ChristianR

Some of you guys are morons. If he has been waiting for parts for 2 months than that is total BS. If VRP has told him multiple times that it has shipped, etc than that is total BS. The economy is tough, I would be very weary of any company that asked for full payment up front, that is pretty absurd. We always ask for half, balance pain in full when we ship/install

Also, what does post count have to do with anything, he has been a member for 2 years, just cause he doesnt live on this forum like some of you doesnt mean he has ZERO credibilty

Good luck, you will need it

Tech-Tune

^ Well put, couldnt agree more.

c32AMG-DTM

Well said, testknight. ScottW911, agree to disagree.

In its "purest" form, MBW is a forum for MB enthusiasts to share their passion for the marque and attempts to personalize and modify their unique vehicles. First and foremost, it's a community. By design, it's also a place for vendors to peddle their wares. IMHO, consumers of said vendors should have every right to share their legitimate successes, failures, praises, and frustrations that are prone to happen with modding. All too often the failures are suppressed. To use the earlier analogy("x" happy but "y" unhappy), you could have dozens of unhappy customers, but likely only one or two who would have the courage to fess up and share their story - we see this time and time again.

With regard to the OP's situation - we obviously don't know all the particulars, but if I'm reading it correctly, he paid in full for a package of parts and was told he'd have them "in a week" on 9/1/2009 - which was two months ago. If it were me, I probably would not have posted the thread, but I damn well would've issued a charge-back by now - there's only a finite amount of time that you can file one, and actually it's probably right at the limit or even just expired for the OP (IIRC, you typically have 60 days to formally file a charge-back).

As for the "doofus" - Scott, that's in poor taste IMHO. Hindsight's always 20/20, and I'm sure AMGSC would've taken a completely different path knowing what he knows now. For the capital invested, he could've shipped his car to Kleemann or Renntech years ago and had them build a one-off monster for him - instead he's in a nightmare situation with little recourse and almost nothing to show for it. As a fellow enthusiast, I feel for him and sincerely hope he gets his car to meet his own goals and objectives in the future.

Vadim the enthusiast has been an excellent resource for the C32 platform, from his work at evosport, GMG, VRP, and now FD (did I miss any?). I don't believe that anyone questions his modding knowledge or passion in working with these vehicles. From what can be gleaned from the forums, however, he does appear to run on a shoestring budget - which can be troublesome for both his business and his clients if they're ever in need of a refund. Reminds me a bit of C3P, before being sold off to HPA. In any event, I wish Vadim many years of success in the future, but I do appreciate the OP (and others like him) who share their stories so I can be a better informed consumer myself.

ScottW911

Your entire post is very eloquently stated. Now that I have settled down a bit, I can honestly say I agree with most of what you say.

I am quoting this piece of your post because I take a slight exception to this. I understand that Robert would do things differently now. However, he did receive numerous warnings about several of his project prior to his flushing the funds. He seems to have placed blame on others a little too often after the damage is done.

Also, I must use "doofus" differently than you do. For me, it is often a term of fun chastisement for some of my best friends and my family (I wouldn't think of using it on my wife though. I like sleeping in my bed).

c32AMG-DTM

LOL, fair enough - I misread it. And I agree, AMGSC's received cautionary replies in the past... myself included (do you recall the twin-charged, quad-turbo concept? I do).

boohooramblers

The last few posts aptly demonstrates why the C32/C55 subforum is the best on MBWorld.
It would do no harm for 'other' subforum members to spend some time in here and see how differences are resolved in a civil manner.

To any 'outsiders' [coughChristianRcough] who may be puzzled as to the responses in this thread on the C32/C55 AMG subforum, it is important to realize the impact that Vadim has had on our particular marque and the C32 subforum as a whole:

One could argue that Vadim is the 'Grandfather' of C32 performance modifications. He owned a C32 AMG himself and his design and R&D (when at Evosport, etc.) on his own car ultimately led to the development of much of the hardware that is currently available for the C32.
[I've never met the man and I've never purchased anything from him or his company]

Because scandals of this sort usually fester in the sordid world of private messaging, it's difficult to tell how long his financial difficulties have been going on. Not-so-subtle statements made in threads on the W211 AMG subforum suggest it has been going on for a while and there are quite a few customers affected.

