the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer
icon

Bad Job?


Post ReplyPost New Topic
< Prev Topic Next Topic >
markitzero 
Member - Posts: 6
Member spacespace
Joined: June 22, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 1:59 PM / IP Logged  

Over the weekend I took my car, amp, subs and speakers to a local  "car audio specialist". I have fitted many systems myself over the last few years, and have seen loads of installs to know what is a good and bad job. Ordinarily I'd have done it myself but It's an almost brand new car and I figured there was less chance of it being destroyed if I put my hand in my wallet and gave it to a "pro" to hook up. Left car with them and returned 3 - 4 hours later. I didn't (but should) have checked the work before I left. For 4 speakers, and sub and amp (amp already fastened and wired up to pre-existing 2x12" sub enclosure) the just labour cost £100. I didn't give them a budget - just a job to do and that's the price they gave me.

Got it home and;Bad Job? -- posted image.

  • ALL cables (RCA/speaker/Power) taped together and in a big snake run down one side of the car
  • Glove box won't shut without extreme violence because of wires shoved in one corner
  • wrong size spade connectors used on speaker terminals
  • Sub output on head unit wired up to mids input on amp, mid outputs on head unit wired to sub input on amp (with colour coded L and R plugged in the wrong way round)
  • Cables in boot/trunk not cut to length and left in a tangle bar a bit of gaffa tape (which had fell off) sticking some of the cable to the rear shelf
  • Power wire secured to fuel and coolant lines in car with 1cm of bare wire sticking out of fuse holder
  • Speaker wire in the terminal on the amp, but not screwed on so it fell out when amp was moved.
  • Half inch scrap on top of a mirror fron Magnat Combat amp
  • 3 inch scratch on wing mirror
  • Couple of interior trim fastners missing

Apart from the damage and lazy cable tidying (or lack of) my main beef is the cables down one side. I've spoke to the installer who insists he's done a decent job and shouldn't have run power down opposite side to signal without being instructed to do so...by doing this would have doubled install time!! .

My own thought's are that he is talking from his rear and is an idle installer who rushed the last job of the day. I would be grateful of other's opinions on the quality of the install and whether I may have been expecting too much from the mythical "pro" install.

Thanks for reading.

djlayz 
Copper - Posts: 104
Copper spacespace
Joined: January 01, 2006
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 3:08 PM / IP Logged  
that sounds horrilbe. did they fix it?
Fastlearner 
Silver - Posts: 346
Silver spacespace
Joined: March 23, 2005
Location: United States
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 3:11 PM / IP Logged  
I would have gone back to complain. Talk to a shop manager or something.
tcss 
Silver - Posts: 1,623
Silver spacespace
Joined: June 07, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 3:19 PM / IP Logged  
There was a thread here about 6 monthes ago that determined that noise bleeding from power cables to RCAs was a myth. The rest of the job sounds shoddy though.
There is no such thing as free installation!
dwarren 
Platinum - Nominee - Posts: 1,811
Platinum - Nominee spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: December 03, 2004
Location: California, United States
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 3:41 PM / IP Logged  

tcss wrote:
There was a thread here about 6 monthes ago that determined that noise bleeding from power cables to RCAs was a myth. The rest of the job sounds shoddy though.

Not true, go back and re-read that one.

Sounds like an absolute nightmare. Get your money and hopefully some pride back.

markitzero 
Member - Posts: 6
Member spacespace
Joined: June 22, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 3:59 PM / IP Logged  

Thanks for your replies

Yeah talked (shouted) at the Manager about it after I'd been stewing over the weekend, then the Installer. Not a nice chap - just wouldn't accept that it made sense to separate the wires, agreed to book it in for Saturday to look at and hung up on me when I was going through the list of problems. Logged a complaint with Trading Standards too incase they don't sort it out first time.

Even with ultra high end recording studio or home hi fi gear where cables with more shielding than the space shuttle and power conditioners are used to filter noise at source (plugged into insolated mains rings), audio and power cables are separated...in the filthy power environment of your average car I'd consider it dumb to run them together.

However matey wouldn't have it and was adamant he wouldn't take the car to bits (i.e. pull off 4 bits of trim) and put them in how I said unless I paid more.

