Cruiser Solutions experience (1 Viewer)

[scrowley]

I would look for a good indy shop. OR a MUD member. Get prices for the work up front and hold them to it. Hourly rate work is sketchy IMO. Same with painting. Find someone that works out of their house after hours. There are some quality guys out there doing this kind of work.

In my business I never try to do anything by the hour. It seems like it usually ends up sour. Ppl like to know what they have to pay in the beginning of a job without suprises.

 

[Knuckles' Buddy]

I discussed a restoration project with Tedd Brown of Cruiser Solutions in Hampstead New Hampshire in October of 2013 and asked if what I wanted could be completed for around my budget of $25,000.00. The rig already sat as a rolling chassis and already included the following... brand new suspension, rebuilt engine, trans, transfer, axles, refinished rims with 5 new tires, a complete AquAlu body with the cowling and tub attached, misc parts bagged and labeled, pretty straight forward to be finished on a galvanized frame and feature a soft top. Tedd Replied that it would cost closer to $35,000.00 for all of the features I was asking for. I then decided to delete many of the features originally discussed and asked if this would bring the build cost down closer to my budget of $25,000.00 to which Tedd replied, "yes". I then asked Tedd if he wanted me to send a list of what we discussed to which he replied, "No, I've got it all down, just send it up." Well, on my trust of his word I decided to send it up to them. $58,000.00+/- and nearly 8 months later I fly home from Colorado, drive up to NH to pick up the cruiser and to my dismay it is missing quite a few of the items discussed and cost me $30,000.00 more than what Tedd and I discussed a few months earlier. It drove so poorly that I ended up leaving it up there and had it shipped to Allentown. Both Tedd and his main man in the shop told my mother and I to our faces that they each drove it and put miles on it for de bugging, his foreman claiming to have driven it at least 100 miles him self! And now with all of that in mind... get a load of this... When it finally arrived at my parents place... 2 weeks later the fuel filter immediately clogged not even 50 miles in to driving, the ignition timing wire was completely dangling loose on it's post on the distributor, the main lead to the starter was also dangling loose on it's post, the front axle was "completely" loose, the entire distributor unit was loose and moving/advancing as I drove it, front hub made horrible squealing noise due to no grease at all ever being applied to either of the front hubs, the taillights were not functioning correctly at all with both sides blinking on turns, the headlights were "no where near" aimed correctly... Guss you could say it was a good thing I went with my gut instinct and decided to not drive it home from their shop in New Hampshire to my parents home in Allentown Pa. It would have never made it without me tooling on it in the rain along the way and in general it would have been very un safe especially on the highway. Now Tedd knew that I was coming home to pick this thing up and drive it back for nearly 2 months. Originally they were to finish it and ship it to Colorado but since about the 15th of march Tedd had been telling me that, "We are just Waiting on the rear bumper." Well... lets fast forward to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff AZ over 2 months later where I spoke in person with the guy him self who imports said rear bumper, the response I got from the man himself who imports the bumpers was, "I always have 40 series bumpers in stock, Tedd just ordered it last week and I shipped it out." Hmmmm, and Tedd was telling/lying to me for 2 months saying that "we were just waiting on the rear bumper"... Any how, I call it a bait and switch and honestly can not understand how someone like Tedd Brown who has been doing this since 1992 can't seem to make a restoration estimation any tighter than $30,000. Choosing "Tedd Brown's Cruiser Solutions of Hampstead NH" to complete my FJ40 Land Cruiser restoration has been one of the biggest mistakes of my 41 years. Great learning experience though, Thanks Tedd! Oh well... I'm already building my next truck and will still ski Colorado nearly 100+ days again this year so life aint so bad. As far as "Cruiser Solutions of Hampstead New Hampshire." BUYER BEWARE!

 

[Leaping Deer]

I'm personally not a fan of Tedd and I've only bought parts from him. Your experience is not the first I've heard of going way over budget without warning and shoddy work. Although I have seen their paint work and it looks outstanding.

