CKM Car Design - Questionable business practices?
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
CKM Car Design - Questionable business practices?
Hello, just wanted to share my experience with CKM Car Design... I was looking for a front lip for my s550 and was going to try the Maxton Design front lip. I checked maxtondesignusa.net and their price is $295 shipped. I then remembered I saw a similar design front lip on ckmcardesign so I went to compare and noticed it's the same exact looking lip for slightly less. It was 211 euro which converted to $225 shipping included, so I figured why not and ordered from ckm. A few days later I receive an email from ckm stating shipping by air would be $350 total for this part and that since I already paid $86 for shipping I would need to pay an additional $264. So this guy wants $489 for a knockoff Maxton Design front lip when I can get one directly from the source for $295? I asked him why there was an additional shipping charge when I paid shipping already through his site and told him I did not want to pay any additional fees and to cancel my order of he could not ship it for the price paid. He simply canceled the order without any explanation or response back. Seems like a bait and switch type of business practice and a little shady. Seems hes simply ordering parts through other vendors and taking a cut as the middle man. Just wanted to share my experience for others to be careful with this guy.
Last edited by Rmayrap; Feb 22, 2023 at 01:39 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 1,493
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2014 S550 AMG, 2017 XT5
Hello, just wanted to share my experience with CKM Car Design...
I was looking for a front lip for my s550 and was going to try the Maxton Design front lip. I checked maxtondesignusa.net and their price is $295 shipped. I then remembered I saw a similar design front lip on ckmcardes******** so I went to compare and noticed it's the same exact looking lip for slightly less. It was 211 euro which converted to $225 shipping included, so I figured why not and ordered from ckm. A few days later I receive an email from ckm stating shipping by air would be $350 total for this part and that since I already paid $86 for shipping I would need to pay an additional $264. So this guy wants $489 for a knockoff Maxton Design front lip when I can get one directly from the source for $295? I asked him why there was an additional shipping charge when I paid shipping already through his site and told him I did not want to pay any additional fees and to cancel my order of he could not ship it for the price paid. He simply canceled the order without any explanation or response back. Seems like a bait and switch type of business practice and a little shady. Seems hes simply ordering parts through other vendors and taking a cut as the middle man.
Just wanted to share my experience for others to be careful with this guy.
I was looking for a front lip for my s550 and was going to try the Maxton Design front lip. I checked maxtondesignusa.net and their price is $295 shipped. I then remembered I saw a similar design front lip on ckmcardes******** so I went to compare and noticed it's the same exact looking lip for slightly less. It was 211 euro which converted to $225 shipping included, so I figured why not and ordered from ckm. A few days later I receive an email from ckm stating shipping by air would be $350 total for this part and that since I already paid $86 for shipping I would need to pay an additional $264. So this guy wants $489 for a knockoff Maxton Design front lip when I can get one directly from the source for $295? I asked him why there was an additional shipping charge when I paid shipping already through his site and told him I did not want to pay any additional fees and to cancel my order of he could not ship it for the price paid. He simply canceled the order without any explanation or response back. Seems like a bait and switch type of business practice and a little shady. Seems hes simply ordering parts through other vendors and taking a cut as the middle man.
Just wanted to share my experience for others to be careful with this guy.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
His website doesn't calculate shipping correctly I guess and he then emails asking for more money to cover shipping. Just found it odd that he didn't explain the reason for this when asked and he simply just canceled the order without any reply to a first time customer. The amount he requested seemed super high to me. Im.not going to go out of my.way to request an explanation if he didn't care enough to give one the first time. Shouldn't matter if I'm a forum member or not, this is not how business is handled.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
I paid $86 for shipping a small front lip, I don't think that's unreasonable. China is able to ship much bigger and heavier for less. My job isn't to determine if his shipping is an error or not. If his web site doesn't calculate shipping correctly he should fix it or at least let me know through email, instead he just said "Shipping this by air is 350USD - 86usd you already paid. So 264USD more" this isn't normal. When I asked why there is such a big difference and I didn't want to pay double than what I already paid he simply canceled the order without an explanation.
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 603
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From: NYC
S63, GLE580, BV250
Shipping from China to the US is subsidized by the government thats why the shipping rates are substaisially lower. I've made some purchases through EU vendors and have come across the same shipping issue where shipping quotes are incorrect but for some parts there are very limited if any options in the US.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
Shipping from China to the US is subsidized by the government thats why the shipping rates are substaisially lower. I've made some purchases through EU vendors and have come across the same shipping issue where shipping quotes are incorrect but for some parts there are very limited if any options in the US.
