Hello, all!

Welcome to the third post I've done like this (first and second here, respectively) in an effort to give everyone here a sort of "sneak peek" into some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens at tuning firms. The "inspiration" for this latest post was a local (Chicago) client's E63 ... and the fact that it took us 3 days to tune it.

Here's what happened.

Initially, the client made contact via email. I'm not sure if he had been on the forums or if he came in through the new Speedriven website, but he asked about our E63 tuning software, asked about the Block Tuner, asked about pricing, and - once his questions were answered - booked an appointment.

The client arrived at 9:30AM, as scheduled, and Kara dropped him off at Woodfield Mall, which is about 10 minutes from Speedriven's shop in Palatine, to kill a few hours.

Once the ECU was pulled (as is necessary with the 63s), Marcin read out the file ... that's when things started to go awry.

The client's E63 (a CPO car) was a very early-production car, and had firmware that we'd simply never run into before. What's more, the block tuners couldn't communicate with the car consistently, and we were running into all kinds of weird errors.

In short: it was a mess.

One hour became two hours, and then two hours became four hours. At that point, we called the client and let him know the car wasn't getting tuned that day.

What was going on: because the car had such early firmware, none of the tables were "where they are supposed to be", and it would take some time to create a new file. Once that was done, we could find whatever the Block Tuner was looking for (that had "moved", as far as the Block Tuner was concerned) and make the necessary changes to make everything happy.

Throughout this, the client was totally cool, calm, and understanding (the fact that Marcin was able to show him exactly what the obstacles were helped immensely, no doubt, but still - no one would have blamed him for being livid at the 1-hour turned 4-hour wait with nothing to show for it).

At that point, we were confident that we'd be able to make the changes and program the car over the OBDii, so we sent the customer home with the Block Tuner, and planning to email the file once it was finished. (At this point, of course, no money had changed hands.)

The new file was ready the next morning ... and the Block Tuner wouldn't read the car.

After a few tech-support calls, the client made the decision to bring the car back to Speedriven, where we were (FINALLY!) able to bench flash the ECU, make power, and send the client home smiling.

This could have easily gone pear-shaped, had the client not been able to look over Marcin's shoulder and see the complexity of what was going on ... and, believe me, I was happy to have Marcin there as my backup, since the issues he was having with the firmware were way over my head (and, obviously, if I can't understand it, I can't explain it).

We gave the client a good discount for his troubles, but he didn't ask for it. We were very lucky to be dealing with someone familiar with tuning who had been involved in big builds in the past ... but still: it shouldn't have gone wrong. This isn't a perfect world, however, and sometimes things do go wrong - which is sort of what the first 2 "pulling back the curtain" posts were all about: what happens when things go wrong?

I think the right thing to do, as a shop, is inform the customer and let them decide what the next move is: do we go forward? do we go back?

That may seem obvious, but - unfortunately - it's hardly universal practice (see: https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...-part-1-a.html).

So, help me out here, guys. Do you think a discount was the right way to go - or is turning a 3 hour chore into a 3 day adventure totally unforgivable? Given a long enough time-line, something like this will happen again, and I'd like to know what you think the right move is.

Thanks!!

I think you guys did exactly what you should've done.

Well done.

Seems like you guys handled it the right way..

You guys were spot on, that discount will prob lead to future business from the customer so long run quids in! also reputation stays intact. good job guys

A discount for the delay seems fair

Quids in! I love it - haven't heard that in ages.

Good Customer Service. Discount was a good gesture, I have seen other tuner do that too.

Oh, for sure - there's no question some tuners will offer discounts (or future credit, or a free detail, or a tank of gas, or whatever) when things go wrong. Others will wreck a car and hide the damage (seen it with mine own eyes). As with everything else involving human beings, there are good people and bad people ...

... I guess what I should have asked: assuming there was a problem, what would you guys EXPECT from your tuner?

Small biz is all about word of mouth and this is guaranteed to have the customer saying good things when the subject comes up.

Much as it may be the customers fault, they really are always right. Sometimes you have to discount, sometimes you have to eat it and refund and of course you sometimes have to shake hands and just walk away from real ball busters (Thank God they are pretty few and far between)

Thumbs up SD!!

personally i would have expected exactly what you gave him..... HONESTY! to tell me that you have encountered an issue that was unexpected and could run into days instead of hiding the fact you were stumped for a period of time tells me the shop is doing the best they can and will do what it takes to please the customer. to give a discount is a bonus.
tuning modding customizing a car no matter the brand has risks and one should expect something to not go as planned at some time and be prepared.
i think you handled it very professionally and will have a repeat customer

I think you guys handled it absolutely well. Good job guys!

On par with what I would have expected. You handled it perfectly. You kept the customer informed, you went over the issues, you stayed on top of it and in the end you compensated him for his troubles.

you guys did the right thing. Didn't lead the client on and on, but showed him how difficult and technical it was to tune his car. Truth goes further, than hiding the truth. Giving a discount was a gesture of sorry for what should have taken a few hrs but took longer. Rarely do you find shops that go out of their way to explain problems that occur.

IMO, you were spot on. I tend to believe most people are reasonable, and if you communicate and are 100% up front with them, they will respond like your customer. I would have.

I agree with the previous comments......well done. Care to disclose what the gains were?

There can be so many intangibles in this performance game. A bunch of unforeseen problems. It just happens. IMO what sets shops apart from others is honesty. Treating people the way I would want to be treated is a must. This is why I'm happy to work with the guys at Speedriven. In fact Dyno-Comp now has the Speedriven sales rep on sight.. I've happen to have known him for years now and he is a great guy and good personal friend. Speedriven kicks ***.

You did the right thing!
If everyone did business this way, the world would be a better place.

I'd love to - but we didn't dyno the car. The client did get a dyno pull afterwards, which I'm waiting on.