Slow Boy Racing Nightmare (Very Long)

[spyderturbo007]

Just wanted to inform everyone about my horrible experience with Slowboy Racing.

I had an appointment on July 5th to have an EVO III 16g, 650 FIC injectors and a 190lph Walboro fuel pump installed by SBR. I also had them replace the valve cover gasket and the gaskets for the spark plug wells, as one of the wells was filling up with oil. I traveled about 170 miles to get there and arrived at around 9:30am. I talked to Nate about the installation and the parts I was buying. He showed me all the parts and was very polite. He told me that they would start working on the car at about 11:30am when all the other employees arrived, so there were people there to answer the phone. Another person, who I assumed was Mike Huml, offered to have someone drive me to the mall, so I would have something to do. I was very impressed with their customer service to this point.

That is where everything went downhill…..

I had told Nate that I wanted to be present when he performed the WBO2 tuning and to call me when they were ready to tune. I was picked up at around 3:30pm and taken back to the shop. They told me they would have the car ready to be bolted to the dyno in about 45 minutes and would inform me before they started tuning. Before I knew it, the car was brought around front and told they were all finished. Huh, why wasn’t I informed that they were in the process of tuning? I looked over the car and noticed a little antifreeze under the car where it was parked. Nate got under the car with a rag and told me that the turbo was not leaking and some of the spilled antifreeze was dripping off the cross member. I was satisfied, everything looked ok, so I paid my bill and was off on my way home.

About 5 miles down the road, my logger was showing the O2 voltage at 0.00v. I proceeded back to the shop and had Nate come back out to take a look at the car. He verified that they had indeed plugged the O2 back in and said that it should “come back” on my drive home. He said that if the O2 didn’t start cycling when I got home to call and he would get me a new O2. That didn’t sound right to me, but I didn’t know if starting out with a really rich tune would leave the O2 coated with carbon that needed to be burned off. So I proceeded home. It had started to rain and traffic was heavy so I didn’t have a chance to jump on the car until about 30 miles away. As I was pulling out on the expressway (Rt. 22 East) I decided to “give it a romp”. I was in 3rd gear at about 5000 rpm’s and that’s when it happened. BANG! I heard this really loud noise and the car started to carry on and wouldn’t let me accelerate. So I coasted to the side of the road.

When I got out of the car, I was happy to see that the car still had all of it’s fluids and there wasn’t a giant hole in the block. I looked and noticed that the LICP had blow off from the side mount. Wow, that was scary! I had no tools to loosen and reinstall the clamp so I called SBR. It is now about 6:30pm. I was told that everyone had just left and they would try to get a hold of someone that could come out to help me. I was told to call back in 5 minutes. While I was waiting, I got back under the car to see if I could get the pipe back on and noticed that the front banjo bolt water feed line on the turbo was leaking. I looked around a little closer and saw that the oil feed line for the turbo was leaking at the oil filter housing. I hadn’t noticed it before I left because it was dripping on one of the plastic splash guards……great!

I was irritated, so I crawled out from under the car to smoke a cigarette. That’s when I noticed that they had snapped off on of my passenger side wheel studs, apparently while removing the wheel for the dyno tuning. WTF! I called SBR back to be told “sorry, I can’t get a hold of anyone and I’m the only one here, so I can’t help you.” “You can come back tomorrow and we will fix the car.” Huh, what! I live 170 miles away and my car won’t run, how do you want me to come back tomorrow. No tow truck offer, no AAA offer, NOTHING. So I hung up not happy.

I’m now stranded 140 miles from home, 4 miles from the nearest exit and it’s pouring.

Somehow, 15 minutes later, I was able to muscle the tightened clamp off the LICP and shove the pipe back on the intercooler. I proceed down the road with the hazards to the next exit. Thank god for Advanced Auto, I love those guys! I was able to borrow some tools from the nice guys there and get the LICP back on and tightened in the rain. One of them even let me use their raincoat! SBR could learn something from those guys! I purchased a 7/16 socket, ratchet, 1g of antifreeze and had 1 qt of oil in the car. Off I go, $16 later.

I stopped every 40 or 50 miles and filled the coolant reservoir, checked the oil and to make sure the 4 lug nuts I had left were still tight. Better safe than sorry!

Finally I get home and park the car…..wow, what a day!

I called SBR at 9:30am yesterday and talked to the manager Mark. I asked for Nate and was told he was unavailable, so I explained my situation. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes and who gets on the phone, but Nate. So, again I explained my problems and was told that they “forgot” to tell me about the wheel stud, sorry about the leaks and the pipe blowing off and they would sell me an O2 if I wanted. WTF. I have that logger on constantly displaying O2, airflow, timing and rpm. Nate said that he didn’t know if the O2 worked before I brought the car in, so they won’t do anything about it. Um, how did he set my FT’s with no O2???

I was placed back on the phone with Mark, as Nate had no authority to offer me anything. Mark told me to bring the car back in and they would take care of everything but the O2. Huh, the water leak and the O2 were bought to their attention before I left the shop and they KNEW they had snapped off the wheel stud. Why should I have to drive 170 miles back with a car leaking coolant, oil, a LICP that keeps blowing off and missing a wheel studs. I was then offered an O2 sensor at their cost and a store credit for 10 minutes of shop labor and $5 for the stud and lug nut. I told them that I was going to have to pay someone ½ minimum labor for the stud replacement and have never heard of a shop charging labor in 10 minute increments. They then offered me a $40 store credit to take car of the wheel stud and to sell me an O2 sensor at their cost….Wow, great, OK…..nice way to take care of a customer. I wanted them to send me a check for the cost of the wheel stud replacement, fixing the leaks and a new O2 sensor. Well, of course, no go there.

I decided that I wasn’t going to drive 170 miles back with a broken car and 170 miles home so they could fix problems that were brought to their attention before I left the shop. So, I gave up. I’m sure they figured they could get away with doing that to me, as they knew where I lived and that I had paid in cash. Side note: Always pay for this kind of stuff with a credit card or by check!

I took the day off work yesterday and called a friend that has a lift. I got the wheel stud and lug nut from the dealer for $7.63 and was able to install that. We removed the clamp from the LICP and replaced it with 2 worm clamps. The clamp they installed was too big and bottomed out before it was tight enough to hold the pipe on the side mount. My friend fixed the coolant leak at the turbo and I was able to fix the oil leak at the oil filter housing. Apparently they used pipe dope on the fitting instead of Teflon and didn’t coat the threads enough. We figured out why the O2 sensor wasn’t working…..it looks like they had beat the shit out of it with a hammer. It is bent (see picture). I have that on order from the dealer and will be getting it next week ($123).

http://www.dsmtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=698&cat=500&page=1

I can’t understand how a company like this stays in business. I will never deal with them again and will do everything I can to make sure people are informed of their habits. All of the problems were either told to them before I left, or they were aware of but didn’t tell me.

That’s my horror story……

Short version:

Boy pays company $2100 for parts and labor.
Company butchers installation and breaks customer’s car.
Boy informs company.
Company tells boy to go piss up a rope.

[lexmark]

I also had lots of problems and lies with Slowboy.

[elementalwindx]

Yea, I learned dont ever pay in cash too with a local "speed shop" here in Jacksonville. SBR has been good at delivering me little parts, but I hear they are extremely slow at delivering turbos (like 3+weeks to 3 months).

My two places I have beef with are RRE for sending and billing me a part when I was only calling for prices. I didn't think they kept CC info, but obviously they do.

My other is EDO Performance. I hate small time middle man companies. Sent me an apexi tt, and the wrong wiring harness and took 4 months to get a $15 check, when all I wanted was just the correct harness. I ended up hard wiring it in myself.

[FourG63 98GST]

I still cant believe people still get there car worked on by SBR, what is more hard to believe is that people still buy parts from them. SBR are waste of time, they can never get anything right. My first order with them was a horror story and i will never order from them again. Thats why i chose extreme psi, they are A++++++ and get everything right the first time.

Just wanted to inform everyone about my horrible experience with Slowboy Racing.

I had an appointment on July 5th to have an EVO III 16g, 650 FIC injectors and a 190lph Walboro fuel pump installed by SBR. I also had them replace the valve cover gasket and the gaskets for the spark plug wells, as one of the wells was filling up with oil. I traveled about 170 miles to get there and arrived at around 9:30am. I talked to Nate about the installation and the parts I was buying. He showed me all the parts and was very polite. He told me that they would start working on the car at about 11:30am when all the other employees arrived, so there were people there to answer the phone. Another person, who I assumed was Mike Huml, offered to have someone drive me to the mall, so I would have something to do. I was very impressed with their customer service to this point.

That is where everything went downhill…..

I had told Nate that I wanted to be present when he performed the WBO2 tuning and to call me when they were ready to tune. I was picked up at around 3:30pm and taken back to the shop. They told me they would have the car ready to be bolted to the dyno in about 45 minutes and would inform me before they started tuning. Before I knew it, the car was brought around front and told they were all finished. Huh, why wasn’t I informed that they were in the process of tuning? I looked over the car and noticed a little antifreeze under the car where it was parked. Nate got under the car with a rag and told me that the turbo was not leaking and some of the spilled antifreeze was dripping off the cross member. I was satisfied, everything looked ok, so I paid my bill and was off on my way home.

About 5 miles down the road, my logger was showing the O2 voltage at 0.00v. I proceeded back to the shop and had Nate come back out to take a look at the car. He verified that they had indeed plugged the O2 back in and said that it should “come back” on my drive home. He said that if the O2 didn’t start cycling when I got home to call and he would get me a new O2. That didn’t sound right to me, but I didn’t know if starting out with a really rich tune would leave the O2 coated with carbon that needed to be burned off. So I proceeded home. It had started to rain and traffic was heavy so I didn’t have a chance to jump on the car until about 30 miles away. As I was pulling out on the expressway (Rt. 22 East) I decided to “give it a romp”. I was in 3rd gear at about 5000 rpm’s and that’s when it happened. BANG! I heard this really loud noise and the car started to carry on and wouldn’t let me accelerate. So I coasted to the side of the road.

When I got out of the car, I was happy to see that the car still had all of it’s fluids and there wasn’t a giant hole in the block. I looked and noticed that the LICP had blow off from the side mount. Wow, that was scary! I had no tools to loosen and reinstall the clamp so I called SBR. It is now about 6:30pm. I was told that everyone had just left and they would try to get a hold of someone that could come out to help me. I was told to call back in 5 minutes. While I was waiting, I got back under the car to see if I could get the pipe back on and noticed that the front banjo bolt water feed line on the turbo was leaking. I looked around a little closer and saw that the oil feed line for the turbo was leaking at the oil filter housing. I hadn’t noticed it before I left because it was dripping on one of the plastic splash guards……great!

I was irritated, so I crawled out from under the car to smoke a cigarette. That’s when I noticed that they had snapped off on of my passenger side wheel studs, apparently while removing the wheel for the dyno tuning. WTF! I called SBR back to be told “sorry, I can’t get a hold of anyone and I’m the only one here, so I can’t help you.” “You can come back tomorrow and we will fix the car.” Huh, what! I live 170 miles away and my car won’t run, how do you want me to come back tomorrow. No tow truck offer, no AAA offer, NOTHING. So I hung up not happy.

I’m now stranded 140 miles from home, 4 miles from the nearest exit and it’s pouring.

Somehow, 15 minutes later, I was able to muscle the tightened clamp off the LICP and shove the pipe back on the intercooler. I proceed down the road with the hazards to the next exit. Thank god for Advanced Auto, I love those guys! I was able to borrow some tools from the nice guys there and get the LICP back on and tightened in the rain. One of them even let me use their raincoat! SBR could learn something from those guys! I purchased a 7/16 socket, ratchet, 1g of antifreeze and had 1 qt of oil in the car. Off I go, $16 later.

