my AfterDark experience

Post by **lok** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Hello,

I would just like to let everyone know my experience with Afterdark tuning. I placed my down payment on May 13 and expected to have the engine installed by the end of May or early June. We all know that due to recent events customs is less than cooperative and I had no problem with waiting and postponing my install. This is where my complaint begins, this past week on Friday, 27th of June I was scheduled to have my red top installed. I called Afterdark numerous times during the week to make sure everything was still on for the install.

On Thursday night around 5pm central time I called to confirm and everything was still a go for the install. A few minutes later I received a call asking what year my car is, 1990 240sx f/b. Everything is still on at this point, so I went to class and we ended up getting out early, good for me. Now my friend and I, who is making the road trip with me set out for the 675 miles drive to Iowa. Well we arrived at about 6 o'clock on Friday morning, and decided to wash the car before waking everyone up. After that we arrived at the shop and were met by the guys who would be doing the installing, nice group of people and very knowledgeable. I then met Adam for the first time and he asked everyone if they told me what happened. They replied with “not yet we are waiting on you”. So he proceeded to tell me that the engines were not even there yet and at the earliest maybe next weekend or he could order one for me from Chicago and install the engine on Sat. at the earliest.

Somehow at 5 o'clock the day before we went, everything was ok and ready to go. But 12 hours later they don’t even have any engines at the shop, except the one blacktop that they are installing that day. I really don’t understand how Adam can allow someone to make a 675-mile trip knowing he has nothing to offer the person when they arrive except "sorry, could you come back next week"? I have already rescheduled my work leave twice due to customs which I did not have a problem with that, but I can only reschedule the leave for so much from my boss. Also, he said they had no way in contacting me, but when he took my down payment, I gave him all my contact information, also, they had called me before, so for sure they had my number. And refer to the beginning of this post when I said they called me to ask what year my car was. Sorry for such a long post but driving 1400 miles in 24 hours is a bit much, when you have nothing to show for it.

I have decided to order my engine from HeavyThrottle and install the engine myself. I thought it would save time to have someone who is experienced to install the engine, but it only caused me unnecessary work leave and time.

just wanna to share!

Lok

Post by **TruboostPerformance** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Sorry to hear that, I got my motor from Heavy Throttle and had no problems it was ontime and a awesome motor, plus tech support and everything with Jeff and Yury has been great too, they never once hesitated to tell me anything or help me out in anyway.. Good Luck

Post by **Wuss** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Good to know. It seems you have everything well documented. If I were you, I'd pursue reimbursement for travel and work lost, as well as class time lost in the trip. 1400 miles total is almost 1/2 the length of the United States, not a trip to be taken lightly.

Of course, I'm sure we should hear After-Dark's side of things, but if they really did talk to you 5pm the previous day and confirmed and had your contact information, then I'd say pursue some sort of reimbursement. You're taking this very well.

Post by **UsedToOwn240SX** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Same here, I ordered my redtop from HT. Arrived as promised. I did have several things missing, but Yury and Jeff took care of them. They even offered me a replacement turbo when I told them my turbo compressor wheel is damaged. They're top notch! Very responsive support! Two thumbs up!

Post by **lok** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Their is really nothing I could of done that would have made them have an engine. So I refraned from getting all upset and throwing out demands. I just don't understand what kind of shipping misshap happens between 5pm and 6am the next day. It just really doesn't make much sense to me. I am not trying to bad mouth them, I could just be that one person who has a bad experience. I just wanted to share my feelings on the matter.

Post by **Wes2** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Nice to see that Adam cares enough to post an apology or something explaining himself and his actions.

I heard that he won't have motors for awhile. Looking to do a swap myself in the future definately not doing it with him. Got to go with a big name like heavythrottle or project silvia. They are big for a reason, exelent service and products.

