I know that I'm new here guys, and the last thing that I want to do is step on anybody's toes this early in the game... but, there is a little more to this story than what's already been stated. I know fully well that Scott doesn't have alot of fans on here, and I can't defend him for any past situations that have occurred, but I do have a vested interest in this ordeal because I had actually built the hood that was sent to Anton. I know that I probably could have skated through this one and tried to avoid having anything to do with the situation to save face, and I know that the issue is between Scott and Anton, but it's also my responsibility if someone out there is unhappy with a part that I built.
It was earlier in the year that Scott approached me to build his hoods and bumpercovers. He had sent me one of the original hoods that the first manufacturer built to build the production molds from, and as many of you know, the quality was awful. I had over 60 hours into the bodywork just straightening the hood out before I could build the molds. We didn't find out until after I had gone through completing the production molds from it, that the original hood didn't fit very well in the first place. I wasn't very happy about that at all, because I didn't want to have any part of building products that customers would be unhappy with. I know that Scott definitely didn't want to go though the same problems with these hoods all over again. I then went and purchased a factory GTS hood myself, built molds from it, built factory replica hoods out of it, and then converted the hoods to the elite design. I did this so that I could have some piece of mind knowing that there wouldn't be any fitment issues being that these were all spawned from an original factory hood.
Between then and now, Scott and I have had some conflicts and we have decided that it might be best to go our seperate ways once his customers are taken care of. I can tell you though, that most of these customers are from up to two years ago... guys that had recieved the hoods from the last manufacturer and obviously weren't very happy. Even though we didn't see eye-to-eye on alot of things, I had to respect the fact that this whole deal between he and I revolved primarily around righting some wrongs from the past, and that's why I decided to follow through on these last few parts for him. I know that this situation with Anton has had to have taken alot of wind out of his sails and he has to now be wondering if he's about to go through the same problems as he did a year ago with these parts. This would only lead him him and anybody else invlolved to question the builder's (me) ability, and I can understand that.
This hood was supposed to be test-fitted prior to any prep or paint work was to take place, I've alway been very ademate about that even with parts that I've already built hundereds of, because every car is a little different. I have never spoken to Anton at all and I'm not sure if this wasn't made clear by Scott when talking to Anton, or if it was, I'm not sure if Anton relayed it to the bodyshop. I didn't find out until this week that the hood was prepped, painted, and finished before it was installed at all and I couldn't believe it. Even without being told, I can't understand why an experienced bodyshop wouldn't have fitted it prior to the prep and paint, especially when it comes to viper parts. Well, there were some small issues that could have been very easily remedied prior to painting, but now that the hood is finished, these issues would have to be dealt with using some adjustments instead. I had attempted to talk to the bodyman who was working on it, but the problem is, he doesn't speak english. He definitely tries, but I can't understand anything he says. Even though most issues can be worked out with some adjustments, the communication problems have caused a stalemate.
According to the emails that I had gotten, Anton apparently decided right then and there that he was just going to pay to have his original hood prepped and painted and installed and demand a full refund on the hood/shipping ($6500) plus the cost of the prep and paint ($1800). This all took place over only 48 hours!!! Now I'm not sure what was discussed between Anton and Scott, but I wanted very badly to help make things right here, and wasn't given any kind of opportunity to do so. I talked to the bodyshop manager on the phone numerous times (he does speak english
) and discussed the adjustments that needed to be made, since they had never worked with viper parts before (this is what the bodyshop manager himself told me)... He seemed to be pretty relieved after our conversation and understood that this hood wouldn't be a problem anymore. Another problem though... is that he's not working on the viper at all himself, only the foreign guy is handling it, so I'm not sure if there was another communication problem there. Well, a few hours later, I find out from Scott that they're not even going to attempt any of the adjustments and that a refund (hood, shipping, and paint) is the only acceptable resolution. I even gave my cell phone number to the bodyshop and told them to call me anytime of the day or night if they needed me for anything at all, and I never received a call.
As far as the hood itself goes, I still have the other 4 hoods sitting here at my shop right now that are identical to the one that Anton recieved. I spent about 3 hours straight running around with my tape measure and depth gauges comparing the elite hoods that I built to the original factory hood that they were spawned from. ALL of the measurements are identical. I even offered to take pictures of the measuring tape and the hoods to both Scott and the bodyshop to verify this. Everyone here knows that these cars are all set up a little different from one-another and the parts are all a little different as well. This is why alot of them have shims in the front end that look like a roll of quarters right from factory, but when the bodyshop won't even attepmt these adjustments, it makes things pretty difficult. There is one thing that I definitely screwed up myself though (also an easy fix that I went in detail about with the bodyshop)... basically, I had built the side-bracing on the crate a little too tight and it pinched the sides/rear of the hood towards the center. I take full responisbility for that dumb mistake, and I've already corrected that in my other crates here.
Well, I'm sorry to babble on like this here, but I felt the need to get involved and discuss some of the other facts. I know that it really isn't my place to negotiate anything here between Scott and Anton, but I'd like to lend a hand and do whatever I can do to help ease the situation. I actually have the pics of Anton's car that he sent to Scott, and Scott forwarded to me (pictured below). From these pics, I can see the issues he's referring to very easily, but I've also seen factory cars that have identical gaps to this. Regardless, after seeing the pics, I know that I could easily set up a hood here to fit this particular car perfectly and compensate for those gap issues but a replacement hood was never even discussed with me. From what I've seen and been told, it's $8300 or nothing. I'd just like to help make the situation right somehow, so Anton, if you're reading this, please let me know what you think I can do to help you out here. If it's easiest for you, we can have the hood sent back to me here in PA so that I could fix the gaps and whatever other issues the hood might have. I'd be more than happy to re-paint it as well and send it on back to you. I already know that Scott is willing to cover all of the shipping expenses, so we could make this as painless as possible for you... no more money needs to be spent on your end, you've already paid enough for this hood. I hope that we can make these problems go away for everyone involved. I just want the chance to make this right for you. I don't want any work of mine floating around out there that's going to cause any kind of resentment or regret... I want you to be proud of it. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read all of this and I apologize for being long-winded. -Roger, U.S. Exotics LTD
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