I stopped every 40 or 50 miles and filled the coolant reservoir, checked the oil and to make sure the 4 lug nuts I had left were still tight. Better safe than sorry!

Finally I get home and park the car…..wow, what a day!

I called SBR at 9:30am yesterday and talked to the manager Mark. I asked for Nate and was told he was unavailable, so I explained my situation. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes and who gets on the phone, but Nate. So, again I explained my problems and was told that they “forgot” to tell me about the wheel stud, sorry about the leaks and the pipe blowing off and they would sell me an O2 if I wanted. WTF. I have that logger on constantly displaying O2, airflow, timing and rpm. Nate said that he didn’t know if the O2 worked before I brought the car in, so they won’t do anything about it. Um, how did he set my FT’s with no O2???

I was placed back on the phone with Mark, as Nate had no authority to offer me anything. Mark told me to bring the car back in and they would take care of everything but the O2. Huh, the water leak and the O2 were bought to their attention before I left the shop and they KNEW they had snapped off the wheel stud. Why should I have to drive 170 miles back with a car leaking coolant, oil, a LICP that keeps blowing off and missing a wheel studs. I was then offered an O2 sensor at their cost and a store credit for 10 minutes of shop labor and $5 for the stud and lug nut. I told them that I was going to have to pay someone ½ minimum labor for the stud replacement and have never heard of a shop charging labor in 10 minute increments. They then offered me a $40 store credit to take car of the wheel stud and to sell me an O2 sensor at their cost….Wow, great, OK…..nice way to take care of a customer. I wanted them to send me a check for the cost of the wheel stud replacement, fixing the leaks and a new O2 sensor. Well, of course, no go there.

I decided that I wasn’t going to drive 170 miles back with a broken car and 170 miles home so they could fix problems that were brought to their attention before I left the shop. So, I gave up. I’m sure they figured they could get away with doing that to me, as they knew where I lived and that I had paid in cash. Side note: Always pay for this kind of stuff with a credit card or by check!

I took the day off work yesterday and called a friend that has a lift. I got the wheel stud and lug nut from the dealer for $7.63 and was able to install that. We removed the clamp from the LICP and replaced it with 2 worm clamps. The clamp they installed was too big and bottomed out before it was tight enough to hold the pipe on the side mount. My friend fixed the coolant leak at the turbo and I was able to fix the oil leak at the oil filter housing. Apparently they used pipe dope on the fitting instead of Teflon and didn’t coat the threads enough. We figured out why the O2 sensor wasn’t working…..it looks like they had beat the shit out of it with a hammer. It is bent (see picture). I have that on order from the dealer and will be getting it next week ($123).

http://www.dsmtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=698&cat=500&page=1

I can’t understand how a company like this stays in business. I will never deal with them again and will do everything I can to make sure people are informed of their habits. All of the problems were either told to them before I left, or they were aware of but didn’t tell me.

That’s my horror story……

Short version:

Boy pays company $2100 for parts and labor.
Company butchers installation and breaks customer’s car.
Boy informs company.
Company tells boy to go piss up a rope.

[AWDx4G63]

My friend, I FEEL YOUR PAIN, man. I WILL NEVER GO TO SLOWBOYRACING for you. Not that I had bad experience with them, but I did hear bad things about them. Most Importantly, I had been in terrible situation like yours when I had my 420A f**king GS with turbo kit installed by some shop and I also paid in cash. What a stuipd move I made. I was also played by the owner of the shop like toying a cat. I know your pain, I had been through it. Then they try to get rid of you and saying bad words and stuffs. There is no love from shops owners. This is why I have learned to install EVERYTHING on my GSX now that I truly love. I never go to shops to get help anymore. NEVER. All shops owner are butcher. They just want your money and but give you piece of shit workmanship that you have no way to trace after.

Be Smart. You've got to learn how to install stuffs, bro. You give yourself quality assurance at the same time, you know what you did, and you know you didn't f**k up your own lovely car. You give the best effort on your car as you put more time in finishing a job instead of letting shops to rush on your car. They never slow down their work because Time = money for them. DSM people can teach you all the time. Come to dsmtalk.com and ask for help. People in here are more than nice to teach you. www.vfaw.com has all info. All you need is some time to work on things.

BTW, I am glad that I made the choice in recent turbo purchase from AGPturbo instead of SlowBoyRAcing. I knew there is something wrong with them. Dsmtalk.com people talked about them.

Keep this thread going. I am taking this shit seriuosly, too. Share your story with us, guys.

Andrew

[DR.Spock]

if you find a shop you can trust and know they know what the hell they are doin then stick with them. the only two shops i ever will go to and trust is RRE and forced performance. i tried others but i always came back to RRE and FP. they never let me down. and they will always have my business.

[FourG63 98GST]

Yeah, you need to learn how to install stuff on your own man. Turbo, injectors, and fuel pump are not that hard to install man. I started off in the same boat as many people, who didnt know how to install and diagnose problems. It took me 2 years to learn everything and do installation myself. It all starts with the will to learn. You need to take a chance at it. Watch, listen, and learn from others. I myself got ripped off by many shops that took advantage of me and i got sick and tired of that. I will never ever take my car to a shop again. Buy yourself a set of tools including a breaker bar. :)

Let this be a lesson learned. Most shops are in business to make money, satisfying the customer is not there priority. I think SBR could care less you drove 171 miles to them..they just care wether they went home with $$$ in there pockets. Dont let shitty business's take advantage of you.

I will keep telling anyone who isnt aware of SBR's faulty business tactics to never do business with them. There is only one shop that i do trust and that is MACH V (Ultimate) in Sterling VA. Although there prices are ridiculously high, they will get the job done right the first time.

[gimmie11s]

if you find a shop you can trust and know they know what the hell they are doin then stick with them. the only two shops i ever will go to and trust is RRE and forced performance. i tried others but i always came back to RRE and FP. they never let me down. and they will always have my business.

i second that on both shops....


-d

[Whiteonyx86]

i myself would not settle for getting screwed like that...i paid a guy to assemble my bottom end and it turns out when i have to pull everything back apart the 2 oil rings are bent up on the pistons...which caused many other problems, i basically had to build a whole new engine again and he told me he wasnt gonna pay me a dime back. If you want shit done right you gotta do it yourself. But seriously i wouldnt let SBR slip away with this one, ive read to many post about that place...and it seems as though latley a lot of places are having scat scenes with everyone...

[diambo4life]

i myself would not settle for getting screwed like that...i paid a guy to assemble my bottom end and it turns out when i have to pull everything back apart the 2 oil rings are bent up on the pistons...which caused many other problems, i basically had to build a whole new engine again and he told me he wasnt gonna pay me a dime back. If you want shit done right you gotta do it yourself. But seriously i wouldnt let SBR slip away with this one, ive read to many post about that place...and it seems as though latley a lot of places are having scat scenes with everyone...


That sucks. :(

Another classic SBR review can be found here. (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115406) Coincidence? I think not.

[anconover]

doesnt suprise me one bit. But damn 123$ for an o2 sensor? shoulda been more like 70$ tops. o2sensors.com has em for 55 =|

[elementalwindx]

doesnt suprise me one bit. But damn 123$ for an o2 sensor? shoulda been more like 70$ tops. o2sensors.com has em for 55 =|

I got my front o2 for 80$ shipped to my door. Works like a charm...wish it was a WB tho.

Yea dsmtalk, dsmlink, dsmtuners forums are VERRRRY helpful! Walk-thrus are so awesome. I've done every bit of work on my car myself, and I'm just a PC geek that never works on cars.

Installed dsmlink, hahn 16g, everything on the driverside of my motor, water pump, timing belt, shaft removal, stupid prothane mounts, all that crap, new alternator, radiator fans, fuel pump, bov (haha), front mount (made the pipes myself), apexi tt, radar detector in front bumper, throttle body, leather interior, few custom switches for water cooler and other stuff.

It's a fun learning process.

[shabby]

They should of been licking you balls while you wait after spending 2100 bucks with them. And those little problems should of been fixed without question.
After the last thread, you'd figure that sbr would smarten up but i guess not.

[nukefission]

Let's keep it on topic, folks. Take the WB conversation to PM or another forum.

[Asmodeus]

I thought the last story was bad...
I'm eager to see what they have to say about his one.
:rolleyes:
I was JUST about to go there cause I needed machine work done.
And they were cheaper than the other machine shop around here.
(Who also has been getting a bit of a reputation)
This sucks.
:mad:

[siceclipse]

You know, they can say whatever they want, but it wont make this thread or any of the other horror stories go away. And they should really think about how they treat their customers from now on cause it looks like nobody is taking their shit and adding to their increasing bad name by posting reviews like this. for anyone who cares, i go to Turbo Trix and dont have any problems or regrets. its like going to RRE or FP for me. Quality service and 100% satisfaction, if not they are always eager to help to fix the problem.

[Whiteonyx86]

SBR doesnt do any in house work is what i hear from a little birdy, and just another sad story i heard is they built a stroker for a friends gsx hes running an fp3052 well they built the motor with a "new crank" which is what he paid for, 2000miles later the crank snapped....the crank wasnt a new crank it was a remanufactured crank...so just becaused they decided to put a shitty crank in there ended up costing him a whole engine not including the labor that was put into getting it all together...ive heard to much latley and something needs to be done real quick you just dont jack around with peoples money

[AWD Emperor]

I'm sorry about your car, spyder ...

This is the first time I've heard about SBR being a bad shop. I've usually heard good stuff about them, but I suppose actual work is a different story. Customers ordering online, putting a product in a box and shipping it is different from taking a car apart, I suppose.

I usually deal with DSMotorsport for parts, and thus far, they've been really good to me. I've been dealing with RRE recently as well, and they haven't let me down yet. I'm actually only 20 minutes away from Hahn (I've seen their 1GA demo car [ugly wheels, though] around many a time) and AMS, so I should give them a call.

[MegaGS]

SBR doesnt do any in house work is what i hear from a little birdy, and just another sad story i heard is they built a stroker for a friends gsx hes running an fp3052 well they built the motor with a "new crank" which is what he paid for, 2000miles later the crank snapped....the crank wasnt a new crank it was a remanufactured crank...so just becaused they decided to put a shitty crank in there ended up costing him a whole engine not including the labor that was put into getting it all together...ive heard to much latley and something needs to be done real quick you just dont jack around with peoples money

I was recently looking around for engines, and for the hell of it clicked on the strokers at the sites I visited. I found the same pictures of strokers that sbr had on their website. They had the exact same prices and pictures of these motors on various websites (3 or more; I cannot remember them). Watch out boys, I think some of their parts (If they are even FROM sbr) are all over the place being sourced to different shops to make them more available all for the sake of mo' $$$.

[1991gvr4]

Can SBR comment on this? I know Nate, Craggar, Mark, and Mike read this. I have also had shipping issues. They failed to tell me that my Vibrant perfromance fittings werent in stock, took 2 months, then my flywheel bolts took 3 weeks, and were shipped back to them. And they charged me for shipping.

[elementalwindx]

Can SBR comment on this? I know Nate, Craggar, Mark, and Mike read this. I have also had shipping issues. They failed to tell me that my Vibrant perfromance fittings werent in stock, took 2 months, then my flywheel bolts took 3 weeks, and were shipped back to them. And they charged me for shipping.

I hope I dont have any problems with sbr ever lol. They sent me a tial exhaust wg flange when I ordered a tial bov flange, and I specified it strictly. But it happened. I called craigger (whom I always order my stuff from) and he tranfered me to someone who does the shipping and they gave me a tial bov flange for free :) It generally takes them 2 days at the most to ship to me in Wilmington, NC. That will make me buy my 880cc's, aeromotive, and lines from them coming up in the next month. I still doubt I'll ever buy a turbo from them just cause I have never heard a single positive thing about their delivery dates on turbos. But then again they dont specalize on just turbos...at least I dont think they do. AGP and FP do specialize in turbos. I am right, right? lol.