So you'd all agree that I was right to expect better?

duct tape 
Copper - Posts: 125
Copper spacespace
Joined: May 18, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 5:38 PM / IP Logged  
yes, that is a pretty horrible install.  i would be more upset that they didnt put your new car back together properly than i would about having the rcas and power wires on the same side of the car.   if you dont have any engine noise, then i wouldnt worry about it so much.  he is full of crap that it would have taken twice the time to run them down each side though. 
aznboi3644 
Gold - Posts: 2,600
Gold spaceThis member consistently provides reliable informationspace
Joined: May 01, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: June 22, 2006 at 7:02 PM / IP Logged  
If it were me...I'd get all my money back and tell them to _ off...lol
Sh*t I wouldn't want my new car looking like its been torn apart and not even put back together.
markitzero 
Member - Posts: 6
Member spacespace
Joined: June 22, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: June 24, 2006 at 7:13 AM / IP Logged  

Thanks everyone for the replies....Just a quick follow up for anyone interested. Just dropped the car off and spoke to the "I've been doing this 15 years" manager. The discussion we had and his comments will go to my grave. I would have pi**ed myself laughing if I wasn't so appalled.

After much arguing and telling him he was talking crap, he said "yeah, the proper way to do it is to take the carpets up and put the cables down the centre, or to each side, but you didn't ask or pay for the job to be done properly!!"Bad Job? -- posted image.

Oh, and instead of 3 hours, it would have took 7 hours (yes our friend would allegedly take 4 hours to route 1 metre of cable "because of the steering column)  to put the RCA's down the opposite side to the power, and he doubted I would have paid for the work. I was quick to point out he didn't ask, and he lost out because I would have paid if I knew I was getting the work done right.

So if an electrician comes to your house to fit a light or something and gaffa tapes the mains cable across the roof and down the walls to the fuse box....."yeah the proper way to do it is to go into the attic and through the wall cavities, but you didn't say you wanted doing it properly"

So guys you heard it here first, the way to be more productive in your jobs is to only do it right if asked and paid more.

Paradigm 
Silver - Posts: 284
Silver spacespace
Joined: November 25, 2003
Location: United States
Posted: June 24, 2006 at 8:59 AM / IP Logged  
markitzero wrote:

Thanks everyone for the replies....Just a quick follow up for anyone interested. Just dropped the car off and spoke to the "I've been doing this 15 years" manager. The discussion we had and his comments will go to my grave. I would have pi**ed myself laughing if I wasn't so appalled.

After much arguing and telling him he was talking crap, he said "yeah, the proper way to do it is to take the carpets up and put the cables down the centre, or to each side, but you didn't ask or pay for the job to be done properly!!"Bad Job? -- posted image.

Oh, and instead of 3 hours, it would have took 7 hours (yes our friend would allegedly take 4 hours to route 1 metre of cable "because of the steering column)  to put the RCA's down the opposite side to the power, and he doubted I would have paid for the work. I was quick to point out he didn't ask, and he lost out because I would have paid if I knew I was getting the work done right.

So if an electrician comes to your house to fit a light or something and gaffa tapes the mains cable across the roof and down the walls to the fuse box....."yeah the proper way to do it is to go into the attic and through the wall cavities, but you didn't say you wanted doing it properly"

So guys you heard it here first, the way to be more productive in your jobs is to only do it right if asked and paid more.

This is so sad it's funny! Hate to hear you got bamboozled by these creeps. Just let them know that not only will you not come back to them for any other work, but you'll tell everyone you know not to come to them for any work. They'll get the message pretty quickly!

VEHICLE: 2002 GMC Sonoma ZR2
Alpine CDA-7940
AudioControl EQT x2
JL Audio 1000/1
JL Audio 10W6 (originals) x3
Kicker ZR120
Kicker ZR460
Polk GXR-6 x4
Polk GXR-4 x2
Page of 2

  Printable version Printable version Post ReplyPost New Topic
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

  •  
Search the12volt.com
Follow the12volt.com Follow the12volt.com on Facebook
Thursday, March 28, 2024 • Copyright © 1999-2024 the12volt.com, All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy & Use of Cookies
Disclaimer: *All information on this site ( the12volt.com ) is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular use. Any user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and use of this information. Please verify all wire colors and diagrams before applying any information.

Secured by Sectigo
the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer
Support the12volt.com
Top
the12volt.com spacer
the12volt.com spacer