 

[scrowley]

^^^^^^ oh man. That's bad business right there. If I did that on a client's job I would likely not get paid. 30k over and no phone call for warning. Ouch. If you had a legit proposal signed you could have likely taken him to court. Maybe keep it from happening to future customers. I don't know the shop or tedd I'm just making observations off your raint. But for 60k I would think could get almost a FULL resto.

 

[Knuckles' Buddy]

Thanks for the replies guys, here is the exact picture I showed Tedd of the cruiser as it sat before sending it up to him... Now, with all it already had as a rolling chassis and all the work it took to get it to that point as well as all the other miscellaneous parts removed, many bagged and labeled, before even sending it to them & he was still able to fudge the build cost so over the top? You decide... I guess if you can sleep at night and live with your self it's all ok. All they were tasked with doing was to finish the mock up, tear it down, dip the frame, paint the body, refurbish old steel parts & put back together... Install an ARB bumper with a WARN 8274, which they did not install the winch, a soft top, rear heater, better break booster, a Kaymar rear bumper and a "new" hood which I specifically discussed leaving my old one at home for a new one, Tedd instead goes and installs an old dented hood with dry rotted windshield bumpers. When my mother and I went to pick this thing up she asked why the windshield bumpers were so cracked and old looking, Tedd's main shop foreman then proceeds to tell my mother right in front of me, "You can't get those any more so we had to use the old ones." Well as we all know, you can still get them brand new from various Cruiser parts vendors out there... They are not even the correct style windshield bumpers for my year cruiser!!! Really? Am I on candid camera? Ive been tooling on vehicles since 1989, everything from my first CJ7 to Vannagons to my 88 4Runner and 3 Land Cruisers, 76, 77, & 85, so it's not like I have no idea at all what is involved in restoring these things. I knew what it would take me to finish it my self but just no longer have the space since moving to Colorado in 2010. It really is a shame when you trust a man's word and he takes advantage of you, any man who does not live by his word has nothing in my book. I have emailed Tedd multiple times now with no email response, he doesn't seem to like anything with a record of what he says, the only response I ever get from him is a phone call where I repeatedly half to listen to him say, "I'm shocked... blah blah blah." He even went as far during one of our phone conversations to berate me multiple times and tell me how it is all my fault for, "getting in to this mess", and even went as far to insinuate that I was spoiled and used my parent's money, His exact words to me at one point on the phone were, "It's not even your money Grant, it's your parent's money." It is true that all the payments were made through my parents account, as if it were not for them, their kindness and generosity I would have never gotten a loan for such a project & he would have made no money. So with that bit of understanding and thanks from Tedd Brown... I finally sent him an email stating all the things I was shocked about and have not yet to hear back from him. I would just like to know what it was that I left out of our original discussions last October that caused this project to go so far over budget. I showed him this picture, described what all it had and what I would not be sending along with it. The picture I painted was a "very detailed" one and I specifically made it clear that I needed to keep the project under the 30k mark, deleting many of the options originally discussed. This build has been in my mind for probably 15+ years!!! All you cruiser heads out there know how that is. Again... Tedd has been doing this since 1992 and still managed to underestimate the build cost by $30,000.00, delivering nothing close to what was discussed feature wise or workmanship wise? I can only figure that he saw dollar signs in his mind, told me what he thought I wanted to hear in order for me to trust him enough to send the project up to him where he fully planned on getting as much money out of me as he could, again... "bait and switch".

 

[scrowley]

Hey, all said and done your the one that paid that crazy bill after being yanked around and getting unsatifactory craftsmanship. Shame on you too. Now you enabled him to get away with it in the future. This happens often in the construction field as well and it just takes one unsatified customer to put their foot down and put an end to it. I would have never let it slide. AAAHHH my rant is over. All and all I'm sorry your cruiser isn't what you expected. $60k is A LOT of ching. When I do any larger remodeling projects that are bigger $ I don't leave until everything is perfect. No matter if the customers sees it or not. Pride is worth WAY more than a little extra money...and it also gets you more work with a good name

 

[Wrench]

60k for a 40? Are you high?

