Help with a forum vendor?

[Terrh]

So I bought an R34 GTR transmission from one of the sponsors of this forum, Japan Domestic Motor inc in montreal. (http://forums.gtrcanada.com/japan-domestic-motor/).


I bought it last monday (thanksgiving). Drove all the way to montreal and back from here (windsor). They assured me the transmission was "mint" and said I had a warranty and that there would be no problems. It looked really clean so I bought it. The price was right ($2900) and it was the only one I could find in north america.


I put it in my car on saturday and it was super noisy right from the get go. Lots of bearing whine and clunk/thunk/looseness inside. Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZqSm...&feature=g-upl

Sunday I took that video and drained the (brand new, less than 50kms on it) fluid to find it full of metal. I put fresh fluid in again but no improvement, trans is still whiney and clunks/bangs. Just for reference my exhaust is LOUD and you can still hear the transmission over it, and people outside the car 20m away said they could clearly hear the transmission.

So I called them up to inquire about what to do, he said to send the video so I did and called back.

I spoke with the sales guy whos name has temporarily slipped my mind, he first told me I broke it and then said hold on a moment. He put the owner Aziz on the phone, who started yelling at me and then swore at me and hung up.

I called back and spoke to the sales guy again for about 15 minutes, during which time he told me that there was nothing wrong with it, that I broke it, that it's the clutch making the gear whine, that I'm trying to rip them off, that their warranty doesn't cover noise only bad shifting and it clearly shifts fine, etc. Basically just saying anything to get me off their back. For the record right now my car is untuned since I just rebuilt the bottom end and doesn't even make stock levels of HP, nor is it in any condition to beat on it since the clutch I'm using wouldn't stand up to much more than stock horsepower anyway.


I offered several solutions including me bringing it back (10 hour drive each way!) for a full refund, them giving me a partial refund to cover some of a rebuild, them trading me for the other R34 GTR transmission that they have there, me bringing it to a mechanic locally to confirm what I've told them, etc. All of these things were replied to with "we can't do that" and a "there's nothing we can do for you". The only thing he said was that I'd have to bring the car to them for him to drive it, but even then he wouldn't say what he would do if he drove it, and I'd spend $500 and two days towing it up there and back so that's not really an option. I offered to have a local transmission shop open it up if they'd split on the rebuild, to which they said I wasn't allowed to open it up. I told him that wasn't acceptable and that I felt like they ripped me off. He said he'd call me back by 5PM but 5 came and went and I didn't get a call.

What should I do here? Does anyone know these guys? I'm out $2900 (not counting 2000km worth of gas and time) and all I have is a transmission so loud that I'm afraid to drive my car, and a long distance bill to listen to people swear at me.

This whole summer has been wasted by businesses sending me the wrong parts, defective parts or not shipping things when they said they would, I'm starting to get frustrated with imports in general and I feel like this is the last straw.

[zac3ne2nr]

First off I totally empathise with you and this situation. Was it Mike you spoke with? I have dealt with them with barely satisfactory results. I tend to only buy things that I can verify on spot with them. Their attitude is something that is plaguing the used parts industry. I might get in trouble for saying this but its one people group whose behaviour is causing bias to grow. I regularly deal with some of their relatives here in Ontario and they too used to be like this. Swearing and almost belittling you for bringing to their attention issues. Slowly they have realised that word gets around and have made large strides to improve their image and customer relationship.

Recourse: I don't think you have much. You can lodge a complaint to the relevant business bureaus. You can go to small claims court but that takes about a year or more(been there too). You should get an attorney to write them a formal letter stating your intentions to pursue this and give them the option to settle.

[MKIV]

What a nightmare. I'm interested to hear their response to this thread.

Customer retentions is non existent in far too many businesses these days. What isn't analyzed when ignoring a customer complaint is the poor reputation they build in so short a time period. Terrh, I hope things get resolved to the best possible outcome.

On a side note, I always deal with DirectJDM on Matheson in Mississauga. No complaints.

[h4X6]

shiiiiit... hope this gets resolved quickly

[NismoS-tune]

shoulda bought luckygtr's R34 box

[Fred-R]

Wow! I've experienced kind of the same experience with a JDM shop here in Quebec city... The shop has now runned out of business after being brought up in trial for falsified documents... They used to yell and swear to their customers too... What a prick!

Hope you the best!

[Nismo_line]

sorry to hear about your situation. if you have solid proof of everything and the way the shop talks to you by yelling and swearing. I would take them to court. At least tell them this and see if their response changes. If it doesnt then follow through and take them to court. Probably the only way something will happen for you. Hope this gets resolved.

[Terrh]

Just called them, he said the boss isn't in but he wants me to call back tomorrow.

He said that they think there is nothing wrong with the transmission and they aren't willing to do anything for me. I'll try back tomorrow and see what happens.

[Terrh]

Well I called back and spoke to Aziz again. I have no idea how this man can run a business.

It was the same thing as before.

He said he's not willing to do anything and that I broke the transmission racing the car. I said that I didn't even have time to do that. I bought it on monday and spent all day monday driving home, had school tuesday to friday, put it in saturday, finished it up sunday, and made that video on sunday on my very first test drive. I tried explaining that to him but he kept yelling at me or talking over me non stop, so I doubt he heard me.

