First, I need to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone for their help. I really appreciate it and if I could buy you guys a drink I would!

So far, here is what is happening. I filed a complaint with the BBB and I'm just waiting to see what kind of response they get from the business. If he doesn't respond I'll be taking him to small claims court.

Just a little update for all those curious.

Excellent. Kudos for doing something about it. So many people let things like this go.

Cheers!

-Chris

Well, he got his letter from the BBB today actually, he called and left me a voicemail. He said he knew I wasn't happy and wants to get it in to make it right, do I accept the offer? Do I bring him these posts still?

hey good deal. Im not to give good advice, but I am glad people are acting on it.

Honestly the best thing he can do for you is to repair all the damage, put everything back to it's place and restore it to the original state. If you let him "fix" it, you will just be getting more headache. They already proved their Incompetence. Why would the second time be any better?

I think I'd hold on to the posts until you find out what his intentions are. His offer was to re-do the job, is that right? He actually owes you a refund for eveyrthing except $100 (typical install price), and an apology, and if he can't do it right -refer you to someone who can.

I wouldn't bank on him just restoring it to original condition and giving you the money back. He's going to want the opportunity to fix it. Problem is: can he?

Yea it is much harder to fix a messed up install than it is working on a car that has never been touched. I'd tell him you want a refund for everything and you're going to take it elsewhere, because obviously he is unable to perform satisfactory work on that type of vehicle.

If he starts being a dick...whip the posts out baby! haha

sadly, a judge would say that he should have the opportunity to make it right before taking it elsewhere.

I guess I need to acquire the double din kit from pioneer first before I let him get into it, I'm also going to see if he actually put a part in to bypass the amp.

Good luck and I hope you get everything fixed correctly. I just had my D3, amp, and door speakers installed by car toys. I usually do all of my own work but I just didnt have the time to do this install. Anyways I lucked out and they did a very nice and clean install but the wiring wasn't very good. I had to go back a rewire most of it to fix the ground loops and speakers popping. Fixing the wiring is alot easier than trying to repair the cosmetics of a vehicle....

Lesson learned for me, always do your own work or expect to get less than expected results.

wow, that really sucks. i've never seen anything like that, and i've seen a lot of butchered cars over the years. i dont think i would let him touch my car again. you need to get price quotes on all the parts he broke that need to be replaced. have him pay for that and refund your money. put it back to stock and go elsewhere. if thats the kind of work they do in the first place, dont let em hack it up more. if you were closer i'd fix it for you myself

Just thought I'd give everyone an update.

BBB was kind of a waste as their ruling was to let him fix it. I returned the car to him again and he was like what's wrong with it?

Needless to say I left. And have done the work myself which I should have done myself as the wiring in my car is hacked to bits, there is no amp bypass and a pile full of screws.

I did complete the video bypass which was beyond easy, just soldering a few wires.

I'm looking for the double DIN cage to center the unit up in the housing.

Also, looking for the VSS wire (it wasn't hooked up and I'm going on a fairly long trip in about 2 weeks and want to be accurate) for the 91 940se Volvo, if anyone might be able to help at all.

If anyone is interested I can take some pics.

my 6 yr old son builds stuff better than that and i am proud to have him as my helper. i am sure that he could have done better than this. also he does not use super glue to mount parts together, he uses my 3m 8115 or my 8223 panel adhesives. he also knows that super glue leaves the white marks. SOME people do not deserve to work on cars or anything else. This shop may end up paying out alot more than it took in on this install, really is too bad.

I hate to see something like this, it makes me gag. If i were you man, id go to the local news and make sure that people know what kind of work that worthless son of a b**** does

Here is a pic of the final product. It's crappy I took it with my cell, but the mounting kit did wonders for me, it's centered and flesh with everything.

Two problems: no speed sensor wire and when I make a right turn the speakers crackle...

Here is a pic of the final product. It's crappy I took it with my cell, but the mounting kit did wonders for me, it's centered and flesh with everything.

 

Two problems: no speed sensor wire and when I make a right turn the speakers crackle...

it looks factory now. good job. i didnt see the original pictures of that guy's install because they wouldnt load, but from what everyone is saying, i dont think i want to see...

anyways that crackling youre hearing when you make a right turn sounds like a loose wire somewhere, or if you didnt tape the soldered part fully, and the wires could be touching some kind of metal surface, and if you dont have a lot of room behind the d3, its not unlikely. either way its an easy fix, just check your connections again. hope everything works out!

Can you rehost the originals?

I didn't see the original pics, but that's pretty much my story with everything. I am NEVER happy when I pay to have something done and only end up with satisfactory results if I do it myself. Just about everything I have paid someone to do, they've either screwed it up royally, broken something, messed something up, and it's so frustrating because I'm a soft-spoken, introverted person and it causes me great stress to complain and argue. I have learned if there is any possible way to do it myself, that's what I need to do.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you've now got an install that you're happy with, but did it take over a year? I would be really pissed and want to make that guy pay for all that time wasted!

Hey guys,

I remember this thread and the pics of the first install by the shop. Trust me, they are very hard to forget. This looks 1 million times better than what the shop did. You should actually go back to the same shop with the old pics and show them what they should have done in the first place. If this guy has any pride at all, he should at least apologize.

It took a year because I had to replace the glove box, the bezel and I just kind of did it all in my spare time. I should have done the install myself in the first place, but sometimes you just want to pay for a professional service. I'll have to get a better picture of the finished product.

Wow !! Now I see the Grand Scope of the Pro-INSTALL.Terrible!!! He must have used an air wrench on those Torx screws.I can't believe he charged 240.00 for that.

holy shit man i wish i didnt see that...i cant imagine how you were when you saw that. you should post his info so no one here goes there.

dang! i remember seeing this last year when you originally posted it! i remember now how terrible that install was! glad that you finally got it done yourself! at least now you have the satisfaction knowing that you are more capable of an installer than those guys were! just sucks that you had to go through all of that!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!