prosailortim

In April I purchased the Gruppe-S custom gauge panel & a set of Defi BF gauges from Boost Solutions (companies I highly recommend). On this forum SRT was recommended for the installation. I spoke with Sam on several occasions on the phone and in person. He talked a good story and said that he had installed several (10 to be exact) of these set-ups. Before I go on, I inspected the Defi gauges before I handed them over to SRT; they were in perfect condition.

On 4-15-04 I dropped my Evo off at his shop. Later that afternoon I received a phone call that my car was finished. When I arrived at Sam’s shop my Evo was parked in the front, I glanced inside and everything looked good. Sam was Busy talking with customer. I paid my bill and Sam had one of the installers go out to my car with me to show me how to work the Defi controller. First thing that I noticed when I sat in my car was that my dash was scratched in three places right below the new gauge panel. Then I noticed that my EGT gauge had several noticeable scuffmarks on the lens. I brought this to the installer’s attention promptly went inside and advised Sam of the situation. He was busy, and I needed to attend a meeting that I was already late for. I told Sam I would call him the following day.

The next morning I pop my hood to check my fluid levels and my oil was low by 1 quart (I always check my oil before I drive her). The oil was lost at SRT when they installed the sandwich oil filter adapter for my oil temp gauge. In my opinion they should have replaced the lost oil, or at least informed that oil needed to be added. I then noticed that my heat shield for my exhaust manifold was all jacked-up and missing one of the bolts. The installer drilled the heat shield incorrectly when he installed the EGT probe. It appears he tried to wallow the hole out so the heat shield would seat properly, but gave up when he started to visibly trash the heat shield.


I called Sam and told him that I was coming over so he could see what I was pissed off about. I showed Sam the damage items, he said he knew of a company that could repair my dashboard. He didn’t know what to do about the scuffed up EGT gauge. I told him I would contact Defi in Texas and see if the lens could be replaced. I showed him the heat shield and the missing bolt, all he said was get a longer bolt. I called him back later that day and informed him that Defi does not offer a replacement lens for their gauges; a new gauge would have to be purchased. He said he would get back with me in a few days when the repairs could be made. He also said that he would do whatever it took to make things right, and I believed him.

Here it is 3 weeks later and no call from Sam. I have called his office on a daily basis, even stopped by once; he’s never in and won’t return my calls. I’m going to have XS Engineering fix the damage that SRT caused. Then I’m going to take him to “Small Claims” court to recoup the cost of their mistakes. I’m also filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Before dealing with SRT/Sam, look how he treated me and I only had gauges installed.

Mitchubishievo

iTrader: (310)

Thanks for the heads up, lets keep this thread uptop so everyone else can read it.

prosailortim

You can follow this thread at Socalevo.net

http://www.socalevo.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2312

Secret Chimp

iTrader: (2)

I am sorry to hear you are having problems with that place. Up till now I've only heard good things about SRT.

I hope they are wise enough to square up the situation with you and not let it go to small claims court. Going to court will cost them so much more in the end.

SC~

prosailortim

Secret Chimp, I'm giving Sam one more chance to rectify his mistakes. He has until today to contact me and handle this like a man. If not I'm filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, then if nothing happens it off to Small Claims Court.

I didn't want my situation brought to the forums. I had no choice, Sam would not return my calls or keep his promise to me.

So I'm using the power of this forum & Socalevo.net to help me in my situation.

bryans2k

iTrader: (2)

just a funny thought how so many "sam's" in the import world have done their customers backwards... one more thing to stay away from I guess hehe...

bryan

justchil

iTrader: (44)

That sux.. I read your post on the other forum as well. The guy "Sam" is trying to make you look like a bad guy. It's hard to find people that put the effort into taking their time and doing a good job these days :\

OnlineAlias

Ya, the only thing "Sam" should of said is I'm sorry your not satisfied, call me at so and so....its over. Instead, "Sam" looks like even more of a jackass and makes it worse....I mean, who cares even if you are acting like a punk, doesn't matter one bit. In the public forums that is completely irrelevant. Running a business well means handling all kinds of crack heads.....

hueman

iTrader: (17)

hhmmmm... srt... arent' these the guys that went to the one dealer and claimed to have the fastest evo in the us? daily driven 10's?

Smogrunner

iTrader: (5)

Keep in mind guys that we have only heard one side of the story. Prosailortim might be right and he might be the problem. He is a newbie and most of us don't know him from Boo. Sam from SRT is also somewhat new. Sam needs to respond in an honest and forthright way about his side of the story.

Turb0flat4

The other side of the story can be seen at socalevo, because "Sam" has started posting, ostensibly to defend himself and his business, but it looks more like an offensive to me.

IMHO, a savvy businessman would try his darndest to keep a customer as long as it was remotely feasible. Even if things got unpleasant on a public forum, a more restrained reply explaining the vendor's side of things would be appropriate. Sam seems to be itching for an all-out flame war in public here, which would seem to place him on the wrong side of the IQ bell curve, considering the dire consequences for his future livelihood.

prosailortim

Smogrunner you're right.... one needs to hear SRT's side of the story. I just finished posting my reply to Sam's/SRT's previous posts at SoCalEvo.

Turb0flat4

What kind of stupid reply is this, from a vendor ?? Prosailortim, I feel for you. I wasn't sure at first, but having read through the thread carefully, it's obvious this vendor is full of bluster and BS and little else.

I think you should now think about "getting even" - legally, of course.

Good luck

CharlieGsanD

iTrader: (1)

the one thing that bothers me most is that he admits, but downplays the damage caused during install. i work on multi million dollar restoration projects & you can believe me if theres even the most minor blemish because of my work, its a big problem. granted this is only a 30k evo, but a car is a car if your the owner & for some people a blemish like that may as well be painted with neon paint. if you damage a vehicle while doing work on the it, you better be shure as hell to go out of your way to repair any damage, no matter how minor.

now the fact that it took long enough to make it to the boards.........

Ev0ikon

iTrader: (18)

I read both forum posts and the SRT guy just doesn't sound like he should be in business.