my experience with PDM racing.

[Blinky]

Screw PDM!

I hear parts at AJ Racing are the total real deal steal and the staff at Advance Automotive is tops!

---

I've patronized PDM before in the past and experiences have been generally good - tire mounting, alignment etc. Don knows his stuff and will be helpful, especially if you're into motorsport. I would agree with SumAznGuy - when he's in "race mode" he can be quite unfriendly.

If you don't like it, it's your choice whether you choose to give him your hard earned $. There are lots of other options out there in Vancouver so if you don't like the parts or service, spend your buck where you feel happy.

[blackg]

I had my "WORST" experience with DON at PDM. He was extremely RUDE to me when I tried to get an alignment done there. He screwed up my car's alignment and I need to go to another shop to fix it right away. And I actually paid him for the alignment. STUPID ME.

I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN EVEN THEY HAVE SOME NICE TUNING PARTS AND A GOOD ALIGNMENT MACHINE! WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EVER IN MY LIFE.

THIS HAPPENED TO ME 2 YEARS AGO AND I STILL REMEMBER LIKE IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY! I even remember another shop guy there said "sorry" to me.

may be there's discrimination? I don't know.

[EndLeSS8]

Originally Posted by spoon.ek9

had my alignment done there too. as the others have said, technician was a nice guy but the owner seemed like an asshole. plus, i only heard him say one sentence and it wasn't even directed at me. his facial expression and body language sceamed "i'm an asshole"

I think for me the first time I realized that he's an ass, was when I was sitting on the couch, and he answered a call. He answered the phone pretty rudely, and afterwards when he hung up, he swore under his breath, but it was pretty loud.

[alex.w *//]

all you nissan 240 fanboys must think don is god

[GabAlmighty]

I saw him at the bottom of Gaglardi one time in his 240 coupe. He had that mad tyte techno bumpin

[alex.w *//]

Originally Posted by freakshow

While we're at it, I'll put in another vote for Garage 5. Nothing but top-notch service with great prices every time I've been. You can even go there any day they're open and expect the same friendly people!

the reason why garage 5 is super nice is that they have service advisors. the 2 guys that sit at the desk all day only talks to the customers and never work on the cars. The tech's work on the cars and never talk to the customers.

while at pdm, DON does both tech and cs. If hes frustrated at working on a car at one point, then all his anger goes out to the customer.


this goes for evo garage in richmond too
- david has his good and bad days sometimes and it reflects

[jeffh]

you gotta remember PDM is one of the very few ACTUAL race shops in BC.
i can understand if Don comes off as a bit short with ricers that roll in with zero offset wheels on their civics and shady scabbed together welding projects and the like. hes got REAL race cars with customers with tens of thousands of dollars in their track only cars, with very real deadlines and performance goals to meet. he might not have time to talk shop with every stickered up pimply faced kid that rolls in to his building

ive competed against Don and his shop on numerous occasions and he is a gentleman and a true pleasure to get beat by, always a word of advise on a line or encouragement or even just hanging out in his big ass air conditioned trailer on the side of a paddock in 40 degree heat shooting the shit

[1990TSI]

I've dealt with don and PDM on the buisness side and had no issues. He's always been friendly and polite and answered questions without being rude or short with me.

I've also talked to him at the Auto-X, and he's been friendly as well.

He even made positive comments about the Hyundai at auto-x.


I think jeff has the right idea here.

[Ohkun]

Originally Posted by jeffh

you gotta remember PDM is one of the very few ACTUAL race shops in BC.
i can understand if Don comes off as a bit short with ricers that roll in with zero offset wheels on their civics and shady scabbed together welding projects and the like. hes got REAL race cars with customers with tens of thousands of dollars in their track only cars, with very real deadlines and performance goals to meet. he might not have time to talk shop with every stickered up pimply faced kid that rolls in to his building

ive competed against Don and his shop on numerous occasions and he is a gentleman and a true pleasure to get beat by, always a word of advise on a line or encouragement or even just hanging out in his big ass air conditioned trailer on the side of a paddock in 40 degree heat shooting the shit

Are you saying unless person has "REAL race cars", they deserve to be treated like shit?
last time I check, he is still charging $80/hr whether it's RACE car or some rice mobile.

