If you happened to read my bio, you know that I started out as a car hobbyist like many of you. I was working fulltime in my corporate gig and didn’t have the time or resources to do some of the work myself. As a result, I got to experience the type of horror stories that you may have heard about in the car repair/restoration field. I was absolutely amazed at the rip-offs and low quality that the industry just expected people to accept.
When it got to the point where I was considering opening my own shop, I decided that I was going to reverse those trends at least in my little part of the world. My plan was to be the small shop where people could bring their vehicle for work without worry or stress. It’s such a simple concept; provide high quality, high value service in an environment of trust.
I could go on for pages about the scams and deceit that occurs in the auto repair and restoration business. The bait and switch tactics, the surprise invoices for twice what you were expecting, the poor quality blamed on “the bad employee who no longer works here”, the one month project that turns into two years….
Quality
We will not cut corners to boost profits. Our goal is repeat business. We strive to go beyond our customer’s expectations on everything we do. We tend to be our own worst critics so we work for the best quality possible. Our high quality, along with our very fair and transparent pricing, results in excellent value.
Pricing
No customer will ever be surprised or shocked by an invoice from us. We tell you up front what to expect. For large projects you will receive regular e-mail updates with the labor and parts costs. We don’t just list “labor” on your bill. We tell you exactly what was done and when it was done, in detail. Old cars can have some surprises. In the event that we encountered a problem that would increase costs, it will be fully discussed with you along with your options before we spend a penny of your money. This gives the customer control over expenses before they occur. For the labor we only charge you when we are physically working on your vehicle. You’re not paying for coffee breaks and phone calls. You get a full hours work for an hour’s charge.
Scheduling and project time lines
This is the area where many of the real horror stories occur. The shop tells you they’ll do your project in two months. They take your vehicle apart and shove it into a corner so they can work on the higher profit insurance jobs. A year later your vehicle is still in pieces and all you get are excuses. This is a major problem with the big shops. This will never happen at Bill’s Auto Restoration. We don’t take on more work than we can handle and only do insurance work if it won’t interfere with existing project schedules. We have you bring your vehicle in only when we are ready to work on it and typically start work that first day. We have a clean organized shop so we can work efficiently. We also flex our work hours and work days to meet the needs of the project. This does amazing things for a project schedule.
In summary we feel we can offer you an excellent value for your money without the usual anxiety that goes along with turning your valued property over to strangers. All of our customers are repeat customers and become friends. We think that says a lot about our little shop.
Bill’s Auto Restoration in St Petersburg FL