment of $525 which we had already came to an agreement on and he canceled his card so we could not run the second payment, I feel he did all this just to make a scene and justify ripping us off. We did not do poor work, you were not threatened, you were not misquoted or misled. If this story you have fabricated in your head makes you feel better about ripping us off for the hard work we put into your project then so be it. You have had problems in every shop you have worked with, you claimed it was them but after seeing you in action its plain to see you are the problem and you burn bridges all over town with your antics and thats a shame because we would have done anything for you as a customer and you want to throw it away over $525, its your loss pal not ours. You made an agreement and shook my hand, most shops would not have even allowed you to leave with an unpaid balance. So be a man of your word and pay the bill you agreed to or continue to lie and steal and be a snake..