I took my not-so-riced out s2k and asked him ONE freaking question about ACTUAL job that I REQUESTED.
oh and this was when I was there to pick up my car. first time talking to Don

[BEEB]

Should anyone teach DON a lesson on how to run a proper business here? If customers (people who pay the bill) have to "catch him on the right time", then customers should simply not go to PDM at the first place. However, when customer can't catch him on the right time, customers have the right to complaint for the bad service they received from DON.

If DON's a tech + Customer rep, DON should hire an extra person to represent the store or at least get "Hypa" to arm the front. It's not a legit reason to express his anger or frustration to anyone except himself.

DON might have good sportsmanship, but not Customer service skills.
DON might have good alignment skills, but not Customer service skills.
DON might have built fast 240s, but not Customer service skills.
DON might have an established race shop, but not Customer service skills.
DON might be busy with all the races he have to attend, but not Customer service skills.

Got that?

[BEEB]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Can't comment on the SS brake line, but I won't make judgement without knowing his side of the story.

Simple cut and weld 3 inch flange. By any chance would this be on the exhaust or some harder metal to make a poor man's exhaust?
I know he charged very little to cut the stock pipes and weld on flanges for a 90 degree dump tube.

When did you try to book your alignment? If it was in the summer during racing season, there is a good chance he was busy getting his race cars ready for a big US event.

I've dropped off my leaking Wilwood SS brake line to DON as a template or reference as of what length I needed it to be. And still gotta wait for 2 weeks for it. I could've purchased it directly from Wilwood and received quicker service. But I thought PDM would be a local shop with a quicker turn around time. Mind you that my car was forced to be undrivable for the period that DON had screwed me over.

Exhaust as in a Supersprint downpipe for an STi. The pipe was about 1 inch too long and I need it to be cut and welded, no extra material needed. DON told me that his minimum charge was like $175 for "blah" and $XXX for "blah". He proceed to tell me to buy a pipe off ebay. But Duh... the ebay pipe might need to be modified as well.

Yes, I was looking to get an aligement during summer. That's why I would drive my garage queen !! So, I should pre-book my alignment in the winter when DON's not too busy eh !

Thanks to this thread and I've released all my anger with PDM. I feel better now !!

[mx555]

don is an asshole. quoted wrong parts, went to pick up the parts when they arrived and he denied quoting prices completely.
did an alignment for me a while back. i watched by the shop door. told me to get out and sit down.
who in their right fucking mind would conduct business like that?

edit: if he's knee deep in his own shit, and has to go around snapping at people cuz he's too busy, clearly it's not a good time for him to have the shop open. OR have somebody else man the front.

nobody's asking for don to be a joy to talk to. just not to be such a rude little prick.
we're there to spend our hard earned money, not to suck up to some stuck up 240 racing god.

[SpuGen]

I watched the entire process of my Alignment and other work that I had his shop do.

It wasn't a party, but you don't bother a guy when he's working.

[!SG]

Just to be fair on this matter, no one likes being watched while they work.

There are signs there for a reason (employees only), but sometimes you need the bay door open as it gets stuffy and everything with exhaust fumes.

If you worked in an office environment, how would you like it if you had someone peering over your shoulder while you worked? I had a customer do that while we lowered his car, he was so paranoid, he pulled up a fold out chair, and sat right next to the hoist as we worked on the car.

sorry but thats wrong, and wcb wont like it.

small shops stay afloat by doing what they can, which means covering all little aspects of the job. this means paper work up front, to sales to technician. If you cant understand the stress of covering all those jobs when in reality they should be done by individuals per job, then maybe thats why sometimes u catch somsone off gaurd on a bad day. it cant be helped as everyone is human.