[anconover]

not to get off topic, but if u buy PTE 880's from them you are on crack. Go on ebay, 295$ shipped for PTE 880's. My friend and I have both purchased from the ebay vendor, got them 2 days later, went smooth. If u dont wanna buy thru ebay, extremepsi is almost 100$ cheaper as well i believe.

[elementalwindx]

not to get off topic, but if u buy PTE 880's from them you are on crack. Go on ebay, 295$ shipped for PTE 880's. My friend and I have both purchased from the ebay vendor, got them 2 days later, went smooth. If u dont wanna buy thru ebay, extremepsi is almost 100$ cheaper as well i believe.
Cragger told me they will price match if they can. If they cant, then yea I'd go to that guy on ebay I've seen for almost over a year now. He raised his prices almost $20 :(

I try to form a good reputation being a repeat customer in hopes of getting better prices and treatment with them, instead of constantly buying from new vendors and never getting the best service or prices that a repeat customer could achieve.
At least I figured that was a common sense thing in business relations.

[anconover]

i bet even if they gave u a customer discount you could find the same part cheaper somewhere else.

[smcnair]

I try to form a good reputation being a repeat customer in hopes of getting better prices and treatment with them, instead of constantly buying from new vendors and never getting the best service or prices that a repeat customer could achieve.

A new vendor will PROBABLY give better customer service than SBR will give to a repeat customer. FP, RoadRace, or one of the other honest vendors WILL DEFINITELY give you better service as a new customer. Maybe SBR will screw you, maybe you will be lucky, but being a repeat customer affects nothing with them. Just read some of the NUMEROUS complaints online, many (myself included) are from once loyal repeat customers. It gets you nothing.

Why do people buy from a place that "sometimes" gives great service, when for the same $$$ they could buy from a place that "always" gives good service. This always puzzles me.

[AWDx4G63]

I hope I dont have any problems with sbr ever lol. They sent me a tial exhaust wg flange when I ordered a tial bov flange, and I specified it strictly. But it happened. I called craigger (whom I always order my stuff from) and he tranfered me to someone who does the shipping and they gave me a tial bov flange for free :) It generally takes them 2 days at the most to ship to me in Wilmington, NC. That will make me buy my 880cc's, aeromotive, and lines from them coming up in the next month. I still doubt I'll ever buy a turbo from them just cause I have never heard a single positive thing about their delivery dates on turbos. But then again they dont specalize on just turbos...at least I dont think they do. AGP and FP do specialize in turbos. I am right, right? lol.

I ordered AGP RS49 2 weeks ago. I got it now. Just a heads up. AGP's fast. Turbo looks good. Haven't installed yet.

Andrew

[eyebrowski]

I should post a list of shops I will do business with and if you choose to be cheap that is your own fault. By supporting some of these shops you assure other people will get screwed in the future.

Will SBR please stand up? I think an explanation is due.

[elementalwindx]

I should post a list of shops I will do business with and if you choose to be cheap that is your own fault. By supporting some of these shops you assure other people will get screwed in the future.

Will SBR please stand up? I think an explanation is due.

I do agree, someone from sbr (whoever delt with this customer) should come on here and make things right. Someone call sbr and inform them of this thread. They probably dont know this thread even exists.

I say this cause I have red hundreds of negative threads against sbr, and not a single one where one of the employees came on to defend the businesses name. I'm sure someone will say "They are too busy to deal with every single negative feedback they have"....my reply to that is, maybe they should quit causing so much negative feedback lol.

[nukefission]

SBR has responded in person to a couple other threads in this forum, however I think they're holding back nowadays to keep out of the internet drama. Whether that will be good or bad for them in the long run is yet to be seen.

Keep the unnecessary chatter to a minimum. The guy had a bad experience, leave it at that.

[bytheway]

sorry that happened to you, i have looked at things from slowboy before but so far havn't bought anything from them.

titan motorsports did great with my eagle rods and AMS in chicago was awsome with my ross pistons. the guys at the swap shop have always treated me great as well. www.theswapshop.net

[SPDMTL]

I had similar epxeriences with SlowBoy....

I have to say though, my first ever order with them went great, no problems at all and all the right parts...

The 2nd time around however, was a pita....

I had just purchased a new T-60 turbo from another company and had this blow after only 7 months....sent it back for warranty work only to be told I had to wait about 4 to 6 weeks for the repairs....

I could not afford any downtime, especially not that long....searched everywhere for a turbo similar (due to supporting mods) and found one at slowboy....they told they could have it out by Friday tha same week....I figured well, what the hell...only one week wait....

I asked them time and time again, was it sure that it would be shipped out by Friday? The answer was constantly: "yes".....

Long story short....the turbo did not ship by Friday, nor the Monday afterwards....Called them up on Tuesday to be told that they are waiting for some parts needed to make the turbo....I was furious.....

Asked them to cancel my order...mind you, they already charged my credit card....They asked if I was sure....

They did as requested....only to be told that they would not credit my credit card and that they would send me a check.....At this time I only wanted to be done with and move on....

The check arrives only to be about $100 short...called them up and was told that they reserved the right to charge about 15% return fee or cancellation fee on special orders.....

Needless to say, after arguing with them and trying to get the money back as I think it was thier fault in the first place for lying to me....I decided to nevermind and be hustled out of the $100....

Called the credit card company and tried to put a dispute and was told they only could do this if the company would refund the money on the credit card.....

Just stay away from them, I know I will never buy from them again...

[spyderturbo007]

That's a rough story. They are very good at ignoring you when you have a problem. There was one point where Mark actually stopped responding to my questions on the phone the day I called to complain. Apparently he was at a loss for words, as I made some very good points as to why they should make things right.

I didn't feel that I was being unreasonable in my requests, either. I just wanted them to send me an O2 sensor at no charge. Pay for the replacement of the wheel stud and lug nut ($8) and reimburse me for 1 1/2 hours of labor charges. This would allow me to give my buddy some money for letting me use his garage/tools/lift for 6 hours.

Instead I end up with a $40 credit that they know damn well I will never use.

I think the reason SBR is not responding to this thread is that they KNOW that I was horribly mistreated.

[Whiteonyx86]

quit sitting around and not doing anything, i want to see something happening here... :D

[Asmodeus]

SBR doesnt do any in house work is what i hear from a little birdy, and just another sad story i heard is they built a stroker for a friends gsx hes running an fp3052 well they built the motor with a "new crank" which is what he paid for, 2000miles later the crank snapped....the crank wasnt a new crank it was a remanufactured crank...so just becaused they decided to put a shitty crank in there ended up costing him a whole engine not including the labor that was put into getting it all together...ive heard to much latley and something needs to be done real quick you just dont jack around with peoples money

Well I called "DLK" which is the actual machine shop I was talking about, and when i asked if he was familiar with these types of heads, he replied that they did the out-sourced machine work for SBR. That was, before they got their own machines and now do their own work. (I live in PA, about 30 minutes from SBR. And 10 from DLK. So your little birdy smokes crack. :rolleyes: )
So, when I called SBR for a quote they told me to hold on he had to go next door and see what the going rate for 1mm o/s valves, 2 studs, and magnesium guides put in was going to be. They were VERY nice on the phone. (Cragger) They also monkey stomped DLK's price.
~But some of this stuff is a cause for concern IMO, so I will hold off for a moment to consider my options and see how things unfold. I'd like to hear a calm professional side to their story. But they got slammed pretty hard the last time they responded, I'm guessing thats why they are abstaining? I dunno?

[thor_bud]

damn, that sucks...i will never buy from them...good thing, cuz i almost bought from them...thanks. I'd also like to add that i hate people that don't have passion for what they do. If you don't like cars, then don't work there.

[SlowboyNRS]

damn, that sucks...i will never buy from them...good thing, cuz i almost bought from them...thanks. I'd also like to add that i hate people that don't have passion for what they do. If you don't like cars, then don't work there.


I haven't posted in repsonse to this post simply because this forum, and all internet forums for that matter, cannot stay on topic and turn into a pissing contest. Not everything in the original post or the continuing posts are true, infact there are alot of lies and flat out BS. Its hard to help a customer on the forums without a dozen others chiming in. Sadly, only the bad things come out in the forums.

Please dont question my passion for DSMs, it is the sole reason I was the FIRST employee at SBR and have been here the longest, except for Mike of course. If I didnt like working on, tuning, and racing DSMs, I'd be working for PennDOT.

If ANYONE would like to talk directly to me about this or any other problem, please contact me, off the forums, 724.349.8417 ext 18 and I'll be happy to help. An internet forum is simply not the medium to conduct this type of customer support.

Nate
SBR

[CraggerIUP]

SBR has responded in person to a couple other threads in this forum, however I think they're holding back nowadays to keep out of the internet drama. Whether that will be good or bad for them in the long run is yet to be seen.

This guy gets it. I'm right here with Nate, 724.349.6160 ext. 10 and CSE@slowboyracing.com if need be feel free to get a hold of me anytime. I don't even want to get into this pissing contest of someone telling my manager on the phone that i told them they were screwed, when i was nothing but nice and offered every option i had, but somehow that go left out. Called two guys AFTER HOURS to go help you and said that at 8:00 my shift was over and if you need me to come help you in blairsville to call and got hung up on. I hung around for a half an hour after quiting time (8:00PM Eastern time), and only got phone calls for general questions, none from the starter of this thread, and i didn't have voice mail from you the next morning, i had plenty of other ones however just as i do every morning. Those are my thoughts, most of you guys will think "that craggers an asshole with no spine", but my relations with my other customers speak for themselves. I have sat and teched guys over the phones for over 30 minutes for guys who haven't even bought anything off me yet, local guys stop and i always try my best to help no matter what, when or why. I tuned an evo last night until 2:30 in the morning with the help of nathan just so that a customers car got back to him in tip top shape and he was only charged 3 hours because thats what i did on the estimate and try my best to hit the estimate on the money and when it takes longer, i loose out. My info is listed above, this is the last time you'll see me post on this thread. You want my answer, you got it, if you need anything else give me a ring i'll be in tommorow 11:00 to 8:00 eastern time.

Cragger
SBR

[DSMmania]

Well since it seems the whole group is paying attention to this thread, I'll post as well. I didn't have a single thing to do with the install on this car, the tuning, hell, I didn't even see you to introduce myself as an employee. I still need to post and tell everyone here that bad experiences are the only thing that you hear of. I have loyal customers of mine that call me just to thank me because of a purchase, a good product, or good ship time. No one stops to think about praising someone. For the life of me, if something is time sensitive, why the HELL didn't you ask if it was in stock, or able to ship that same day, and still pay ground shipping? (Sorry, the shipping manager side coming out). The reason we're here, in this business, is because we loved racing, dsm's and otherwise, and could get parts. We've grown, learned, and gained experience, and here we are. The key to good service ANYWHERE, is dealing with the same person each time. Everyone seems to think business is all eBay anymore, or "the price is right". We have prices listed, you can't call and haggle, why is it people are so upset if they pay the price listed? Who are you to to think "I should get 20% off because I'm a skinny white guy". Regardless, each instance is handled seperatly, 5 cents or 5k, I don't care how much you spent, you're a customer to me, I treat you the same, the best I can. Any business has bad occurances, it's business, consumers are unhappy, unreasonable people for the most part (I HATE when they put ice in my drink and I requested it without), so you bitch till you get what you want. It's the society we live in, instant gradification is key. You get the guys who are happy too, don't get me wrong, but it's a very one sided group. I'm also tired of people wanting shit free, overnight, and their balls massaged just because of a mistake. What, you didn't ever forget the cover sheet for YOUR TPS report at work? Shit happens, we keep it to the minimum we can (and yes, it's minimal for as much as we handle daily), and we try to make what we do screw up right.

Sir, I'm sorry you feel we treated you so badly, I've talked to the guys that did deal with you, and got different parts of the story you totally left out in this post, just because you are heated at the point of authoring this thread (yes, I'm guilty of this too before), doesn't mean the experiance is all bad.