That said, I hope he is able to resolve all outstanding grievances with his customers and continue to contribute to the knowledge base here on MBWorld.

Nobody likes a business transaction to turn sour - we've had our fair share of that here in this subforum over the past year or so. When it's not resolved in a timely fashion, that's when everyone comes out of the woodwork to air their grievances.

320 dreamer

do i see a pattern here? vadim, 360 forged, code 3 all co. that should be considered some of the best modders and designers in the world, failing to do the 1 thing that enables a co. to survive and prosper. be honest with their customers. there is so much potential with these people i only hope that all these diffucult situations can be resolved civilly and with positive results. we need all of these people if this modding is to move forward

Fabio D

Some people crazy round the world no? how he sell you a product that he don't have it in hand! just a bad person

Fabio Daniel

Mr. Happy

Bodyguard, if there's a positive side to your story is that you haven't installed parts that would have probably been faulty or not giving you any extra performance. Hope that this Vadim has enough honor left to give your money back.

And for all of us, as sflgator said, I think it should be a lesson that we should only deal with reputable firms to get mods on our beloved machine.

hooleyboy

I think this newbie OP is 100% credible. Just because the OP hasn't came on the forum before to shoot the breeze with us does not make him any less credible. There are always way more people that lurk the forums here than post.

The gobs of stories coming out as of late, is only after private conversations and talks have failed. The OP's post(s) only goes to show that this goes deeper than a few forum members.

I would want my money to gain interest in my bank account not someone else's. Its unreal to think you can you can pay for a product, then when the product is less than expected. You dont get your money back or you are paid in installments like a 10 year old kid getting an allowance.

Its a free market and free markets will sort themselves out. I suspect the MBworld mass market of members will sort this out.

I agree scottw911, take it to PM. However knowing that process has failed and its not an isolated incident people should be warned.

Godfarther, Grandfather, your Father or my Farther.The potential customers on this forum debating on who to trust and spend their money with, should know the good and the bad when choosing a shop.

All other trades have sites that offer reviews on plumbers, electricians, contractors and service oriented business. This post just adds to the "reviews" of what seems to be a reoccurring issue.

Some call us a "lynch mob" about this sort of stuff. I see it as the MBworld conglomerate of members sorting itself out. Weeding out the bad.

We Members have big power in the small market of Mercedes performance. Let it be known, if the shop drops the ball and then offer no real recourse to remedy the situation.. They should be scared. We can get a message out telling the story to thousands of other Mercedes drives stating "Buyer Beware". Thats big power, and generally the nature of focused forum sites.

I encourage all Members that have exhausted all avenues to come forward and tell their story.

Phil C55

Here's a newbie perspective, why exactly isn't bodyguard given any credibility based on his well written and very detailed account of what happened? The later threads are turning around, but initially, he's the one being attacked. Yes I too am new here, but it doesn't mean I was born yesterday and haven't seen life yet. Am I new to MB, yes I am, am I new to forums, no I'm not. I'm a supermoderator on a Ducati forum and have many years of experience with them, but my interests have moved to my new C55. I guess being new somewhere I should expect to "pay my dues" and not be treated very well until I'm viewed as a regular. Anyone who has stood up for Vadim, reread the thread starter and ask yourself honestly if you had paid for parts in full for two months, been lied to, and now have no refund and are being ignored with no contact, would you really be OK with that? I am new here, and I don't know Vadim from Darth Vader, but I would certainly be cautious dealing with him at this point. OK, flame suit on, everyone attack the stupid newbie.

