Bad experience with Car dismantler

kildarelad

Hi all I don't like writing bad things about a business but I am writing this to prevent anybody else having a similar experience with this car dismantler. I recently needed a gearbox for my car , rang a good few breakers including the ones I would regularly deal with . None of them had the gearbox and eventually I located one in a breakers on the stradbally side of the Heath in Portlaoise rang and arranged to collect the box that evening.
When I got down there gearbox was out and I was assured it was the right one for the make and year of my car, however when I got home and compared it it was wrong. Rang the breaker up and he said he realised after I left he gave me the wrong gearbox and to call down the following evening and he would sort me out with the correct one. Rang the following evening to go down for it and he told me he hadn't had a chance to take it out yet but would have it the following evening.
When I came down the following evening I gave him the box he had originally supplied me and then he told me he didn't actually have one to suit my model of car but had located one for me 20 mins away in a friends yard and he would have one for me and he would cover the price of this gearbox with the 200 I had originally paid.
When I went to this other yard the gearbox this guy had when I checked it out was damaged. I rang the breaker back up told him I wanted my money back and he told me he wouldn't have it for me as they had lodged the takings for the day in the Bank! He assured me he would lodge the money into my account the following day and took my bank details .
Two weeks went by of him telling me he had lodged the money and it wasn't showing in my account ! Eventually I drove down to him ( 2 hr round trip from my house ) one Saturday evening and when I got there he wasn't there even though he said he would be ! Following Monday I drove down again after work and told me he had no money etc etc then eventually after a bit of pressure I got 50 euro out of him !
Today after 4 1/2 weeks of hassling and driving up and down to him I got the other 150 euro off him that I was owed even though I have probably spent it on diesel at this stage !
This breaker has messed me around big time and I'm writing this on boards to warn other people never to deal with this breakers on the Stradbally side of the Heath in Portlaoise ( run by a breaker nicknamed the Chicken ) as he will give you anything to get your money and then when he has it try to fob you off till you give up trying to get it back off him
Just to point out there is a much bigger outfit on the Portarlington side of the Heath called Whelans and this is not the breaker I'm talking about in this post. They are an excellent outfit and I have always got on great with them everything they sell has always been spot on and had they have had had the part I was looking for I would have bought from them

Stheno

I've used those guys numerous times in the past and never had any issues if it's the very large and identifiable breakers on the heath you are talking about

They have a pretty good reputation
if it's another breakers that may be different but I don't know of another on the heath

Nino Brown

Just to avoid confusion the OP isn't talking about Whelans, who are very reliable in my experience. This is another breaker with a slightly dodgy reputation.

Stheno

Nino Brown wrote: »

Just to avoid confusion I don't think the OP is talking about Whelans, who are very reliable in my experience. This is another breaker with a slightly dodgy reputation.

Ah right it's whelans I was thinking of they are a decent setup

Ops post might well make people think it was them due to location though

Nino Brown

Stheno wrote: »

Ah right it's whelans I was thinking of they are a decent setup

Ops post might well make people think it was them due to location though

Yeah that's who I thought it was too, until I saw "Chicken", then it made more sense:D

Stheno

Nino Brown wrote: »

Yeah that's who I thought it was too, until I saw "Chicken", then it made more sense:D

Yeah when I lived there I came across him never realised what he did

kildarelad

Just to avoid any confusion I am not talking about whelans who are on the Portarlington side of the Heath . They are an excellent outfit and test all theIr parts and stand over everything . I would have bought from them had they have had the part I was looking for. I have edited my first post because I don't want a good business tarnished

Nino Brown

kildarelad wrote: »

Just to avoid any confusion I am not talking about whelans who are on the Portarlington side of the Heath . They are an excellent outfit and test all theIr parts and stand over everything . I would have bought from them had they have had the part I was looking for. I have edited my first post because I don't want a good business tarnished

Not sure if its any good to you, but I've always found Condrons in Tulllamore to be good too, if you haven't already tried them.

kildarelad

Agreed Condrons are very good i actually bought the box off another breaker in since all this happened

free_man

Can the original OP put the dismantler's name in the thread ?

I do think naming and shaming will help others prevent the guy.

biko

No, if you are confused as to who this dealer is, just PM OP to get the name.
Tbh, it's not difficult in finding out who the breaker is but we don't know he will mess everyone around like the unfortunate OP.

TGi666

In any of your interactions with him did you ever call him 'chicken'?
Local word is he does not like being called it and prices rise and customer service falls when folks call him by his nickname.

liam7831

TGi666 wrote: »

In any of your interactions with him did you ever call him 'chicken'?
Local word is he does not like being called it and prices rise and customer service falls when folks call him by his nickname.

Reminds me of Marty McFly....

Nino Brown

liam7831 wrote: »

Reminds me of Marty McFly....

Haha, his name is Martin I think.

Stheno

Nino Brown wrote: »

Haha, his name is Martin I think.

Am I imaging things or is he is part of a crew of now 50 year olds who all have mad nicknames like chicken and purdy?