Story of a Man Hoodwinked
Apr 14, 2011, 10:34 AM
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Story of a Man Hoodwinked
This is not a thread to name names, but to make everyone in this area aware of the travesty that is going down. This is also my sole experience with this organization, and cannot be taken as a holistic generalization.
About 8 months ago I went to a particular shop to get my car tuned. At this shop I payed $500 for a full out tune. This tune was expensive but I was overly excited that I'd get great results. I didn't. In fact with a couple of power mods I only got 305 whp out of my vehicle. (Kelford 272, AEM Cam Gears, TBE, 02 housing, intake and boost controller).
I even posted a forum on here, and was even told that my car was out of timing. It wasn't
Yesterday, I decided that I would do both a mail in tune while learning how to tune myself. When i pulled the rom from my computer, I was amazed at what I saw. No it wasn't intricate maps and advance timing and knock maps, but i saw nothing. That is, I saw nothing different in my map that what I saw from tephra v7's map. In fact it was the same thing.
Here's what I'm implying: the tuner put tephra v7 rom on my ecu, turned up the boost, turned on a couple tephra mods on my vehicle, and voila, $500.
Is this done to everyone? Probably not. But I was a noob, and they noticed that, and took advantage. Be forewarned and pay attention to what your tuner is doing (or not)
About 8 months ago I went to a particular shop to get my car tuned. At this shop I payed $500 for a full out tune. This tune was expensive but I was overly excited that I'd get great results. I didn't. In fact with a couple of power mods I only got 305 whp out of my vehicle. (Kelford 272, AEM Cam Gears, TBE, 02 housing, intake and boost controller).
I even posted a forum on here, and was even told that my car was out of timing. It wasn't
Yesterday, I decided that I would do both a mail in tune while learning how to tune myself. When i pulled the rom from my computer, I was amazed at what I saw. No it wasn't intricate maps and advance timing and knock maps, but i saw nothing. That is, I saw nothing different in my map that what I saw from tephra v7's map. In fact it was the same thing.
Here's what I'm implying: the tuner put tephra v7 rom on my ecu, turned up the boost, turned on a couple tephra mods on my vehicle, and voila, $500.
Is this done to everyone? Probably not. But I was a noob, and they noticed that, and took advantage. Be forewarned and pay attention to what your tuner is doing (or not)
Apr 14, 2011, 10:36 AM
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I am posting this thread for noobie consciousness; i.e. the community needs to become more aware of what a true tune consist of and bringing a strong arm against tuning plagiarism.
Say no to plagiarism in and out of the classroom.
Say no to plagiarism in and out of the classroom.
Apr 14, 2011, 11:00 AM
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You can PM me for names. I'm not here to combat with moderators about their allegiance.
As for the shop, it's in Atlanta Georgia and not a vendor on here; although they have posted info on here quite a bit.
As for the shop, it's in Atlanta Georgia and not a vendor on here; although they have posted info on here quite a bit.
Apr 14, 2011, 11:19 AM
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Sorry, but why come here and post about the story without warning others?
The most important thing to a shop / company is reputation, and at least one person they've worked with no longer believes in them. Would you be pissed if tomorrow, one of your friends came up to you and said "Oh, yea. This was the same place I told you that I got my tune from and they way overcharged me and gave me a pre-programmed tune"? Would you wonder why your friend hadn't told you? "Remember when you asked where I went? Yea, I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to hurt their reputation"
Same situation.
The most important thing to a shop / company is reputation, and at least one person they've worked with no longer believes in them. Would you be pissed if tomorrow, one of your friends came up to you and said "Oh, yea. This was the same place I told you that I got my tune from and they way overcharged me and gave me a pre-programmed tune"? Would you wonder why your friend hadn't told you? "Remember when you asked where I went? Yea, I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to hurt their reputation"
Same situation.
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Apr 14, 2011, 11:46 AM
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Please pm me also. I'm in Atlanta and I just paid a local well known shop tune my car two times and it still runs like chit. I'm wondering if we went to the same shop.
Apr 23, 2011, 07:51 PM
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I know of 3 or 4 different people that have had a similar experience at topspeed in Atlanta....
Only shop I have heard good things from in the ATL area is Zen Motorsports but they don't have a dyno from what I know of. I believe chi's evo was built by them. I went to one of Zen's meets a long time ago cool guys up that way but I think they are more geared towards doing builds not so much tuning .
Only shop I have heard good things from in the ATL area is Zen Motorsports but they don't have a dyno from what I know of. I believe chi's evo was built by them. I went to one of Zen's meets a long time ago cool guys up that way but I think they are more geared towards doing builds not so much tuning .
Apr 23, 2011, 08:28 PM
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Ok guys, I was just PMed buy a MOD that told me about this thread. I had no idea it was here.
First off we did NOT just become vendors on this forum..we have been vendors for over 5 years here.