320 dreamer

[QUOTE=Phil C55;3790842] I guess being new somewhere I should expect to "pay my dues" and not be treated very well until I'm viewed as a regular.

i would have to disagree with this statement. when i joined this forum i didnt even own a m/b. i came here to gain valuable info. and it was given freely without any dues asked of me. since my purchase the amount of info i learned from here and other forums has been like being enrolled in m/b school!
while the battle rages between those that think its bashing a co. to post negative comments and those that dont , the info provided may help someone in the future from losing money or having their car dismantled never to see the road again.
i can only thank those on here that have taught me well. i hope this never happens again

NORTH 44 C63

Its a sad but true fact that not all developers realize their dreams and goals of becoming top in their game. I am sure not all tuners start out with the end target of falling from grace and scrounging for dollars to keep things going and pissing/ripping customers off on the way down. In fact many great performance developments come out of these small, up and coming shops through trial and error and for this we all benefit. Its amazing how quickly a tuner go from being at the top of their game one day and hitting rock bottom the next. Unfortunately its usually bad financials as the cause and you know what that leeds to....

Most great tuning houses (Brabus, Carlsson, Evosport, Kleemann, Renntech, MKB) start out with a couple of guys with some good ideas and a bit of cash (some with a lot more cash than others) and the dream of being the best around. Kleemann for example started with 2 guys in a small garage back in '85 in Farnum Denmark and took a decade of trial and error before Claus Ankjaer ultimately stepped in and founded the great tuner we know and love today.

In the end we all have to make up our own minds who we deal with to tune our cars. Thankfully some are still willing to invest in the "Little Guys" and that just helps to push develop forward. I have used both smaller local tuners as well as Major players to tune my cars and always do so by arming myself with as much information I can before I pull the trigger. Guess thats why I have only installed a CF air-box and still haven't done my ECU.

I do feel for Bodyguard and his current situation with Vadim. I hope Vadim will step up and make it right sooner than later.

Phil C55

Don't get me wrong, the reason I'm here is to come up to speed on these cars and have quickly found out a ton of good info. It's just a guy who is new has no credibility right away. The regulars don't know if he is a troll, a kid, or anything else about them until they have been around a while and got involved. I'm going to be 50 in a couple of months so I don't tend to have thin skin, so it is what it is.

ScottW911

I'm sorry but I'm fired up again. Not at you, Phil, but at bodyguard. People are coming hear to defend him as someone we can believe. Based on this single post of his, we are (yes, you Hooley) "weeding out the bad"? Assumptions are flying here.

Phil, as a supermoderator in another forum, I would have thought you might do like I did, and looked at bodyguards previous posts to help establish his credibility. If anyone had done so, they would see he does indeed have 11 posts.....ALL EXACTLY THE SAME POST, in 11 different forums.

To me, this guy is a troll. He may be a competitor of Vadim's, trying to take him out for all I know.

Hooley, being a competitor of Vadim's, you seem too anxious to jump on this bandwagon. It is unbecoming. You really need to stay out of the fray in this battle.


OK, end rant.

Phil C55

Point well made and shame on me because I didn't research his other posts. I guess his post being well written and very detailed had a ring of truth to it, but you are right in that if that's the only post he's made it does seem a bit odd. Like I said, I don't have a dog in this fight, but with this economy it wouldn't be unbeleivable if Vadim is struggling $ wise these days. I've always called the internet the "sea of ignorance" because absolutely anything can and does appear.

Busa196

Vadim told me that he "couldn't afford" to give me my $2500 back after his ECU flash netted my car zero gains- and after he promised me he would give me a full refund....and after my ECU was already in the mail to him. I had to have Amex go after him and they eventually got the money back but it took a couple of months. Good luck......