Anyone that feels there is a problem that needs corrected, feel free to call me and I'll talk to you as well. I currently handle the inventory and things here at SBR, however I'm going to Sales as it's where I want to be, so I can tech your ear off, I can tell you the entire VFAQ site like it was my bible etc., so don't think I'm just some guy who can put boxes together. I'm a DSM'r at heart.

My email is ccb@slowboyracing.com, my extension is 11, and I'm there minimum 8-5.

Thank you, drive through.

-Curt

[muchachoruiz]

What, you didn't ever forget the cover sheet for YOUR TPS report at work?
-Curt

you didn't get that Memo?

sorry i couldn't help it. :D

[smcnair]

I still need to post and tell everyone here that bad experiences are the only thing that you hear of.
You guys get lots of praise when you do things right just as other good shops do. Even in this thread there are people praising you.

A big problem on the other side. You can take all complaints against FP and add them to all complaints against roadrace, turbotrix and a few others mentioned here. Then double that number and it will still be less than the number of complaints against SBR. And SBR hasn't even been around as long. Why is this??

For the life of me, if something is time sensitive, why the HELL didn't you ask if it was in stock, or able to ship that same day, and still pay ground shipping?

People do ask but they are lied to. There are tonnes of complaints about this here and elsewhere. Just read a few responses back from SPDMTL. This lying as well as things not being made right seem to be 2 things never addressed in any of the SBR threads.

[SlowboyNRS]

You guys get lots of praise when you do things right just as other good shops do. Even in this thread there are people praising you.

A big problem on the other side. You can take all complaints against FP and add them to all complaints against roadrace, turbotrix and a few others mentioned here. Then double that number and it will still be less than the number of complaints against SBR. And SBR hasn't even been around as long. Why is this??

People do ask but they are lied to. There are tonnes of complaints about this here and elsewhere. Just read a few responses back from SPDMTL. This lying as well as things not being made right seem to be 2 things never addressed in any of the SBR threads.

"Tons" would be the correct spelling ;). I'm tired of all the vendor bashing and "sand in pussy" syndrome. If you have a problem, contact the vendor first, dont bitch and whine on a forum and create a pity party.

Sorry to sound like an ass, but there are "tons" of complaints about other vendors too. Just browse through the vendor section and you'll see what I mean. You just have to put yourself in our postion. We're not here to try and rip you off. Everyone here loves the DSM community and enjoys working with these cars. We wouldnt be here working on customer cars until 3am, traveling 150 miles to help a customer install one of our motors (yes I have done that), or staying on the phone after hours to answer tech calls if we hated all of you. You come off telling us that we try to screw you, and thats the complete opposite. Again, if you want to talk to me, please call. Hell, my cell is 724.840.3669, call me personally, on or off the clock, and I will help you to the best of my ability.

Nate
SBR

Martin, you da man ;)

[elementalwindx]

*taps on the shoulder*.... I at least praised and didn't bitch the entire time.

lol soooo craiger....wanna hook me up with some 880s and aeromotive and lines/connectors I need to put it on.....super cheap? LOL jk.

Goin to get the matching 12" spal fan first to fix my stupid overheating problem linked here: http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132335 and here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188701 and for those of you with dsmlink, here: http://www.dsmlink.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4879


sooo if any of you dsm bible memorized people wanna help me out with that and also think a 12" spal fan paired with a 11" spal fan will clear the problem, then rock on :)



PS For those of you who dont know real world business, I have yet to see many illegit bad businesses last past a year to a year and a half by ripping their customers off and going on to the next new guy. Return customers are what fuel my business in the IT world.

[Whiteonyx86]

Im sure that SBR is a good shop and treats the "local people" well, since they can show up to the shop and raise hell. But when a friend is supposed to have a new crank in his stroker engine and it turns out to be remanufactured when the block is all torn apart i think that's a big smack in the face, i would at least think he'd be screwed on some other part of the bottom end and someone would be smart enough not to half ass a part that can ruin the whole engine (had less than 2k miles on the engine). And of course SBR's name came up. There are just to many bad things happening overshadowing the good and when you play with peoples money shits gonna hit the fan.

[SlowboyNRS]

Im sure that SBR is a good shop and treats the "local people" well, since they can show up to the shop and raise hell. But when a friend is supposed to have a new crank in his stroker engine and it turns out to be remanufactured when the block is all torn apart i think that's a big smack in the face, i would at least think he'd be screwed on some other part of the bottom end and someone would be smart enough not to half ass a part that can ruin the whole engine. And of course SBR's name came up. There are just to many bad things happening overshadowing the good and when you play with peoples money shits gonna hit the fan.

Personally, I am unaware of this situtation. This is why I am offering myself as a contact for you. Tell your friend to call me and we can fix what has been done. Give me a call tomorrow, again ext 18, or have your friend call, and we will fix the situation. "We cannot correct that which we are not aware of." ;)

Has he called and talked to someone here about the crank? If so who? Was it resolved?

Nate
SBR

[Whiteonyx86]

I did not listen to the details because ive never heard of such anal terror and i had to cover my ears and walk off...but i will talk to John Doe again. But i believe it's all valid seeing that the engine was assembled by mitsu (not the bottom end, it came assembled from SBR)

[SlowboyNRS]

I did not listen to the details because ive never heard of such anal terror and i had to cover my ears and walk off...but i will talk to John Doe again.

If this is so, then you dont know the whole story, so please dont post like you do. Have him call me, and we'll take care of it.

Nate
SBR

[Whiteonyx86]

The point is, im sure he's contacted you, who wouldnt contact you if there bottom end fell apart. I dont run a buisness or anything but looking at things from the outside i would be having all the people with complaints at least reply with a follow up of how there problem was fixed. i have yet to see or hear any closure on anything.

[SlowboyNRS]

The point is, im sure he's contacted you, who wouldnt contact you if there bottom end fell apart. I dont run a buisness or anything but looking at things from the outside i would be having all the people with complaints at least reply with a follow up of how there problem was fixed. i have yet to see or hear any closure on anything.

Then have him talk directly to me and it will get fixed, I dont know whats unclear about that. I'm sure if he contacted someone here, and everything that you said happened had happened, it would have been fixed.

Nate
SBR

[Whiteonyx86]

trust me i will get updated on the situation, and if all turns out good i will give SBR a thumbs up on handling this problem...but another point can be made from this in saying that it all could have been avoided in the first place if the crank wasnt half ass'd. But yes i will reply when i hear more.

[anconover]

wow only takes 2 pages of multiple people explaining how terrible of an experience they had with SBR for them to jump in and offer to be such great guys and fix all these problems... :rolleyes:

[Spoolin69]

I love the service that SBR gives me and I will keep buying all of my things their! I bought a turbo form them and I got in a week to my door!! This whole vendor bashing is getting out of control. Yeah you had some shitty luck but these guys will help you out, Craig has helped me out too many times to count over the phone when he could have been making sales but he did not!! don't bash them Nate Craig Matt and Mike have bent over backwards to help me and give me GREAT DEALS and GREAT PRODUCTS!!!
Shane

[knewblewkorvett]

I think it is about time this thread is closed unless the thread starter wants to chime in. I'm somewhat new to this forum but it seems this thread is going against the web site's rules :confused:

[DSMmania]

This clown with the crank, I'd like to get his name, because I've never heard of it, and I would have had to get his new crank that he wanted in his motor. Why are you hiding his name for like 4 posts, maybe because it didn't happen? And you state that you couldn't take his whining about things, maybe it's because it isn't true?! He never contacted anyone here, so go lay down.

We have very little local business, just because we're in BFE and the rice runs rampant, not many guys like the performance stuff.. We handle all of our customers the same whether you walked in the door, you call, or you email us.

My last note is, if we messed something up, we will correct it here, but we will not just send you money in the amount you feel you are owed, you can't take your new Hemi to Joe Blow's garage and have it worked on, then go back and demand to be reimbursed by Dodge, it will not happen. Give them the opportunity to make it right, and make it up to you, and you'll get further.

Again, feel free to call if you need help with your issues.

Curt

[spyderturbo007]

I don't even want to get into this pissing contest of someone telling my manager on the phone that i told them they were screwed, when i was nothing but nice and offered every option i had, but somehow that go left out.

I was told that your employees were unable to help me because they were all traveling in the opposite direction. Yes you were nice, as you should have been.


Called two guys AFTER HOURS to go help you and said that at 8:00 my shift was over and if you need me to come help you in blairsville to call and got hung up on.

You NEVER offered to drive to my location and help. You did inform me that your shift was over at 8pm. You told me "I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do".


and i didn't have voice mail from you the next morning, i had plenty of other ones however just as i do every morning.


That's because I called and talked to Mark that morning trying to get this problem resolved.


I have sat and teched guys over the phones for over 30 minutes for guys who haven't even bought anything off me yet


That is wonderful that you take the time to tech someone that hasn't made a purchase. I did make a purchase, in the amount of $2100! All I received for my trouble was a $40 store credit. You can clearly see from the photos I posted that the O2 sensor was damaged during your installation. Did your employees see the CEL on when they were doing the installation, NO. If the O2 sensor was damaged when I arrived you would have seen a P0140 CEL for the Bank 1 FT's.


I'm tired of all the vendor bashing and "sand in pussy" syndrome. If you have a problem, contact the vendor first, dont bitch and whine on a forum and create a pity party.


I have been nothing but professional during this thread and would appreciate you doing the same. I did contact the vendor first and was unable to come to a better resolutin than a $40 store credit. The O2 sensor I installed yesterday cost me $139.


Not everything in the original post or the continuing posts are true, infact there are alot of lies and flat out BS


Please elaborate. The only thing that may have been left out was that I was irritated on the phone. Nothing abnormal there, I was stuck in the rain 140 miles from home and told "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do." At no point was I yelling, swearing or name calling. I was curt and to the point, yes, but never demeaing.


My last note is, if we messed something up, we will correct it here, but we will not just send you money in the amount you feel you are owed,


If me asking for you to cover the labor costs was outside of what you were prepaired to offer, fine. Why couldn't you pick up the cost of a new O2 sensor? Why could you only offer to "sell me one at your cost".


Give them the opportunity to make it right, and make it up to you, and you'll get further.


I did. All I received for a vehicle with a damaged O2 sensor, broken wheel stud and lost lug nut, a LICP that required a new clamp, turbo leaking anitfreeze and an oil leak at the oil filter housing was a $40 store credit. That doesn't even include my time repairing your mistakes, driving to the dealership on 2 different occasions to pick up parts and the cost of those parts.

I would like to know why everyone from Slowboy racing has avoided responding to MY issues. This is the reason the thread was started. Everyone seems to be more concerned with the broken crank.

[SlowboyNRS]

SBR has responded in person to a couple other threads in this forum, however I think they're holding back nowadays to keep out of the internet drama.

Exactly.

Nate
SBR

[DSMmania]

"I would like to know why everyone from Slowboy racing have avoided responding to my issues. This is the reason the thread was started."

How is posting this on a forum going to get us to help you? No one on this forum can help you, all they can do is offer you a tissue. Call and talk to whomever you need that has dealt with your situation if you feel it's unresolved. We look at forums on our own time, it's not part of our job to read and talk on forums, and is by no means a way to contact any of us.

I don't work in our garage, so I will refrain from commenting on your cars condition before or after it left our shop.

Also, if you wonder how we know what your cars fuel trims were, you paid for the dyno time with our wideband, what do you think that does? Air Fuel Ratio's. We don't need to watch your blinky A/F gauge, it doesn't tell us what we want accurately.

-Rant mode off

[spyderturbo007]

Call and talk to whomever you need that has dealt with your situation if you feel it's unresolved.


I did with an unsatisfactory resolution. What will calling again help. I was told that there was nothing else your company would do other than the $40 store credit.


