clkal

hey guys. just wanted to let everybody in this forum know about my experience with a certain shop in the southern california area that sells replica kits on ebay. here's the ad on ebay.....http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...em=2457200880.

this particular kit is for a W208, which i purchased about 2 weeks ago. the first thing that went wrong was that i was promised the kit on friday ( i paid by c/c on monday morning). the kit did NOT arrive until tuesday(making it 4 days late). the second thing that went wrong was that they did a ****TY A$$ job of packing and shipping the kit. they pieced and taped together several pieces of cardboard to form a box. when i opened the box to examine the parts, i found the rear bumper severely scratched up like it was dragged on cement . it was also cracked in 2 places. i called up the shop as soon as i saw this damage. the shop manager told me that it wasn't his fault. he told me he had his employees professionally pack the kit, and that it was DHL's fault . all he could say was to call up DHL and make an insurance claim. i called up DHL and filed a claim...they told me it would take at least 7 days before a claim's rep would be able to make it down to the body shop to take a look at the damage. i told DHL to **** off. (so you can see my labor rate at the body shop go up due to the damage....) Okay, so now that the labor rate is agreed upon w/ me and the body shop, i get a call 2 days later, after the shop has repaired and prepped all 4 parts before paint and install. i show up at the shop 15 minutes later to find out more things going wrong. first off, the front bumper can NOT be put on the car w/o MAJOR modifications. secondly, both side skirts are not "wide" enough...i saw a 1 inch gap before and after the door where the side skirt is supposed to cover, but it didnt'. I called up the shop in so. cal. to discuss the fitment problem. All he could say was that his body shop in LA installs his kits w/o any problems... I asked him to send me another front bumper. he told me he didn't have another one. All he could say was "what do you want me to do? what can i do?"

Bottom line is this : I will NEVER buy another product from this business. They DO NOT stand by their product even though they state clearly on their EBAY ad that "WE GUARANTEE FITMENT." DO NOT get duped by these ****ers as i have.

they do NOT list their co. name on their ad, but they answer their phones by "MOTORSPORT...how can i help you?"

DO NOT buy anything from this place. once they get your money, they don't know you.

Brian_I.

Thank you very much for the heads up. I actually contacted them last week and spoke with a guy named Robert **** from their shop to inquire about pricing and installation. They quoted me $1800 for the kit and paint/installation. I was actually planning to do this by the end of the month.

You may have just saved me from a lot of bull***** having to deal with them. Thank you again.

BTW, I am really sorry that you had to be the one to discover this.

clkal

Robert is the guy i dealt with. I believe he is the shop manager or maybe even owner. The reason i had to post this bad experience was that I gave him several chances to correct the problems, and never did he offer to take care of me. I hate it when shops take your money, and then when you have problems, they deny everything and blame it on others.

ELENI

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the RS Kit. It sucks that the company won't stand behind their product.

I would still pursue DHL though for the insurance claim. I work for FedEx and know that as a courier service they should stand by their service. If you had insurance on the package they pretty much can't fight it unless they have proof it wasn't their fault.

Good Luck.

J Lucas

Why didnt you leave him negative feedback? make sure you word it really good so he cant refute it. say something like
"low quality,badshipping,,DOES NOT FIT, willnotrefund BEWARE"

yuanja888

Wait until the 29th day or what ever the last day to leave the feedback. Otherwise he can leave a negative one in retailation.

clkal

the reason i did not pursue the claim w/ DHL is that i had to wait until i got the claim in the mail.....which i JUST received today. after i filled out the claim, i would have to wait 7-10 days before a claim's guy came out to take a look at the damage. That would have been a whole month before i could have my body shop start work on the kit. You know how you get when you get a mod for your car.....you want that SHIZ on like yesterday =). Those *******s in So. Cal. also told me that there was insurance on the shipping, and i just found out that there wasn't any at all. Another **** UP by this lousy *** shop. I apologize for all the profanity I am using in all my posts regarding this damn shop, but believe me, I am toning it down as much as i can.

clkal

it wasn't bought through e-bay. I found this place on ebay, and i purchased a set of 19" rims/tires from them privately (off ebay... about 6 months ago).They actually gave me a killer deal on that set. That is why i used them again for my kit. BAD mistake.

ELENI

I don't blame you. I would feel the same way. I just hope it all works out for you and that the shop learns their lesson. Hopefully some more people who were planning on using this shop in the future will read your posts and save themselves some headaches. And in turn the shop will lose alot of business.

Good Luck.

clkal

update on my car....i just stopped by the shop today, and they started painting the pieces. it should be ready to be picked up on friday. I don't even want to talk about how much labor i had to pay to make the damn kit fit correctly. There are TONS of custom add on fiberglass pieces, TONS of modifications, and TONS of extra labor hours I have to pay for. SO to that B870 shop in LA and ROBERT ****, you guys can KISS MY ****ING A$$. You can take your "we guarantee fitment" motto and shove it up your mom's a$$ as well!

