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PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:44 pm 
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Figured I would share this experience....
I would like to think that I didn't rush to this conclusion but I will leave it up to you all to decide that. As most of you know and saw I made the switch to the dark side over the winter and I am overall very happy with that decision. What I am not happy with is the process I used to make that switch.
I went back and forth on switching over for over 2 years and when I finally decided to do it I chose to use Alpha Fab. I did't have the knowledge or the time to go pull a motor and harness from the junk yard and make it work myself so their stage 4 kit was very appealing to me. I called AFI a few times during the buying process and they were super helpful. They answered all my questions and concerns with no problems at all so I pulled the trigger on it paid for it. That is when it all went down hill. They told me I would have it in two weeks and it took almost 4. I was obviously getting anxious after 2 weeks went bye so I called and of course nobody answered so I left a message. It took a few days but I finally got a call back and they updated me on the shipdate. No real big deal but it seemed to just keep snow balling downward. Once I received everything it looked great and I started putting it in the buggy. The wiring harness was very clean and the machine work on the aluminum parts was nice..I had a couple questions/concerns during this time so I called and left a couple messages again to finally get a response over a week later. Again I stayed calm and knew they were at some shows and such but a week to get a response had me concerned as I was waiting to start it before I got the questions answered. One of my concerns was that I was missing a fitting for the oil pressure relocation kit. I got tired of waiting so I just went to Summit and bought what I needed. When they finally called over a week later I mentioned the fitting and he apologized and said he could still send it out so I said sure I will keep it as a spare. That was months ago and I never got it. Again its a little fitting... no big deal.
I finally got to take the new motor for the maiden voyage on MDW and it ran pretty good. Then I had a couple issues where it would backfire rather loudly then not run right for a bit. It would eventually clear up and I would go on my way until it finally backfired so bad it sounded like someone dropped a quarter stick behind me. It was so aggressive it cracked my whole intake manifold.
So naturally when I get home I give them a call and the guy that answered was no help and said he would pass the info on to Shaun. I waited a week and never got a call so I called again and this time nobody answered so I left a message. Guess what... another few days go buy and nothing again so I feel I was beating a dead horse but I called and left another message. Well now it has been almost a month since I called originally and I have still not heard anything from them. I tried to stay calm but now I am quite frustrated and don't wish anyone else to drop the money I did to get shit for customer service.
Well I got sick of sitting on my hands and wanted to ride so I went and bought a new intake and put it on. I then got in touch with some guys and got set up with Tuned by BlueCat. I know several other guys are running these ecotecs with no problems so I made the almost 5 hours trip to Bluecat to get what should have been a second opinion but since AFI choose to not get back to me it was really a first look. First off I would like to say that Bluecat is top notch. He was more than dedicated to get my setup running right and went way above and beyond. There ended up being 3 major issues with my setup. First was that AFI had the wrong map sensor setting in. This is scary because Bluecat literally found that problem in 5 seconds by running the scanner. So that tells me they never even put a scanner on it to double check everything before they shipped it and makes me wonder if it was really bench tested as they claim they are. Second was that they wired the wrong plug on the exhaust sensor so when I plugged it in (it only goes in one way) it seemed to short it self out and quit working. We got those corrected and started test running it. We then found out that the fuel pump that was sent in the stage 4 kit was bad. It made 58 psi idling but when you mashed the pedal it went right down to 25-30 psi. This basically meant we had to back track all the tuning and almost start over. (On a side note I ran to advance auto and tried two E2000 pumps that were supposedly good for 100 psi and they were both dead out of the box and wouldn't break 30 psi so I don't recommend using them). We finally tracked down a walboro pump and it ran right up to 58 and held.
I arrived there at 10am and loaded the buggy back on the trailer at 11:30pm after all the adjusting and fuel pump issues. He knew how far I came to get it retuned and said he would stay out there as long as it took and he obviously meant it.
I then stopped by Chads place in WV and rode the rest of the weekend with out one problem. The buggy ran amazing and allowed me to climb some stuff I had no business even trying lol. It never backfired one time and had all the power I could ask for... even ran well enough to ruffle some feathers with a couple aircooleds... but I am not going there.
Just for reference I have a pretty good size business and sure I get unhappy customers but I do all I can to make right by them. Sure there are always those people that you can't please and I sure hope I am not being that customer to AFI but quite frankly I am quite disappointed in them and it pisses me off that once they got my money they weren't worth shit. I also know that sometimes things slip through the cracks but with the chain of events I faced I do not think that was the case here. I know there are other guys that used them so lets hear your honest opinion good or bad of them as well before anymore of our group sends money their way.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 6:50 am 
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I didnt deal Alpha fab but I know three people that did and all three basically had the same story


