Rick’s Restorations

BEWARE! I have never been more serious or more passionate about a review. If you are thinking of doing business with Rick’s Restorations because of what you have seen on television, beware because the real Rick’s Restorations is NOT what you see on television. I can say this because I too saw the television program, thought it would be an amazing experience, and traveled to Las Vegas from Sacramento specifically to have a simple restoration done. It turned out not to be amazing, but perhaps the worst experience I have ever had with a business. And, I really mean the worst ever! That’s the nutshell version. But, I hope you’ll read on for the details. I’ve chosen my language carefully, I mean exactly what I say, and I have the documentation to support my account. I’ll start with a few questions I would want you to consider: 1.) If you paid a 50% deposit on a restoration project and you were assured verbally and in writing that you would be notified 10 days before the work on your project started, and would be given updates and pictures of the project in process, would you be satisfied if you received neither? 2.) Would you be satisfied having never received notification or pictures, but instead found out that your project was «completed» by discovering an unexpected charge on your charge card? 3.) If you were given an estimate for doing a restoration, would you want an explanation of why the final price, which you just discovered as a charge on your account, exceeded the estimated price? 4.) If you had questions about not being given the 10 day notice, not received updates or photos, had questions on the billing, had phoned the business more than once and had emailed your salesperson multiple times requesting a phone call to discuss these issues, would you expect someone to call you? 5.) If, not being able to get your salesperson (Ally) to call you, you had instead asked specifically to speak with the owner of the business, would you expect a call from the owner? 6.) If, not receiving a call from the owner, your salesperson, or any representative of the company, you instead tried to ask questions via email, would you at least expect to have your questions answered? 7.) If you could not get answers via email or phone, would you stop payment until you did receive answers and had a chance to visually inspect the work that was done for you? 8.) Would you be satisfied, after having stopped payment, you received an forwarded email from the owner, Rick Dale, saying he «refused to speak» to you or answer your questions and that your only two options were to pay their full price — still with no answers or photos — or «forfeit» your possession and the 50% deposit you had already paid? 9.) Would you be satisfied if, upon finally getting an invoice, you discovered part of the difference between the estimate and the final price was a 12″ piece of generic, general use, rubber hose — available at any hardware store for perhaps $ 5.00 — was itemized as a $ 60.00 parts charge? 10.) Would you be satisfied that this error — part of the overall dispute — would be explained by your salesperson as an «accidental» addition of an «extra zero,» not discovered until pointed out by you as excessive overpricing? 11.) Would you be satisfied if it took you over three weeks and dozens of emails to finally get answers to your questions and pictures of the final product? 12.) Would you be satisfied if never once in those three weeks you were given the courtesy of a single phone call? 13.) Finally, would you be satisfied with all of this if your salesperson told you in an email that it took them «a day» to do your project? Well, these questions will give you an idea of what my experience has been with Rick’s Restorations. They finally did honor their original price estimate, but still refused to cover the cost of shipping the item to me (Brass fire extinguisher; Las Vegas to Sacramento) to make up for the many inconveniences and lack of reasonable business practices. As I said in the beginning, what you see on television is not the real business. I am convinced that when it comes to Rick’s Restorations, it’s only about the money, especially if you are not someone featured on their program or someone who is a high roller. There is no way that I would ever do business with Rick’s Restorations again, and I sincerely caution anyone else from getting involved with this business. Please, save yourself the time, money, and the frustration! I think there are good reasons why Rick’s Restorations is no longer featured prominently as part of the restoration series on the History Channel.
PS: Scroll down just a bit and look at the review for the restoration of the man’s floor standing safe. He was quoted $ 2800! My restoration was a brass fire extinguisher; a far simpler project. Price: $ 900 was the estimate and what I ended up paying. They tried to get $ 1,127. Fair pricing schedule? You decide. I’ll post pictures soon.

We went to Ricks shop Saturday, what we found was a working business!
These guys are the greatest at restoring old artifacts and items from the past
Into works of art, the detail that is expended is phenomenal, every detail is not
Forgotten! Me being a former repair shop owner 50 years ago that repaid items for use,
Now Ricks shop is repairing these same items that were mostly discarded years ago
Into works of art and long time keepsakes! The shop is divided into different work
Stations, with all of the cast from the show there, we saw 5 shop workers that are
On the show in the tour! We also got a picture with Rick and myself, at know charge!
Ricks Hands were hands working mans hands,!
This place is indeed a labor of love for what there doing, other than the show!
Yes we bought shirts in the show room, a large variety is available including
The ones Rick where’s on the show with the sleeves cut off, real cool!
A must see if you are in Vegas!