Then he said it shifts fine and clearly isn't broken. If it's not broken, then how did I break it? Nevermind the fact that nothing in my car the way it sits should be capable of breaking that transmission anyway....

So I said it's obviously broken and I am willing to bring it to a transmission shop for a second opinion, and at my own expense if they say nothing is wrong with it. He said no, it's not broken and I'm a bad person trying to rip him off.

Then he asked who I was, and what I was calling about, and says he doesn't remember selling a transmission to anybody and he never had one for sale. Then he hung up. I called back 4 times but he'd just pick up and hang up the phone.

Anyways, I'm always surprised at how crazy people can be but this was almost over the top. Anyone have any idea what I can do now?

[Fred-R]

You can give a call to consumer protection services and see what they think of that. They will tell you what are your options... They probably will tell you to bring him to small claims. but you never know... You should give it a try

[Nismo_line]

take him to small claims. like i said give him a call and tell him that you are doing that. maybe he will get scared and do something. if not then follow through

[dustyGTR]

Hopefully being a sponsor of this Forum they will wise up and do the right thing, good luck.

[Fred-R]

I don't think they'll get scared... a-holes have no feeling...

[dark_sky]

This is the warranty off their site reel sketchy, I think that we should send an e-mail to them stating that were not impressed with there customer service and if they do something to resolve this professionally that we are taking them off the approved sponsors list and make a list of people to stay away from and be Leary of. And boycott them

Our engines and transmissions carry a 30 days warranty on them. This warranty is only on the engine block and head. This warranty will cover that no problems will occur if the engine is installed in the vehicle properly. In the event that a part of the engine block or head is found to be defective, this part will be replaced.

Conditions:Our warranty covers all internal engine parts. Engine block, cylinder barrels and cylinder head are also warranted to be free of cracks or distortion.

Our warranty does not cover the following:

• All external parts of an engine such as steering pump, intake and exhaust manifolds, carburator, alternator, distributor, starter, emission, thermostat, belts, hoses, clutch, flywheel, pullyes, wiring, computers (ECU), turbocharger units, fuel injector, gaskets and any plastic trim pieces.
• The loss of engine, if the engine is redlined or competitvely raced.
• The loss of engine as a result of insufficient amount of oil in the engine.
• Any labour for installation or removal of any defective part of an engine.
• Any damage to the engine improperly installed.
• Loss caused by modification (NOS, Turbos, Supercharged) for which the engine was not designed.
• Loss caused by overheating of the engine, unless overheating is the direct result of the failure of an internal part of the engine.
• Any tune ups and adjustments in belts, hoses, filters, emission control devices, sparkplugs, etc.
• Decrease in performance of any covered part due to normal wear and tear, unless actual breakdown occurs.


The customer is responsible for all the freight charges on the return of defective items and no replacement part will be sent until our staff have inspected and varified the the returned defective item in question.

Returns:
There is a 20 % restocking fee on all returned products. You may return your product within 15 days of your receipt date. The customer is responsible for all the shipping charges for the returned product. You must have a RA number or Return Authorization number from JDM Inc. before you can return your product. Please have the RA number written on the outside of the package. Any returns arriving to our warehouse without a RA number will be refused. Also, include the invoice with your returned package.

[gtrjon]

This is the warranty off their site reel sketchy, I think that we should send an e-mail to them stating that were not impressed with there customer service and if they do something to resolve this professionally that we are taking them off the approved sponsors list and make a list of people to stay away from and be Leary of. And boycott them

Our engines and transmissions carry a 30 days warranty on them. This warranty is only on the engine block and head. This warranty will cover that no problems will occur if the engine is installed in the vehicle properly. In the event that a part of the engine block or head is found to be defective, this part will be replaced.

Conditions:Our warranty covers all internal engine parts. Engine block, cylinder barrels and cylinder head are also warranted to be free of cracks or distortion.

Our warranty does not cover the following:

• All external parts of an engine such as steering pump, intake and exhaust manifolds, carburator, alternator, distributor, starter, emission, thermostat, belts, hoses, clutch, flywheel, pullyes, wiring, computers (ECU), turbocharger units, fuel injector, gaskets and any plastic trim pieces.
• The loss of engine, if the engine is redlined or competitvely raced.
• The loss of engine as a result of insufficient amount of oil in the engine.
• Any labour for installation or removal of any defective part of an engine.
• Any damage to the engine improperly installed.
• Loss caused by modification (NOS, Turbos, Supercharged) for which the engine was not designed.
• Loss caused by overheating of the engine, unless overheating is the direct result of the failure of an internal part of the engine.
• Any tune ups and adjustments in belts, hoses, filters, emission control devices, sparkplugs, etc.
• Decrease in performance of any covered part due to normal wear and tear, unless actual breakdown occurs.


The customer is responsible for all the freight charges on the return of defective items and no replacement part will be sent until our staff have inspected and varified the the returned defective item in question.

Returns:
There is a 20 % restocking fee on all returned products. You may return your product within 15 days of your receipt date. The customer is responsible for all the shipping charges for the returned product. You must have a RA number or Return Authorization number from JDM Inc. before you can return your product. Please have the RA number written on the outside of the package. Any returns arriving to our warehouse without a RA number will be refused. Also, include the invoice with your returned package.

What is sketchy about this? this is standard industry warranty. The manner in which the situation is being dealt with by the company with the op is a different story