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:53 am 
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Thank you for posting on this! Can you also post your baseline
parameter settings? What software do you use for your OBD?


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:32 pm 
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Alpha-Fab is offering a plug and play kit for those not wanting to invest in tuning software or learning how. In the past the screen shots that have been posted here by Alpha-Fab were HP Tuners. I purchased an exhaust manifold flange and my experience was favorable. Look for them to offer some explanation for the complaints.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:52 pm 
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Bubbalowe.... I would love for some explanation. It will just be sad if this is how I have to get it. It would have been real easy to back their product and return a simple phone call instead of going through all this. This is not the way I wanted it to go down and I feel I have been more than reasonable with their lack of/slow customer service but enough is enough and I don't want others to have to deal with this bs.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:26 pm 
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I can certainly understand the frustation after laying out that amount of hard earned money. The premise as I said was this is supposed to be an easier, although more expensive, way of going WC. Good luck.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:07 pm 
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I have also hear a lot of the same about them

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:18 pm 
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Please, if we must go this route, first hand experiences ONLY. He said, she said don't work.

My first hand experience says the same thing Go Big, once they got what they want, poof.

And I would prefer to look at this as a consumer alert or as a buyer beware section.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:26 pm 
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Figured I would give an update. Jason AKA Giveitagallon stirred up enough fuss on facebook and I finally got a call from Shaun the owner. It appears that a couple of his employees are lacking in the service tech region and never relayed my messages. He was very apologetic and told me to send over an email with my expenses and he would make it right. I sent the email and will update again if/when he makes it right.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:05 pm 
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GIG has a big old spoon to stir with lol


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:04 am 
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Go Big Or Go Home wrote:
Figured I would give an update. Jason AKA Giveitagallon stirred up enough fuss on facebook and I finally got a call from Shaun the owner. It appears that a couple of his employees are lacking in the service tech region and never relayed my messages. He was very apologetic and told me to send over an email with my expenses and he would make it right. I sent the email and will update again if/when he makes it right.

Yep, Shaun called me today also after a few weeks of calling and leaving messages. I never received any wiring schematics and the result was i had the cam sensor plugs opposite of one another. My fuel pump i received from alphafab leaked like crazy. So i removed the banjo fitting and tapped the pump out to 1/8 npt, so i could use a barbed fitting. shaun is sending me a new walbro pump. And yes he was very apologetic. I would like to work with alphafab again to get a supercharger setup, So i hope things change up there and he gets it together. Thanks BIG SPOON!


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:16 pm 
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Two years ago I went with Alphafab. I had a good experience. I had some questions about the wire diagram and called Shawn, it did take a day or two but he emailed me the correct diagram. What ever the issue I had he got back to me with in a day or so. Now this was a couple years ago. I am sure he is experiencing growing pains.
Here is why I will return, yes he is more expensive, true it takes time to get back to you, but I had the chance to meet him twice at the Michigan buggy show. The first time I weighed 240 lbs at 5'11" and spoke with him maybe 20 min. A year later, a battle with throat cancer, sixty pounds lighter from being on a feeding tube for several months and I walked up to him and he knew I lost weight and called me by my first name. What's that prove, I don't know, maybe he has a photogenic memory but that went a long way in my book.

