Panthers player, unhappy with service, pays $3,900 car repair with coins

Mike Tolbert pays his debts, even if he considers the services rendered less than exemplary

Mike Tolbert always pays his debts -- even if he considers the services rendered less than exemplary. The Panthers fullback took to Instagram earlier this week to rip an automotive tuning company in Charlotte, N.C., after a dispute over the work done and the cost associated with that work.

Tolbert said Wednesday that he took his 1975 Chevy Caprice convertible to Motion Lab Tuning in June to have a new engine installed. The original invoice was $2,700. But when he checked in with the shop on Monday about why the work hadn't yet been completed, the bill had gone up to $3,900.

"I was like, 'Where'd that come from?' And they were, 'Blase' this, work for this, this and this.' But my car's not finished," Tolbert said, via the Charlotte Observer's Joe Person. "So we had an argument about that. I tried to pay them with a check. They said we're not going to take your check because we're not sure it's going to clear the bank. I'm like, 'OK, if that's what you feel.'"

The shop owner instead gave Tolbert the option to pay with cash or a cashier's check. Tolbert opted for cash -- specifically change; he went to the bank and withdrew $3,943.93 in coins.

"They didn't want to take it. The police officer made them take it," Tolbert said. "I got my car out of there and I'm shipping it somewhere else to get it fixed. It's not even done."

Motion Lab Tuning has a different version of events, explaining on a since-deleted Facebook post that Tolbert tried to have the work done for free, though owner Todd Marcellini said Wednesday that that wasn't actually the case. He told the Observer that the problem was miscommunication between Tolbert's friend, who served as the middleman, and the shop.

As for the $1,300 increase from the original invoice? The shop said it was for parts that Tolbert's friend was supposed to supply.

Meanwhile, Tolbert isn't concerned about the possibility of bad publicity coming his way.

"They wanted to get rude and disrespectful. And I handled it the funniest and simplest way I could," he told the Observer. "I paid them what they asked for. How else can you defend it?"