Art Turpin

[Cliff R]

He's restoring a 69 or 70 Judge, UPS driver out of the Dayton Ohio area. Since leaving our shop without paying, he has managed to cancel both of his cell phones, will not answer emails, moved from or doesn't live at the address he left with us, and of course, his American Express card declined. Anyone know how we can get in touch with him?......Cliff

[Hillard]

Cliff, I think I have his number at the shop. I'll check for you tomorrow. I haven't talked to him in a few weeks but I'm sure I will be sooner or later since I have a bunch of parts here to put together an engine for him. Plus we have his 4-speed to rebuild. From what you're reporting I luckily don't have any time or money invested in this yet...... with the exception of hours of talk. BTW, It's a 69 Trans Am. I'll get back to you.......Dave

[fastgto]

If he`s ripped off Cliff, your in a good spot to maybe help Cliff out. There are turds everywhere. Wonder what his lame excuse will be if and when you ask him. I bet he will act surprised.

[Cliff R]

Dave, Art has disappeared off the radar. It may be a health issue, or something else. I'm not assuming anything at this point, but I'm not one to believe in coincidences either. He has failed to make good on a bill with us, all the information left with us is no good, and right now I really don't know exactly why because we can not get hold of him. I will say that after the Pay Pal and American Express deals fell through, he answered one of his phones once, acted surprised, and told me a money order would be headed my way, the next day. That was in August.....FWIW......Cliff

[Hillard]

IIRC....I think he was on temporary disability for awhile and I think he may have gone or is going through a divorce. That's still no excuse.

We've never even talked about pricing. One day I go home for lunch and come back to find him unloading parts. I didn't really want the job. He unloaded a freshly machined 350 block, crank, rods, and new pistons wanting to trade Dad for a 455 block. Obviously not going to be an even trade.

I'll make sure Dad doesn't start on the trans and I definitely won't start on the engine without some money up front. I'll look up his number later when I'm at the shop. It might take a while but if there's some way I can help you get paid I will. Maybe I'll just tack it on his bill and send you the funds myself.
Later,
Dave

[Cliff R]

Thanks Dave! I really didn't want this job either, I was warned ahead of time to NOT deal with him, but he seemed like a pretty decent guy.

I sent you a PM with the phone numbers we have for him, hope you've got some that work! I seldom have troubles like this, as we try to ALWAYS get our money up front.

I find it interesting that in almost 100 percent of all cases, if we let stuff out of here without being paid for, we don't get paid, or have a very difficult time getting paid, no exceptions......Cliff

[Hillard]

I just sent you a pm Cliff. I have the same number you have and tried to call only to find out it's disconnected.

So....I need opinions on what to do with his stuff. How long should I wait for him to appear before I claim his parts? If it does come to that I have no problem sharing them with you Cliff. However I don't feel I can claim anything for a little while since I told him I was backlogged and it would be a few months at least before I could get to his. I can't imagine that he won't show up because of all the parts I have of his.
pair of 6x heads
4 spd. trans. (supposedly the original out of his 69 TA)
New Speed-Pro 455 forged pistons & rings
New Eagle rods
New Comp roller tip rockers
other misc. stuff ....gaskets, oil pan, etc.
He had already bought this stuff and brought it to me.

[Cliff R]

Dave, you're in good shape, you have all the goods. We have a few items of his here in our shop, so I'm not going to loose out completely on the deal, but I'd rather have him settle up with us, or at least tell us why he hasn't.

I'm pretty easy going with this kind of thing, folks have personal issues, financial issues, health issues, marital issues, etc. Sounds like Art has quite a few problems hitting him all at once, a quick phone call and explanation would be nice. Currently, I'm just assuming he isn't going to pay, and he has a substancial bill with us....Cliff