My 2 cent......

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:57 pm 
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Go Big Or Go Home wrote:
Figured I would share this experience....
I would like to think that I didn't rush to this conclusion but I will leave it up to you all to decide that. As most of you know and saw I made the switch to the dark side over the winter and I am overall very happy with that decision. What I am not happy with is the process I used to make that switch.
I went back and forth on switching over for over 2 years and when I finally decided to do it I chose to use Alpha Fab. I did't have the knowledge or the time to go pull a motor and harness from the junk yard and make it work myself so their stage 4 kit was very appealing to me. I called AFI a few times during the buying process and they were super helpful. They answered all my questions and concerns with no problems at all so I pulled the trigger on it paid for it. That is when it all went down hill. They told me I would have it in two weeks and it took almost 4. I was obviously getting anxious after 2 weeks went bye so I called and of course nobody answered so I left a message. It took a few days but I finally got a call back and they updated me on the shipdate. No real big deal but it seemed to just keep snow balling downward. Once I received everything it looked great and I started putting it in the buggy. The wiring harness was very clean and the machine work on the aluminum parts was nice..I had a couple questions/concerns during this time so I called and left a couple messages again to finally get a response over a week later. Again I stayed calm and knew they were at some shows and such but a week to get a response had me concerned as I was waiting to start it before I got the questions answered. One of my concerns was that I was missing a fitting for the oil pressure relocation kit. I got tired of waiting so I just went to Summit and bought what I needed. When they finally called over a week later I mentioned the fitting and he apologized and said he could still send it out so I said sure I will keep it as a spare. That was months ago and I never got it. Again its a little fitting... no big deal.
I finally got to take the new motor for the maiden voyage on MDW and it ran pretty good. Then I had a couple issues where it would backfire rather loudly then not run right for a bit. It would eventually clear up and I would go on my way until it finally backfired so bad it sounded like someone dropped a quarter stick behind me. It was so aggressive it cracked my whole intake manifold.
So naturally when I get home I give them a call and the guy that answered was no help and said he would pass the info on to Shaun. I waited a week and never got a call so I called again and this time nobody answered so I left a message. Guess what... another few days go buy and nothing again so I feel I was beating a dead horse but I called and left another message. Well now it has been almost a month since I called originally and I have still not heard anything from them. I tried to stay calm but now I am quite frustrated and don't wish anyone else to drop the money I did to get shit for customer service.
Well I got sick of sitting on my hands and wanted to ride so I went and bought a new intake and put it on. I then got in touch with some guys and got set up with Tuned by BlueCat. I know several other guys are running these ecotecs with no problems so I made the almost 5 hours trip to Bluecat to get what should have been a second opinion but since AFI choose to not get back to me it was really a first look. First off I would like to say that Bluecat is top notch. He was more than dedicated to get my setup running right and went way above and beyond. There ended up being 3 major issues with my setup. First was that AFI had the wrong map sensor setting in. This is scary because Bluecat literally found that problem in 5 seconds by running the scanner. So that tells me they never even put a scanner on it to double check everything before they shipped it and makes me wonder if it was really bench tested as they claim they are. Second was that they wired the wrong plug on the exhaust sensor so when I plugged it in (it only goes in one way) it seemed to short it self out and quit working. We got those corrected and started test running it. We then found out that the fuel pump that was sent in the stage 4 kit was bad. It made 58 psi idling but when you mashed the pedal it went right down to 25-30 psi. This basically meant we had to back track all the tuning and almost start over. (On a side note I ran to advance auto and tried two E2000 pumps that were supposedly good for 100 psi and they were both dead out of the box and wouldn't break 30 psi so I don't recommend using them). We finally tracked down a walboro pump and it ran right up to 58 and held.
I arrived there at 10am and loaded the buggy back on the trailer at 11:30pm after all the adjusting and fuel pump issues. He knew how far I came to get it retuned and said he would stay out there as long as it took and he obviously meant it.
I then stopped by Chads place in WV and rode the rest of the weekend with out one problem. The buggy ran amazing and allowed me to climb some stuff I had no business even trying lol. It never backfired one time and had all the power I could ask for... even ran well enough to ruffle some feathers with a couple aircooleds... but I am not going there.
Just for reference I have a pretty good size business and sure I get unhappy customers but I do all I can to make right by them. Sure there are always those people that you can't please and I sure hope I am not being that customer to AFI but quite frankly I am quite disappointed in them and it pisses me off that once they got my money they weren't worth shit. I also know that sometimes things slip through the cracks but with the chain of events I faced I do not think that was the case here. I know there are other guys that used them so lets hear your honest opinion good or bad of them as well before anymore of our group sends money their way.


