Avoid Tera Alps Racing...

[cortez]

For sure he does top quality work, I have a few buddies who have had tunnels built by him.. Also, you see his tunnels and custom sleds nearly everytime you go riding, and that says alot itself.

 

[JROD]

I definitely like the tunnels that Terra Alps builds but I've been hearing all kinds of BS about this guy for the past few years so I've when with other options...

 

[cortez]

from the stuff ive heard i wouldnt take my lawn mower to tera

haha now thats confidence!

 

[cortez]

I definitely like the tunnels that Terra Alps builds but I've been hearing all kinds of BS about this guy for the past few years so I've when with other options...

Just people with bad experiences BS?.. or what kinda stuff?

 

[savagecanuck]

Since this post I have learned of Dr. John.. sounds like a good guy and a good mechanic from the few reviews i have heard. I will most likely be calling him the next time I do need some work done. What makes you say Ted would be your last choice.. just out of curiosity.

thanks for the info.

This is not the first horror story I have read about terra alps so why take the chance when there is CR Racing and Dr John available,never heard a bad thing about either

 

[cortez]

If i would have done a search on here and ran across the horror stories first there is no way I would have taken my machine to Ted.. Unfortunately for me, I didn't do that so now im another horror story on the Tera Alps list.

In the future, I will go straight to chad or DR. John. I just went to tera because I had been told by a guy on my ball team that he was a good mechanic.. Guess some of the people on my ball team aren't very well informed..

 

[Leaf27]

Try 8-9 months waiting....I am very pleased with the end product, but it was a very frustrating experience.

 

[cortez]

Thats insane. After 9 months I would hope that you are happy with the job... I guess the real question is how long were you quoted for the job when you dropped the machine off?

 

[Mcx Nytro]

Well I'm not one to come on forums and openly bash people or businesses so please don't mistake this thread for one of those. I am starting this thread to genuinely warn people of the headaches and lies that may ensue after sending/taking your sled or parts to Tera Alps Racing in Kelowna, BC.

So heres my experience that led to this post.

On november 29, 2010 I took my stripped down sled to Tera Alps Racing to get an estimate on rebuilding my front end of my 2008 XP which i had hit a big rock with. I took the sled in, stripped of all panels and plastics, essentially down to the frame and motor. I told Ted (the owner) what had happened, what I thought needed to be done, and what my deadline for having the work done was (december 21st, 2010 was my deadline). Ted and I looked over the sled, assesed what needed to be done, looked up parts costs and he gave me an estimate written up on a notepad. it was as follows; ~$700 for parts (Nun, e-module, and rear member of pyramid frame) and roughly the same for Labour (he quoted 5-7 hours labour @ $85/hr) and then obviously there would be some additional shop supplies, taxes, unexpected parts... etc. the usual stuff. In the end, he told me I would be out the door for between $1200-$1500 and told me that with regards to my deadline "I should have you out of here by next weekend" which would have meant a completed job sometime around the end of the first week in December. I didnt expect it that fast, because he did have alot of back logged work ahead of me, but he did agree that it would be ready well before my Dec 21st deadline when i was leaving town. I felt good about Ted as a mechanic, and he seemed like an honest guy so i shook his hand dropped off the sled, and even returned the next day with $700 cash to cover the parts and hopefully get the ball rolling quicker on the repair.
To make a long story short, the parts didnt even get ordered until dec 15th, 2.5 weeks after the sled was dropped off. My deadline quickly approached and no work was done, so now i was annoyed (but remained patient with him) and pressed for the work to be completed. I ended up waiting in Kelowna for 2 additional days, running around to get parts myself that he never ordered ahead of time. On December 23rd, 2 days after the agreed to deadline I showed up at his shop at noon and nobody was even there because everyone was too hungover from the christmas party the night before. In the end i ended up waiting around in his shop and actually helping assemble my sled myself with one of his shop helpers, while ted sat on his computer and BS'd about getting drunk the night before. Once myself and the shop helper re-assembled the sled and frame, ted wrote me up the bill.
In the end the repair cost me just over $2300, there were a few additional parts which we didnt expect needing (~$300 worth) which was fine, but he charged me for 15 hours of shop time... after quoting me between 5 and 7.
I was mad, but needed the sled because i was headed to Williams Lake for Holidays with my family, and i needed the sled for transportation for forestry survey contracts which I am currently working on in the bush.

Being the patient and understanding guy that i am i didnt harass ted, i didnt low-ball him, i just handed him a big stack of $20's and was on my way.

When i got home for holidays it proceeded to snow 3.5 feet in the BC coast mountains over christmas and boxing day, so i was eager to get out. I went for my first ride and the sled was running like ****, kept flashing error codes, throttle adjustment was all out out wack, and it would only rev to 6800 rpm. So i spent my day (3ft of powder everywhere) on the side of a trail, trying to fix the problem. In the end it was just the throttle cable housing that hadnt been tightened to the carbs so the carbs werent opening fully, and the coolant shutoff that runs to the carbs was left in an off position.

I phoned ted later that day and was very frustrated. He proceeded to tell me that it was my fault that there was these problems. He claimed i had rushed the repair, and as a result they didnt get a chance to finish the job properly. In addition, he denied ever agreeing to the Dec 21st deadline, Denied quoting me the $1200-$1500 repair cost, and denied that it was even possible to replace a Nun bracket and E-module in less that 7 hours of shop time.

