On the right side of the SCMC website there is a list of links. One of the groups of links is "Mini Service." As a new member myself, I assumed that these were recommended companies. I wanted to install some lowering springs, upgrade the rear sway bar and get a referral to a muffler shop to help cure a bad drone from the JCW exhaust on my new Mini. The dealer didn't want to install any after market parts and I have usually found an independent shop to be better for modifications and less expensive. I would usually do this work my self, having been in the business, but due to health reasons won't be doing anything other than minor work on it until later in the year. Thinking that the club recommended them, I contacted a local independent on the list of links and set up to have the work done, giving them a substantial deposit. Right after that I went to Cars and Coffee to meet more club members. Upon telling misc owners, where I was planning on having this work done, 2 or 3 of them told me I shouldn't have any work done there. Since I had already given them a deposit, I hoped that they were wrong and had the work done. I have never been so disappointed with a repair shop as I was with this one.

It would be great if the club could add a way to add customer reviews attached to the links on the site, like Amazon has. If this were done I would give a very long review of the issues I had with this company.

 

Well, that is just awful!!! All of the links on the website are on there because Club members have recommended them and asked to have them put on there. We can certainly look into trying to modify the website as you mentioned. Until that kind of thing is put in place, these forums right here are a great place to list reviews and feedback, because they allow a better give and take, so folks can add their input. They have also been on here a while, so there's quite an archive of knowledge available.

What an incredible disappointment! I know that things like this tend to happen - four people go to a place and have incredible experiences, then two other folks go and get the worst possible service.

Are they even offering anything to help you with your issues?

 

Julie,

Thank you for your concern. I mainly want a way for members to be able to review the companies that the club links to. If this had been in place, I would not have had work done there. I did get personal comments about not going there, as I mentioned, but had already committed to have work done there. I would be happy to give a complete report of my dealings here, but did not know if this was the place to do it. I am sure that someone else would not have had issues with what occurred. I may be more critical, having been in the Automotive and other repair business's all of my life.

 

So why were you disappointed?

 

There are other web sites like Yelp that allow you to put in a review of any business.. If you are talking about Kensington, I have had nothing but 5 Star Service. Not sure what the complaint is, but if you talk to Bill I am sure he will be more then Happy to do what he can to make you happy..

 

I should have mentioned in my title, this is for Las Vegas. I thought that only persons looking at the Sin City Mini Club Sub-Forum, forgetting the side bar of all postings.

Rockets21,

You are right, it was Kensington. I will explain what happened in my dealings with Bill, only so that others can make an informed decision about having work done there.

After finding that the dealer didn’t want to install any aftermarket parts, I called Kensington Motor Cars. I asked Bill about installing lowering springs and some other work, he said that they could do all of it for me. I also asked for a referral to a muffler shop to have a side branch resonator made for my car. I had the JCW tuning kit installed by the dealer and had a BAD drone from the exhaust. I had researched the drone problem extensively and had found that the side branch resonator was the best solution. He told me that He did that work all of the time.

Issue 1.

When I came in He then told me that He didn’t actually install side branch resonators, that His solution was to try different mufflers and that He knew that one would work. We had many conversations about this particular work, since I was skeptical about this solution. He assured me that He did this work all the time and could always fix the drone problem. Since He was not a muffler shop, I asked how He bent pipe and attached joints, which He explained to me as if He did it in His shop. When I left the car with Him for the work, I asked for reassurance that He could fix the drone, with out restricting the exhaust. This was due to the fact that I had spent a lot of money to increase the HP on my car. He again said He did this all the time and would guarantee that He could do the work as specified for $500 total. While I knew that just installing a muffler could be done for about $350 I thought that the $500 was probably OK since you would probably end up having to buy a few mufflers.
When I picked up the car, I found that He had just taken my car to some muffler shop and had a muffler installed. It would appear that He didn’t even give it a good road test. I had told Him that it had to be really warmed up for the drone to occur and it did just that for me as soon as it warmed up on my way home. I feel like I was lied to. I asked for a referral for one type of work and He told me that He could do it better, while all that He were doing was taking my car to a muffler shop for a muffler replacement. I feel that He did this so that He could make some extra money off of me.
The resolution to this was the get a $400 refund and have my JCW exhaust reinstalled. At a $100 loss to me. Now I will find a muffler shop and have the side branch resonator installed.

Issue 2.

