Problems: "known tuners" ripping YOU off

[Vipermed 97.01]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Keprght, a lot of what you say is true, but you are also taking a very pesimistic view as you catogorize Tuners,unfortunately there are a few bad apples,but i think if you were to read other than just horror stories from certain Tuner/s you will find that there is more satisfied customers out there than not. There is a lot of good tuner experiences shared in this Forum. As far as your suggestions, get real do you really think that a reputable Tuner is going to go to your house, along with his semi truck to carry his very expensive and sophisticated equipment,and as far as the 20,000 a year Tuners, yea you probably could get them to your house with there craftsman tools.Last but not least, to pay you to "babysit" our cars,the next question would be who are you and where do you live.(doesnt feel good does it)and to go to the shop and stay with your car during the entire process well better bring a sleeping bag and a tent(also not very realistic)The bottom line is do your homework on the shop, talk to people on this forum and wherever else possible. Once you find a shop talk to the person that will be doing your work, have them detail what they will be doing,find out what other cars they have done,talk to those owners, as Viper owners usually like to share there experiences,visit your car often,keep an open line of communication, most Tuners will be glad to show you different stages of the process if they dont then they must not be very proud of there work,another good thing to do is give the shop a disposible camera, tell them you want to have pictures of your car for your scrapbook,if they say no, well i gaurantee the next guy will,we love to show off our work,as i said before most tuners are very proud of their work and do not mind recording that pride,sure sounds more practical than your not very realistic solutions, but as i said earlier before you bash all the viper tuners out there do your homework and research this board and view some pretty great Tuner experiences.Thats if you can find the time in between your tuner babysitting Jobs

 

[Janni]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vipermed 97,01:
Keprght a lot of what you say is true but you are also taking a very pesimistic view as you catogorize Tuners,unfortunately there are a few bad apples,but i think if you were to read other than just a horror stories from certain Tuner/s you will find that there is more satisfied customers out there than not and a lot of good tuner experiences shared in this Forum,As far as your suggestions, get real do you really think that a reputable Tuner is going to go to your house along with his semi truck to carry his very expensive and sophisticated equipment,and as far as the 20,000 a year Tuners yea you probably could get them to your house with there craftsman tools,and to pay you to "babysit" our cars,the next question would be who are you and where do you live(doesnt feel good does it)and to go to the shop and stay with your car during the entire process well better bring a sleeping bag and a tent(also not very realistic)The bottom line is do your homework on the shop, talk to people on this forum and wherever else possible and once you find a shop talk to the person that will be doing your work have them detail what they will be doing,find out what other cars they have done,talk to those owners as Viper owners usually like to share there experiences,visit your car often,keep an open line of communication most Tuners will be glad to show you different stages of the process if they dont then they must not be very proud of there work,another good thing to do is give the shop a disposible camera tell them you want to have pictures of your car for your scrapbook,if they say no well i gaurantee the next guy will,we love to show off our work,as i said before most tuners are very proud of their work and do not mind recording that pride,sure sounds more practical than your not very realistic solutions, but as i said earlier before you bash all the viper tuners out there do your homework and research this board and view some pretty great Tuner experiences,thats if you can find the time in between your tuner babysitting Jobs

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dude, one word for ya - PUNCTUATION. Know it, love it, live it. That run on sentence just about killed me!

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Kepwrong, you do a trememdous diservice to those tuners who are honest and forthright in their services. Take ANY group of human beings doing ANY kind of work, even in the medical profession, and you will find those who are ENTIRELY focused on profit at the expense of the customer. They are the exception and NOT the rule. You are a newbie here, and I believe a Corvette guy, not a Viper owner. I'm a Corvette guy too, no problem, But I've owned a Viper for several years now and I've been on this board for about 5 years, that probably gives me some EXPERIENCE BASE to comment on Viper tuners, I've spoken to most of them, met most of them at VOI7, bought product from most of them, and had my car worked on by some of them. Have you had ANY of those experiences as a VIPER owner. If not I suggest you limit your comments to Corvette tuners, if indeed you own one of those.
In particular, you have smeared at least 3 gentlemen with your broad brush and I would like to single them out so that ANYONE reading this thread won't lump them in with any baddies.

Jason Heffner
Sean Roe
Doug Levin

There for the record, I have never seen a negative comment about ANY of these gentlemen posted, so let's set the record straight for all those who may be reading your unfortunate and uninformed thread.

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

I'm one of those idiots who sent his Viper and tens of thousands of dollars off to a far away land and a magical Tuner. Heck, I don't even know the specifics of what I'm getting. It's been almost a year now. I couldn't be happier!

What's the big deal! Have a little faith. Anyone who wants to do the same should call Doug Levin MotorSports. I'm actually getting more than I paid for, and his work speaks for itself! I have no worry, and would do it again.

P.S.: I DO work on cars (and Space Vehicles, Atoms, etc.), did not come from the "right side" of the tracks, and don't really worry about such things as long absences from my Dodge, small sums of money, etc...

Doug rules!


<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by ExecUtron Technologies on 01-24-2003 at 10:14 PM</font>

 

[Dr Roof]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Executun

You will be real happy about the result of your car!

 

[KepRght]

Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Thinking of shipping your car to another state to have it "worked on" by a well known tuner?

Consider this:

I have read 1000+ Posts over the years where people send their car or pre pay money to a tuner and do not get what they paid for, or do not get their parts, or they do not get a working car, or worse, they dont get their car back!

As long as there are people willing to ship their cars half way across the country (or even to another country) there will be well know tuners or staff of well known tuners who will take advantage of you and your hard earned cash. Remember: The owner of the shop may not even know whats going on if he is not personally working on every car himself, or what if he is out that week?