Hi All,

I don't get to the forums much anymore, so just seeing this.

Our customer service has sucked, especially with Bo. I have no excuse for that and I've apologized. I'm taking steps to improve that. I smoked the shit out of my team today for making AFI [me] look like an asshole. For any of you military folks out there - my team did a straight hour of front, back, go's, flutter kicks, and cadence push-ups. Good for the soul.

I think the bottom line here is that we weren't able to fix Bo's problem in an appropriate time frame. I won't go into everything because that's not the point. The underlying problem being issues he couldn't get a hold of us for. One of those being a bad fuel pump and the O2 sensor plug. The poor service we provided Bo led to the snow ball effect. I've offered Bo a full refund of his out-of-pocket money. I've also apologized for the inexcusable delay in response and taken steps to prevent that from ever happening again.

I pride myself in providing a product that is solid and turn-key for an affordable price. I can't say everything has been perfect, because it hasn't. We've had harness issues with our manufacturer. We've had fuel pump issues with our manufacturer. We address those issues, learn from them, and move forward. We have a new harness manufacturer and we use Walbro fuel pumps now. I also pride myself in being a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and taking those qualities I led my Army team with and applying that to my business. LDRSHIP

Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Sacrifice

I take those qualities to heart and we pour those qualities into the kits and products we provide. We've come up short in instances, but I'm unaware of any instance of us not going out of our way to make things right, in any way possible.

Let me give you just one example.

We sold a supercharged harness and calibration [along with an engine setup] to a customer in Kentucky. The customer had nothing but problems with getting it to run right. We sent new harness, new ECM, diagnosed everything we could over the phone and still it never ran right.

I told that customer to bring his car up here for us to fix it, free of charge, then dyno it, free of charge. He made the 10 hour drive to us here in MI.

The issue with the setup wasn't the harness, it wasn't the ECM, or the engine. The SC manifold was hitting the engine mount and never was seated properly [huge vacuum leak] - we trimmed the engine mount and the car ran as advertised. It took us a little over 2 days, non-stop, to find the issue. But we found it, fixed it, dynoed it, and the customer left that night with a smile. We built a new intake for him, upgraded his fuel pump, and swapped his stock injectors out for good 42lb green giants [he paid for the injectors and fuel pump on a payment plan].

I think what I'm getting at is that we're not here to just take your money and run. We're here to provide a quality product and customer support when needed. We've failed in the customer tech support and we are dedicated to fix those issues.

I have customers all over the nation and world from WIX Racing, CBM, Turn-key, etc., who tell me the same thing. I can't get any support from out west. I suppose I'm saying that I would put my product against any other no questions asked. I can't count how many ECM's I've 'retuned' from Turn-Key or CBM. It is what it is.

We do our best. Our best hasn't been good enough. But it will be.