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Current/Last 5-years:GLS;G70;Alpina B8;X7;Accord. Sold:X7,TeslaS;S560;S550,X5;530e;L.Navigator;LS460
I had communicated with him in the past; and I did not feel comfortable with his (TBD) final price or discounts. I had a promo code that he did not honor, and shipping also at that time suddenly got increased despite the website showing a lower number that did entice me in, but than I got shocked by the final numbers.
Since he is not the manufacturer, or does not own a factory, I decided going forward to do my research and order from the main source/factories (if am buying parts or products made in China), which in most cases is cheaper too (worst case I send them a screenshot of the lowest price I found elsewhere and they'd match it). I ordered a number of accessories that way, CarPlay module when I had a pre-facelift, and leather mats.
Since he is not the manufacturer, or does not own a factory, I decided going forward to do my research and order from the main source/factories (if am buying parts or products made in China), which in most cases is cheaper too (worst case I send them a screenshot of the lowest price I found elsewhere and they'd match it). I ordered a number of accessories that way, CarPlay module when I had a pre-facelift, and leather mats.
Last edited by S_W222; Feb 23, 2023 at 11:02 AM.
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Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
I had communicated with him in the past; and I did not feel comfortable with his (TBD) final price or discounts. I had a promo code that he did not honor, and shipping also at that time suddenly got increased despite the website showing a lower number that did entice me in, but than I got shocked by the final numbers.Since he is not the manufacturer, or does not own a factory, I decided going forward to do my research and order from the main source/factories (if am buying parts or products made in China), which in most cases is cheaper too (worst case I send them a screenshot of the lowest price I found elsewhere and they'd match it). I ordered a number of accessories that way, CarPlay module when I had a pre-facelift, and leather mats.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 153
Likes: 55
From: St. Louis
2015 S550, 2014 640i
not sure what he will charge to ship a steering wheel but it's definitely going to be more than whatever price you're seeing on the site. I've concluded that he's simply a middle man without any stock, once you place the order he orders the part and takes a cut for himself. That's why everything says "out of stock" on the site.
Last edited by Rmayrap; Feb 23, 2023 at 09:11 PM.
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2012 CLS550
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Joined: Jan 2019
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2004 E55
not sure what he will charge to ship a steering wheel but it's definitely going to be more than whatever price you're seeing on the site. I've concluded that he's simply a middle man without any stock, once you place the order he orders the part and takes a cut for himself. That's why everything says "out of stock" on the site.
Super Member
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From: USA
04 E55, 06 E55, 05 G55, 14 E63s, 12 cls63
Junior Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 62
Likes: 22
From: SF Bay Area
20 SL450, 23 EQS 580, 13 Ferrari F12, 12 Cayenne S, 22 Turbo S
I got a great custom designed steering wheel for my S63 from CKM, he was great to work with and it arrived perfectly. So I had a good experience and only have good things to say about CKM. Sorry you feel otherwise.
Member
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 114
Likes: 91
From: So CALi
| 2015 S63 / 2013 5.7 Tundra |
VERY SHADY! Ordered $450 worth of stuff from them, heard NOTHING for a month, Emailed them was told all except one item had been shipped but I got no tracking number or email notice of shipment, and the order said it was still processing at their site, on to month 2. My ace, I paid with PayPal as I do with any overseas purchases that use PP, opened a case against them which put a hold on ALL their PP $$ transactions, and gave them a 7 day time limit for me to receive my items or get a full refund, Christian was PISSED..but I got all my items not back ordered and a partial refund in 5 days. 3 mo total wait.
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 3,159
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From: U.S.
Current/Last 5-years:GLS;G70;Alpina B8;X7;Accord. Sold:X7,TeslaS;S560;S550,X5;530e;L.Navigator;LS460
VERY SHADY! Ordered $450 worth of stuff from them, heard NOTHING for a month, Emailed them was told all except one item had been shipped but I got no tracking number or email notice of shipment, and the order said it was still processing at their site, on to month 2. My ace, I paid with PayPal as I do with any overseas purchases that use PP, opened a case against them which put a hold on ALL their PP $$ transactions, and gave them a 7 day time limit for me to receive my items or get a full refund, Christian was PISSED..but I got all my items not back ordered and a partial refund in 5 days. 3 mo total wait.
Last edited by S_W222; Mar 5, 2023 at 10:47 AM.
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 62
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From: SF Bay Area
20 SL450, 23 EQS 580, 13 Ferrari F12, 12 Cayenne S, 22 Turbo S
