Just before I jump into this, I want to say something. I was the one who lobbied for the thread in here that instructs us to search for existing threads about the people we leave feedback for before making new ones. Yup. It was me. So why am I making a new thread? Why am I a hypocrite? Well, I'll tell you. I could easily tack on a post in rudelude's thread, but you know what? He says good stuff about Steve. I'm not going to. This thread I'm about to make is brutal. People are going to see this. People might not see it if I just made a post in somebody else's thread. So there.
Let's begin. The month was August. I pulled my head off 'cause I thought I had bent some valves. Yikes. After bringing it to the machine shop, I was told that no, I hadn't bent any valves. Phew. Unfortunately, the head had reached machine limit for planing, and that was bad. Okay, so I need a new head. Awesome. Thanks, alllude.
After scouring the local yards for any usable B20A5 head, I didn't think I was going to find one anywhere. The only way I was going to get one was if there was a block and a transaxle attached to it. Fuck that noise. I talked to my buddy Steve about this problem. You see, back in the day, Steve and I were friends. We talked on Messenger all the time, about this and that. Blah blah blah. Anyway, Steve tells me that he has a B20A5 head just hangin' out and that he could freshen it up and sell it to me, and mail it to me. Figuring I had run out of options, I went for it.
Apparently, it was going to cost me the sum of $650 for the head, the work that the machine shop had to do, and the shipping expenses. Okay. I figured that since I just bought new valve springs last year, I'd send those to Steve so that he could put them in. I also sent him a set of new guides and a set of valve seals that I had bought to use with the old head that was now a boat anchor.
So, I PayPalled Steve the money on September 14th and mailed him the springs, seals, and guides. Okay, so now we wait...
This whole thing shouldn't have taken much longer than a month, given the time needed at the machine shop and the time required to mail a cylinder head across a continent. A month was plenty of time.
I think my head finally got into the machine shop around the middle of October. Why did it take so long? Well, I asked Steve, and he said that he was hanging out with some girl. At one point, Steve told me that the head could have been at the shop a week prior to when it had been dropped off (or hadn't, for all I know) but he was unable to get it to the shop because the girl in question made him sleep in until 4PM every day that week.
Now, I know how it is when you meet that special somebody, but honestly. Fuck. There's a time to cream pie somebody and there's a time to get your fucking priorities straight.
Continuing on...
About the middle of October was when I think Steve brought the head in to the machine shop. I got an email from Steve on the 24th telling me that the guides I gave him were no good and that I was going to have to buy more. Also, the machine shop would have to have the head for even longer 'cause the shop had to order new guides, and my money had to work its way into Steve's bank account. No problem. The head should have been there a month ago, but whatever. I'm not going to blame Steve for what the machine shop does.
I should probably mention that around the end of October, I was beginning to realize that shitty weather was looming. Back in August, my grandma was nice enough to let me use her garage for my head work. I really wanted to make sure that my car was finished and out of there before any snow fell. I mentioned that to Steve, and that getting the head relatively quickly was my top priority. I really didn't want this to take any longer than it had to, and I tried to make that clear to Steve.
Why? What does shitty weather have to do with anything? Well, my grandma is kinda useless on ice. Last year, she was trying to get the paper and there was a thin, invisible (I guess... I wasn't there) layer of ice on the driveway. Long story short, she ate a plate of shit and had to wait for some passerby to help her to her feet and back to the house. Needless to say, my grandma's balance ain't all it used to be. If her car was in the driveway and she had to walk out to it, the same thing might happen again. Once she's in her car, she's okay. She's got a walker that she uses, and she's usually pretty good with that. It's the getting-to-the-car part that's the challenge. I communicated this to Steve because hey, I don't want my grandma to eat shit. I don't want that on my conscience.
Around the end of October, I was finding it very difficult and almost impossible to get ahold of Steve. We used to talk on Messenger all the time, and now for some strange reason, when I IMed him, he didn't seem to want to respond. I was constantly sending him emails and PMs asking him to give me some sort of update since this shit was taking an extra long time. After having no success at all, I decided to phone him. Steve often puts his cell phone number in his Messenger name, so I gave him a call on the evening of Sunday, November 12.