Post by **soilwork240sx** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

after reading this site for a while ive come to this conclusion. it seems as if anyone who claims they have a store or are opening a store, claims they can get motors are full of it. there are a few that are good sources, but lets see daunt, nomoremr2, and night have all three bs`ed and taken everyones money and not provided a product. its sad that people cannot just be honest, but the fault also lies with the comsumer. personaly i would never give a company or person the total amount for a motor before it was even pulled from a car. some of these people ripped off i dont even feel any sympathy for. lok, i do feel sorry for you. that is sad that you had to take off work, drive that far, and still get nothing from adam. seems to me that adam isnt going to be doing business for much longer.

Post by **Rockenreno** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

soil, in all fairness Adam and nomore_mr2 are different situations, as nomore_mr2 was never in contact with anyone and took their money. I am pretty sure Adam refunded lok's money (correct me if I'm wrong).

That being said, it's sad to see that Adam is having so much trouble with everything right now. It seems like he's been swamped and had too many problems with shipping or in this case miscommunication on his part in getting the motors to the customers. Nobody should have to do what lok did, its not right. Maybe things will be better once he gets everything going and actually develops a stock of motors instead of installing them immediately upon arrival.

Best of luck with your installation lok, hopefully things will work out fine in the end for you. I know I wouldn't want to drive 1400 miles for nothing...

Post by **lok** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

soilwork240sx wrote:lok, i do feel sorry for you. that is sad that you had to take off work, drive that far, and still get nothing from adam. seems to me that adam isnt going to be doing business for much longer.

I really didn't post for sympathy mainly just to inform people of my ordeal. I appreciate everyones modivation to move forward, and yes I did recieve a refund, it was only a deposit. On monday I plan on calling HT and placing an order with them.

Thanks again

Post by **soilwork240sx** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

yeah good idea. it just seems like everyone on here has been having problems. hopefully everything works itself out

Post by **slw240sx** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

yeah whats up with this, i know that stuff is hard to get going, i too have offerd some parts and im still no where near getting the stuff togther and stuff is on the back burner to do my friends shop goin bankrupt and him being out of a job, and my work is seriously slow this time a year, but i think once winter is here everyone thats still around should be doing fairly well.

Post by **mattback** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

What did their shop even look like ???was it anything that looked like they were even doing business?

Post by **slw240sx** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

yeah did you go inside? did they have any cars in the lot? i heard they were working round the clock doin installs.

Post by **lok** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

There shop was nice, and the lot was full of s13 and s14, but none of them had the engines installed. They had about ten empty clips stacked up in their second garage, and like I said they were going to install another persons black top. In my opinion they were a little bit to disorganized, their counter was covered in items, I.E. cigarette boxes, cds, games, and they acted like they were in no particular rush to get started on the guys swap. That person also ordered a lot of stuff through Afterdark like gauges and turbo timer, FMIC, and when UPS arrived that morning and they were checking his stuff the wrong inter cooler had been ordered. I guess no one is going to put as much effort as you would when it comes to installing an engine. I am glad to be doing the engine myself, it might take a little longer, but in the end I know I will be happy.

Post by **GatorS14** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

you drove 675 miles to be told "sorry" !

I know $#!t happens but, Damn! I would have exploded:angryfire started hittin' $#!T and breakin' stuff.

or at least pulled a jerry mcquire"I'm not gonna do... what all you think I'm gonna do....Flip out. I just want to know one thing .... who's comin' with me?" lol

sorry lok

Post by **240_Keyy** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

I am sorry to hear you had a bad experience Lok. I know I had originally ordered my motor from Adam back in January and I stayed in the deal until April before I pulled out of it. The way I see it if I had stayed with AD I would probably not have my motor yet. AD however was very good to me and in exchange for my deposit I got a Blitz Exhaust, Walboro fuel pump, Blitz turbo timer, some redline fluids, and some filters and other random stuff.

When I ordered from Phase 2 Motortrend, I ordered the motor at about midnight on a Wednesday (aka thursday morning) and I had my blacktop clip sitting in my shop by the following Monday afternoon. Phase 2 is the sh*t! Give them a call.