Bo, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope that my offering of a full refund and apology is us making it right.

helmetguy wrote:
I didnt deal Alpha fab but I know three people that did and all three basically had the same story


Please. List specifics IE; List the names, issues, and resolution to the issue you speak of here, if any. If you can't, then I don't understand why you feel the need to be involved in this thread. Better yet - have the three people you speak of post here and/or contact me. I don't speak without full facts and I will say when I'm wrong. I can't say I'm wrong or I didn't address said issues when you post non-informative hearsay. Again, I am, and always have been wiling to address questions, concerns, unhappiness, etc.

jimp wrote:
Thank you for posting on this! Can you also post your baseline
parameter settings? What software do you use for your OBD?


We use HPT. We tune the E67 in speed density which requires advanced knowledge of virtual VE tables and a secondary 3-rd party software. The MAP settings are STOCK on ALL naturally aspirated setups. We do nothing to the MAP settings it is not needed. I've attached a screen shot of where you would change the MAP scale in a BOOSTED version along with a compare of it to a stock file.

Attachment:
stock_map.jpg
stock_map.jpg [ 95.47 KiB | Viewed 8423 times ]


purplerail wrote:
I have also hear a lot of the same about them


Please share specific examples, because for the most part, we do the best we can to support any issues. Bo's example is an example of us fucking up bad. I'm doing my best to make it right.

MadMike wrote:
Please, if we must go this route, first hand experiences ONLY. He said, she said don't work.

My first hand experience says the same thing Go Big, once they got what they want, poof.

And I would prefer to look at this as a consumer alert or as a buyer beware section.


Hi Mike - instead of posting here why don't you put your mouth where the phone is. You've got my personal direct number. If you've got an issue with something please let me know! I haven't heard from you since we reserved a pre-paid spot at the MBB show for you. I assumed that since you never showed up or contacted me - you blew me off because you couldn't make it up. If you want me to provide you with some feedback on the product you sold me - call me - or I suppose I can post it here, if you prefer that method of communication.

Go Big Or Go Home wrote:
Figured I would give an update. Jason AKA Giveitagallon stirred up enough fuss on facebook and I finally got a call from Shaun the owner. It appears that a couple of his employees are lacking in the service tech region and never relayed my messages. He was very apologetic and told me to send over an email with my expenses and he would make it right. I sent the email and will update again if/when he makes it right.


I can't fix issues I'm unaware about. I contacted you both within the hour of your friend taking to FB. I would have gone about things differently, but that's me.

Kinchloloe King wrote:
Go Big Or Go Home wrote:
Figured I would give an update. Jason AKA Giveitagallon stirred up enough fuss on facebook and I finally got a call from Shaun the owner. It appears that a couple of his employees are lacking in the service tech region and never relayed my messages. He was very apologetic and told me to send over an email with my expenses and he would make it right. I sent the email and will update again if/when he makes it right.

Yep, Shaun called me today also after a few weeks of calling and leaving messages. I never received any wiring schematics and the result was i had the cam sensor plugs opposite of one another. My fuel pump i received from alphafab leaked like crazy. So i removed the banjo fitting and tapped the pump out to 1/8 npt, so i could use a barbed fitting. shaun is sending me a new walbro pump. And yes he was very apologetic. I would like to work with alphafab again to get a supercharger setup, So i hope things change up there and he gets it together. Thanks BIG SPOON!


Hi Mike - IIRC I've responded to your emails. I know we chatted on the phone as recently as last weekend [I know you reached out on a Saturday]. I also sent a Walbro pump w/ fittings at cost along with an OBD2 for any inconvenience. No doubt - you should have received a schematic and had your calls answered within a reasonable time frame. I apologize for the issues and I hope that we can make it right for you! Please keep us posted sir!

BAJABUGNUT wrote:
Two years ago I went with Alphafab. I had a good experience. I had some questions about the wire diagram and called Shawn, it did take a day or two but he emailed me the correct diagram. What ever the issue I had he got back to me with in a day or so. Now this was a couple years ago. I am sure he is experiencing growing pains.
Here is why I will return, yes he is more expensive, true it takes time to get back to you, but I had the chance to meet him twice at the Michigan buggy show. The first time I weighed 240 lbs at 5'11" and spoke with him maybe 20 min. A year later, a battle with throat cancer, sixty pounds lighter from being on a feeding tube for several months and I walked up to him and he knew I lost weight and called me by my first name. What's that prove, I don't know, maybe he has a photogenic memory but that went a long way in my book.