Maybe try bringing some donuts or snacks for the guys, everyones happier with a sandwich in their hand... unless they are knee deep in some automotive fluid, then ur just taunting them!

Originally Posted by mx555

don is an asshole. quoted wrong parts, went to pick up the parts when they arrived and he denied quoting prices completely.
did an alignment for me a while back. i watched by the shop door. told me to get out and sit down.
who in their right fucking mind would conduct business like that?

edit: if he's knee deep in his own shit, and has to go around snapping at people cuz he's too busy, clearly it's not a good time for him to have the shop open. OR have somebody else man the front.

nobody's asking for don to be a joy to talk to. just not to be such a rude little prick.
we're there to spend our hard earned money, not to suck up to some stuck up 240 racing god.

[Greenstoner]

IIRC, the receptionist was pretty cute when i was there about 1 and half year ago.. lol (or at least sounds cute in the phone)

i cant remeber

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by Greenstoner

IIRC, the receptionist was pretty cute when i was there about 1 and half year ago.. lol (or at least sounds cute in the phone)

i cant remeber

Bwahaha... really?

[Wormiez]

I had good experience with Don in the past. My expectations were met as I went in for Don's skills in corner weight and balance.

Its been so long but I found my old car on their retail page... FC3S FTW!

http://www.pdm-racing.com/retail.htm

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by blackg

I had my "WORST" experience with DON at PDM. He was extremely RUDE to me when I tried to get an alignment done there. He screwed up my car's alignment and I need to go to another shop to fix it right away. And I actually paid him for the alignment. STUPID ME.

I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN EVEN THEY HAVE SOME NICE TUNING PARTS AND A GOOD ALIGNMENT MACHINE! WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EVER IN MY LIFE.

THIS HAPPENED TO ME 2 YEARS AGO AND I STILL REMEMBER LIKE IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY! I even remember another shop guy there said "sorry" to me.

may be there's discrimination? I don't know.

I talked to Don about your incident and from what he said, it wasn't exactly as you described.

I'll leave it at that.

[mx555]

I completely understand that nobody wants anybody breathing down their neck. I also completely understand what Don goes through every single day. I've been in his situation, I've been in almost the exact situation many other time. I used to work at an independent shopping, manning the customers, parts and mechanics. u could argue that obviously we weren't as busy as the great PDM, but hey, at the end of the day, I didn't/couldn't lose my cool when i'm dealing with a customer. if during race season he's too busy to care about anybody else but the race guys (understandable), maybe he should close down the front of the shop, and work on the humorous race cars he's got to get done. there are always ways and reasons why and how u keep business and emotions separate. all i'm saying is don doesn't know how. and thats the fact.

Originally Posted by !SG

Just to be fair on this matter, no one likes being watched while they work.

There are signs there for a reason (employees only), but sometimes you need the bay door open as it gets stuffy and everything with exhaust fumes.

If you worked in an office environment, how would you like it if you had someone peering over your shoulder while you worked? I had a customer do that while we lowered his car, he was so paranoid, he pulled up a fold out chair, and sat right next to the hoist as we worked on the car.

sorry but thats wrong, and wcb wont like it.

small shops stay afloat by doing what they can, which means covering all little aspects of the job. this means paper work up front, to sales to technician. If you cant understand the stress of covering all those jobs when in reality they should be done by individuals per job, then maybe thats why sometimes u catch somsone off gaurd on a bad day. it cant be helped as everyone is human.

Maybe try bringing some donuts or snacks for the guys, everyones happier with a sandwich in their hand... unless they are knee deep in some automotive fluid, then ur just taunting them!

[Hakkaboy]

Originally Posted by joh

Like I said on my original post, "noting in specific, just rude in general"

They weren't that busy, I did not do anything to make him upset.
I did not even talked him for that long. After question or two, it was very clear that he was asshole so I didn't bother.

what were these questions that you asked, and what was his response?

