so where do I start with this one will try to keep it short as possible I contacted lee dent on 14 nov 2016 to have some work done I had a big boost leak on lower plenum and a pipe on the back of the engine

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car was booked in for 13 dec 2016 dropped the car off fast forward to pick up date don't want to going in to what happened in between long story (moaning complaining making out car had more problems etc wanted to charge me twice as much then original quoted).

went to pick the car up on 13 feb 2017

around 11am paid the remaining balance as I was about to drive off I notice car wanted to cut out under load told lee about it after messing about with various parts etc lee come to the conclusion that it had some thing to do with the alarm I told him it cant be the alarm apart from playing with the engine what other part have we changed aem fuel pump I told him to take it off put the old one back this was around 5.30pm after changing the pump car was working again now am to be blamed for supplying a faulty part any way my young brother who was with me noticed my after market fuel pressure regulator wasn't work told lee who replied that's how it was when I gave him the car so I just left it at that after getting the car back 2 month later my fuel pump packed up so as I was about buy a new one I thought id take a look at aem fuel pump again looking through the web I notice wire wasn't done right so I did the wiring and fitted the pump and now its working fine so I thought id take a look at the fuel pressure regulator I notice a hair line crack on the gauge so I changed that still didn't work digging little dipperi notice it was plumbed in wrong now that's work on 13 july I started the car up I noticed a tapping noise on the passenger side contacted lee sent a video of the noise and this what he said

any way I did a oil change and the noise went away after about week the noise come back contacted lee no response so I just left it at that as I had no plan on driving it in winter after here about lees work recently on here and social media was a little concern so I contacted mike Sanford to take a look at it booked it in for 24 oct 2017 when I went to mikes place he notice the loud tapping noise so I told him I had some work done by mr lee ie timing belt kit plenum gasket powder coating rocker covers throttle body dump vale etc so we started of with a smoke test found 4 leaks big one in lower plenum one on the back of engine ( which was the main reason I took the car to lee in the first place )and now we got both dump vale leaking and a pipe under the passenger side throttle body.

so by now alarm bells were ringing check the deletes his done and the water by pass not do right timing belt idle pulley wasn't use one is new one is old than we started on compression test mike took the driver side spark plug off first that the passenger side as soon as we took the cylinder 2 spark plug out found this

looks like sand on the plug we did the compression test result cylinder 1=170psi 3=170psi 5=170psi 2=100psi 4=140psi 6=100psi so as you can see I got a broken engine contacted lee with the finding giving him a chance to put things right got this reply from him

so now mr lee doesn't wanna now unless I pay him to do the work I already paid him for

response.txt

the 2 files that didn't come up

 

Bloody hell, that was hard work to read and understand. Some punctuation might help as I nearly died of asphyxiation! ;)

 

In essence, you paid for work that he hadn't done? Sad to see the amount of problems now coming to light, the list goes on.

Sad to see another member having problems with Lee Dent. Thank you for the update Azad and I hope this has not put you of 300zx ownership.

You appear to have alot of evidence Aly, report him to Trading Standards and take him to the small claims court

Wow. I thought he was supposedly one of the last remaining zed specialists? Can anyone be trusted to do a good job anymore? I'm glad you've published this and there's not been any of the previous stuff where people won't mention names because I haven't seen any of the bad press against Lee until this to be honest.

Why does everyone always try to blame things on somebody else? I notice he tried to pass the buck by asking "who mapped it".

Hope you get it sorted out one way or another.

I've just started reading the other thread by t.mogsy. - about to resubscribe so I can edit my posts and stop myself looking quite so stupid in future...perhaps I should catch up on here more often haha.

Best of luck getting it resolved.

Lee seems incapable of accepting any responsibility for his mistakes. His ex gets most of the blame & so do other traders which is unbelievable. Some of this sounds similar to my situation. Lee would often message me for a rant about how much work he's done on the car & how annoyed he was. Some problems that occurred I know were true but others I'm not too sure about now. I'm suspicious of everything. Did he not offer to take your car back to check it over? I think I know the answer to that question to be honest.