Post by **ride4lame** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Sorry to hear what happened. I got my motor from heavy throttle and they were great. I got my motor very close to the scheduled time. My only recomendation for doing the swap yourself is to make sure you have EVERY little part necessary before you start. And whenever you order something call to make sure its in stock first. This will save a little time.

Oh, and Gator, i am pretty sure thats from half baked, not jerry mcguire

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

It's from Jerry Maguire, then Half Baked did a recreation of it.

Post by **Phax** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Hey Lok,

Sorry to hear what happened to you with AfterDark. It seems like getting jerked around could not have happened to a nicer guy. I wish that I had your near Zen-like levels of patience an understanding.

I guess sort of like Flash Options, there need to be a few guinea pigs before everyone is able to realize what sort of company they're dealing with. In the world of business, good intentions and friendliness are jack **** compared to quality products and good customer service.

Good luck with Heavy Throttle. You also might want to talk to Phase2. I got my motor from them. They're a great bunch of guys, who COME THROUGH on what they promise. And don't promise stuff that they don't have, and don't promise stuff that they might one day be getting.

Post by **James** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

I guess somtimes you get screwed and others you don't.Brian got me, until I contested my Paypal credit card charge.I got taken by Monarch Trading Co in WA, screwed me big time on my engine, it did't include anything we discussed, so I ended up paying 1000 to get it worked out. I guess nobodies prefect, I think he should do one thing, PARTS AT COST, some kinda value you can discuss. It doesn't hurt them but it gives you a nice avenue for getting some cheap upgrades, like a DP or exhaust, etc.I'm not sure what Dauntless has done, but I had him redo my Wiring harness and he turned it around in three days, for a great price, hopefully his craftmanship will be as top notch as well, since I haven't tried out my harness yet.-James

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

The whole ordeal was an unfortunate situation. Due to a scheduling error we placed two people in the same weekend, and we were short one redtop. We had sent out the last redtop on thursday night not realizing it was the last redtop and we had downtime until the next chunk arrives this week. As far as the cars in the parking lot, two of them had redtops in them but weren't 100% finished as we were doing everything in chunks between installs where the customer is physically here waiting. We discussed things Thursday night when we realized the error and decided that the only thing we could do short of pulling one from one of the cars in the parking lot was attempt to get another engine from the storehouse in Chicago early the next morning. Unfortunately, there was no way to get one here so the best I could offer him was getting his engine here early next week with the next chunk of them. He is right about the disorganization, the straight swaps have taken their toll and everyone here is a bit tired and a bit disorganized, we haven't gotten things rearranged as we are still adapting to this schedule of trying to get every person done so that we can move on. I deeply appologize now as I appologized then, I feel horrible about the whole thing. I wish the situation had been different. As I said before, we have been doing round the clock installs for about two weeks now and things are a bit hectic. It was an unfortunate error that was entirely my fault and I was too tired when it happened to take care of things fully. Also, as far as being in a hurry to get the other customers car done we had just woken up from pulling both engines and wiring the harness as well as installing various parts in order to prepare for the upcoming swap that day. The ordering accident was clerical, the difference in the intercoolers is one number and also completely our fault but turned out to be alright in the end after discussing it with the customer to see what we could do to make the situation right and finding out that he only wanted the other intercooler because he thought it was bigger, when in all practicality the intercooler that arrived would be much more beneficial to him. I appologize yet again for the situation, and I"m sorry I didn't respond sooner, but as you all know I haven't even been checking the boards as much recently as we have been a bit busy taking care of everything. I am sorry for the wasted time off and the wasted drive, if you do still need anything Lok feel free to contact me so we can make the situation right. If anyone has any questions/comments/concerns you are welcome to email them to me at [email protected] as I don't know when I will be back next to check this thread. Enjoy your day everyone!

Post by **94teggy** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

I'm sorry to hear what happened. But at least Dauntt came and explained his side and offered to make it right, how many other people would admit their mistake and then offer to make it right on top of that? I know it'd be hard for me to do. Good luck ith whatever happens.

You also have to realize that he and his people working for him jumped right into their business, and didn't take a couple orders at a time. They had a lot of orders already placed before they even had the shop open and set up good.