So take this story for what you will, but i feel people should know when a business owner gives quotes and makes verbal agreements only to deny them later, charge a customer $1000 over the quoted price, and basically tell me to *#@& off when i call back frustrated with a incomplete job.

I personally will never return to this shop, and from what i understand this experience is not just limited to me.

sorry for the lengthy post, but i feel its worthy of mention.

cheers.

I have learned this the hard way. Now I always get a written quote signed by the shop owner. What is even worse is when you send a friend somewhere and THEY get taken the same way

 

[cortez]

I wish I would have gotten the quote in writing too, it seems to be the only way to hold a guy to their word these days..

 

[Canuk]

I have learned this the hard way. Now I always get a written quote signed by the shop owner. What is even worse is when you send a friend somewhere and THEY get taken the same way

I have to echo that. get it in writing.... Learned the hard way.

 

[IQ900]

terra alps racing

Teds always treated me great, if i needed something he was always more than happy to go out of his way to help me out. I think hes a great guy( maybe not the speediest) but he is very picky with the work he does...

 

[TARI]

Thanks for the advertisement, the truth always prevails.
-We fit you in our schedule, you didn't want to deal with the dealer? your choice. dealers didn't have any parts had to order everything in from backeast.
-You picked up your throttle cable from Kamloops, you decided to drive there and pick it up. 2 hr drive, That was your choice. Thats great on your part. The original one was fraid at the oil pump, typical, so we needed a cable while we had the motor somewhat out to hook up the oil cable.
-You had the hood, side panels and headlight out. not a full tear down.
-It was leaking coolant out the bottom, we hoped it was just a tear in a coolant hose. once we had it apart it was the front cooler cracked.
-As the bill shows, we disassembled the sled completely, pulled motor, pulled front end off, found crack in the front cooler, so we pulled out track and suspension. this was around 10 hrs labor, we charged you 8. and gave you 10% off.
-pulled out front cooler, cleaned it, welded it, and reinstalled it, took 1.5-2hrs, charged you 1.
-Assemble front end with new parts and bolt and rivets, install track and suspension, install motor. took 10 hrs. roughly, charged you 6 with 10% off. you were waiting in the front showroom so I told you to come in the back and help out, so you and mark hooked up the steering post and support bars. No need for three guys to work on it 2 is enough.
I was working on other work, not my hangover from our xmas party the night before. Thanks, I had a few drinks all night and drove home 1am ish? Thanks for caring though.
-Got you done around 9pm that night, loaded you up and off you went.
-front end parts $608.38 with 10% off
-you picked up the steering post support from the dealer, on way back from kamloops.
-we straightened out the front support to save you money, no charge.
-Your other costs were bolts and supplies, rivets $46.40 with 10% off
-black side panel $125.99 with 10% off

Total bill 2060.55

So you took the sled unfinished to assemble the all the front end plastics, head light, handle bar components, pipe etc...


For all those others that trash talk on the internet and haven't been in our shop or dealt with us well thats the way internet racers are and always will be.

Thanks Ted,
Terra Alps Racing inc.

 

[johnny be bad]

well the other side of the story comes out now. hmmmm

 

[Monty]

Ted always treated me fair, would drive up from the coast he'd work on it that night put me up for the night at his place and get me going the next day, and as others said he does great work. Always two sides to the story.

Cheers

 

[m8magicandmystery]

my bigbore with porting and head from Ted is on its third season..no issues..a real good pkg....so far so good...!!!..

 

[fredw]

seams a fair price for that amount of work done

 

[stonehands1]

tow rope teddy

Oh! It seems are good friend tow rope Teddy has another new name TARI. Haha. Another thing. Everytime tow rope comes on with a new name he wines about people bashing him about his inability to deliver on his promises. Note to self Teddy: quit making promises you can't keep. As far as whining about people bashing on poor tow rope Teddy for no reason, I don't hear anyone bitching about reputable company's like Carl's cycle for example who do the same kind of work. You get the internet bashing you deserve. If You don't like it then deliver the goods. As far as magic m8 and Johnny be gay, big deal your tow ropes buddies, your experiences don't count so just shut up. As far as your stupid rediculas bill, i have complety stripped XP's down to the tunnel nun emod for front end repair in under 3 hours. I would be ashamed to charge a customer 85 bucks an hour when i was paying some flunkie 12 bucks an hour to do work at a snails pace.Once again yet another unsatisfied tow rope customer says his piece on snow west. Thanks for sharing Cortez. I have one of tow ropes abominations in my garage as I type. What a joke! Been finishing it for a friend. Tow rope had it for TWO years and when he finally went and picked it up it looked...well not finished. TARI is a great salesman. But that's about it in my opinion.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

don;t know how im a buddy of Teds...i live in the Yukon..i have never met him...i only ever talked to him twice on the phone..??..i probably know you better then Ted....so your post is completely without integrity with you accusing me in your apparent self motivated agenda...its a dangerous game your playing and i think an apology is in order..your way off assumptions have discredited your post....just my opinion

 

[m8magicandmystery]

Oh! As far as magic m8 and Johnny be gay, big deal your tow ropes buddies, your experiences don't count so just shut up. .

actually thats about the dumbest statement i have read on this forum in the past 4 years..and i thought i held that record...thanx for breaking it for me tard