I don't work in our garage, so I will refrain from commenting on your cars condition before or after it left our shop.


There seems to be a theme here....no one from your company has.


Also, if you wonder how we know what your cars fuel trims were, you paid for the dyno time with our wideband, what do you think that does?


Then you might want to have your gauge recalibrated. When I left my trims were maxed out at 12% and 17%.


We don't need to watch your blinky A/F gauge, it doesn't tell us what we want accurately.


Thanks, but I don't have a blinky A/F gauge, I use a pocketlogger.

[SlowboyNRS]

I did with an unsatisfactory resolution. What will calling again help. I was told that there was nothing else your company would do other than the $40 store credit.



There seems to be a theme here....no one from your company has.



Then you might want to have your gauge recalibrated. When I left my trims were maxed out at 12% and 17%.



Thanks, but I don't have a blinky A/F gauge, I use a pocketlogger.

I'm sorry you feel your 1 volt narrow band 02 sensor is more accurate than a $600 wideband. You have big injectors with a stock ecu controller by an afc, the calcualtions for the fuel trims will obviously be off.

Nate
SBR

Over and out.

[smcnair]

"Tons" would be the correct spelling ;)......
Sorry to sound like an ass, but there are "tons"
You do kind of sound like an ass. If you are going to resort to mocking someone for their spelling, at least educate yourself first. "Tonne" refers to a metric tonne (1000 kg), "ton" refers to an imperial ton. In the context used, either can represent 'a lot'. You guys run a machine shop and don't know what the metric system is?
I'm tired of all the vendor bashing and "sand in pussy" syndrome. If you have a problem, contact the vendor first, dont bitch and whine on a forum and create a pity party.
I understand your point here about contacting the vendor, it has been made repeatedly. I did contact the vendor first in my case(many times infact, by BOTH phone and email). And obviously spyderturbo007 has too.

"contact the vendor" responses are just an effort to avoid acknowledging questions about lies and mistreatment. If you are going to post here, why not try to resolve things instead of insulting the forums and the people that feel they have been mistreated.
but there are "tons" of complaints about other vendors too. Just browse through the vendor section and you'll see what I meanYes that is true, see stores like BJ's, Taboospeedshop. If you want to be in compared to them, ok here you go: You are no worse, infact you are better. If you want to acknowledge my real question, I will state it again...why is the number of complaints against long time good vendors (like the ones I listed) barely a fraction of the number against SBR?

[SlowboyNRS]

You do kind of sound like an ass. If you are going to resort to mocking someone for their spelling, at least educate yourself first. "Tonne" refers to a metric tonne (1000 kg), "ton" refers to an imperial ton. In the context used, either can represent 'a lot'. You guys run a machine shop and don't know what the metric system is?
I understand your point here about contacting the vendor, it has been made repeatedly. I did contact the vendor first in my case(many times infact, by BOTH phone and email). And obviously spyderturbo007 has too.

"contact the vendor" responses are just an effort to avoid acknowledging questions about lies and mistreatment. If you are going to post here, why not try to resolve things instead of insulting the forums and the people that feel they have been mistreated.
Yes that is true, see stores like BJ's, Taboospeedshop. If you want to be in compared to them, ok here you go: You are no worse, infact you are better. If you want to acknowledge my real question, I will state it again...why is the number of complaints against long time good vendors (like the ones I listed) barely a fraction of the number against SBR?

If I knew the answer to your question I would have responded earlier. This is again the problem with complaint forums and also with vendors posting. It seems it never resolves anything and just turns into a giant pissing contest.

Spyder(Nathan) - An O2 sensor is a wear item. It does not always throw the CEL when a sensor is not reading, you know this as the CEL was not on when you left. What kind of gas mileage did you get on the way home?

And, to stop this post from turning out like any other pissing contest, what can I do to fix this? Do you want an 02 sensor? Refunded for the O2 you bought? You name it and I'll do what I can, even if it means coming out of my own pocket.

nrs@slowboyracing.com

Nate
SBR

[spyderturbo007]

Spyder(Nathan) - An O2 sensor is a wear item. It does not always throw the CEL when a sensor is not reading, you know this as the CEL was not on when you left.


The CEL did trip on the way home, I assumed this was due to the fact that I had satisfied the ECU "conditions" before it deamed the sensor bad.


What kind of gas mileage did you get on the way home?


Honestly I did not keep track of the gas mileage. I was irritated and driving home in the pouring down rain with summer only tires. Needless to say I was a little scared getting passed by tractor trailers going 75mph, when I'm doing 50mph.


Do you want an 02 sensor? Refunded for the O2 you bought? You name it and I'll do what I can, even if it means coming out of my own pocket.


Yes, I would like a refund for the O2 sensor (I can fax you a copy of the receipt tomorrow if necessary).

I would also like to trade my $40 store credit in for a check. This will cover the cost of paying to have the wheel stud fixed and the price for the clamps. I would have done it myself, but I didn't have the tool to pull the wheel stud through. I can provide a receipt for that work also. My bill for the clamps and the install of the wheel stud was $35.42 and the stud and lug nut was about $6.50.

[SlowboyNRS]

The CEL did trip on the way home, I assumed this was due to the fact that I had satisfied the ECU "conditions" before it deamed the sensor bad.



Honestly I did not keep track of the gas mileage. I was irritated and driving home in the pouring down rain with summer only tires. Needless to say I was a little scared getting passed by tractor trailers going 75mph, when I'm doing 50mph.



Yes, I would like a refund for the O2 sensor (I can fax you a copy of the receipt tomorrow if necessary).

I would also like to trade my $40 store credit in for a check. This will cover the cost of paying to have the wheel stud fixed and the price for the clamps. I would have done it myself, but I didn't have the tool to pull the wheel stud through. I can provide a receipt for that work also. My bill for the clamps and the install of the wheel stud was $35.42 and the stud and lug nut was about $6.50.

Email me off the board please and I'll do what I can.

Thanks,

Nate
SBR

[XakEp]

An O2 sensor is a wear item.

I was not aware that using a hammer to install an 02 sensor is common practice.

Glad to see you're willing to talk with him about this and see if you can come halfway - I'm looking forward to hearing about the resolution.

[knewblewkorvett]

I think it is about time this thread is closed. I'm somewhat new to this forum but it seems this thread is going against the web site's rules :confused:

I think this still applies

[spyderturbo007]

I think it is about time this thread is closed unless the thread starter wants to chime in. I'm somewhat new to this forum but it seems this thread is going against the web site's rules :confused:

These are the rules for this forum


Please read and follow these vendor rules, failure to do so will result in swift action.

Keep your post professional, and factual. There is no need for opinions to be interjected into the post, facts will suffice and will make for a stronger case.

Exhaust all avenues of communication with the vendor prior to posting a negative review. You'll find that most vendors are reasonable and responsive if you approach them with an open mind...

Do not hound a vendor or harrass a vendor, or believe that your post on the forums can be used to 'blackmail' the vendor into getting what you want as opposed to negative press.


I do not feel that any of my posts violate any of the rules as stated by ekool.

All of my posts have been factual and professional and I have harrassed no one.

I had tried to contact the vendor and received, to this date, an unsatisfactory resolution. I felt posting here would be informative to others searching for a vendor.

I have sent an email to SBR, as requested by Nate, and am awaiting a reply. I will post the results when I receive the email.

I do not feel there is any reason to close this thread as, for the most part, it has stayed on topic and I have not violated any rules.

[jallenGSX]

I have my own opinions about SBR which I won't share, but I have to comment on one of the repeating issues in this thread:

If you drive nearly 200 miles to get car work done and then get home and find problems, it is your responsibility to get the car back to the shop at fault in order to get repairs performed. I would have gone over that car thoroughly before getting over 1 mile away. Antifreeze was even spotted leaking when the car was picked up. SBR should be held accountable for fixing the problems, but I would not expect them to make the 175+ mile journey to do so. This obviously may not be a popular opinion.

As far as not having a tool required to pull a new stud through? It's called a "wrench and a lug nut" and I believe that's right out of the shop manual.

Ex-SBR Customer

[knewblewkorvett]

These are the rules for this forum

I do not feel that any of my posts violate any of the rules as stated by ekool.

All of my posts have been factual and professional and I have harrassed no one.

I had tried to contact the vendor and received, to this date, an unsatisfactory resolution. I felt posting here would be informative to others searching for a vendor.

I have sent an email to SBR, as requested by Nate, and am awaiting a reply. I will post the results when I receive the email.

I do not feel there is any reason to close this thread as, for the most part, it has stayed on topic and I have not violated any rules.


I appoligize, I was not refering to you at all. In fact, if you read post #52, I excluded you. Its posts like #59 that should close this thread. I hope you work things out for you and SBR, I truely do :)

[XakEp]

I appoligize, I was not refering to you at all. In fact, if you read post #52, I excluded you. Its posts like #59 that should close this thread. I hope you work things out for you and SBR, I truely do :)

Nobody likes a backseat mod. CHill out and let the thread continue.

[Turbocharged]

I too have had bad experiences with SBR. Im giving them one last chance today when I install their SBR 3500 clutch... we will see how it goes.

[DSMmania]

If you drive nearly 200 miles to get car work done and then get home and find problems, it is your responsibility to get the car back to the shop at fault in order to get repairs performed. I would have gone over that car thoroughly before getting over 1 mile away. Antifreeze was even spotted leaking when the car was picked up. SBR should be held accountable for fixing the problems, but I would not expect them to make the 175+ mile journey to do so. This obviously may not be a popular opinion.


Someone understands! We shouldn't be expected to drive to your house to fix the problem, nor pay out for you to outsource it.

As far as I'm concerned, Nate has offered his assistance to this guy, you've taken the right step in emailing him, and until you get with him, there isn't a need for more activity on this thread unless you post your final results.

-Curt

[spyderturbo007]

If you drive nearly 200 miles to get car work done and then get home and find problems, it is your responsibility to get the car back to the shop at fault in order to get repairs performed.


The coolant leak and the O2 sensor problems were brought to their attention before I left their shop. The wheel stud and oil leak were noticed when the LICP blew off about 30 miles away when I became stranded.

When you pay someone to perform a service they are expected to do things properly and thoroughly.

It is the shops responsibility to see that the installation was done properly, not mine.

If I had done the work myself then it would be my responsibility. I don't even understand how you can say that it was my responsibility to see that they did their job correctly. That's why I paid them $75/hour.


Antifreeze was even spotted leaking when the car was picked up.


Did you even read my original post? I informed Nate of what I thought was an antifreeze leak. He got back under the car and said that it was from loosing coolant during the installation and it was dripping off the crossmember.


As far as not having a tool required to pull a new stud through? It's called a "wrench and a lug nut" and I believe that's right out of the shop manual.


How am I supposed to pull a stud through the hub when the lug nut is closed on one end? I'm not a mechanic which is why the car was taken to SBR in the first place.

[knewblewkorvett]

Nobody likes a backseat mod. CHill out and let the thread continue.

I'm fine, thank you. Why have forum rules if they are not followed? IMO, I'm not being a "backseat moderator", I'm trying to keep a great forum what it is, great. We can give support to spyderturbo007 or even give him suggestions, but we should not jump all over SBR by using profanity or unsubstantiated stories. I think some members broke the rules. I think spyderturbooo7 has held his temper quite well. I also think some of the replies from SBR are unprofessional. If the thread must continue, it should be done by SBR, spyderturbo007, and those with constructive feedback.
Again, I wish those involved have a good outcome.
Jay

[jivemastert]

you know, I defend SBR all the time, reccomending them to folks for various things. i have had a 50/50 experience with them myself, but look, when you do a lot of business bad things are bound to happen. SBR seems to have tried to make things right with the OP... I just wanna wait and see what they actually do do for him.

[jallenGSX]

When you pay someone to perform a service they are expected to do things properly and thoroughly.