My 2 cent......


It's always good to hear from you Jim. And yes. I try to remember all of my customers names, cars, applications, etc., because I know that goes a long way with me when I spend money. No matter whether it was 1 month ago or 2 years ago - I remember all of my customers... Although you may have to jog my memory sometimes lol. I hope you stay well sir.

We do our best , I assure you all. Our best hasn't been good enough in terms of customer support lately. I sincerely apologize - we will make it right.

I don't see the owners of CBM [Bruce/Chris] or Turn-Key [Chad] or WIX [Adam] on these forums. I hope that shows you the dedication and passion I have for the woods, our products, and our customers.

Cheers,

-Shaun

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 7:08 am 
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"We do our best , I assure you all. Our best hasn't been good enough in terms of customer support lately. I sincerely apologize - we will make it right.

I don't see the owners of CBM [Bruce/Chris] or Turn-Key [Chad] or WIX [Adam] on these forums. I hope that shows you the dedication and passion I have for the woods, our products, and our customers.

Cheers,

-Shaun"

Shaun,

Thanks for posting these responses. It is good to see how dedicated
that you are to this hobby/ sport.

You set things right for me from here forward. Unfortunately the
court of public opinion is less forgiving sometimes.

The following non-personal business guides are for present and future businessmen not
unlike yourself:

1) "Google" yourself and your family name often.
2) "Google" your employees often.
3) "Google" your bread and butter often.
4) "Google" your competition often.
5) "Google" your investments and vendors often.
6) "Google" the "Google news" on topics of interest.
7) PAY for this service if you can't do it yourself.
8 ) Read your own website and message board posts,
possibly using various computers to do this. If you
can't read it or understand it, how can I?
9) Meet with your employees and show respect for
their concerns. Put your ego aside. Ego is a deadly
sin. It is nothing personal, just business.
10) All of us that spend money are net-savvy. It is
how we get the most bang for a buck. We read posts
for hours and hours. We learn from it and use the net
for the library that it is famous for.
11) Since the internet empowers end users of products
with searchable knowledge, we study:
a) Vendors: we use Yelp, meta-search Google, message
boards, BBB, etc.
b) Products: Software (we want the latest version),
Hardware (we want the lowest price...ALWAYS!),
Service (we want IMMEDIATE service- no exceptions).
12) No smack talk. We post out of love and passion. We do
not want to be told off or disrespected by another keyboard
pilot. Business people have to be especially sensitive
to all of this or else crash and burn is just around the corner.


Last edited by jimp on Thu Jul 02, 2015 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:09 pm 
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I agree with Jimp and also thank you for your post and you have made things right with me as well. I really wish this all could have been avoided. After talking with you it seems this is not a direct reflection of you or your company and I am sure you are as frustrated about this happening as I am. I think it says a lot that you are willing to own up to your wrong doing without any bs run around and make it right with me.

I agree that you did respond on FB within an hour which is great... the problem was the damage was already done. I believe that you truly had no idea of that damage done but unfortunately in this situation it didn't matter. It is not like I was just over here raising stink for the hell of it without ever calling you. I had left several messages and not got a call back in a month. I highly recommend you have an alternate number for emergencies or what not. Or even if FB is a better way to get in touch that is fine too. Again I am no longer upset and you have done right by me... I am just throwing ideas out there so for your sake and ours this doesn't repeat its self.

Stop in on the forum every once in a while to give us an update on what you guys are working on and to make sure all is well.

