Story of a blown turbo and poor customer service

[hozer]

Well as many of you have read in my previous thread, my essentially brand new Borg and Warner sx300 turbo in my build seized. It seized on a drive from my house to my university in morning stop and go traffic after 7500km and one track day. Brand new turbo + 7500km of meticulous ownership = these videos




For starters, those of you that have ever met me, or know me personally, they can vouch several things about me:

1) I maintain my vehicles beyond anal retentive levels
2) I drive them in a similar fashion to that of a 90 year old grandmother
3) I spare no expense to anyone or anything that fixes/goes into my car

This being said, let me share the current situation and how I feel about it.

First, I must give credit where credit is due... Borg makes an excellent preforming and excellent quality turbo. I have no qualms about how it ran and the huge power and quick response time it put down. It screamed like a banshee and was quite a joy. I do not believe they make anywhere near crappy products, however, due to manufacturing processes, shoddy products can and do happen even to the best of companies, of which I expect you to take care of... On to the story.

Immediately after discovering my turbo was totally shot. I was not overly distressed by this set back as I was confident in the name and quality behind both Full Race and Borg Warner. Up to this point, boy have I been proven wrong.

Having received the official statement from the guy in charge of deciding my warranty fate at Full Race I shall summarize it, then post the email should this situation not be resolved . My words are italicized.

"We have received your turbo and had a chance to look over it... Basically its totally F'ed"

"ok... so why did this fail in this manner?"

"Not sure, but unfortunately this turbo doesn't have warranty"

"What do you mean doesn't have warranty?"

"Well, it just doesn't have any warranty..."

"So your not replacing it...?"

"Nope no warranty"

So what this conversation with this gentleman, whom I'm sure is only doing his job, says about these 2 companies:

1) Our products are no good
2) The customers that buy them, we don't care about

I have a new turbo that I bought from you with 7500km that according to you failed at no responsibility of mine has no warranty for no reason at all? If you had come back to me as a company and said "your turbo is blown because you are an idiot" that is acceptable. But to give no reason at all and suddenly my turbo has no warranty? This is unacceptable. I understand there are bottom lines and "caveat emptor" but to be hailed as a great turbo company and then go on to do something like this? Certainly not a good maneuver.

At this particular moment in time, I would advise any potential customers of Borg to inquire heavily about what kind of protection you will be getting and ask them to explain why you should trust that level of protection. I am not confident, nor am I satisfied with the product quality, nor the product support I have received.

I do genuinely believe I just got a bad turbo and that these companies are excellent, I would just like them to prove that to me at this point. In addition, I do not wish to slander, rant or cast an image upon either of these companies that is not true in its entirety. I only wish for the populous of GTRC to see how, in this particular case, they treat people that give them money.

[BrianV8]

i bought a borg warner s200 from bullseye in the spring. Great turbo, works like a dream. They gave me a 1 year warranty against workmanship. AKA, bum bearing, out of balance from factory and blows, housings breaking or cracking etc etc.

Warranty does not cover cooking it due to lack of oil, running a bolt through the wheel etc etc.

So lots of room for a grey area. But does not surprise me they are backing out on helping you. 1 turbo is quite the hit to there sales margin for the month haha.

[hozer]

i bought a borg warner s200 from bullseye in the spring. Great turbo, works like a dream. They gave me a 1 year warranty against workmanship. AKA, bum bearing, out of balance from factory and blows, housings breaking or cracking etc etc.

Warranty does not cover cooking it due to lack of oil, running a bolt through the wheel etc etc.

So lots of room for a grey area. But does not surprise me they are backing out on helping you. 1 turbo is quite the hit to there sales margin for the month haha.

I agree with you. However,

"It appears that your turbo may have had oiling issues" is an appropriate (albeit frustrating) 'reason' for me not to have warranty. And a stand-up company would replace even that.

"No idea" is not a reason to not fulfill your warranty... Why even ask me to send it in if "these turbos don't come with warranty". Tell me that so I can at least order one so I can drive my car for maybe a month before my 8 month winter.

And surely any company would acknowledge that giving such a crappy answer to a sponsored, magazine featured, car owner is going to cost you more than replacing my turbo would. Especially given the newer application of your product into the import scene.

[anthony]

that really sucks ideally the company would replace the turbo,i can see that it would be taking a hit to their pocketbooks but
in the long run it would be a smart move because a happy customer is a repeat customer also word of mouth saying x company was great
my turbo blew and they sent me a new one ,without the excuses but sadly the grey area is so open to interpretation

[tryingtobebest]

So Hozer, what are you planning to get next? Or you still deciding?

[hozer]

Gonna call the company and talk to the "boss" guy, or someone that has the authority to fix this. Lay it out for them, pretty much just try and explain why it would be highly advisable to help me out.

If not, I'm buying a turbo from someone else and hustling their parts instead.

[johnnyjohnny]

Not trying to be an a%% or anything, but did you actually say to them that the car was at the track? In my view, track use of any car pretty much voids warranty. And it doesn't matter whether it was just HPDE at moderate speeds or full-on time-attack. Once manufacturers hear "track," that's pretty much the end of the convo unless they are sponsoring you or running a factory team.

[Bruizer]

Not trying to be an a%% or anything, but did you actually say to them that the car was at the track? In my view, track use of any car pretty much voids warranty. And it doesn't matter whether it was just HPDE at moderate speeds or full-on time-attack. Once manufacturers hear "track," that's pretty much the end of the convo unless they are sponsoring you or running a factory team.

+1, so many things could of caused that which is out of their hands. Overheat, under oil, wrong restrictor, no cool down, egt, who knows.

My twin -5s have 1400 km and 1 is near rebuild due to worn compressor blades and some play. Honeywell doesn't warrant this stuff, because I used HKS filters, new, not dirty. Life goes on... look for another set

[hozer]

Just to give all you an update:

Turns out I was originally directed to someone whom sucks very badly at their job as a "customer service" specialist... I still do not have a new turbo, nor did I ever really expect one. What I do have is a very logical exlanation as to why mine failed, why it's not covered, and someone willing to help me out on the price of a replacement. The gentleman I am dealing with now is far more professional and has done an excellent job. I can without a doubt re-recommend BW products, high quality, good service. Just hope you don't talk to the same guy I did or you'll be making a thread of your own.