Now that my car has been down over a month, i am comparing my rennTech warranty to my MB one. The MB one is pretty clear with damages due to time down, expenses of rental cars, etc. Has anyone actually amicably made a warranty claim on RennTech? My situation is a bit different, as i expect snapping pit bulls at the recieving doors, so i will be sending someone (not me) to follow up. Just curious if anyone has actually had the chance to test their warranty or if it the marketing jive that it was intended to be?

 

i didnt read mine but i was told ( i trust people) that if it is their part that breaks you get a new one no charge. if it causes other problems then they fix if not they pay someone to fix. i have a strong feelin that you will be meet with pitbulls at the door cuzz they are gonna say there part didnt cause this it was installation. if you have been with out a car for a month someone should be steppin up. if you have lease or payments i would want that month paid. or givin a car to drive at least. i would ask the installer to step up and take some action for you.

 

You are on the right path and I will follow up on the install as well. The point from my end is that the install and the source are already in bed together (so to speak). Lets say i have proof that this was an install issue. i didn't simply buy RENNtech parts and have them installed at MY shop. I bought and had the install done in the same shop. How many botched installs would it take for there to be some liability on renntech for not controlling their product?
The car has now been down over a month. The engine is being removed and rebuilt. ALL of this due to an error on the seller's side. Now, how do i get caught holding the bag? i am already well aware (thanks to my brother) on what the California laws are with regards to service shops, so that will be addressed. What he (my brother) was not as clear on is what jurisdiction anyone here would have if I attempted to force RennTech to live up to their warranty. Again, keep in mind., RENNTECH will NOT let me install parts onto a car and warranty it. The install must be per their requirements, which they were. Who botched what is not my concerned. Who pays for what is.
Just for your FYI, the car is leased and I've made 2 payments since it has simply sat. That has nothing to do with the opportunity costs that i have taken on by not having all this done right or the loss in value that an AMG with the engine rebuilt entails.
Unfortunately, my free ride as far as lawyer fees has ended. My brother feels he needs to hire an appropriate attorney to advise him. Funny how they make work for eachother. While he thinks he can get some major discounts from the new guy, he has already taken $5k from me and told me to kiss it goodbye. he said that would be spent well prior to any discovery proceedings even begin.

 

Oh yeah, I'm done asking for anything. My dumbass thought they would step up and offer me goodies (as a gesture), but instead it has been the black plague treatment.
they don't know Jangy too well, do they?

 

Jangy why do you keep asking RENNtech for money or goodies? Did anyone from RENNtech cause your car to fail or was it creative?

I just hope this does not turn into a case of try to sue the guy with deeper pockets. Creative broke your car so why not go about this by trying to serve them with papers and get them to fix the car and compensate you for lost time etc?

While RENNtech made the part, they did not break the car. Go after the guilty party and you will "clean house." Going after a party that is NOT involved will just get your money gobbled up by court proceedings.

Jangy it is not renntech job to make sure your car is worked on properly. You went about this on a mission to get the best deal and now you want to get in their face because your car is broken. Believe me I feel bad for you on this and i understand your anger. I just get bothered when the allegations of RENNtech being at fault keep come back because in the end they did nothing wrong. The installer broke your car. Simple as that.

When you get a car stereo from al and eds and their installer guy shorts your car out and toasts the audio gateway on the car.... do you sue al and eds for shoddy work or do you go after say pioneer for having made the amp they were installing?

I have to ask what creative has done for you and what they have offered? I personally doubt that have the 15-20k it will take to fix this issue financially just sitting around and maybe thats why they are not offering to take charge and get you back on the road.

 

damm i didnt know it was that serious. someone needs to help the pain you are gettin since they caused it. i think your bro is right get a specialest on it and get whats commin to you. 2 months i would have them pay thoes months and get you a car right now or keep payin for you at the very least i would expect that. i can say this cuzz this is how i am but if the installer doesnt step up bad things would happen if it were me. i just hope they dont try and fucck you on this. good luck to you bro.

 

I understand the point you keep making and TRUST me, they will be standing side by side when it goes down. The part you are not getting is that RennTech is liable for doing the due diligence needed to decide on their installers.

Let me flip the case. lets say you go to a dealership for work. They botch the job. Who do you sue? The dealership, MB, or both? My answer is both. I already know where my legal stance is with creative. I do not know the same with Renntech. It has nothing to do with deeper pockets, as Creative is actually a simpler target. it is about attacking the heart of the problem. I did not contact Creative about renntech. I contacted RennTech about a local shop. In my mind, RennTech placed Creative in a place to fail and they did. At the same tme, rennTech has ignored my entire crew and that won't be stood for. 1 of the 4 cars that paid IN full for stage 1 STILL do not have it setup. Mine is the only one with potential install issues. ALL the others are stricktly ECU programming issues that is only Renntech.

 

Ohhh this is gonna get ugly.