It is the shops responsibility to see that the installation was done properly, not mine.

If I had done the work myself then it would be my responsibility. I don't even understand how you can say that it was my responsibility to see that they did their job correctly. That's why I paid them $75/hour.


I don't remember saying that SBR was not responsible for it being done correctly. I'm only excusing them from having to drive 175+ miles because you don't live next door. The install work "sounds" like it wasn't checked out thoroughly


Did you even read my original post? I informed Nate of what I thought was an antifreeze leak. He got back under the car and said that it was from loosing coolant during the installation and it was dripping off the crossmember.


Yup, read it. I'm on your side here. If you see coolant under your car after service, you really need to get it checked out. In the future I would ask that all coolant be washed off and tested for leaks. Coolant on the crossmember is very common after a turbo swap when you disconnect lines and if you don't hose it off, you'll never know if it's a new leak or old coolant from the install.

How am I supposed to pull a stud through the hub when the lug nut is closed on one end? I'm not a mechanic which is why the car was taken to SBR in the first place.
My mistake. I have open-ended lug nuts. I guess you could use some washers with the stocker.

[anconover]

Way to call previous customers 'clowns' etc. I bet youll see them ordering again real soon. I know ill be ordering soon, cuz i love not getting what i ordered, it coming 2months late, and then when i complain ill get to be called all sorts of cool names.

once again, way to go SBR! :rolleyes:

[SlowboyNRS]

Way to call previous customers 'clowns' etc. I bet youll see them ordering again real soon. I know ill be ordering soon, cuz i love not getting what i ordered, it coming 2months late, and then when i complain ill get to be called all sorts of cool names.

once again, way to go SBR! :rolleyes:

Immature high school kid, you find the need to post where ever you can against myself and the company. I'm trying to help here and do what I can to resolve this situation, your just being a douche. Please stay out of this thread unless you have something constructive to say ;).

Nate
SBR

[Spoolin69]

Immature high school kid, you find the need to post where ever you can against myself and the company. I'm trying to help here and do what I can to resolve this situation, your just being a douche. Please stay out of this thread unless you have something constructive to say ;).

Nate
SBR
WELL SAID Nate!!

Stick to the topic at hand.

I know that SBR will do the right thing, that's why they are still in business!! BY DOING THE RIGHT THING!! Yeah a few mistakes were made here, You should have turned around and had them fix it that right when you noticed the problems when you were only 30 miles from their shop. If you had done that this thread would not be here because they would have fixed it for you.
Shane

[anconover]

Oh im sorry. SBR isnt the topic on hand? Get your thumb outta SBR's ass geezus. Everyones gotta cry when people dont give you a reach around. :rolleyes:

[Spoolin69]

Immature high school kid, you find the need to post where ever you can against myself and the company. I'm trying to help here and do what I can to resolve this situation, your just being a douche. Please stay out of this thread unless you have something constructive to say ;).

Nate
SBR
Once again WELL SAID

[Whiteonyx86]

This clown with the crank, I'd like to get his name, because I've never heard of it, and I would have had to get his new crank that he wanted in his motor. Why are you hiding his name for like 4 posts, maybe because it didn't happen? And you state that you couldn't take his whining about things, maybe it's because it isn't true?! He never contacted anyone here, so go lay down.

We have very little local business, just because we're in BFE and the rice runs rampant, not many guys like the performance stuff.. We handle all of our customers the same whether you walked in the door, you call, or you email us.

My last note is, if we messed something up, we will correct it here, but we will not just send you money in the amount you feel you are owed, you can't take your new Hemi to Joe Blow's garage and have it worked on, then go back and demand to be reimbursed by Dodge, it will not happen. Give them the opportunity to make it right, and make it up to you, and you'll get further.

Again, feel free to call if you need help with your issues.

Curt

Ok first off i will have pictures tomorrow of the crank and other broken parts in the engine...i know for a fact that he has contacted you all and nothing was done about it, common sense here who wouldnt contact you, yea oh hey i just spent thousands of dollars for a new block that is supposed to have a "NEW" 4g64 crank which it does say on the website. Yet when it is taken apart it is stamped 10/20 and marked 30/40...but hey im sure he decided just to sit on this one :rolleyes:

WELL SAID Nate!!

Stick to the topic at hand.

I know that SBR will do the right thing, that's why they are still in business!! BY DOING THE RIGHT THING!! Yeah a few mistakes were made here, You should have turned around and had them fix it that right when you noticed the problems when you were only 30 miles from their shop. If you had done that this thread would not be here because they would have fixed it for you.
Shane

Once again, he has payed them for their services plus it was brought to their attention like he has already said. Then you say if he had turned around yada yada this thread would have never happened, well imagine that...if they wouldve done it right the first time it never wouldve happened either. You fix the problem where it starts not halfway down the line. You should apply your "Yeah a few mistakes were made here, You should have turned around and had them fix it that right when you noticed the problems when you were only 30 miles from their shop." concept to other things in life and see what kinda results that will get you.

[anconover]

Hey spoolin69 if you keep fiddling with SBR's balls maybe you can get a significant others discount or something.

[diambo4life]

Once again WELL SAID

I hope they are not too greasy and hairy..

[FourG63 98GST]

WELL SAID Nate!!

Stick to the topic at hand.

I know that SBR will do the right thing, that's why they are still in business!! BY DOING THE RIGHT THING!! Yeah a few mistakes were made here, You should have turned around and had them fix it that right when you noticed the problems when you were only 30 miles from their shop. If you had done that this thread would not be here because they would have fixed it for you.
Shane

All im going to say to that is :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[eddy90604]

yeah road race is tight...good service and friendly too :)

[gimmie11s]

what a waste of bandwidth.

[nukefission]

Yikes, I'm away for a couple days and look what happens. I was about to close the thread at page 2, after SBR gave their input, but then I realized there were two pages after that!
How is posting this on a forum going to get us to help you? No one on this forum can help you, all they can do is offer you a tissue. Call and talk to whomever you need that has dealt with your situation if you feel it's unresolved. We look at forums on our own time, it's not part of our job to read and talk on forums, and is by no means a way to contact any of us.
While I agree, I will point out that this forum does have a purpose. No one can deny that this thread got your attention and as a result, action is being taken. However, I should also echo what you and your co-workers have said in that this forum is not the place to conduct any transactions or reconcilliations. In this thread and others, SBR has repeatedly given out their contact info and encouraged people to contact them directly, which is something that TSS, BJ's, etc, have NOT done. This is important.

Since most of the membership here no longer listens to warnings about keeping the thread on topic or keeping their mouths shut if they have nothing of value to add, it's past time to just start closing threads. If the thread-starter or SBR has anything to add with regard to the outcome of this issue, they can PM me and ask to open this thread back up to post some closure.

[nukefission]

Re-opened temporarily...

[FourG63 98GST]

Not trying to make matters worse for SBR, but is seeming like more and more people here in VA are having alot of complaints against them too. I went to a gathering and there was a discussion started about SBR's business practices and about 90% of the people seriously disliked how SBR handles things when they sell defective parts, or they screw someone's car up doing the work. I understand that in a business there are some errors that can be corrected but lately SBR has been nothing but lazy and has done nothing to satisfy there customers fairly but there own pockets. I see SBR as a lazy, unorganized, unprofessional business. These are my oppinions from doing business with them more than 2 times over $1400. And guess what, those $1400 items arent even in my car anymore because they were defective or they were the wrong ones, and SBR never did anything about it besides say in the nicest way possible "STFU we dont care about you, all we care about is stealing your money, go lick a cats anus".

my 2 cents

[lexmark]

Ispent over 4g's with sbr and will never go back and will never get the parts mike still owes me.

[TOTalon]

Id like to share an example of the business practices of SBR. Some time ago local club DSM member who is a CNC machinist designed and made the first male -10AN turbo oil drain flanges. I have worked with him since then to sell them since thats not his forte. Here is the thread I started here to introduce them:

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112798

A large portion of the first batch we had made went to Kinteic. SBR is connected with Kinetic (if you can call lifting their intercooler design and calling it their own connected). Soon after, SBR starts selling the same flanges. I believe they took some of our flanges they got from Ryan at Kinetic, took it to a machine shop and had them reverse engineer it. Do I have any proof of that, no I dont, thats what I believe. Based on their 'technical' posts on this and other forums, I dont believe they have the smarts to do it themselves.

Now I didnt think that the flanges would go uncopied, that kind of thing happens with good ideas and that doesnt bother me. What burns me is how SBR has made it seem like it was their idea all along, including just a few days ago on the DSMLink forums where a SBR employee named Mark said the following:

"We make our own fittings .. the only thing that RTM makes for us is the spark plug covers/shirt knobs.. Everything else we have made on our own. He has copied them from us selling them to him. Also the -10 adp in one piece was our original product. We were the first to offer it. "

RTM is the company we get to machine our flanges because the owner Ziggy is also a part of our local DSM club. To suggest that we buy the flanges from Ziggy based on their design is delusional.

I dont know if taking credit for someone elses design makes them feel better about all the screws up they seem to make, but I dont think they are fooling anybody. Everyone knows who the real DSM vendors are. SBR is a collection of glorified middle men, and I wouldnt buy a bottle of water from them on a hot day.

[RedTurboEclipse]

yikes.. guess there goes any future purchasing from SBR..
its understandble for a negative comment or 2.. but damn..

[frmadig]

Both times I have bought something from Slowboy I have had nothing but good experiences. My first purchase from them was one of their clutches, I admit shipping was a little slow, but other then that I have had no problems with the clutch what so ever. The second time I bought from them I got a 20G turbo. The night I ordered it I got a call at 11:45 at night to make sure that the info I had put down was correct, there was a difference in the shipping address and the address on my credit card. Every time I talk to someone from Slowboy they are helpfull and nice. A friend of mine called them to ask about a 2 turbo's and they gave him an honest rewiew, they did not try and push there product and accualy told him the other turbo was a great turbo. Now before I was into DSM's I was a Honda guy, and never once did I ever have a company call me at 11:45 their time to make sure all my info was right, Ive gotten a call or an email the next day, but never at 11:45 at night. Ive also never seen a company give me an honest review of a product they dont sell. All Ive ever seen is companies talk shit about other peoples products. Other people may have had bad experiences with Slowboy but they have been nothing but helpfull to me.

[SBR INC]

Not trying to make matters worse for SBR, but is seeming like more and more people here in VA are having alot of complaints against them too. I went to a gathering and there was a discussion started about SBR's business practices and about 90% of the people seriously disliked how SBR handles things when they sell defective parts, or they screw someone's car up doing the work. I understand that in a business there are some errors that can be corrected but lately SBR has been nothing but lazy and has done nothing to satisfy there customers fairly but there own pockets. I see SBR as a lazy, unorganized, unprofessional business. These are my oppinions from doing business with them more than 2 times over $1400. And guess what, those $1400 items arent even in my car anymore because they were defective or they were the wrong ones, and SBR never did anything about it besides say in the nicest way possible "STFU we dont care about you, all we care about is stealing your money, go lick a cats anus".

my 2 cents

Wow, this is just great!

A whole bunch of crap about nothing.

Saying "more and more people have complaints" thats great! Could you be any more specific in trying to degrade my business, and my lively hood?

I hope this was not the same DSM gathering we were at, where we GIVE AWAY over 2k worth of products each of the past three years, helping them raise money to help fund DSMCA so the members can get dyno time at places like MachV, Extreme, etc.. No one ever mentions the good things, which is fine... it has been this way in business long before I started SBR.

My advice to you, is get your dumb A$$ up here to the shop and start spouting off names like "lazy, unproffesional, and unorginized" to any of my SIXTEEN full time employees, and watch how fast you end up on you A$$.

For the internet warriors who like spreading trash over the forums, that goes for any of you as well.... but we all know talk is cheap here.

MGH

[SBR INC]

yikes.. guess there goes any future purchasing from SBR..
its understandble for a negative comment or 2.. but damn..