I was a bit of a prick on the phone. I asked why Steve was ignoring me, and I was told that yes, my project had been put on the back burner, so to speak. Why was that, Steve? Well, apparently, the people who all were in on the B18 intake cam group buy were all more important than I was. Also, some guy with a Honda Civic or something was having problems 'cause he put the wrong fuel in his car. Steve had worked on this guy's car, and now felt that he had to help him out by fixing it for him. Also, people who brought their cars to Steve for tuning were higher up on the food chain than I was. Mmm, okay.
Well that's great, Steve, but what about my shit?
I don't understand Steve. He takes on a million projects and insists that he has time for all of them. Well, all of them except mine. I still catch him offering to rebuild engines and tune people's cars. How about you finish all of your other shit first, Steve?
Yes, I was an asshole on the phone. I was very condescending, and I was very condescending because I was very pissed off. I felt as though I was being ignored, and I didn't like that very much. A few days later, thinking that maybe I had gone a little overboard, I PMed Steve and said that maybe I was a little harsh. Maybe I shouldn't have talked to him like that. We've both been pieces of shit. Let's just finish this shit off and be done with it, eh? I thought that by being the bigger man here and admitting that I had made a mistake, maybe Steve would finally cooperate and keep me informed.
Nope.
He did get back to me, but only to feed me more bullshit about how he was working on it and that it just wasn't finished yet. How long does it take to put a fucking head together, Steve? If Steve had designated five minutes a day toward putting the head together, which is nothing, it would have been done a long fuckin' time ago.
Steve has continued to ignore me. I don't believe that he intends to send me anything. The last time I heard from him was November 24th. He told me that he was out of town because of Thanksgiving and that he still wasn't finished the head yet. He said he would tell me right away when it was done and when he was ready to send it.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Thanksgiving ONE FUCKING DAY? This guy is completely useless.
Well, I'm finished holding my breath. Last week, I emailed Steve telling him that I would like my money back. This is the ONLY time I have EVER actually been in a bit of a rush for anything on here, and it isn't even because I'm a selfish prick who wants to get the head back so I can rip around the neighborhood. It's because my car has been in my grandma's fucking garage since August, and I'd really like to give her garage back to her. She was nice enough to let me use it, but this has taken way too long and everybody knows it.
Steve has shown that he really doesn't care about me or my situation. I know that this kinda shit takes time. I knew that it was going to take at least a month from start to finish. This isn't about how long it has been taking. This is about Steve ignoring me and letting me draw my own conclusions because he didn't feel like playing ball. Steve is on PreludePower almost every day. He knows damn well that I've been trying to talk to him about this stuff, and he doesn't care. The theme of this whole thing has been that it only takes thirty seconds to write a thirty-second PM or email to tell me what's going on. So many times I asked him to tell me what's going on even if he has nothing new to report. So many times I never got a reply 'cause Steve just doesn't give a shit.
Well, maybe now you'll give a shit, Steve, although I genuinely doubt it. I don't know why I was the lucky one. Everybody else loves you to pieces. Well, I don't. And this really sucks 'cause we used to be friends. I thought we did, anyway. Is this how you treat your friends? Nope, just me. I'm lucky, I guess.
We had our first snowfall on December 1. A couple months ago (unfortunately AFTER I sent Steve all my money), I found a Prelude at a yard that had a B20A5 head intact. I've retrieved that head and it has been in and out of the machine shop. At this point, I don't care what goes on as long as a head does go on and that car gets the flock outta there. This week, the head is going on. As a result, and as I told Steve in the last email, I am no longer in need of his services or his head. I asked Steve to refund my money and mail my parts back to me.
No response.
It's been one thing after another, and this is never going to end. Steve, do the right thing for once in your goddamn life. Refund my money so we can put an end to this shit. I never gave you any trouble. Well, on the phone that one time, I guess I did. But in all seriousness, I don't deserve this. Nobody does.
I also told Steve that if I don't get any money back by the end of the month, I'm going to speak to PayPal about all this. I think I have a valid case: I give money and parts to this guy, he ignores me and gives me nothing.
So yeah, Steve is the scum on my rice pudding. All of you guys think he's just the best shit there is, but to me he's just another Monnie Windsor*. I really wish we could have worked something out, and that it didn't have to come to this, but I think that this is the only way I'm ever going to get any sort of results. And hell, I probably still won't.