I hope NOBODY on this forum will purchase anything from B870 from this day on.

Josh K

Bump this thread from time to time and put links to it on the 202, 203, and 209 pages just so people know about this guy. You should also email anyone who bids on his kits...

clkal

good idea. thanks josh.

Sincity

That is the problem with replica kits. you never know how many generations old the "plug" is (mold). His mold could have been made from a replica, and that mold from a replica, etc....etc.....

When I was younger (way back in the 80's and 90s), I had fitted many kits. Incl replicas on my own car. With the replicas, there is time spend to make the kit fit which means lots of grinding, filing, shaping.

With any fiberglass kit, you can expect some additional work. Incl the original Lorinser ones.

clkal

i understand what "replica" means. I agree that I should expect SOME additional work, like what you said, however, when EVERY damn piece of the kit needed MAJOR modification (8 days total w/ 2 guys working on it) including rebuilding certain parts, that just means that the kit is a piece of *****. That part I can take partial responsibility for buying a replica kit. What makes this situation 100 times worse is that fact that the seller did NOT stand by his product, did NOT take care of me at all, did not ship it on time as promised, did NOT package it correctly so that the rear bumper was scratched severely and cracked in 2 places, and did NOT offer to replace anything for me at all.

FrankW

hmm...sorry to hear that, BUT all I have to say is actually two words: REPLICA KITS

zeronero

You should give us their number so we can call them and tell them to f*ck off!

That way that D-Bag Robert and his crew will know not to f*ck with the members of MBW

clkal

no problem ... it's 310-768-1939

Sincity

clkal:

I'm interested in seeing pictures of the items they had to rebuild. Rebuilding is excessive work. Usually you will have to take away material. If shipping from SoCal to you is that bad....I wonder how the guys in Singapore ship their replicas?

Sorry to hear about the aggravation and I hope that it looks good after the bodyshop does their magic.

Harris

Do you know that the shop that you're talking about is actually one of the sponsors in here???

This is something that you have to remember in the future: most of the replica kits are copied from European specs cars. And the reason why you have a 1" short on each side of the bumper is probably due to the fact that the cars in Europe has a longer bumper. I have said this many times, replica kits DO NOT fit 9.5 out of 10 times. The money that you spent on fixing the problems can buy you a set of genuine kit already.

Good luck!!

mmgrad

I wonder what the forum's take is on that... a sponsor selling replica kits where they have a policy of not allowing people to sell replicas...

i guess technically they aren't selling on the forum, but dang... that just ruins a company's reputation.... sigh...

clkal

i don't give a rat's a$$ if that shop is a sponsor or not. And the reason why I have problems with my side skirts is NOT because of the European bumper. I posted that the side skirt was not wide enough. Yes, I understand that replica kits do not fit 9.5 out of 10 times. You don't have to say it any more. Did you even read any of the earlier posts, or are you just a "Mr. Know it all " kinda guy?

W0n6_3d4n

Harris just gave his opinion, chill out man. He run a shop so he should be knowledgeable enough in this area. I feel sorry for your kit though, should have got the genuine in the first place.

J Lucas

Its funny so many people saying to get the Genuine kit where 9 times out of 10, they themselves couldnt even find a Genuine Carlsson kit if they wanted to. Genuine Carlsson kits are extremely hard to come by. I can understand if it was Lorinser, then you could say he had plenty of opportunities to buy a legit kit but do any of you know how hard it is to find a Genuine Carlsson kit unpainted that the owner isnt trying to rape you for?

clkal

#1, don't tell me to "chill out man." I can voice my opinion in any way i want..... I am the one who started this thread, no? If he runs a shop, then he should understand that finding a GENUINE CARLSSON RS kit in the united states is nearly impossible. #2, thank you for your sympathy. I really hope to get my car back 2morrow. Pics will definitely be posted.

Harris

I was only trying to give some advice and comment on what I know about replica kits. If you dont like it. Fine!

If you dont think the side skirts issue has anything to do with the European specs of the car, then you bought yourself a set of replicas of the replicas.

If you knew replica kits dont fit 9.5 out of 10 times beforehand and still went and bought it, then you are only asking for trouble and deserve all the things that happened to you. I think you should shut up and live with it.

I cannot say I am a Mr. Know it all, I am still learning everyday. However, I think I know more than a lot of members in here, incl. you.

Dont you think if you reply to this thread by saying: "thanks for the comments, I think I've learned my lesson and I'll be more careful next time." would be much better than challenging me??

J Lucas: yes, geniune kit is hard to come by, but its not impossible to come by. That is only part of the problem. People do not wish or do not think its justify to pay so much for the geniune kit is the main problem. "Does the genuine kit really worth it" is the question that I've been asked all the time. A lot of people have no problem paying thousands of dollars to buy the Brabus kit. But it is not the same case with Carlsson.