Homemade bumpers and mounts in Cali

[BrianW]

Small claims court?

[Flux]

He's ripping you off. Plain and simple.

I have dealt with contractors who ask for lots of cash up front. Never again. Depending on how a bumper is built, there's no more than a couple hundred bucks of materials in it. The hardware may add to this. Spindles definitely do, if used. I could see a deposit for materials.

But yeah, your money got spent and he is making up excuses now and giving you the run around. Dishonest for sure. Probably sold the bumpers he made for you and spent that money too.

[BroncoHauler]

I've seen what I assume to be similar experiences.

Small, start-up business guy has all the best intentions, starts building and selling products, business takes off, and then find the time and material expenses to be far more than expected. Then the new payments start going towards finishing up the earlier orders, and the cycle spirals downward from there.


Herb

[1der]

Herb - then meshed with giving into and ignoring the "too good to be true" temptation. Normally does not end well.

(I could add something insightful and inciteful here but will refrain)

[Economan]

Yep, totally agree guys. Having only a 2k budget this was the only route I found at the time and I jumped on it. He had plenty of photos of his work and he has done some pretty cool stuff.

I'll look into small claims since everything is well documented with PayPal, emails, ect, but I'm still holding out hope that Alfredo does the right thing.

[Flux]

I certainly hope you end up with some satisfactory product or a refund.

The only way to make this kind of stuff work is to do batches and set up properly. One at a time just doesn't work that well. You need laser/waterjet, big press brakes, jigs, and welders to really make your time effective if you want to do well. That's a substantial investment.

Having access to fab equipment has made my home build better, but I am making a lot of mistakes and there is lost money and time in all of it. My rear bumper is coming along, but it's a lot more than I figured.....of course.

[Flux]

Originally Posted by Economan

Yep, totally agree guys. Having only a 2k budget this was the only route I found at the time and I jumped on it. He had plenty of photos of his work and he has done some pretty cool stuff.

I'll look into small claims since everything is well documented with PayPal, emails, ect, but I'm still holding out hope that Alfredo does the right thing.

If you used Paypal, they may be able to take care of it for you. Not sure though. But at least you have it documented.

[GAR]

Originally Posted by Economan

Freddy is still alive but he isn't sticking to his word. I was one of the customers that paid in full on the discounted bumpers that were supposedly being built back in February. He told me in writing they would be ready by March 4th or 5th, then said on March 9th that the rear bumper was ready for sandblasting then paint. He then disappeared for three weeks without responding to a single email or call.

Around the first of April he got back in touch with me and apologized for not hitting his deadline, but he had a funeral and some family issues to take care of. I was fine with that as I know things come up.

I went down to see him at his home based shop at the end of April. There was no rear bumper built. He showed me a few random pieces and swing arms but no rear bumper had been assembled. The front was spot welded together but not finished. I paid for some extra tubular sections on the front that needed finishing and the full welds needed to get done. He told me he would have it done on May 1st and I asked to have a test fit on my van before anything went to paint. Everything seemed fine at this point.

Talked to him a few times the week of May 1st and things weren't done so we agreed to talk on May 8th so I could swing down for the test fit. Left him a message on May 8th, May 9th and May 10th with no response. Tried him again on May 12th and then finally on May 15th I sent him a text and email asking him to just refund my money since I was tired of the run around.

Freddy responds by email finally on May 18th and says he took time off with his family, that he works 7 days a week and won't just refund the money. Him taking time off is his personal business ect ect. If I want a refund he has to sell the bumpers first. You know, these bumbers he cant seem to build. I've got probably 30-40 emails with him at this point and it just keeps getting worse. Since May 18th, I have left him 2 more voicemails and have sent 3 emails with zero response. Basically reminding him of all the previous emails and promises where he said they would be ready.

I will say that he does have a garage full of stuff. He had a bunch of racks put together for the Toyota crowd. He has sent me photos of a few of his bumpers on different vans, but I'm not sure if those are forum members here or not. I just can't believe he can actually run a business this way for very long.

So bottom line, Alfredo owes me $2075. I would still take the bumpers but he's had every chance to get them done over the last 3 months. I know a few of you have contacted me directly and this is the May update on Alfredo and FCIMETALWERKS.COM.

See if you can get the materials you paid for, and then see if someone would be willing to finish job out for ya. If you were in NorCal, id finish them for ya for the just the cost of my materials (electricity/ MIG wire), provided you had all the pieces ready to weld out.

This kind of crap really burns me!

Gar

[Economan]

Appreciate it Gar. Yeah I've had plenty of restless nights over this in the last few weeks.

[polishadam82]

Get a bumper from MOVEBUMPERS.COM they are badass everything comes pre cut and pre bent all you need is good welder to weld it together and you are done. just my .02$ I'm not affiliated with that company but I have front and rear bumper from there and I know a lot of people who been doing business with them and are very happy.