Oh, and Steve: please don't delete this thread like you deleted the posts I made in your B18 cam thread. I agree that that was not the place for this kinda shit, but you know what? This is.
--J
*Even though I never got raped by TOOfast, I am aware of what he did, and I don't think it's very funny.
Let's begin. The month was August. I pulled my head off 'cause I thought I had bent some valves. Yikes. After bringing it to the machine shop, I was told that no, I hadn't bent any valves. Phew. Unfortunately, the head had reached machine limit for planing, and that was bad. Okay, so I need a new head. Awesome. Thanks, alllude.
After scouring the local yards for any usable B20A5 head, I didn't think I was going to find one anywhere. The only way I was going to get one was if there was a block and a transaxle attached to it. Fuck that noise. I talked to my buddy Steve about this problem. You see, back in the day, Steve and I were friends. We talked on Messenger all the time, about this and that. Blah blah blah. Anyway, Steve tells me that he has a B20A5 head just hangin' out and that he could freshen it up and sell it to me, and mail it to me. Figuring I had run out of options, I went for it.
Apparently, it was going to cost me the sum of $650 for the head, the work that the machine shop had to do, and the shipping expenses. Okay. I figured that since I just bought new valve springs last year, I'd send those to Steve so that he could put them in. I also sent him a set of new guides and a set of valve seals that I had bought to use with the old head that was now a boat anchor.
So, I PayPalled Steve the money on September 14th and mailed him the springs, seals, and guides. Okay, so now we wait...
This whole thing shouldn't have taken much longer than a month, given the time needed at the machine shop and the time required to mail a cylinder head across a continent. A month was plenty of time.
I think my head finally got into the machine shop around the middle of October. Why did it take so long? Well, I asked Steve, and he said that he was hanging out with some girl. At one point, Steve told me that the head could have been at the shop a week prior to when it had been dropped off (or hadn't, for all I know) but he was unable to get it to the shop because the girl in question made him sleep in until 4PM every day that week.
Now, I know how it is when you meet that special somebody, but honestly. Fuck. There's a time to cream pie somebody and there's a time to get your fucking priorities straight.
Continuing on...
About the middle of October was when I think Steve brought the head in to the machine shop. I got an email from Steve on the 24th telling me that the guides I gave him were no good and that I was going to have to buy more. Also, the machine shop would have to have the head for even longer 'cause the shop had to order new guides, and my money had to work its way into Steve's bank account. No problem. The head should have been there a month ago, but whatever. I'm not going to blame Steve for what the machine shop does.
I should probably mention that around the end of October, I was beginning to realize that shitty weather was looming. Back in August, my grandma was nice enough to let me use her garage for my head work. I really wanted to make sure that my car was finished and out of there before any snow fell. I mentioned that to Steve, and that getting the head relatively quickly was my top priority. I really didn't want this to take any longer than it had to, and I tried to make that clear to Steve.
Why? What does shitty weather have to do with anything? Well, my grandma is kinda useless on ice. Last year, she was trying to get the paper and there was a thin, invisible (I guess... I wasn't there) layer of ice on the driveway. Long story short, she ate a plate of shit and had to wait for some passerby to help her to her feet and back to the house. Needless to say, my grandma's balance ain't all it used to be. If her car was in the driveway and she had to walk out to it, the same thing might happen again. Once she's in her car, she's okay. She's got a walker that she uses, and she's usually pretty good with that. It's the getting-to-the-car part that's the challenge. I communicated this to Steve because hey, I don't want my grandma to eat shit. I don't want that on my conscience.
Around the end of October, I was finding it very difficult and almost impossible to get ahold of Steve. We used to talk on Messenger all the time, and now for some strange reason, when I IMed him, he didn't seem to want to respond. I was constantly sending him emails and PMs asking him to give me some sort of update since this shit was taking an extra long time. After having no success at all, I decided to phone him. Steve often puts his cell phone number in his Messenger name, so I gave him a call on the evening of Sunday, November 12.
I was a bit of a prick on the phone. I asked why Steve was ignoring me, and I was told that yes, my project had been put on the back burner, so to speak. Why was that, Steve? Well, apparently, the people who all were in on the B18 intake cam group buy were all more important than I was. Also, some guy with a Honda Civic or something was having problems 'cause he put the wrong fuel in his car. Steve had worked on this guy's car, and now felt that he had to help him out by fixing it for him. Also, people who brought their cars to Steve for tuning were higher up on the food chain than I was. Mmm, okay.