Secondly I am currently working with the customer to figure out what could be wrong with his car.
I have sincerely apologized for any lack of satisfaction with our customer service, or Doug's tune. I will be the first to tell you that sometimes Doug gets in a zone and does not communicate with the customer as well as he should. Thats why I am here. I am also here to make sure the every person that comes through the door leaves happy and stays happy.
Rev - As I told you over personal email, I am quite confident that your car has some type of small mechanical problem that is causing your dissatisfaction. If you would have just contacted me with your concerns prior to trying to make a public display I would have gladly made you happy in any way necessary.
Our tunes have a 100% lifetime guarantee. If there is a problem that is not mechanically based Doug will fix it totally free of charge. If your not totally happy I will give you every dime you spent here back.
Everyone has their off days, but I must say that Doug is one of the best Evo tuners I have ever met. I'm know that sounds bias, but I have personally had several Evos and Doug has tuned them all. Hell the man had a personal 780whp Evo in 2003!!! He has been around the block and knows what he is doing! There is a reason I became a partner at TopSpeed and that reason is because I believe in what we are doing and the quality we are doing it at. Because of that I stand totally behind everything we do.
If ANYONE is unhappy with ANYTHING that was done here at TopSpeed they NEED to let me know. I will end this post with every bit of contact information I have. There is no way for me to fix an issue without being informed fully of whats going on.
I am by no means saying that we are perfect because everyone makes mistakes, however a lot of car owners jump to conclusions and point fingers without properly diagnosing an issue. Even when a customer comes to me with issues from another shop I am the first one to back up another shops work...I always tell the customer we need to narrow the problem before we go pointing fingers and calling blame. Because lets face it...with modded cars...shi* happends.
That being said...if it is our fault I will ABSOLUTELY make it right...if its mechanical I will be fair and tell you whats wrong and how to fix it. I do not shy away from the fact that we could have missed something.
Here is ALL of my contact info...this leaves no excuses for me not to be informed of any little issue that anyone on this forum might have.
I will see you on the 10th of May for your Re-Tune just like we talked about over email! Looking forward to making this right for you, or figuring out whats wrong!
Nathan Cicio
cicio@topspeedtuned.com
Personal Email: nathan.cicio@gmail.com
Shop Phone: 678-297-7770
Cell Phone: 770-778-6321
Home Phone: -who has one of these anymore-
~Cicio
TopSpeed Motorsports
First off we did NOT just become vendors on this forum..we have been vendors for over 5 years here.
Secondly I am currently working with the customer to figure out what could be wrong with his car.
I have sincerely apologized for any lack of satisfaction with our customer service, or Doug's tune. I will be the first to tell you that sometimes Doug gets in a zone and does not communicate with the customer as well as he should. Thats why I am here. I am also here to make sure the every person that comes through the door leaves happy and stays happy.
Rev - As I told you over personal email, I am quite confident that your car has some type of small mechanical problem that is causing your dissatisfaction. If you would have just contacted me with your concerns prior to trying to make a public display I would have gladly made you happy in any way necessary.
Our tunes have a 100% lifetime guarantee. If there is a problem that is not mechanically based Doug will fix it totally free of charge. If your not totally happy I will give you every dime you spent here back.
Everyone has their off days, but I must say that Doug is one of the best Evo tuners I have ever met. I'm know that sounds bias, but I have personally had several Evos and Doug has tuned them all. Hell the man had a personal 780whp Evo in 2003!!! He has been around the block and knows what he is doing! There is a reason I became a partner at TopSpeed and that reason is because I believe in what we are doing and the quality we are doing it at. Because of that I stand totally behind everything we do.
If ANYONE is unhappy with ANYTHING that was done here at TopSpeed they NEED to let me know. I will end this post with every bit of contact information I have. There is no way for me to fix an issue without being informed fully of whats going on.
I am by no means saying that we are perfect because everyone makes mistakes, however a lot of car owners jump to conclusions and point fingers without properly diagnosing an issue. Even when a customer comes to me with issues from another shop I am the first one to back up another shops work...I always tell the customer we need to narrow the problem before we go pointing fingers and calling blame. Because lets face it...with modded cars...shi* happends.
That being said...if it is our fault I will ABSOLUTELY make it right...if its mechanical I will be fair and tell you whats wrong and how to fix it. I do not shy away from the fact that we could have missed something.
Here is ALL of my contact info...this leaves no excuses for me not to be informed of any little issue that anyone on this forum might have.
I will see you on the 10th of May for your Re-Tune just like we talked about over email! Looking forward to making this right for you, or figuring out whats wrong!
Nathan Cicio
cicio@topspeedtuned.com
Personal Email: nathan.cicio@gmail.com
Shop Phone: 678-297-7770
Cell Phone: 770-778-6321
Home Phone: -who has one of these anymore-
~Cicio
TopSpeed Motorsports