I bought my Coupe with a Helix Organic clutch fitted last year and have the receipt with work done by one of the specialists on the forum. Last week my clutch started playing up, so I stopped driving it and took it to Barbz at Torque Italia to strip it apart and fit one of his new TI uprated clutch kits.

First of all, the gearbox was only held in place with 3 bolts instead of 6, and upon taking the clutch apart, it was found that everything was loose inside and as a result, the release bearing had failed.

Granted, the clutch is still ok, but how is it that a 'specialist' has done such a poor job in the first place?

I just want to thank Barbz for doing an amazing job on my car as usual. I've never been disappointed with any of his work and his service is first class.

Who was the specialist?

Have you spoken to/confronted the specialist?

I'm not here to give anyone a bad reputation. Something like this could have an impact on their business. I just want to make people aware that not everyone they regard as 'coupe gods' are perfect.

Catch 22 then. You won't say who the specialist is but then want to make everyone aware that the specialist they themselves use might not be all they're cracked up to be?

Given that position I kinda don't see the point in the post.

Cheers, Hedge

Agree with hedge. Either name and shame or whats the point. Personally I would take it up with the specialist and not bother posting. You might find it only had three bolts in the first place. Its not strictly their job to do someting about that

Forgive me if I'm a bit frustrated with having to fork out on a new clutch due to the incompetance of one of our faithful specialists.

I'm sure this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened, so people can work it out for themselves.

As a warning to others to keep their wits about them.

I have had both amazing service and some not to the standard you expect from a "Specialist"

Not sure if there's a Forum "rule" on this but imo unless the OP has spoken to the "specialist" to get their view, I don't think it would be fair to name them until that conversation had taken place.

Firstly biggenz is entitled to vent his frustration as anyone would. Secondly its extreamly mature that you have seen it from the point that it is someones business and could cause a lot of damage. At the end of the day everyone is human and im sure everyone makes mistakes now and again. Your best bet in a situation like this is to confont the person and talk it through and im sure you will both work something out

Thing is, as soon as anyone says a bad word against a specialist on here, everyone jumps in to defend them, and in the vast majority of cases the original poster then becomes the "bad guy"

It's a shame because everyone makes mistakes, but because of the above you only ever hear the good stories, you occasionally hear they made a mistake and rectified it promptly, but you'll never hear that they cocked it up completely, it seems any form of negative feedback is frowned upon here.

Out of interest, to become a FCCUK Trader, do you have to pay the club a fee? Purely out of interest I'm not a conspiracy theorist.

Have a read in the premium adverts area. Any company can purchase a subforum. It by no means makes you a Trader or a Specialist. The club doesnt endorse or approve companies in that respect.

All issues between users and companies should be resolved outside of the forum rather than turning into a slagging match on here. Issues are resolved far quicker that way

Have to disagree; I think it's more about giving the trader an opportunity to give their side and possibly a chance to rectify things.

At the end of the day, we're talking about someone's livelihood and if a wrong accusation is made that could impact on reputations.

Gotta take the good with the bad. However, there does seem to be a number of problems reported on the forum over the past year or so!

Some have disappeared rapidly, some got locked, some get lost in time and space. It takes about a day or so for a un-replied to thread to get to the never to be seen again - page 3

It's our club, without the clients/members, the club would be left with moderators patrolling nothing but themselves (shudder at the thought)

If there is a problem we need to know. If an established member has an issue then it should be aired IMO. If the response from the specialist appears on the thread, then kudos to them. It does not take long to figure out the real story.

If you trade, you'd better do a good job. It's not too much to ask is it?

Yes that's fair enough, I agree entirely about hearing the traders side of the story, but my point was more towards what happens when they have ballsed it up completely, and no amicable agreement has been made between the parties involved. To me, and maybe it's just my interpretation, but I have always found the forum to favour the side of the specialists, even if, they were in the wrong.

Spot on Phil.

Why should a conversation take place in public?

It should be resolved outside of the forum. If someone had a complain about your business would you want to find out about it in the public eye or would you not appriciate they came to you first? Once that stage has happend then by all means give your feedback.

Its no ones business what has gone on until the issue has been resolved. Then if the personal feels necessary they can give their feedback.

We have seen it many times small issues turn into witch hunts, that is not what this forum is about.

Excellent post patch234.

A specialists work should be spot on, but so should any 'normal' garage.

The difference with a specialist, is that they know the more common faults on a car and know the easier/quicker ways of sorting things, compared to a 'normal' garage.