 

[Knuckles' Buddy]

I see where you are both coming from for sure shame on me for trusting this guy & no I'm not high, again it was to be completed for under 30k. Thanks

 

[REDrum]

Thanks for the replies guys, here is the exact picture I showed Tedd of the cruiser as it sat before sending it up to him... Now, with all it already had as a rolling chassis and all the work it took to get it to that point as well as all the other miscellaneous parts removed, many bagged and labeled, before even sending it to them & he was still able to fudge the build cost so over the top? You decide... I guess if you can sleep at night and live with your self it's all ok. All they were tasked with doing was to finish the mock up, tear it down, dip the frame, paint the body, refurbish old steel parts & put back together... Install an ARB bumper with a WARN 8274, which they did not install the winch, a soft top, rear heater, better break booster, a Kaymar rear bumper and a "new" hood which I specifically discussed leaving my old one at home for a new one, Tedd instead goes and installs an old dented hood with dry rotted windshield bumpers. When my mother and I went to pick this thing up she asked why the windshield bumpers were so cracked and old looking, Tedd's main shop foreman then proceeds to tell my mother right in front of me, "You can't get those any more so we had to use the old ones." Well as we all know, you can still get them brand new from various Cruiser parts vendors out there... They are not even the correct style windshield bumpers for my year cruiser!!! Really? Am I on candid camera? Ive been tooling on vehicles since 1989, everything from my first CJ7 to Vannagons to my 88 4Runner and 3 Land Cruisers, 76, 77, & 85, so it's not like I have no idea at all what is involved in restoring these things. I knew what it would take me to finish it my self but just no longer have the space since moving to Colorado in 2010. It really is a shame when you trust a man's word and he takes advantage of you, any man who does not live by his word has nothing in my book. I have emailed Tedd multiple times now with no email response, he doesn't seem to like anything with a record of what he says, the only response I ever get from him is a phone call where I repeatedly half to listen to him say, "I'm shocked... blah blah blah." He even went as far during one of our phone conversations to berate me multiple times and tell me how it is all my fault for, "getting in to this mess", and even went as far to insinuate that I was spoiled and used my parent's money, His exact words to me at one point on the phone were, "It's not even your money Grant, it's your parent's money." It is true that all the payments were made through my parents account, as if it were not for them, their kindness and generosity I would have never gotten a loan for such a project & he would have made no money. So with that bit of understanding and thanks from Tedd Brown... I finally sent him an email stating all the things I was shocked about and have not yet to hear back from him. I would just like to know what it was that I left out of our original discussions last October that caused this project to go so far over budget. I showed him this picture, described what all it had and what I would not be sending along with it. The picture I painted was a "very detailed" one and I specifically made it clear that I needed to keep the project under the 30k mark, deleting many of the options originally discussed. This build has been in my mind for probably 15+ years!!! All you cruiser heads out there know how that is. Again... Tedd has been doing this since 1992 and still managed to underestimate the build cost by $30,000.00, delivering nothing close to what was discussed feature wise or workmanship wise? I can only figure that he saw dollar signs in his mind, told me what he thought I wanted to hear in order for me to trust him enough to send the project up to him where he fully planned on getting as much money out of me as he could, again... "bait and switch".

Dood....please....my eyes....

 

[landtank]

Sorry for your problems. I'd start a thread in the chat section if you strongly about this.

 

[Caddisfly]

Sorry about what happened . . .
It's too bad you hadn't searched this site before you agree to do business with slick Tedd. Lots of us have had similar experiences, but fortunately for us, they were on a MUCH smaller scale.

If you did not authorize him to charge you an extra $30,000 beyond what he originally estimated, it seems like you have a pretty strong case against him. He should have called you to get your okay for any charges above the original estimate. At the very least, you should contact the Better Business Bureau in New Hampshire (603-224-1991) to find out what your options are. (If, on the other hand, you told him to "do whatever it takes," I think he may have seen you as a cash cow.)

Good luck. Keep us updated.