These so called tuner shops are taking advantage of the fact that you are not close enough to bother them every day after they take your money and parts, you are not close enough to wait outside their house, you are not close enough to follow them to the grocery store, you are not close enough to follow their children to school, you are not close enough to follow their wives to work, you are not close enough to research where their parents live, you are not close enough to spread rumors in their home town, you are not close enough to create havoc in their lives.

I know whats going on here. The tuners think that the rich little viper owners dont know **** about working on cars. After all you are sending your car to someone else to be worked on! Worse, your not close enough to do anything, so they jack you! They take things off your car, they take your money, they do not do the upgrades they are supposed to and then send you <u>someone elses dyno sheet</u>. Why? Because they can! Because you wont do anything about it, and 10,000 people before you havent done anything about it! The tuner boys are getting smart, they have see John Hennesy at HMS rob Ten Thousand people and companies over and over again, and he still answers his phone! How?! They are getting away with it because people who own luxury sports cars are <u>usually</u> ******* that grew up on the RIGHT side of the tracks. You are dealing with tuners who are run by people most likely with no teeth and even worse who come from the WRONG side of the tracks. They will rip you off untill they stop getting phone calls from people willing to wire transfer $50,000 into their checking account site unseen.

Comeon! If some educated business guy who would most likely try to forget about a bad experience was willing to send you $200,000. This person had never seen you before, does not know where you live, does not know anything about you.... You are starting to get thoughts about what that money can buy. You happen to be a shady person. You wouldnt hesitate to keep that money for yourself!

Remember this: In the areas most of these tuners live the average income is $20,000 a year! A huge 5 bedroom dream home rings in at $300,000. The problem is you all are <u>way to innocent</u>. Most viper owners make more in a year what these tuners will make in their entire life. Everyone in this world should be considered a crook... Even good old Uncle Sam!

If you really want your car worked on then you need to do it yourself. If you cant do it yourslef then get a viper tech to work on your car with you at your house. If you cant get a viper tech to work on your car with you then you need to be <u>present</u> with your car the entire time it is being worked on.

If you dont have the time for any of this, then give me a call, im tired of the SOB stories! If someone was willing to pay me to follow and video their baby being worked on... I would in a heart beat.

I feel bad for the guys who dont really know cars that well, who want a really amazing car, who send their baby and money to a tuner only to find out 2 years after the fact that the so called "super tuner" took some of your parts, installed used stock parts, parts you paid for in advance, or even worse! They might even take your car "tune it", and give you someone elses dyno sheet.. Who knows? Do you? I Have seen and read about all of this over the years, and <u>this is from the tuners you see in motor trend!</u>
Now a few years have past since you sent your money and your baby to a tuner... Your getting your car worked on, and you notice some parts that were supposed to be installed are not there and there are factory parts in its palce. Try and prove that your "super tuner" did this. Get a lawyer to build a case <u>at your cost </u>to sue over this. Bull.

I think calling me to <u>****** and video </u>your baby is the best route.

 

[2charmed]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

There will always be a few bad apples! Sites like this should
be consulted for good and bad tuner experiences to base your decisions on.


2charmed

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dr Roof:
Executun

You will be real happy about the result of your car!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I Know! Doug might take a little longer, but I have come to realize that he is truely one of the last real craftsman in this day and age. It can't be easy squeezing 1000+ HP out of a California Dodge!

 

[cstegall]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Keprght,

Man...you wore me out on that one! That is what you were trying to do wasn't it? Get me so worked up that I called you right away...send you a check...so you could video tape the work being done on my car...AND I could hire a lawyer(probably a relative of yours)and pursue legal remedies....in TWO YEARS!!!

Sounds like a plan...albeit a very,very bad one.

My car and my money have been sent to Mr. Levin at Doug Levin Motorsports with my blessing. I am happy...very,very happy with what he is doing to/with my car. No video tape needed(I've got Ben Treynor's if I need to see what Mr. Levin does)but I do want you to know that I have setup an appointment with one of my company's lawyers(to review the DLM work on my car) for January '05...in the a.m.

No Flame Intended...Just Observation,
Clark Stegall

 

[RedGTS]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Clark, you've given me an idea--prepaid legal services for disputes with Viper tuners. I can quit representing all those big corporations and just represent Viper owners! I could do a sliding scale based on which tuner is involved, starting with Roe, Levin, Heffner & Vipermed for about $10 a year and going on up to maybe $250,000 for uh, well, others.

So who wants to send me the first retainer?

 

[cstegall]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Ronnie,

Ahhhh...the ol' "post on the board and work my way into a retainer" routine

I am seriously considering sending you the $10 retainer with some ideas concerning letters rogatory and depositions. Seems like we really ought to look at JonB first...he has way too many friends on this board...and that makes me nervous. He,Levin,Heffner,Roe,etc. seem to be trying awful hard to make their customers happy...weird.
I figure that the $10 in your trust account will get me about 2 minutes worth of your time so I will send my thoughts to you in bullet list form

No Flame Intended...Just Observation,
CStegall

 

[MaxedGTS]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

In this world people are either honest or they are NOT. Doug Levin is one of the most straight forward guys I have ever done business with. He over delivers and is true to his word. I am a tough cookie to do business with so after two DLM vipers and number three on the way to sunny fla Douggy gets my vote!!!!! PERIOD.

Max

 

[KepRght]

Re: Problems: \"known tuners\" ripping YOU off

Good points. Not trying to flame any tuners here. My real hope is that people will read this post and think before they send their cash. I have major respect for many of the tuners out there who do what they promise (and more) day in and day out. I am tired of reading posts and feeling bad for people who send their life savings without real research.