Full Throttle

Unbelievable... where are all the "we pay top dollar" because of all the R&D that goes into tuning this platform people at now? You guys are getting RAPED buy these horrible vendors when are you guys going to wake up?

beauphus

I also dont understand the "underworld" mentality. I came painfully close to sending approx $6k to Vadim about 6 weeks ago. I had a casual conversation with a couple other forum members and they said i was nuts to do it because i would get screwed but to keep it hush-hush. I dont understand?!? Why cant the truth come out until AFTER the damage is done? Luckily I am not in this position but if that $50k number is true then someone should've said somehting LONG AGO - not just spread truthful rumors in the underworld...

reitmeid

I remember a post of yours when you were describing being nearly ready to go ahead with your next round of mods, and how you were waiting for your hems. I thought that was a clever way to induce Vadim to send them, seeing how you announced you were waiting on them.
My experience involved sending Vadim $2200 for the Xmas special pulley/tune. I paypalled 12/14. At the time he was still connected with Victor. One of the reasons I sent that much money was the website claimed 10 units were in stock, and after all, I was dealing with Vadim/Victor. After six nervous weeks of waiting including several promises of delivery, I panicked, thinking I was never going to get anything. I decided, since the website said 10 throttle body kits were in stock, to ask Vadim to nix the apparently unavailable pulley and send me a throttlebody kit. At the time they were $1999. I just wanted something for my money. He agreed, saying for the difference in monies, he would included a set of spacers. I said fine. A month later, when I hadn't received my kit, I decided to attempt to contact Victor directly to help me get some product. He promptly contacted me, apologizing, explaining I had ordered from Vadim, not himself, but that he would contact Vadim to immediately remedy the situation. I shortly thereafter got a call from Vadim explaining the kit was on his desk and would shortly be sent out. A week later I got a tracking number and alas, a throttlebody kit and spacers. I was very pleased to get something for my money and really felt like I had dodged a bullet. I think a week or 2 later it was announced on the forums that Vadim/Victor were going separate ways.

psuball1

I am glad that i got away from Vadim as soon as I did. He is a habitual liar and will be nothing but that.

stevebez

yes I can't say the "announcement" was exactly an accident...

I have to say I really like the way the HEMs have made the motor sound. I'll find out on Wednesday how much power they make relative to Kleemanns.

AMGSC

If you are talking about me please don't make false assumptions. The car was running fine when I took it to Vadim. I ran a decent 12.5 quarter mile at 116 trap on street tires during hot day in Fontana when Benzoboi and LZH were there. It was just not making the power I desired. Secondly, I've been working with him for over 3 years and he still has my car so don't say I expected results overnight! I see you like Vadim and so do I as a person but don't use me as example since I'm prolly one of the most patient customers of his. Even more than Havoc.

X2Board

Just contact the AG's office in his state and file a complaint, or you can put a lien on his property. Trust me, you will come out ahead as you can also have your recovery costs included.

hooleyboy

I think you seem to forget that I was a normal member of this site up until a few month ago. I started out just like any other newbie here. I would dump my forum sponsorship in a heart beat if sponsoring meant I couldn't be the same old person I was before I signed on as a sponsor.

This is by no means a "bandwagon" When your very good friend, and fellow member have been given this same treatment by Vadim. It tend to leave a sour taste in your mouth. Jturkle will share his story once his hangover is gone.

Not only that, This leaves a huge black eye on all sponsors of this site. Who can you trust? With that I take exception. There are plenty of sponsors here that try to do honest work. Sponsoring this site is not exactly cheap. So when people get scared to trust a vendor, It make vendors work that much harder to gain a customers trust.

Look at the 360forged incident from a while back. How many people jumped on buying wheels from this site after that happened? Granted there are exceptions to that, but it left a bad taste in members mouths about any wheel company working out of FLA. Thats not fair to the other wheel sponsors that run a stand up biz in FLA or any place for that matter. So one companies business practices tarnished a whole segment of sponsors on this site... And thats not fair.

There were post going around after a sponsor would post their latest products and wheel line ups. That said "look another wheel company out of Miami or FLA." To me that totally unfair to the many legit companies that happened to be in that area.

There are many sponsors here that try to maintain a high level of service to its customers. And with the theory of "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch." It makes me nervous that part of the performance segment could feel the fall out of this.

I hope Turk shares his story after the Advil kicks in.

EDIT: Do any of these posts add credibility to the OP's post? I think so.
from the E55 section
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...st-read-2.html