Thanks again for working this out.
Bo

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:35 pm 
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Location: S.W. Pa. Wellsville Water Cooled Chapter
Alpha Fab wrote:
Hi Mike - instead of posting here why don't you put your mouth where the phone is. You've got my personal direct number. If you've got an issue with something please let me know! I haven't heard from you since we reserved a pre-paid spot at the MBB show for you. I assumed that since you never showed up or contacted me - you blew me off because you couldn't make it up. If you want me to provide you with some feedback on the product you sold me - call me - or I suppose I can post it here, if you prefer that method of communication.


Shaun, So glad to see your trying to get a handle on things, hate to see a good product turned to shit by bad customer service. We both are in a fickle world of trying to please the masses and despite our best efforts and intentions, you can't please all the people all the time.

You've suggested that I call you with issues, comments or questions and rightly so, it's the proper way of doing things. My only question is, how many unreturned phone calls and how many unreturned text messages would YOU consider to be too many. I had several questions on the MBB show, never got a reply. I asked you to call me when you got your spindles so I can explain how the seal kit worked, crickets. I asked you to sell me a LED light bar a couple of times, STILL waiting some 5 months later.

Shaun, I'm a busy man and when something proves to be a lesson in futility I cut my losses and move on. I'm STILL extremely busy doing MY best at keeping my customers happy, before and after the sale. I am doing the same thing now as I was at the beginning of the year, being busy. Because I was, and continue to be booked up, something else must take a back seat and that is MY toy, that for the exact same reason, remains unfinished today.

If you feel the need to critique my work, by all means, please do. Your end game is going to be questioned, seeing you got your parts 6 months ago. If they were lacking in fit, form or function, you never communicated that to me when you received the parts so making comment now would be suspect at best. I have parts all over this great nation, and on two different continents so if there were something wrong with what I'm doing there would be chatter, a bunch of it, I'm hearing crickets. Wait, that's not exactly correct, I'm frequently getting hey Mike can you build me a set of ..............?

Irregardless of all this, I STILL support your product, even as recently as last week I suggested to one of my customers to contact you to get him out of another $5000 VW motor.

Good Luck

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:41 pm 
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Location: Northwest Indiana
AFI took care of my buddy. Not one issue from start to finish. Would recommend them again. Glad to hear they are cleaning house. Bad employees can ruin a good business in a hurry.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:14 pm 
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Location: Borrego Springs CA
I bought a stage two kit from Alphafab... basically a complete kit with engine and required components
I had the same experience with the purchase and shipping
Really helpful when you are considering buying but once they have your money customer service drops off a cliff
Shaun said Oh yeah we have a bunch of units in stock ready to ship... I called them everyday until they finally shipped it
When I received it it had a cracked plenum, I told them... no response
Valve cover leaks oil and I have what appears to be a leaking crank seal with oil being flung off the crank pulley
The motor is "chuggy" not smooth at all, the old oil filter was still in it and it was just caked grease like it had never been changed, I'm afraid to do a compression test
If you have a question prepare to wait, I spent 3 months googling instead
When people are putting their car together they don't have a week to hear from you, they are stuck until you call back
I finally have the motor running but it's backfiring hard like original poster said, every time I let off the gas to shift it sounds like a bomb going off
The season is starting right now and I need my car going now
At this point I wish I had just stayed with a VW motor
I get kick out their line "It's time to move on from that leaking, expensive, and tired air-cooled VW motor!"
Now I have a "leaking, expensive, and tired water-cooled ecotec motor!" ;p
Big thanks to Woodsbuggy, the Ecotec forum and Steve from EFI Harness I wouldn't even have it running right now if it wasn't for them
So now what do I do about the backfiring?... I'm tired


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 12:52 pm 
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Location: Randolph, Ohio
I am sorry to hear about your poor experience. The really sad part is I have been needing to update my situation. My issue was supposed to be cleared up over 3 months ago. Twice I have been told my reimbursement check was in the mail and I am yet to receive it. So to date AFI has done nothing to back up what he said he would do as stated in this thread. I have left several messages over the 3 months and when I do get a response I get more fake promises. I just messaged them again last Thursday which was over a month from the last time I was told my check was in the mail and I am yet to hear anything back.
For reference this has been my contact with them not including the many times I have called. As you can see it started on August 5th which was a month after he said the check was cut the first time. This is all un edited. I am looking for some honesty from my fellow buggy riders... am I being a pest here? Am I asking too much? Would you not feel like you were being ripped off and then be really frustrated when your only response is an attack?