Not much to see. The tour $ 5 is basically 5 minutes just walking about a room peeking through windows at their (empty) workshop. So basically we were looking at empty tables. Didn’t actually get to speak to anyone. Didn’t get to go to the boneyard (costs $ 50). Both tours do not allow photos. Waited ages for a photo with Rick which cost $ 25. Wouldn’t come again.

We had a great time checking out Rick’s Restorations. It is literally underneath a freeway overpass, not too far from both the Strip and downtown areas. Our Lyft driver pulled into the open gate into a gravel/​dirt parking lot area. We could see the boneyard to the left and a bigger building ahead of us with a cute storefront — each little shop had a name of one of the main cast/​employees. There was a parking lot bodyguard nearby, he was friendly and told us to head inside for a tour. I did not think the website was very informative so I didn’t know if tours were available or not. Once inside, there are a few restored items to look at and a gift shop area.
I noticed a door which looked as if it led into a back area. A sign on the door said shop tours were $ 5 a person or you could buy a t-​shirt and the tour was included in the price. After 3:30 pm, tours are free, because work has typically stopped in the shop around that time and you may not see anyone from the show. For $ 50 you can tour the boneyard, and if you decide to have an item restored, the $ 50 goes toward the item. About this time I turned around and saw Rick walk right past me and through the door. I lost my cool and yelled at my boyfriend to look, but apparently he had already seen him! We opted for the free tour since it was 3:30pm and waited a few minutes until it was time. No photographs once in the shop area, unfortunately.
In the back, the shop is sort of in a square upside-​down U shape, and you remain in the middle. You can see into each of the work areas through plexiglass windows for viewing. They were wrapping up for the day, but we managed to see Rick, Rick’s brother Ron, Kowboy and one of the younger guys on the show. There were photos of different moments you might remember from the show as well as restored pieces to look at. Our tour guide was really informative and answered all our questions. We learned it takes about 6 months to one year to have an item restored here. When we started the tour, it was just us two, but one other person joined after a couple minutes. Overall it lasted about 10 – 12 minutes but was cool to see inside the shop.
I’m not sure what others were expecting to see here, it is a place of business and I thought it was cool to have a glimpse of what they do each day. Out of all the reality shows filmed here, I thought this seemed the most authentic, because apparently Rick is the first to arrive and last to leave his shop. I wouldn’t have minded paying $ 5 to take a quick tour, I didn’t think that was a big deal. As an aside, they are not currently filming because they have split from the History channel and are apparently looking for another network to continue the show.

I took a safe to Ricks Restorations on Sept of 2011. I went around 7:45 in the morning and met Rick. He gave me an estimate of $ 2800 to restore my safe.(It’s about a 28 inch cube). It took them over 3 years to finish it. I got an email from them with a picture and it had no lettering and the wheels were not played as Rick told me he would do. I picked it up the day after thanksgiving at a shipping business they moved it to. It was nicely wrapped and in a crate. I brought it home and opened it. The first thing I noticed was the dial wouldn’t move and as I opened it I noticed 2 huge paint chips on the inner door frame and the door as well. They claimed the dial worked. I never received any lettering sketches nor did he match the lettering was all stenciled and was painted not hand written as it was. I was overcharged and at the end of the day all I got was a expensive paint job that isn’t all that. Beware the fame got this guy and he’s all about money. Very very poor workmanship.

I use to see this show with Rick and thought he was a pretty cool so we thought lets go see his place. Luckily we went a year ago when the tour was free, but he was still charging for everything else including autographs or a view of the bone yard. Now he even charges for the normal shop tour, REALLY?
Rick is all about the bucks, thats to bad because I thought he was a talented guy without an ego, but its all about milking everyone who wants to check out his place.

Came on a Saturday. There is a small store with Tshirts and optional tours through the small bone yard for $ 50! Nothing to see here except a useless taxi fare. What a waste of our time.