Lee seems incapable of accepting any responsibility for his mistakes. His ex gets most of the blame & so do other traders which is unbelievable. Some of this sounds similar to my situation. Lee would often message me for a rant about how much work he's done on the car & how annoyed he was. Some problems that occurred I know were true but others I'm not too sure about now. I'm suspicious of everything. Did he not offer to take your car back to check it over? I think I know the answer to that question to be honest.

 

no mate he doesn't wanna now unless I pay for his service again

Can anyone be trusted to do a good job anymore?

 

Jimmer (PowerZed) and ALWAYS has. I've used him for nigh on 13 years and would never take it to another 'specialist'. Not only is he a fully qualified and trained mechanic and engineer, he has a wealth of knowledge, will only use genuine/high quality components, never cuts corners, takes pride in everything he does and is a good honest bloke. A lot of these 'fly by the seat of their pants' folks are either running their business on an absolute shoestring, have a shady existence or have little qualification and no back up or a combination of the lot.

 

Granted, things go wrong in all lines of business, they always have and always will, but it's how you deal with them and how professional you are that will split the good from the chaff.

Edited October 26, 20178 yr by Funkysi

Jimmer (PowerZed) and ALWAYS has. I've used him for nigh on 13 years and would never take it to another 'specialist'. Not only is he a fully qualified and trained mechanic and engineer, he has a wealth of knowledge, will only use genuine/high quality components, never cuts corners, takes pride in everything he does and is a good honest bloke. A lot of these 'fly by the seat of their pants' folks are either running their business on an absolute shoestring, have a shady existence or have little qualification and no back up or a combination of the lot.

 

Granted, things go wrong in all lines of business, they always have and always will, but it's how you deal with them and how professional you are that will split the good from the chaff.

 

 

Well put Si that is a well worded post and agree 100%.

 

I did hope Lee Dent would of got in touch with us to offer some sort of mitigation but its not going to be. I know he did rip some members of and caused a lot of upset in the 300zx world and most of you will have no sympathy for him... But I guess he is in a dark place now and I hope he can get out of it and do the right thing to people he has wronged and be a better man.

 

Granted, things go wrong in all lines of business, they always have and always will, but it's how you deal with them and how professional you are that will split the good from the chaff.

 

Very wise words!!!!

I,agree he could have got not my problem !like I got it is always sad when thing end like this

Jimmer (PowerZed) and ALWAYS has. I've used him for nigh on 13 years and would never take it to another 'specialist'. Not only is he a fully qualified and trained mechanic and engineer, he has a wealth of knowledge, will only use genuine/high quality components, never cuts corners, takes pride in everything he does and is a good honest bloke. A lot of these 'fly by the seat of their pants' folks are either running their business on an absolute shoestring, have a shady existence or have little qualification and no back up or a combination of the lot.

 

This is very true. I wish I wasn't so far away from Bristol but after I finally get my car on the road if I need anything major doing it will have to go there I think. He's probably the only specialist I've never heard a bad word said about.

Something else I've noticed is that people will often choose a place solely based on the price. This is often a complete falsehood; for a business to remain profitable and viable and have the capitol to invest in growth, parts and other sundries it needs to charge a proportionate sum. A place might offer a cheaper price for a number of reasons other than trying to be competitive, either they are running the company on a shoestring, aren't doing the work as agreed, using cheap poor quality components or a combination of the lot. Over the years, this has happened with South West Zed, Zedtech, seemingly now LA Autos and a number of others.

 

Ultimately you'll get yourself into a cashflow crisis and that is when things start to take a downward spiral.

 

I believe those that have survived have got at least an ounce of business acumen and have the ability to do honest top-rate work plus good customer service and I'd sooner support that any day of the week.

Edited October 27, 20178 yr by Funkysi

Well Said Couldn't agree more

Jimmer (PowerZed) and ALWAYS has. I've used him for nigh on 13 years and would never take it to another 'specialist'. Not only is he a fully qualified and trained mechanic and engineer, he has a wealth of knowledge, will only use genuine/high quality components, never cuts corners, takes pride in everything he does and is a good honest bloke. A lot of these 'fly by the seat of their pants' folks are either running their business on an absolute shoestring, have a shady existence or have little qualification and no back up or a combination of the lot.