He gave me an estimate to have lowering springs installed for $457.60 labor. After reviewing the cost information on this forum, I found the price to be a bit high, but due to medical issues, I couldn’t do it my self and OKed the work with Him. After further research, I found that the time to replace the rear sway bar, was while the springs were being replaced. I thought this shouldn’t be to big of a job and asked Bill for a quote. He said that to change the sway bar would be $470, I said that sounded like a lot of money, just to install the sway bar. He told me that the rear sub-frame had to be removed, the shocks taken loose, the brake lines disconnected and the exhaust removed. I reminded him that the springs, shocks and exhaust would be removed for the other work he was doing for me, so he revised the quote to $343. After picking up the car, I looked at the installation instructions and saw that the sub-frame only had to be loosened to do the install. I have since seen quotes to have rear sway bars installed for under $100. This leaves me with the conclusion that Bill has never installed a sway bar before and didn’t know that his quote was very high or He just always uses the flat rate book, even if he knows that the time is way over what is actually needed to do the job.

Issue 3.

I left a printed list of work that we had discussed him doing while the main work was done and 3 out of 4 didn’t get done.

Issue 4.

He asked for a deposit on the parts, which I gave him a credit card # for. When I was told the amount he charged to my card it seemed too high, and I asked for a copy of the invoice. I was charged for parts not ordered, the whole $500 for the muffler work and $74.49 for freight that I was never told about. I made a fake online order for the same parts that I was buying from a company on the east coast and could only come up with less than $50 freight. I asked to see a copy of the bill many times, to verify the freight amount I was charged and was only shined on. The extra parts were removed on the final bill.
I do not have any faith in anything Bill tells me and feel that his prices are no better than the dealer, if not worse. I have just written off my losses and will never go back there.

 

Sorry to hear that

 

Rockets21,

Thank you for your concern. Now your next comment leaves me concerned, was I not clear about the muffler fiasco or did you just not read it all?

The PARTIAL refund was not for a "custom order," it was for something that Bill sold me promising that it would work better than what I wanted to have done. I should have gotten a full refund, since it not only didn't work, but the problem was worse with his muffler. I suggested the $400 refund, just so that I could get my old muffler reinstalled and be done with that shop. I guess I could take your view of the situation and be happy that Bill was so magnanimous and gave me back $400 of the $500 I paid for nothing.

I will waste no more time on this. I have accepted my loss and am done with them. I only posted this so that others might have this information. If I had talked to the other owners at Cars and Coffee before I had given the deposit I would not have had this happen. Best of luck in your dealings with them.

 

Never ever Go to anyplace that wants a deposit or cash up front to have them work on your car.

A good honest reputable shop will give you a nice honest estimate on what the cost will be before the work is even started. They sure don't ask for money up front. If you OK the work and decide not to pay they just put a lien on your car and if you don't pay they just keep the car.

The drone would probably go away after you put a few thousand miles on the JCW exhaust system when enough carbon builds up in the muffler.

I'm hoping your car is OK now and you are back to having fun with your Mini.

 

I know I said I wasn't going to waste anymore time on this BUT! I had assumed that the work was at least done to normal standards, and I was wrong.
Kensington had set the sway bar to the middle setting, as I had asked. I decided that I wanted to change it to the end setting and found this:

When I removed the bolts holding the sway bar to the sway bar links, I found the bolt on one side was longer than the other side. I also noticed that the spacer between the bar and the link was installed backwards. Should be flat side to sway bar, tapered side to the link's ball joint, allowing the link to swivel. I checked the bottom bolts for the links and found that one was too short and the locking portion of the lock nut was not on the bolt, which would not allow it to lock. I also found that the ball ends on one of the links were adjusted so that one was tight counter-clockwise and the other end was tight the other way. This would not allow the ball joints to swivel as they moved.

All is fixed now to how it should be, with a bit of work by me. I have tried to look over the other work they did, just incase, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

 

Having decided to go to the next AutoCross, I wanted to get my KW coil overs and camber plates installed. I was referred to H1 Performance to have the alignment and corner weighting done. Since I am still not moving fast, I asked for a quote on having him install the parts also. He installed the coil overs, camber plates and front sway bar adjustable links for $220. The performance alignment was $100.

I paid Kensington $457 to install lowering springs and lower rear control arms. I was quoted $180 to do alignment.

I also got the drone fixed with the side branch resonator.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3598788

Enough said.