 

Well, having spoken with tuners about "installers" there is a huge game of smoke and mirrors when it comes to what is reality and what is in fiction land. Many shops try to present a big image to tuners to try and get the contract for sales etc. In the end many shops dont have the backing or staffing they claim just because the cost to have such a staff is massive and the profit from selling and installing parts is not that huge. For all you or I know Creative told RENNtech they had techs etc for installation but in reality they did not. I am not sure where that leaves everyone but I personally hope Creative pays a price and if they go under its a case of eating your own soup. They cut the corner and I hope they pay the price.

I am a big person for may the guilty party pay a price and I look for a happy ending here.

It's a shame your car is still down. Its a worst case situation come true. Hope you get it all worked out. Good luck with it all.

Edit: I do see the difference with software and your installation failure. Two totally different issues.

 

I dont know what has happened with the software issue but I hear they flew a guy out to fix the ECU issues before. What was done with that and whats left to be resolved?

 

I fully understand your point, but I come from an industry where the owness to verify (due diligence) is on the manufacturer of the item. If a business owner just tells me he has a qualified doctor to inject my drugs, I still mUST go through and verify those credentials before I can hand that liability off. This is no different. That is part of why I do not want to get caught in the middle. I have decided to sue both and let the courts decide who did what. I do not want to sue one party and have them be able to bounce the liability elsewhere. How my case has been handled is a shame. How ugly it will get before the end is also a shame. But, I can promise you one thing. Any business I own will follow up on things like this and we will always go above and beyond the minimal legal rules just to avoid such a scenario. The fact that the car is trashed is not the problem. The fact that they have a rabid customer is. This could easily have been settled when i first spoke up, and if you remember even then I wanted to work it out and just get "goodies". What would that have really cost them (Creative / rennTech)? Now, we are at the point where I am spending more money on a car that doesn't even run. Why? Because I have good advise and I am told the $5K is a simple investment.

 

He did fly from AZ. NOTHING was accomplished. again, i work in a very regimented industry, where troubleshooting, etc has specific protocols and procedures. Before he ever showed up, i made my position and concerns clear. NONE were addressed. In the time that has passed, they managed to talk one member into thinking his is fixed, so that is one. the other two are "waiting on a return call". How you like that for support? again, it has been a month for that as well.
Simple solution would be to present a plan and exacute it. Or, refund the ECU money until such time that issues are resolved. Or, ignore us. they chose 3. Is that also on Creative? I will not have it. I will not allow it, not when my crew has been screwed.

I have bent over backwards to cooperate with rennTech and Creative and all I get back is the typical responses, which are simply not acceptable.

We can play the games. I may come accross as some nut on a forum, but I do know my rights and am quite aggresive in protecting them. RennTech is no deep pockets to me. They are a simple tuning company.

 

ouch Jangy...sorry to hear about your car bro!

Wow... i didnt think it was that bad.....fuken a ... i hope u get this **** solved

 

Jangy, if I remeber correctly from another post you had indicated MB was going to take care of your problem under warranty ? I assume this is no longer the case ?

 

I didn't know your car was in such bad shape. I truly am sorry to hear that and do feel your pain.

From what I have seen ... this is going to end up being on Creative. A company can train a tech to do the install and even be certified. What happens though when the tech just made a mistake? It's the shop that the tech works at that is responsible. If it was proven that the instructions given to the tech were faulty then I can see the Manufacturer's responsibility. In this specific case though the Manufacturer's instructions were clear. Doesn't Creative have freaking insurance?

 

I can understand the idea of due diligence with respect to verification but I am sure you can also see that its fairly simple to show one side and actually follow through on a total different story. You could have a tech there during the opening days of the shop and use that to attract a company or tuner but once you get the contract and the vendor goes home you can always let that tech go and run with the very low skilled (cheap) labor. I have no idea about Creative other than they seem pretty shifty and that stories make them look really bad so I cant get specific on what their approach was.

You were most definitely violated on this one and you should be compensated for what happened but maybe my philosophy is a bit different than yours. We have the same idea on what should be the ultimate goal but a different way of getting there. I have a more direct view of people being at fault and who is at risk of being sued. In America our legal system allows for you to go after companies who are not directly involved and that is why many companies stay out of some areas of business here... its just to risky. In Europe people do not have that same view of the legal system (my that be good or bad is personal belief) and that allows companies to do more "risky" stuff (see the pharmaceutical business for a good example on that and maybe even the amg performance studio even).

I don’t know what the real legislation says so I cant comment on what a company like RENNtech has to prove as far as "due diligence" on an issue like this.

I just see things as people should be blamed for mistakes. Creative broke it so they should fix it. I don’t like the idea the Creative can do shoddy work and put a difference company at risk for their mistakes. I just am a very “buck stops here” type of guy so I would like to see creative take care of this and pay though the nose for destroying a perfectly good car.

It sounds like a really long road. I guess step 1 is getting the car back on the road right?

 

I was wondering that same thing about the insurance. One would think it would fall under that policy but maybe not. I am not a tuner so I have no idea.

 

Jangy

Bring me up to date. What exactly was damaged due to the faulty belt install? Also, what engine work needs to be done to repair the damage?