-Jon-

Post by **Wuss** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

yeah, regardless, the dude just drove almost 1400 miles round trip. At 60mph, thats 23 hours of straight driving. Assuming most people cant safely drive an entire day without sleeping 6am to 6am the next day, the dude had to stop somewhere and sleep.

I know when I go on a 4-5 hour trip, it takes some planning and scheduling, but 23 hours?! That's an entire weekend JUST devoted to driving.

IMHO, "sorry" shouldn't be the resolution. I think some sort of compensation should be considered for the time and finances it takes to drive almost halfway across the country.

Post by **MojoMan** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Man some of you guys like Wuss are a little over board. It was a mistake that Im sure Daunt wants a chance to make up to Lok. The driving and missing school and gas...yes it was a casualty of war. Some of ya'll have no concept of time. When opening a shop and scheduleing installs basically before the shop is opened....well....its happened to many shops that were opening up real fast without completly getting organized. Not having the money to have 40 motors sitting around when opening a shop is normal for a shop when just opening. Think of all the big coporations that launch a new product and because they're marketing is so good there customer service is overwhelmed and there sales is overwhelmed and they're shipping is overwhelmed and they're product stock is backodered etc.... this is a common mistake new entrepenuers and such make but learn from it and grow As he learns how the shipping works and the tricks of the trade I think he will do fine. And as far as his rep is everyone knows he is a good person and He is not out to rip people off. These are normal mistakes for a new shop. As long as he is willing to make up for things that is what will make him succesfull and as long as he admits to his mistakes he will become wiser in the ways. Lok, talk to him off line or on aim or something if you haven't already. Im sure he would like to help you out in some way. And you know next time he will handle things a little differently. If you dont ask questions and you dont make mistakes how else are you gonna really learn besides the obvious reasons. He is just getting started and is going to make some mistakes and as long as he fixes them then he is going to do good. As soon as they get caught up and the engines are stocked up He will find his groove of things and impress everyone. If he wasnt willing to help then I would understand the bashing but Wuss he just offered to make it up to him so get off the Bandwagon Bashing and keep your nb comments to yourself until you know people and have earned more or less they're respect. You dont just register and start bashing. Daunt, Good luck with the shop.

Post by **Wuss** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

MojoMan wrote:Man some of you guys like Wuss are a little over board. It was a mistake that Im sure Daunt wants a chance to make up to Lok. The driving and missing school and gas...yes it was a casualty of war. Some of ya'll have no concept of time. When opening a shop and scheduleing installs basically before the shop is opened....well....its happened to many shops that were opening up real fast without completly getting organized. Not having the money to have 40 motors sitting around when opening a shop is normal for a shop when just opening. Think of all the big coporations that launch a new product and because they're marketing is so good there customer service is overwhelmed and there sales is overwhelmed and they're shipping is overwhelmed and they're product stock is backodered etc.... this is a common mistake new entrepenuers and such make but learn from it and grow As he learns how the shipping works and the tricks of the trade I think he will do fine. And as far as his rep is everyone knows he is a good person and He is not out to rip people off. These are normal mistakes for a new shop. As long as he is willing to make up for things that is what will make him succesfull and as long as he admits to his mistakes he will become wiser in the ways. Lok, talk to him off line or on aim or something if you haven't already. Im sure he would like to help you out in some way. And you know next time he will handle things a little differently. If you dont ask questions and you dont make mistakes how else are you gonna really learn besides the obvious reasons. He is just getting started and is going to make some mistakes and as long as he fixes them then he is going to do good. As soon as they get caught up and the engines are stocked up He will find his groove of things and impress everyone. If he wasnt willing to help then I would understand the bashing but Wuss he just offered to make it up to him so get off the Bandwagon Bashing and keep your nb comments to yourself until you know people and have earned more or less they're respect. You dont just register and start bashing. Daunt, Good luck with the shop.

you pretty much state my case in your post. I've seen countless of people who know a thing or two on an automotive board, and decide to open their shop with no sense of the business and service aspect. When it comes down to it, these businesses have to take more time and effort to be well-rounded, not a garage shop with a lift and an impact wrench. If you own a business, you can write as many excuses as you want, but when it comes down to it, you're responsible for delivering your product as advertised, no excuses.