 

Granted, things go wrong in all lines of business, they always have and always will, but it's how you deal with them and how professional you are that will split the good from the chaff.

 

Yup - well said Si; and I have to agree 100%

 

Jimmer is old school - honest, reliable and knowledgeable. You cannot go wrong taking your Zed to Jimmer....:thumbup:

Well mine will be going there after body work is done I haven’t driven it since getting back as fluid leaks so I live and learn !

Something else I've noticed is that people will often choose a place solely based on the price. This is often a complete falsehood; for a business to remain profitable and viable and have the capitol to invest in growth, parts and other sundries it needs to charge a proportionate sum. A place might offer a cheaper price for a number of reasons other than trying to be competitive, either they are running the company on a shoestring, aren't doing the work as agreed, using cheap poor quality components or a combination of the lot. Over the years, this has happened with South West Zed, Zedtech, seemingly now LA Autos and a number of others.

 

Ultimately you'll get yourself into a cashflow crisis and that is when things start to take a downward spiral.

 

I believe those that have survived have got at least an ounce of business acumen and have the ability to do honest top-rate work plus good customer service and I'd sooner support that any day of the week.

 

 

Whether its a Plasterer, Sparky, Painter, Joiner, specialist Mechanic or any skill, you only get what you pay for. Peanuts = monkeys.

 

Alan...........

Something else I've noticed is that people will often choose a place solely based on the price. This is often a complete falsehood; for a business to remain profitable and viable and have the capitol to invest in growth, parts and other sundries it needs to charge a proportionate sum. A place might offer a cheaper price for a number of reasons other than trying to be competitive, either they are running the company on a shoestring, aren't doing the work as agreed, using cheap poor quality components or a combination of the lot. Over the years, this has happened with South West Zed, Zedtech, seemingly now LA Autos and a number of others.

 

Ultimately you'll get yourself into a cashflow crisis and that is when things start to take a downward spiral.

 

I believe those that have survived have got at least an ounce of business acumen and have the ability to do honest top-rate work plus good customer service and I'd sooner support that any day of the week.

 

again i agree 110%

 

dan.

Something else I've noticed is that people will often choose a place solely based on the price. This is often a complete falsehood; for a business to remain profitable and viable and have the capitol to invest in growth, parts and other sundries it needs to charge a proportionate sum. A place might offer a cheaper price for a number of reasons other than trying to be competitive, either they are running the company on a shoestring, aren't doing the work as agreed, using cheap poor quality components or a combination of the lot. Over the years, this has happened with South West Zed, Zedtech, seemingly now LA Autos and a number of others.

 

Ultimately you'll get yourself into a cashflow crisis and that is when things start to take a downward spiral.

 

I believe those that have survived have got at least an ounce of business acumen and have the ability to do honest top-rate work plus good customer service and I'd sooner support that any day of the week.

 

I think we all have kinda lost our way over this Mr dent affair or his ability to do a very good job with fantastic customer service far out stretching the things he actually had to do to honour estimates or quotes. Ime not defending him over whats happened but lets not forget guys prior to him going off the rails he was or is a very very good Zed mechanic and knows his way around the VG motor a lot better than people think;) He has made an awful lot of zed owners very happy with work he provided and the cars are still running around today very reliably when a certain few of the "larger specialists"around at the time was cutting corners themselves with there own workmanship:rolleyes:. I just wish he had had the stomach to stand up to the plate and explain what happened and a lot of this "witch hunt posting" would have not been needed but there you go,whats done is done and we have a few disgruntled members that need re-reimbursing.....

I think we all have kinda lost our way over this Mr dent affair or his ability to do a very good job with fantastic customer service far out stretching the things he actually had to do to honour estimates or quotes. Ime not defending him over whats happened but lets not forget guys prior to him going off the rails he was or is a very very good Zed mechanic and knows his way around the VG motor a lot better than people think;) He has made an awful lot of zed owners very happy with work he provided and the cars are still running around today very reliably when a certain few of the "larger specialists"around at the time was cutting corners themselves with there own workmanship:rolleyes:. I just wish he had had the stomach to stand up to the plate and explain what happened and a lot of this "witch hunt posting" would have not been needed but there you go,whats done is done and we have a few disgruntled members that need re-reimbursing.....

 

We already know what happened. The blanks have been filled in and all the dots have been connected.

 

Using Tom's situation as the example: Lee decided to fit a secondhand propshaft that he'd stolen from a friend and customer to another customer's car. A customer who had paid for and was expecting a brand new steel prop.

 

He then placed an order with Jimmer for a brand new steel prop and made a joke about "having to replace one he'd borrowed" which would go on Tom's car. Instead of the alloy one he'd bought for his car.

 

He then decided not to pay Jimmer for the prop, leaving him out of pocket for no good reason and an old Nissan two-piece prop was fitted to Tom's car..

 

When Tom found out that he had a Nissan prop on, Lee had a choice: hold his hands up, or lie through his teeth. So, when Tom asked him where his alloy prop was, Lee told him it needed repair and he'd get it sorted. When Tom said that he would sort that instead, Lee told him that his unit was messy and he couldn't find it...

 

When it all came into the public view, Lee goes to ground. No attempt to explain, either here or on Facebook. He's happy to lay all the blame for this at his ex's door, except she didn't hold a gun to his head and tell him to steal from his friends!

 

The list of disgruntled customers seems to be growing larger, even now. Did Lee used to do decent work? I'd have said so. Did he have a vast amount of knowledge about these cars? Um, it appears not. Hell, he was getting his own Zed worked on by Zedworld a handful of years ago, which is a bit like me having another company trim my car...

 

As I see it, there is no witch-hunting going on at all. He's obviously happy (or prepared) to let people discuss his failings as a mechanic and a businessman and, in the absence of the man himself, that's all they're able to do!

I think we all have kinda lost our way over this Mr dent affair or his ability to do a very good job with fantastic customer service far out stretching the thingactually had to do to honour estimates or quotes.

 

How?

 

and knows his way around the VG motor a lot better than people think;)

 

Actually quite possibly the other way round.....

 

whats done is done and we have a few disgruntled members that need re-reimbursing.....

 

'A few disgruntled customers'? :lol: Damn! More like half his regular customer base, indeed his biggest spenders, many of whom were his friends.....and stealing? How do you reimburse stolen goods and deceit?

 

Do tell who's been cutting corners, certainly not the specialist I use who has an impeccable reputation.

Edited October 30, 20178 yr by Funkysi

when a certain few of the "larger specialists"around at the time was cutting corners themselves with there own workmanship:rolleyes:.

 

Excited !!!

 

 

Jeff

There's an aspect that's coming to light in all of this that I find a bit... bizarre, and that's when people are suggesting that this is some small oversight that should in no way impact upon his reputation.

 

In business, you are only ever as good as your last job. So it matters not one bit whether Lee used to be the Second Coming for Zeds, because all of this has come out.

 

Case in point: if I don't follow through on my group buy and just pocket the deposits, will people be saying "Don't forget Mondo's done some cracking retrims over the years!" or will they be baying for my blood?? I've a sneaking suspicion it'll be the latter, and rightly so...

 

What has transpired with Tom is theft, pure and simple. It's not an oversight on anyone's part or anything "innocent" like that, so people honestly need to stop trying to pretend that it is. The unhappy customers that are now making their voices heard have within their ranks some long-standing and big-spending customers - when you alienate your repeat customers, you may as well just shut the doors and sign on...

Simon...get back in your basket!! you know very well it was not the specialist you use i was referring to so stop trying to increase your catch...

 

Mondo...Ive been around these parts long enough to know whats what and i dont need a lesson from you about who taught who ect ect... You seem to be the peoples spokesperson and Guardian of all good in recent times so be sensible over my post and read and fully understand it before spouting off and trying to obtain brownie points off my back..

 

Jeff... My cards are tight up against my chest and ime going to be a Gentleman and keep my lips tight, why don't you do the same and we,ll leave it at that..