I agree, with over 3000 new customers this year alone, we are going to have a few angry ones... no matter what, no one is perfect no matter how hard we try.

Do I like the fact there are people upset? Nope.

Can I avoid it? Nope, its impossible to make every one happy no matter what you do.

MGH

[SBR INC]

Id like to share an example of the business practices of SBR. Some time ago local club DSM member who is a CNC machinist designed and made the first male -10AN turbo oil drain flanges. I have worked with him since then to sell them since thats not his forte. Here is the thread I started here to introduce them:

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112798

A large portion of the first batch we had made went to Kinteic. SBR is connected with Kinetic (if you can call lifting their intercooler design and calling it their own connected). Soon after, SBR starts selling the same flanges. I believe they took some of our flanges they got from Ryan at Kinetic, took it to a machine shop and had them reverse engineer it. Do I have any proof of that, no I dont, thats what I believe. Based on their 'technical' posts on this and other forums, I dont believe they have the smarts to do it themselves.

Now I didnt think that the flanges would go uncopied, that kind of thing happens with good ideas and that doesnt bother me. What burns me is how SBR has made it seem like it was their idea all along, including just a few days ago on the DSMLink forums where a SBR employee named Mark said the following:

"We make our own fittings .. the only thing that RTM makes for us is the spark plug covers/shirt knobs.. Everything else we have made on our own. He has copied them from us selling them to him. Also the -10 adp in one piece was our original product. We were the first to offer it. "

RTM is the company we get to machine our flanges because the owner Ziggy is also a part of our local DSM club. To suggest that we buy the flanges from Ziggy based on their design is delusional.

I dont know if taking credit for someone elses design makes them feel better about all the screws up they seem to make, but I dont think they are fooling anybody. Everyone knows who the real DSM vendors are. SBR is a collection of glorified middle men, and I wouldnt buy a bottle of water from them on a hot day.

Here is another one of those post, where if you have NO IDEA what your talking about you should most likely keep your trap shut because you have nothing but bad information to spread around.

I have an invoice from almost two years ago, sending ADP/ Kinetic these fittings. Kinetic, trying to find better pricing sent them to Ziggy. Ziggy copied them, and in turn sells them back to everyone. If you look at our two parts, they are considerably different.

Ziggy now tries to sell them to me because he copied them, and can provide them to me for cheaper than I can have them machined locally. However, I am more concerned about people in Indiana Pa being employeed, so Ziggy's better price will not get my business on these parts.

Glorified middle men? You piece of Canadian bacon, shut your pie hole. No worries, eh?

MGH

[timawdtsi]

Why don't you strive to have review's on the board like this:
http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132995&highlight=forced+performance

Slowboy's hasn't been around for a long time, and well maybe you grew too quick. I just hope that something can be done to stop the downward slide it seem's that you have taken lately, yes you have expanded, you have your own engine shop, 16 employee's but remember what got you there...your customer's.

[Coup D E'Tat]

My advice to you, is get your dumb A$$ up here to the shop and start spouting off names like "lazy, unproffesional, and unorginized" to any of my SIXTEEN full time employees, and watch how fast you end up on you A$$.


How professional of you :rolleyes:

[SBR INC]

To the original poster of this thread, the $40.00 store credit was given to fix your wheel stud. We did not break your o2 sensor, it is a wear item. Your car has a lot of miles on it, get over it.

If you would have turned around when you realized the problem (15 miles from our shop) it would have been fixed right away, even if I myself had to come back in and do it for you, (wheel studs) rather than driving 150 miles home.

I knew we would have trouble when you complained about your HP with a stock exhaust and cat in place on an EVO III 16g...

Sorry you had issues, but this was the final resolution.

MGH

[Whiteonyx86]

Wow, this is just great!



My advice to you, is get your dumb A$$ up here to the shop and start spouting off names like "lazy, unproffesional, and unorginized" to any of my SIXTEEN full time employees, and watch how fast you end up on you A$$.

For the internet warriors who like spreading trash over the forums, that goes for any of you as well.... but we all know talk is cheap here.

MGH

I think you fail to realize it's more than just a few people, im sure you guys do things the right way, but obviously not enough to overshadow the bad things. I'd love to come up to your shop and check things out, id love to see 16 guys put me on my ass... that's probably less than half the people they have screwed, so what you should really do is give an invite to all the people youve screwed and see who is getting put on their ass.

[SBR INC]

Why don't you strive to have review's on the board like this:
http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132995&highlight=forced+performance

Slowboy's hasn't been around for a long time, and well maybe you grew too quick. I just hope that something can be done to stop the downward slide it seem's that you have taken lately, yes you have expanded, you have your own engine shop, 16 employee's but remember what got you there...your customer's.

We have been INC's since January of 02...

Have we grown fast? Oh yes....

Would we have grown fast if we did everyone wrong like people in here seem to think we do? No.

We have grown fast because we do the very best we can, every day of the week. Are we perfect, nope... no one is! Do we have room for improvement? You bet, so does everyone else on this list.

MGH

[SBR INC]

How professional of you :rolleyes:

Wow, what a great response.

Tell you what... I think you SUCK at whatever it is you do. I cannot even imagine you getting along in the business you are in, or how you even sleep at night assuming your so much better than anyone else.

I guess when you give someone cold fries, you can just always bring them out a new order.

I think your lazy, unprofessional, unorginized, and a middle man, if there is such a thing serving fries and burgers all day.

MGH

[SBR INC]

I think you fail to realize it's more than just a few people, im sure you guys do things the right way, but obviously not enough to overshadow the bad things. I'd love to come up to your shop and check things out, id love to see 16 guys put me on my ass... that's probably less than half the people they have screwed, so what you should really do is give an invite to all the people youve screwed and see who is getting put on their ass.

As well it will be more than just a few people.

Like I said, you cannot have 3000 new customers since January 1 2005, and make them all happy. Are you that naive?

C,mon up, your welcome anytime as is anyone who honestly think we "screwed" them, and not just blew up a turbo and said it was defective from the beginning, or there clutch disc went out on them after only 50 hard launches.

You could not spend a day in my shoes, do not pretend you could.

MGH

[SBR INC]

PS.... I am at the NDRA event in St. Louis if anyone is local, stop by and say hi!

MGH

[SlowboyNRS]

Love these forums!

-Curt

[DSMmania]

Ya know, I'd wish it was acceptable to start a customer bashing thread. We don't make fun of you on the phone, we don't call you stupid when you have no clue how to hook up your boost controller etc etc., but do we ever get together and gang up on you as customers? Do we go to local hang out's, or races and sling crap around about people who buy from us? No. It's all a one sided bash fest, and that's why I'm considering stepping off DSM forums for good, as for the most part you're a bunch of under paid, whining ebay racers. I'm tired of people asking to price match ebay, it's a god damn auction site, not a store. Regardless, I've had horrible experiance w/ both RRE and Forced Performance long before SBR was even around, but I don't bad mouth them, I just went about my business. The DSM Community has long been dead as a shade tree mechanic's community, no one wants to modify or tweak anything. If you can't change your oil, stay in school and get a job paying enough so you can get it done, but don't pretend you know a thing about your car.

-Rant mode off.

-Curt (sorry for posting on Nates name, he was logged into this machine)

[K_Mans_TSI]

everyone remembers the 1 or 2 bad experiences people have and i have been in there when stupid people have asked stupid questions and i would like to beat them up but you can't do that.

I think that if people thought for themselves instead of looking for someone to bitch at when things aren't 100% the way they like them there would be less of this. the big thing that stands out in my mind is most (and i say most not all) these bitching threads are knewbs complaining their cars aren't fast. (the money threads i'm not getting into so don't post back saying they owe you money blah blah i dont' wanna hear it)

[Coup D E'Tat]

Wow, what a great response.

Tell you what... I think you SUCK at whatever it is you do. I cannot even imagine you getting along in the business you are in, or how you even sleep at night assuming your so much better than anyone else.

I guess when you give someone cold fries, you can just always bring them out a new order.

I think your lazy, unprofessional, unorginized, and a middle man, if there is such a thing serving fries and burgers all day.

MGH

I make decent money for an 18 year old as a welder, so don't talk about what you don't know.

My response was purely based on the fact that you flat out threatened someone. What kind of business are you trying to run? I don't care if someone makes you angry, you don't say "Come to my shop and we'll beat the fuck out of you!" Period. No excuses, nothing.

I haven't even bothered to post my experiences, and I won't, just for simplicity. It's just amazing how you guys are handling criticism.

Later,

Jesse

[anconover]

Who needs a customer bashing thread? SBR seems to do a decent job in this thread making fun of people for not liking them.

Sorry, not everyone can have a thumb up mike huml's ass. Just something youll have to deal with I guess. :rolleyes:

[Whiteonyx86]

As well it will be more than just a few people.

Like I said, you cannot have 3000 new customers since January 1 2005, and make them all happy. Are you that naive?

C,mon up, your welcome anytime as is anyone who honestly think we "screwed" them, and not just blew up a turbo and said it was defective from the beginning, or there clutch disc went out on them after only 50 hard launches.

You could not spend a day in my shoes, do not pretend you could.

MGH


Just because you have "3000 new customers" doesnt mean you can start half ass jobs on everything because you "cant keep up" you should higher more people so maybe i can have 20 or 25 people to kick my ass when if i show up, then you guys go into your "rant modes"...your a damn business, your supposed to do things right and do them right the first time, along with answer questions, it doesnt matter how stupid they are, i dont think anyone is born with a dsm manual nailed to there head. But forget all of that, none of SBR's problems justify screwing half your customers.

[SBR INC]

I make decent money for an 18 year old as a welder, so don't talk about what you don't know.

My response was purely based on the fact that you flat out threatened someone. What kind of business are you trying to run? I don't care if someone makes you angry, you don't say "Come to my shop and we'll beat the fuck out of you!" Period. No excuses, nothing.

I haven't even bothered to post my experiences, and I won't, just for simplicity. It's just amazing how you guys are handling criticism.

Later,

Jesse

Wow, to be 18 years old again..... I knew it all back then.....

I did not threaten anyone, I just said quit hiding behind curtain #1 like most people who like to bash companies online like to do. Step up, be a man, bring your problems to the source. Thats all, pretty simple really.

If I had a problem with you, I would come talk to you about it, not rant and complain in some internet forum. However, you being 18 I can forgive this type of action.... you have a lot of living to do and in a few years you will handle yourself different.

BTW, we are hiring another fabricator if you think you can come turn us around, would be glad to chat with you.

MGH

[SBR INC]

Who needs a customer bashing thread? SBR seems to do a decent job in this thread making fun of people for not liking them.

Sorry, not everyone can have a thumb up mike huml's ass. Just something youll have to deal with I guess. :rolleyes:

Wow, that was deep.

You put a lot of thought into that,

MGH

[SBR INC]

Just because you have "3000 new customers" doesnt mean you can start half ass jobs on everything because you "cant keep up" you should higher more people so maybe i can have 20 or 25 people to kick my ass when if i show up, then you guys go into your "rant modes"...your a damn business, your supposed to do things right and do them right the first time, along with answer questions, it doesnt matter how stupid they are, i dont think anyone is born with a dsm manual nailed to there head. But forget all of that, none of SBR's problems justify screwing half your customers.

Awesome story, very insightful...

Thank you.

MGH

[Corpsegrinder]

Nukefission would you be able to close this thread again? It's getting personal and ugly. SBR people your not looking good responding like you are. That's all.

[Whiteonyx86]

Awesome story, very insightful...

Thank you.

MGH


Says a lot about you...

