Complaint Review: Cadena's Auto Repair - columbus Georgia

I own a 1988 Cutlass Supreme, I wanted to upgrade my vehicle so I decided to do an engine swap.  In 2013 I purchased a high performance turnkey 454 Big block Chevy motor from a company named Phoenix Engines in Phoenix Arizona.  I had the motor put in my car but not full conected via hoses and wires.  After the motor was installed it stood so high in my engine bay that my hood wouldn't close.  I did some looking and found Cadena's Auto Repair.

 I contacted Cadena's and was told the owner would have my vehicle towed to his shop in order to receive an estimate for service and what needed repaired.  During the estimation period I told the mechanic and business owner Jack Cadena that I wanted my vehicle to be built specifically to handle the 24 inch rims that were already on my vehicle when I purchased it.  I was told it would take $6700 for parts and labor in order to make that happen, making my vehicle safe to drive.  I did not have all of the money up front  so I opted to make payments until the 6700 was paid in full and the work could be started once the 6700 was paid.  I also asked what was his storage fee and he told me there was no storage fee.  In the beginning I was told that the lift likt and suspension work would only take a few hours to complete and the engine and hood wouldn't take long to repair either.

In 2014 I was in  college for collision repair and painting and refinishing.  While frequenting Cadena's to check on the status of my vehicle Jack learned I was in school and offered me a job in his shop doing minor body work and or paint.  Due to my full time schedule and family life I declined the offer and offered to refrence him to one of my other classmates.  After declining the job Jack simply stopped working on my vehicle.  I would call and receive excuse after excuse why my vehicle wasn't finished.  After a while Jack admitted he had dropped the ball and fell behind on fixing my vehicle and any further repairs I would just have to purchase the parts.  Jack said due to the inconvienience of how long he had taken to repair my vehicle that  This went on form 2014 until just recently in 2017.  

During a conversation with Jack he told me that I would have to buy new rims and tires because the rims that were on my vehicle would not fit.  I called the BBB and filed a complaint because the reason I had my car in his shop in the first place was to customize my suspension specifically for the rims I had. In fact that was supposed to be what the bodylift  and other suspension repairs were supposed to be for. After the BBB contacted Mr. Cadena he provided a written statement, a list of parts needed , and two reciepts for the hood scoop and gauges I purchased in 2017 as evidence.  He didn't provide any other reciepts nor have I ever seen my old parts that were supposedly repaired. I provided every reciept I received after making a payment to Cadena's.  After that the BBB said there is nothing they can do for me, and a week after filing my complaint my wife spoke with Jack about my vehicles status.

Jack stated my vehicle was finished but not driveable and I have an oustanding balance of $660 for installing my gauges along with installing my exhaust pipes and there is an 8 dollar a day storage fee all of a sudden.  My exhaust pipes are just tack welded in place they are not connected to the headers allowing flames to shoo out of the headers and the exhaust is rediculously loud and not to mention illegal. Now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place because I dont have nor was I expecting to pay these bogus fees.  I'm looking for help presently and I wanted to post this in order to protect my fellow Army veterans and hard working families in this area, and I wanted everyone to know what kind of bad business Cadena's Auto repair provides.