I did not realize your car has been completely out of commission.

 

If you are going to go down the litigation path, you are setting yourself up for one very long deposition. You are going to be cross-examined, in detail, on each and every one of your posts. Not only is a good defense lawyer going to have a lot a fun during deposition using your own posts (calling yourself a "rabid customer," etc.), but your own legal costs will increase because your lawyer will have to review each post and discuss them with you.

Just a thought.

 

I would echo the sentiments of the above poster, along with this question:

Why litigate?

Having owned a small tuner business in the past, I can attest first-hand that ****e happens, and parts break. That's what professional liability insurance with the appropriate industry riders is for.

They (the installer) should spare no expense in making the problem right, suck it up, and call their insurance agent.

At worst, this is an insurance claim for them, and possibly Renntech (if the software caused damage-unlikely proveable unless forensic evidence of detonation is proven, IMHO )

 

LOL. Look up the posts. I never said that. It was simply a thought gone rampant. What I did say is that I have a friend that stepped in to help me out. That does not mean that MB will foot the bill. What I meant by that was that a qualified tech will be doing the repairs. My concern then (and now, actually) was in getting the car back up and fixed PROPERLY. I never really worried about the money. I knew that worst case meant I pay for it and sue for damages, which I am prepared to do. Also, the clarity of the concern left no gap as to who will pay. Where my problem comes in is in the level of customer care that I am getting while the car is down. Had I gotten the attention that such a mishap deserves, then there would be no issues. However, now I sit back and wonder why let them off the hook so easy? It is all in the details. I'd like to be able to take RennTech's personal car for a month and see if he likes it. I would guess not, but maybe all of their customers are used to having their cars down for such extended amounts of time over a simple pulley?

 

I don't think this is normal at least for other renntech dealers ...

As to customer service I agree that your getting the short end of the stick. On the other hand the customer service from EuroElites is amazing. I don't know if its due to the relationship EuroElites has with Renntech, but I've never had any issues with Renntech(direct) support or service. Maybe a slow response once in a while but EuroElites is on top of that.

Good Luck.

 

What a pain... Someone is liable for fixing the damage and it shouldn't be you.

Does Creative have any kind of insurance to cover these types of issues ?

 

Lets be clear here on what my concern is and what I was seeking thoughts on. I am not concerned with who will pay for the actual repairs as I have never had any indication that they would not pay. What I am wondering about is any additional damages, like being without a car for a month or loss in value to the car from the extensive repairs. I initially thought this would not be an issue, since as another poster said **** does happen and I took some personal accountability for ever choosing to have my car modded. However, as time has passed, I am feeling neglected. Had they been proactive in showing me any good faith assurances that they care, I would not even be upset. I just think it is bad business, so now I am being pickier on things that I mentally let slide before. If they are not working with me, why should I work with them? Are there truly no damages in a case where my car has been down for over a month due to simple negligence? **** does happen, but that does not make it legal to **** wherever you want to and just say "my bad".

It all boils down to this. Look at what life has been like for both sides over the last month. From our end, my crew paid $4K X 4 = $16K. What did we get in return? Well, lets see. We have 1 car that is finally running as claimed (maybe). We have another that has had enough ECU flashes to dedicate a FedEx station to and is STILL having the exact same issues as in the beginning. We have a third that is seeing minimal gains (at best). And we have mine, which has been DEAD for over a month and now needs the engine REMOVED and rebuilt.

What were my expectations? That they do whatever is needed to make us happy. PERIOD. Is ignoring us or providing poor customer service illegal? No. But, looking back on this entire situation, it is clear to me that the compromises have all been one sided and I'm done with that.

lbE55: Good point. However, the fact that I am avid enthusiast or an out-of-the-closet a$$hole has no bearing to this case. The risks are understood. I'm a big boy and I do not mind being cross examined, if and when it comes to that. In fact, I'm sure my legal affairs will have some fun with the others as well. My brother is my lawyer, and he has already hired a lawyer to review everything and those hours do indeed add up. They will need to be paid when this is all wrapped up. The fact that his contracted firm took less than a week to take the case with $0 up front is a decent sign, and yes they know all about my persona on this site.

ChicagoX: the only reason to litigate is because we could come to no agreement after a month of talks and I am ready to escalate this.

Cyn: I see all your points and I definitely do see where all your scenarios may be true. I simply do not care what the gory details are. I intend to drag both parties through the mud. If RennTech's due diligence was done and Creative is solely to blame, then that will be defined long before I file any papers as I would simply be openning myself up to retaliation if I had no grounds. Trust me on this one, my advise has been consistent and concise that I am to treat them as a single entity to avoid any of the added confusion. By the way, is Creative still installing Renntech parts? Hmmm, makes you wonder just how much diligence is being done.

 

This thread made me think of this modern favorite.....


I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

Well, I could've been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em all around

We got the bubbleheaded bleach-blonde, comes on at 5
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone, keep your dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff, kick 'em all around

Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie
Love to cut you down to size, we love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it's said and done, we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry