On Wednesday Feb. 6 2008. I went to state radiator with 2 Aluminum radiators in to be straightened. One leaked. The first guy I talked to said he would be able to straighten them or I wouldn't be charged. I needed them straightened so they will be able to be mounted on my dirt bike. I purchased them in repairable condition. Once I dropped them off they called me the next day. I went to pick them up. When I arrived they had a nice coat of paint but still were very bent. The first guy I talked to said he will have them try again. So I called on Friday and he said they are as good as they are going to get. Then on Saturday I went to pick up. I had my body mount parts to see how close it was to being right.
The one that leaked was welded where it leaked. The fins were crushed and it was more crooked. Each one of the dividers was bent. I didn't drop it off that bad. I tried to match up my guard cover and it was off by a half to quarter inch and crooked. I was quoted 65. For the welded one. The other one was dropped off bent on one side. When I got it back it was bent on both sides and had a bunch of coils crushed. I matched my guard cover to it. It was off by less than half an inch. Was quoted 45 when dropped off. For this one just to straighten cause it didn't leak. The welded one was junk and it looked beyond repair. I had to leave it there. So I explained to the guy I couldn't use it if it doesnt bolt up. I said I will take the other one to some one else and see what they can do. He said I could bend it back with some pliers to fit but it wont be level. I thought that was what I was paying them to do. The other guy got an aptitude problem. I had to keep calm and be cool to prevent a fight, even though I was irate. I never raised my voice or got confrontational. The guy rang me up at the 65 price (the one that was mangled and couldnt use). I said the other guy told me 45. For this one. He got a serious aptitude ripped up the invoice and said I would have to come back again on Monday to talk to him. As I was putting my credit card back. He rang it up at 45. I apologized to him for the not being for not being pleased. He had no response. I guess he was mad at me for their screw up. I never raised my voice or cot confrontational. Should I have been grateful for ruining my radiator? Used ones are extremely rare and hard to come by. A new one from the dealer is 369, if it can still be ordered. I don't think I was the one who should be apologizing. I took it to a different shop after leaving there. The guy said to me does a lot of these and could fix it for 35. If it don't leak. He showed me some of his work. I was very impressed looked like perfection. Better than I was expecting at State radiator. I wish State radiator would have referred me before bending the hell out of my radiators and ruining one. If you can't do the job don't take it. So I guess I have to pay twice because I thought they knew what they were doing. They clearly dont know what they are doing on small aluminum radiators. They advertised in the yellow pages. Aluminum repair, same day service, and lowest prices. Not so!!! Very unpleasant and expensive lesson to say the least.
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