Mistakes still happen whether they are specialists or not and being specialists doesn't mean their work is perfect, it just means that they usually go that little bit further to get the car sorted quicker.

Specialist means they know the car, it doesn't mean the job will be perfect each time. It should be, yes, but not always.

Although, in this case, then yes, a specialist should have spotted there were some bolts missing and put some back in as general practice really.

That's what I meant to say.

I've just had a pm from another member who had very similar problems with the same specialist. This does not seem like an isolated incident.

One thing that is hard to avoid is human error, and any specialist worth their salts should have realised that there were three bolts left over, as it is goo practice to keep together items removed so that the head-count tallies after putting them back on, even if some are binned and replaced.

I got burned bad too, cost me £1400+ to get my engine fixed after the cambelt went as it wasn't changed when it should have. It was invoiced and even had my logbook stamped for it. That money was for bodywork repairs that never happened, and even now I'm driving around in a shabby looking Coupe. It's never been the same since too.

More recently work JBT did left me delighted with his work, especially at the enthusiasm, communication and diligence he showed (not to mention the courtesy yellow Cinqy).

So it's about trust, and that takes time. I have learned to always check the work done, as the consequences can be too drastic not to, on the last job I had done to replace the trailing arm bearing a handbrake cable wasn't clipped in the bracket and was drooping by the petrol tank, minor I know, but it happens though.

I think that on the whole that members should not be wholly dissuaded from posting their bad garage experiences, as this aids other members. Though I understand the predicament that this may put the admin though, as mediators.

Big up to Barbz in this case

Biggens with your permission would it not be better to lock this thread until you have had these conversations with the person in question. Once done, if you are not satisfied or feel you wish to give your feedback on the situation then you can do so either here (ask me to unlock it), or more appropriatly post in their alocated subforum?

I cannot see this thread going anywhere at present however it will stay unlocked unless you say otherwise or it gets out of hand/off topic

Have you had a conversation with this specialist yet?

And it didnt take alot to figure out who the 'specialist' was either.

The place is a joke.

Just from another side of the fense...

This is a fiat coupe community, we are lucky to have companies that wish to invest their time in this place. They offer members discounts, they give help and advice for free and of course they get business from us.

Now there are many companies on here... im sure at least one person has had a bad experience with each and every one.

If they then decided to not give the person a chance to recify the issue and just post on here the companies will soon dissapear... Why would you want to help out a community that is here to catch you when you make a mistake? I appriciate its a two way process, they get business and we get benefits. However imagine a forum where there is no specialists, no discounts, no place you can call up and always get a part...

... that would be a very sad day and see this place die a quick death. You may think the admins take sides, thats not the case. We are looking at the bigger picture and try to mediate to ensure that both parties are kept happy.

The disclaimers in the Premium adverts section clearly state that issues should be resolved outside of the forum and the club are not held responsible for the actions of those companies in question.

This is just a thought... and my opinion only

This is the trouble isn't it, three missing bolts from a gearbox is not a mistake Mario, it's negligence.

No-one is stating that the club is responsible, no-one is disagreeing with the clubs stance, it's the correct one.

I agree that members should speak to the specialist first when not happy, but it was too late in this instance. He had a problem, obviously was not happy with the quality of job at the previous specialist so went to another to find out what the issue was!

Too late to contact the original specialist as the car was being fixed b someone else. Now what? Drag Barbz into it all? Don't think so!

He is right to post this up in the manner he did - All IMO of course

I never said he wasnt correct. As per my initial post he has gone about it in the proper and mature manner.

There is no harm in Bigenz's rant, we all get annoyed frustrated and need to vent from time to time.

Whatever work is done on a car it should be up to standard. Sure sometimes things dont work out but these should be exceptions.

Forums are very powerful and invariably help solve issues. Without forums and the possibility of 'adverse publicity' some traders would rather shrug their responsibilities.

For some that use the online environment heavily as their marketing arena upsetting people is very risky.

Naming and shaming should not be the first form of recourse not least because it is unfair without a trader being afforded the opportunity to remedy damage. Secondly the forum and poster may face themselves with potential hefty legal action regarding defamation / libel (see the Demon Internet and Motley Fool cases if youre interested).

I would not want anyone to shut me up if i wanted to vent. I would also expect any posters to be responsible and discuss any concerns with the trader before naming and shaming.

I hope you are happy with Barbz's work mate, and i hope you can resolve any outstanding issues with the other person amicably

Good post Rudi