I've been at the recieving end of countless of bad business practice ( just call me unlucky ). And have had tens of thousands of dollars at risk purely because of a business lack of responsibility and organization. Call me biased, but that's why I think this guy is taking it very well, becase my bitter little self would be calling my lawyer up for reinbursement for time and money. God knows I haven't time to drive 23 horus anywhere in the last year.

I just think it's a little silly to make excuses for a business. If he drove 2 days to get to a guy in a garage, with beer and pizza as payment, it nessecarily wouldn't as big an issue because theres no level of proffessionalism expected.

Let's just hope this was an isolated case and this thread will reccess into the depths of the board. I'm sure Daunt will redeem himself from what I hear of his reputation.

btw, let's not throw posts counts in each others faces. If you deem yourself more special then others because you have a proud average of 20 posts per day, then good for you, but it really doesn't make sense to base the strength of my opinion by my post count.

Post by **MojoMan** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Wuss wrote:you pretty much state my case in your post. I've seen countless of people who know a thing or two on an automotive board, and decide to open their shop with no sense of the business and service aspect. When it comes down to it, these businesses have to take more time and effort to be well-rounded, not a garage shop with a lift and an impact wrench. If you own a business, you can write as many excuses as you want, but when it comes down to it, you're responsible for delivering your product as advertised, no excuses.

I've been at the recieving end of countless of bad business practice ( just call me unlucky ). And have had tens of thousands of dollars at risk purely because of a business lack of responsibility and organization. Call me biased, but that's why I think this guy is taking it very well, becase my bitter little self would be calling my lawyer up for reinbursement for time and money. God knows I haven't time to drive 23 horus anywhere in the last year.

I just think it's a little silly to make excuses for a business. If he drove 2 days to get to a guy in a garage, with beer and pizza as payment, it nessecarily wouldn't as big an issue because theres no level of proffessionalism expected.

Let's just hope this was an isolated case and this thread will reccess into the depths of the board. I'm sure Daunt will redeem himself from what I hear of his reputation.

btw, let's not throw posts counts in each others faces. If you deem yourself more special then others because you have a proud average of 20 posts per day, then good for you, but it really doesn't make sense to base the strength of my opinion by my post count.

I understand the post count thing but what I mean is you just registered and normally thats not the best way to start out. I in know way said your opinion didn't matter because your a nb but your "new" to this board. Not all nb's are idoits or teens(no offense teens) or unknowledgable about the automotive world. I definitly dont post that much but I have a respect for people on the board when I start posting before I know there rep. I understand where your coming from and I think we're on the samepage so no hard feelings just words of advise. You sound reasonable and understanding, youv'e just been screwed over too many times. Good luck in the future.

Post by **Holisticbeatz** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

What a pisser.. Hope all goes well with your HT swap.

Post by **Onizuka** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

dauntt is pretty damn straiforward in his buisness. I had a down payment for a motor and i asked for a refund and i got it damn quick with a little somethin somethin on top for waiting a long while. Thats my experience with daunt.

Post by **240_Keyy** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

I was in same boat as J-Spec there as I said in my previous post. Sometimes you just gotta let a playa play...

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:05 pm

Well, unfortunately it wasn't so much jumping in to untested waters as it was having delays. I do try to take responsbility for my actions, and yes, I realize that no matter what happens behind the scenes, whatever the outcome is is my fault, I didn't try to shift or duck blame. : ) All in all it was an unfortunate circumstance, hopefully things will go a bit smoother in the future. Also, thus far it is an isolated incident, as it's the first and hopefully the last. I'm working through things the best I can, so the only thing I can hope for is that you guys are patient and see how things play out. : ) Enjoy your day everyone.

my AfterDark experience

my AfterDark experience

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