BUYER BEWARE: Although Al is a polite person, whether he was not skilled enough to handle this job…read moreproperly, or simply not attentive, or lazy, or rushed with other projects, or a combination of these things ... the job was a failure, and I was left to deal with the consequences of a job poorly done from beginning to end (a ridiculously long 5+ weeks).
I brought my truck to Al to install new door/dash speakers, a box with subs, and amps that I had purchased. The previous owner left the vehicle in a state that need attention to the audio. He assured me this was a job he was very familiar with, and that he had worked with the make and model before with very satisfied customers. Being his reviews (though few) seemed relatively positive, and his quote was very fair, I took a chance and gave him the work. This turned out to be a mistake.
Like I said, I wanted a full speaker swap, sub install, and additionally I asked him to attend to (clean up as best he could) a sticky oil-based sound dampening substance that a previous owner had put all over the interior of the doors/panels, and was now dripping messily on hot days. When I left the truck in his care these were the ONLY issues to resolve.
Over the span of 5+ weeks (an amount of time that makes NO SENSE for standard audio installation) he explained that I'd need more new hardware, all new wiring, and more. At this point I should have stopped and gotten a second opinion elsewhere. To be honest I should have stopped the project many times, because of many red flags along the way and his constant excuses for incomplete work. For that ignorance I blame myself. Nevertheless, even more hardware was purchased and "installed", and after many excuses that he "wanted the job done perfect", I finally got the truck back with countless problems.
The sticky black substance I asked him to clean up was everywhere (all over my interior surfaces, exterior paint, glass, bed cover, everywhere... much worse than before), my backup camera didnt work, both of my accessory video screens didnt work, my steering wheel controls didnt work (yes, I bought the proper harness, he did not install correctly), my engine tuner had been disabled and wouldnt power on, the bass remote to the sub amp wasnt functioning, the was a .5" mistake in space for my windows to go down all the way safely, door speakers were installed without all screws, the factory doorsill lights wouldn't power on, bluetooth/carplay wouldnt enable, interior plastics were loose or broken in several places from rough handling, he scratched my exterior paint, he also scratched my bumper and taillight (from moving the truck around carelessly, he attempted to touch up), he did not mount the two amps (they were simply sliding around), the interior was covered in wire clippings from his work done without any clean up/vacuuming, there were now bugs all over the truck, and my gas light was on empty.
Honestly ... im probably forgetting things done incorrectly or questionably. Thats how much nonsense I was left to resolve after buying and entire truck of new hardware and paying labor, which now feels completely absurd.
At one point to check on the progress of the truck, I even showed up to his shop and Al was sitting in the removed passenger seat of my car, like a chair, that was on his workshop floor while he was working on another project. It had been removed because of work needed, but was now a shop chair?
What he did in that much time with my truck i'll never know. I realize it takes time to rewire and install hardware, I realize that cleaning up a sticky material is tricky, that problems arise and need addressing. But in this much time, for this much money, I should have gotten back a perfect job, cleanly installed, without a single issue. There is no excuse, i'm sorry, this is just the truth, nice guy or not. I feel taken advantage of financially, and rightfully so.
I addressed all these things with him, and asked for half my labor cost refunded. He would not acknowledge the issues were his fault, made more excuses, and would not agree to any compromise in cost after this failure. Mind you, I'm not even including the hardship of not having a primary vehicle for way over a month... I took it to another professional shop where in 72hrs the entire job was done correctly, everything resolved, and I had to pay even more money obviously.
Summary: He did not come close to performing the full job quoted professionally or adequately. His business ethics may be questionable, and he handled my vehicle in a way that left it in a worse state than when it was dropped off. He had no explanation for why so many issues were unresolved when the vehicle was in his possession for an extreme length of time, and damaged it while he did. I would not recommend you come here unless you want to pay more later to undo/fix what he cannot.
