EIP Strikes again / and you thought Halloween was scary !!

[glxtasy@juno.com (ken r weidmann jr.)]

Got this horror story forwarded to me from a friend.
Ken Weidmann Jr
GLXTASY@Juno.com
Checkered Flag Automotive Components
95 Black Jetta GLX M3 wannabe
85 Show Scirocco

It's been one excuse after another - even after the attorney got
involved.
Just to catch you up, I turned the matter over to my lawyer last June. 
Up
until then, EIP had yet to even start work on the car (even though they'd
had
it for over a year, and had my deposit for almost *two* years).

Thanks to some legal pressure, Rich and J.J. decided to get the project
done.
In late July, Rich informed that the car was done, and that all that was
required to consummate the deal was payment in full (over $20,000).  He
refused to release the car without payment in advance, and promised that
once
the certified check was received, the car could be picked up.

The certified check was sent FedEx.  Unfortunately, soon after receiving
my
$20,000, Rich "discovered" problems with the fuel injection system, and
told
me that if I picked up the car in its present condition, EIP would refuse
to
provide any warranty.  Rich assured me that all that would be required
was
a
switch to an aftermarket engine control management system.

As a result, I agreed to have the car converted to an Electromotive TecII
system.  Soon thereafter, Rich and J.J. discovered that the TecII system
was
malfunctioning as result of heat soak, necessitating a switch to the TecI
remote-mounted set up (thereby allowing the CPU to be mounted outside of
the
engine compartment, where it would not be exposed to heat from the
turbo).
Unfortunately, remote-mounting the CPU required a lot of rewiring.
According
to J.J.,  rather than splicing a few wires here and there, they felt it
would
be better to build an entirely new wiring harness.  This, of course, took
about 2 months.

Once the wiring was complete, I was assured that it would just be a
matter
of
days before the car would be fully tuned and ready for pickup.  Well,
tuning
it took several more weeks.  In fact, I'm not sure if it ever really got
it
tuned, since they have failed to send me the dyno sheets which I have
repeatedly requested.  Now, that really doesn't matter ...

Next excuse:  When I put the pressure on them to finish the car by giving
them
a cut-off date after which I would either take the car "as is" or turn
the
matter back over to my attorney, J.J. called to inform that the car was
just
about completely finished.  There was just one more problem to tackle
(according to him).  Apparently, after taking the car home with him one
weekend, J.J. decided that he wasn't happy with the clutch.  As a result,
they
had to order a new clutch (which, of course, was on backorder).    To
keep
the
pressure on them, I called them several times a day - every day - until
the
clutch was installed.  Once the clutch was installed, I gave them another
cutoff date:  Friday 10/30 (today).  I told them I'd be taking the car
"no
matter what".  Well ...

Last Tuesday, J.J. phoned me.  He claimed to have taken the car home with
him
again last weekend, and had noticed that "something wasn't right with the
engine".  They did a leakdown test, and discovered that the #3 cylinder
was
leaking excessively.  After removing the head, they claimed that their
suspicions were confirmed, and that they found that the #3 piston had
been
damaged.  Consequently, they had to tear down the engine again.  I was
advise
that if I were take the car at this point, I would have to take the
engine
home in pieces (and without pistons).

J.J. attributed the alleged engine damage to using the wrong spark plugs.
Apparently, they were using a plug similar in design to "Splitfire"
plugs.
Unfortunately, he explained, that extra prong - essentially a hot piece
of
metal in the combustion chamber - was causing detonation.  J.J. promised
that
a new set of pistons and a cooler set of conventional plugs would solve
the
problem.  Unfortunately, the pistons are on backorder ...

J.J. estimates that the pistons will arrive "in two weeks"
(mid-November),
and
that the engine can then be reassembled in a day.  Add to that a couple
of
more days for testing, and the car should then be ready for shipment or
pickup
(according to J.J.).  J.J. was apologetic for the additional delay,
assured
me
that none of this would be billed to me, and offered to drive the car to
NY
(deliver it to my doorstep) at no charge.  I told him I'd already paid
the
carrier to pick it up, and didn't think I could get my money back.

Since none of this additional work was going to be on my nickel, I asked
J.J.
to fax me an invoice of all of the expenses which they felt I owed them
since
I sent them that check for over $20,000 (which Rich had promised would be
the
last payment required - at which time Rich also guaranteed that "the car
is
done".)  J.J. promised to fax me the bill that very day.  Of course, the
bill
never came.  And now J.J. is "out of town" - Las Vegas (SEMA
convention?).

So, that's where things stand (or *don't* stand, that is).   Waiting for
the
pistons, the bill, and more excuses.  I'm faxing a copy of this e-mail to
my
attorney.  I have a feeling I'll be needing him again.


Regards,

JD




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