Well that's great, Steve, but what about my shit?
I don't understand Steve. He takes on a million projects and insists that he has time for all of them. Well, all of them except mine. I still catch him offering to rebuild engines and tune people's cars. How about you finish all of your other shit first, Steve?
Yes, I was an asshole on the phone. I was very condescending, and I was very condescending because I was very pissed off. I felt as though I was being ignored, and I didn't like that very much. A few days later, thinking that maybe I had gone a little overboard, I PMed Steve and said that maybe I was a little harsh. Maybe I shouldn't have talked to him like that. We've both been pieces of shit. Let's just finish this shit off and be done with it, eh? I thought that by being the bigger man here and admitting that I had made a mistake, maybe Steve would finally cooperate and keep me informed.
Nope.
He did get back to me, but only to feed me more bullshit about how he was working on it and that it just wasn't finished yet. How long does it take to put a fucking head together, Steve? If Steve had designated five minutes a day toward putting the head together, which is nothing, it would have been done a long fuckin' time ago.
Steve has continued to ignore me. I don't believe that he intends to send me anything. The last time I heard from him was November 24th. He told me that he was out of town because of Thanksgiving and that he still wasn't finished the head yet. He said he would tell me right away when it was done and when he was ready to send it.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Thanksgiving ONE FUCKING DAY? This guy is completely useless.
Well, I'm finished holding my breath. Last week, I emailed Steve telling him that I would like my money back. This is the ONLY time I have EVER actually been in a bit of a rush for anything on here, and it isn't even because I'm a selfish prick who wants to get the head back so I can rip around the neighborhood. It's because my car has been in my grandma's fucking garage since August, and I'd really like to give her garage back to her. She was nice enough to let me use it, but this has taken way too long and everybody knows it.
Steve has shown that he really doesn't care about me or my situation. I know that this kinda shit takes time. I knew that it was going to take at least a month from start to finish. This isn't about how long it has been taking. This is about Steve ignoring me and letting me draw my own conclusions because he didn't feel like playing ball. Steve is on PreludePower almost every day. He knows damn well that I've been trying to talk to him about this stuff, and he doesn't care. The theme of this whole thing has been that it only takes thirty seconds to write a thirty-second PM or email to tell me what's going on. So many times I asked him to tell me what's going on even if he has nothing new to report. So many times I never got a reply 'cause Steve just doesn't give a shit.
Well, maybe now you'll give a shit, Steve, although I genuinely doubt it. I don't know why I was the lucky one. Everybody else loves you to pieces. Well, I don't. And this really sucks 'cause we used to be friends. I thought we did, anyway. Is this how you treat your friends? Nope, just me. I'm lucky, I guess.
We had our first snowfall on December 1. A couple months ago (unfortunately AFTER I sent Steve all my money), I found a Prelude at a yard that had a B20A5 head intact. I've retrieved that head and it has been in and out of the machine shop. At this point, I don't care what goes on as long as a head does go on and that car gets the flock outta there. This week, the head is going on. As a result, and as I told Steve in the last email, I am no longer in need of his services or his head. I asked Steve to refund my money and mail my parts back to me.
No response.
It's been one thing after another, and this is never going to end. Steve, do the right thing for once in your goddamn life. Refund my money so we can put an end to this shit. I never gave you any trouble. Well, on the phone that one time, I guess I did. But in all seriousness, I don't deserve this. Nobody does.
I also told Steve that if I don't get any money back by the end of the month, I'm going to speak to PayPal about all this. I think I have a valid case: I give money and parts to this guy, he ignores me and gives me nothing.
So yeah, Steve is the scum on my rice pudding. All of you guys think he's just the best shit there is, but to me he's just another Monnie Windsor*. I really wish we could have worked something out, and that it didn't have to come to this, but I think that this is the only way I'm ever going to get any sort of results. And hell, I probably still won't.
Oh, and Steve: please don't delete this thread like you deleted the posts I made in your B18 cam thread. I agree that that was not the place for this kinda shit, but you know what? This is.
--J
*Even though I never got raped by TOOfast, I am aware of what he did, and I don't think it's very funny.