[jeffh]

Originally Posted by joh

Are you saying unless person has "REAL race cars", they deserve to be treated like shit?
last time I check, he is still charging $80/hr whether it's RACE car or some rice mobile.

I took my not-so-riced out s2k and asked him ONE freaking question about ACTUAL job that I REQUESTED.
oh and this was when I was there to pick up my car. first time talking to Don

its called priorities my friend. if ive got one guy giving me 80k or a 4 year period that ive known and had a service relationship with and one other guy giving me $75 that jsut walked in off the street. but only enough time to serve one properly, im taking care of my repeat customer 1st and best
thats life

[freakshow]

Originally Posted by jeffh

you gotta remember PDM is one of the very few ACTUAL race shops in BC.
i can understand if Don comes off as a bit short with ricers that roll in with zero offset wheels on their civics and shady scabbed together welding projects and the like. hes got REAL race cars with customers with tens of thousands of dollars in their track only cars, with very real deadlines and performance goals to meet. he might not have time to talk shop with every stickered up pimply faced kid that rolls in to his building

ive competed against Don and his shop on numerous occasions and he is a gentleman and a true pleasure to get beat by, always a word of advise on a line or encouragement or even just hanging out in his big ass air conditioned trailer on the side of a paddock in 40 degree heat shooting the shit

I can respect a guy that wants to build 'real' race cars.. unfortunately, he's just going to pay for his crappy customer service in some areas. IF (a big 'if') what everyone says in this thread is true, then it's simple: If you are looking to build a track car, take it to Don. It sound's like he'd love you and your money, and has the skills and experience to back it up.
If you're only going there a few times a year, unless you like gambling, go elsewhere for your parts and service.

[!Tigger]

just thinking, hes not only a automotive repair shop, hes a race shop, and a store. running all three at the same time. i think theres only like 4 employees there. so it can be stressful

but he should still be nicer to some customers.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by BEEB

I've dropped off my leaking Wilwood SS brake line to DON as a template or reference as of what length I needed it to be. And still gotta wait for 2 weeks for it. I could've purchased it directly from Wilwood and received quicker service. But I thought PDM would be a local shop with a quicker turn around time. Mind you that my car was forced to be undrivable for the period that DON had screwed me over.

Exhaust as in a Supersprint downpipe for an STi. The pipe was about 1 inch too long and I need it to be cut and welded, no extra material needed. DON told me that his minimum charge was like $175 for "blah" and $XXX for "blah". He proceed to tell me to buy a pipe off ebay. But Duh... the ebay pipe might need to be modified as well.

Yes, I was looking to get an aligement during summer. That's why I would drive my garage queen !! So, I should pre-book my alignment in the winter when DON's not too busy eh !

Thanks to this thread and I've released all my anger with PDM. I feel better now !!

Now that we have more detail, let's take a closer look.
On the down pipe, I can only assume your car is not an Sti or else the pipe would fit properly.
If that is the case, is there any reason why you didn't get on that fits properly?
And if your car is an Sti, why doesn't the down pipe fit properly?

What material is the down pipe made of? What type of finish does it have? Is it really as straight forward as cutting and welding on a flange?

I know another RS member was quoted $600 to do a custom wastegate dump on his Sti. It was on the high side, but not too far off of what he ended up paying from RR.

As for alignment there's only 3 weeks in a year, other than Christmas and New Years, where he is busy enough to turn business away. Given how much time and $$$ he has dumped into his race car, I think you can cut him some slack for putting your alignment second to his race car.

Just so you understand, it is pretty much the biggest autoX weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Over 1000 cars participate over 2 days. And I would believe he has some sponsorship so placing well might be very important for him.

As for me, you might think I am biased, but there is a number of times where he went above and beyond as a friend/fellow autoXer/mechanic and the same thing will be said from other racers, as well as the fact that he gives back to the local autoX scene as a sponsor. So I am willing to cut him some slack, and will be his voice while being the grammar police.

[GabAlmighty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O6bWb7oEuE