[elementalwindx]

This is just getting funny and I just want to know the outcome of the kid with the fucked up crank. I just wasted so much of my life reading SBR Inc's vented replies. lol. :cool:

[K_Mans_TSI]

i just remember the days when vendors weren't allowed to post for this reason

[HighPSI TSi Guy]

Ya know, I'd wish it was acceptable to start a customer bashing thread. We don't make fun of you on the phone, we don't call you stupid when you have no clue how to hook up your boost controller etc etc., but do we ever get together and gang up on you as customers? Do we go to local hang out's, or races and sling crap around about people who buy from us? No. It's all a one sided bash fest, and that's why I'm considering stepping off DSM forums for good, as for the most part you're a bunch of under paid, whining ebay racers. I'm tired of people asking to price match ebay, it's a god damn auction site, not a store. Regardless, I've had horrible experiance w/ both RRE and Forced Performance long before SBR was even around, but I don't bad mouth them, I just went about my business. The DSM Community has long been dead as a shade tree mechanic's community, no one wants to modify or tweak anything. If you can't change your oil, stay in school and get a job paying enough so you can get it done, but don't pretend you know a thing about your car.

-Rant mode off.

-Curt (sorry for posting on Nates name, he was logged into this machine)


everyone remembers the 1 or 2 bad experiences people have and i have been in there when stupid people have asked stupid questions and i would like to beat them up but you can't do that.

I think that if people thought for themselves instead of looking for someone to bitch at when things aren't 100% the way they like them there would be less of this. the big thing that stands out in my mind is most (and i say most not all) these bitching threads are knewbs complaining their cars aren't fast. (the money threads i'm not getting into so don't post back saying they owe you money blah blah i dont' wanna hear it)

i agree with these guys. most of the vendors never had problems till the DSM scene got inflated with 16 year old ricers who want everything for nothing and have no patience nor will to learn. i have ordered from just about every major DSM vendor, and had a bad experience at least once with 90% of them. but you know what? there was only ONE time that it took more than a phone call to fix my issue, and that was more the fact that i was much younger, and it was a huge mis-understanding on both ends of the line that i don't need to go into here, and therefore, doesn't really count in this. i have had countless bad experiences. i used to work in retail, and can totally agree with the SBR guys. not that i agree with any fuck-up they might have done, and their responses might not be "proffessional" but think, if you were in their shoes, they get bashed on a daily basis for problems that arent their fault, how would you handle it? deal with that every day, and not ever situation will reach perfect resolution, its a fact of life in the customer service industry. some people just can't be happy either due to ignorance or whatever (usually due to ignorance)

that said, i see too many people that are too quick to go bash a vendor before they actually deal with the vendor themselves. of all the major vendors, including SBR, that i've dealt with, they were always happy to fix their mistakes upon a simple 5 minute phone call. shit happens, deal with it people. you all bash them like a whiny 5 year old who didn't get what they wanted for christmas, then expect them to be santa claus coming back for a second round to drop off everything they ever wanted. the industry doesn't work like that.

[Corpsegrinder]

i just remember the days when vendors weren't allowed to post for this reason That was why there was no Vendor Review forum back then also. Look at this mess now.

[K_Mans_TSI]

well you're going to have problems with just about anywhere and how many non-dsm shops will rip you the fuck off with anything and any car. i know the guys up at sbr personally but i don't in any way have my thumb up my ass, i take the time to do my own shit and i could care less who copied who as i've made stuff of my own that eventually shows up somewhere with some vendor (and not necessarily my design) so far i've read "horror stories" about shepracing, bm tranny, sbr, rre "fuckups", joe shmoes shop and they're all from the same kind of people (for the majority) 16yr old kids that complain their car's boost was set too low (after just having a clutch put in) or how they're missing a cap over an intake nipple because they dind't know how to take 10m to put it on themselves. i'm not taking sides but i've been dealing with 3 local dsmers that i've been "helping out" with thier cars and i'm ready to beat the shit out of them too for their stupidity sometimes

[jivemastert]

You know, I think a lot of the problem here is that there are people with legitimate problems and then there is some people who are just flat out making them up. I would like to know about this kid with the crank, since it was mentioned, but i bet it was just a made up story, or thats not quite what happened.

SBR -> you shouldn't be threatening people to beat their "A$$" thats just not right. I've been on the phone with you guys (tried to get me an unpainted clutch so i could sneak it by warranty people) and you were more than helpful! It suprises me to see you acting like this. Then again, you seem to be doing what a lot of people would do when backed into a corner.

Angry Customers -> a lot of you are just joining in the bash for no apparent reason. what has SBR done to you? the OP and SBR had VERY different sides to their stories and i really dont see why this needs to be continued here on these forums. If you have a problem with SBR then take it up with them. Keep calling until you reach a reasonable conclusion. don't just jump on the forums and be like "SBR hurt me! lets talk bad about them!" because honestly when you look at it, this is what happened. if everything that the OP said was true, then SBR is out of their minds. if everything SBR said was true, then the OP was just trying to get something for nothing.

seriously, i can see where they would look at the CEL for the O2 sensor and not think anything of it because you dont need it to tune the car, and most of my DSM friends (myself included) have that stupid light on. seems to me like the OP was trying to get something for free here. the wheel stud, yeah, i can understand that and i think he should get a check for $40 instead of the store credit, but whatever...

[Coup D E'Tat]

Wow, to be 18 years old again..... I knew it all back then.....

I did not threaten anyone, I just said quit hiding behind curtain #1 like most people who like to bash companies online like to do. Step up, be a man, bring your problems to the source. Thats all, pretty simple really.

If I had a problem with you, I would come talk to you about it, not rant and complain in some internet forum. However, you being 18 I can forgive this type of action.... you have a lot of living to do and in a few years you will handle yourself different.

BTW, we are hiring another fabricator if you think you can come turn us around, would be glad to chat with you.

MGH

I am not claiming to know everything. I'm using factual information. Do not think for a minute that you being however-old has anything to do with you making better judgement than anyone else.

I'll "handle" myself different? You came off threatening people, hands down, and I said that it is unprofessional, because it is. Get off your high horse, Huml, and realize that you're not always right. I'm well aware of the stresses of running a business, but again, won't go into that. My entire problem came about when you threatened someone, and that is absolutely absurd.

Oh, and if you didn't say it, what does this mean -
My advice to you, is get your dumb A$$ up here to the shop and start spouting off names like "lazy, unproffesional, and unorginized" to any of my SIXTEEN full time employees, and watch how fast you end up on you A$$.

Later,

Edit : And for the record, every one of my friends who has had a problem with you guys have came back to you. No one in my neighborhood is hiding behind anything.

[elementalwindx]

seriously, i can see where they would look at the CEL for the O2 sensor and not think anything of it because you dont need it to tune the car, and most of my DSM friends (myself included) have that stupid light on.

Two words.... DSM Link...... :P

[nukefission]

You people.....

The thread starter was supposed to update this thread with new info but it looks like all you were waiting for the starting gate to open. I should have been more specific.

I will post some more here later.

[nukefission]

Alright, in part as a result of threads like this one, I'm implementing a new rule (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133386) for this forum that will hopefully reduce the amount of BS associated with negative vendor reviews. That said, I feel inclined to weigh in on some of the issues that have come into question here.

First, on the existence of this Vendor Review forum... The users here have been asking for it on and off for the past five years. We've managed to keep it under the table for that long because of the belief that this sort of thing on the boards could only spell trouble for the atmosphere here, and that other DSM-sites (like Vendors-Reviewed.com, etc) sufficiently filled the need. DSMtalk has changed since then and is under new management now. The new owner wanted this forum, and of course most of the users still wanted it, so here it is. Personally, I was never totally against having a forum like this around, because -- when used properly -- it does provide some level of warning and/or welcome to others who aren't familiar with a certain vendor and need some real-world information to make an informed decision about where to take their business. The obvious downside is that, as pointed out, it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction when there's so many kids out there with keyboard muscles trying to register their opinion (fabrication or not) to the world. Every post in this thread, this forum, even this entire site, has some level of "self-centered-ness" associated with it. My posts are no exception. We all want the world to know what we think, that we should be listened to, and that others should act according to the suggestions that we've made. But of course that's not what ends up happening. Everyone does and posts their own thing, and no progress is made. Hopefully the new rule will mitigate that somewhat.

Second, on the new generation DSMer. I agree with K_mans and Dave (HighPsi, etc, Guy) on this issue. The new DSMer demands instant gratification and all hell breaks loose if he doesn't get it, credibility and personal responsibility be damned. I would imagine this trend is not limited to the DSM crowd. The first course of action ALWAYS needs to be the telephone, and should NEVER be this forum or any other for that matter. Ideally, posts in this forum should contain experiences with vendors, "experiences" as in events that have occurred in the past, not sagas that are still on-going. In general, negative review thread-starters have been pretty good about this. The problem is everyone in between that chimes in saying "yeah, XYZ Racing scrEwed me good they meessed up my order an i jes called them 2 min. ago and left a messsage abou tit. man what a bunch of jerkz." Real constructive, people.

Third, on the plight of the "DSM vendor." I used to work for two different DSM shops, both of which have gone under. It is no walk in the park. Most people want something for nothing, and the rest walk in and try to hang out at the shop, lollygagging and distracting you from real bill-paying work, and then not end up buying anything. Those who do buy something that takes more than a minute to produce want it NOW NOW NOW! Then there are the few requisite a-holes who break into the shop to steal stuff. Only a small minority have an idea of what it takes to produce something good and worthwhile, and in the end you stay in business for them, or die trying. Running a successful labor shop AND a successful parts sales department is very difficult.

Fourth, on SBR. I don't want to overstep my bounds on this one but there are a few points I'd like to make. If anyone remembers, SBR's track record here was pretty good until about a year and a half ago. At the time I was pretty skeptical about the success of ANY new vendor in this blighted DSM market of dorm-room vendors undercutting established vendors, but I figured hey, anything's possible. My thinking was that DSM vendors have become a dime a dozen and the crop needed to be paired down some; that it was time for some good ol' Diamond Star natural selection, as it were. Since then I've come to realize that letting threads like this one go unchecked is not necessarily fair to either vendor or customer, a view which I haven't always held. Nowadays there's too much misinformation, heresay, and mudslinging for threads like this one to paint an accurate picture of the vendor in question. I'm somewhat local to SBR and can confirm to others what Mike is saying about donating to the local club. He is very active on the local list and has donated some pretty expensive parts to the club for raffle prizes at get togethers. I can't say I'm impressed by all of SBR's business practices (cutting refund checks instead of refunding a credit card to save money is something I would expect from a vendor in its infancy, but definitely not one that has been around as long as this one; this is just one example and I'm open to the possibility that I don't have the whole story here), but I doubt any vendor is 100% free of skeletons in the closet.

Mike, while I understand your frustration at what has transpired here, let me assure you that your approach to it thus far has NOT been effective or professional. No matter how stupid the members here act or really are, calling them names, cussing them out, making loose threats, and generally stooping to their level of immaturity will not convince them of the error of their ways. You've managed to stay away for so long that I'm a little surprised at your return to this miniscule piece of the internet. [For those who haven't been around that long, Mike was banned from here some time ago for using the forums to fish for customers when SBR was still pretty young. It was a forum rule that many vendors (not just SBR) tried to bend in order to bring in customers, and knowing what I know now I can't say I blame them. In spite of me sticking up for Mike a couple times at first (he and I were friends with a mutual acquaintance), he was a repeat offender of the rule which ultimately resulted in a ban.] The users here can't represent that big a piece of your market share and I doubt that the negative press here will adversely affect your business in the long run. So why bother? Hopefully with the new rule in place, you will have the opportunity to respond to customer service issues without feeling the need to respond to everyone's little comments that may or may not carry any meaning. In spite of what I just said earlier, there are at least a few people here who are watching this thread and the conduct of you, me, and whoever else is involved.

I'd like to add that I know full well whom I've alienated with my comments here. We're all guilty of soap-boxing (myself included, obviously ;)) and we all need to chill. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if the thread-starter or SBR has anything to add on the matter they can post it via a PM to me.