August 5th, 3:57pm
Me: Hey Shuan... just wondering if there was a problem? It has been a month and I am yet to see that check. What address did you use?

AFI: Let me check

Me: Ok Thanks

August 6th, 12:42pm
Me: Find anything?

August 11th, 4:04pm
Me: It would be great to hear back from you... I am really trying to be patient and believe you aren't trying to rip me off but you are making that very difficult. Please let me know where we are at with this. Thanks

August 11th, 5:22pm Finally 6 days later.... I get a response
Ripping you off? Please tell me how we're ripping you off or have ever ripped anyone off. Again, words used that don't reflect respect or one another. I agreed to reimburse you. We're awaiting access funds from a vendor. I thought the check was cut already. It wasn't. We'll reimburse you as soon as those funds become available. I also never received the file from Phil - can you double check with him or do you want me to? I suspect it will be a day or two before the check will be cut. Thanks.

August 11th, 9:29pm
A simple phone call a week ago would have avoided all of this. I am very easy going and all I was looking for was an update. Your lack of communication was and apparently still is a problem. I am sorry if I offended you by using the term ripped off but in my book when someone says the check will be in the mail and I patiently wait a month and then it takes several messages and phone calls to get an update.... I feel it is a valid concern. Again not trying to make waves here and please feel free to call me to discuss. 330-608-9056. Like you I run into hiccups in my business and am happy when a consumer gives me a chance to fix the mistake and make it right. I know you are too and there is some obvious misunderstanding here so once again if you would like to talk about this and get a consumers view point don't hesitate to call.

August 18th, 1:24pm

Hi Bo, I understand sir! Check cut, I'll give you a call tonight!

I am still yet to get that call....

Thursday 12:57pm
Shaun... over a month again and I am still yet to get anything from you. Could you give me an update?

At this point I really do feel this is complete BS. I would hate for anyone else to have to deal this.

Stevie... Mine backfired terribly to the point that is cracked my plenum or maybe mine was cracked too when I got it and didn't notice it... I ended up unplugging my exhaust sensor and it curbed the backfiring until I was able to get it on the dyno and re tune it. If I can be of any help feel free to call me 330-608-9056.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 1:16 pm 
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Location: Borrego Springs CA
Thanks, appreciate it, I'll unplug the exhaust sensor and see if it stops backfiring, I'll let you know

From reading, I don't think you are being a pest at all. I haven't got to the point you have and hope I don't get there because I don't have anywhere near the patience that you exhibit.

That being said here's an update, Shaun replied to an email yesterday and said...
"The backfiring is due to deceleration fuel cutoff. It's a modification in the ECM we disable. It's normally used on cars with converters. If you would like to dump even more fuel on deceleration, send the ECM back I will enable it for you. DCFCO has nothing to do with performance and will not cause any issues"

What I suggested to Shaun is that he program and send me an ECU and I'll send the original back when I receive it... I think that's fair
I trusted them with my money and think they can trust me to send the ecu back

I'll let you know what happens and best of luck in your situation
Thanks again!


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 1:28 pm 
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Location: Salina.Pa
Bo, I don,t think your being a pest. They didn't honor there word with you. And their response was unprofessional. And your right all it takes is a phone call. All i can say is keep calling them. Alpha Fab made things right with me. I wish they could have with you. Three months is bullshit.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:04 am 
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Location: Northwest Indiana
That is poor customer service plain and simple. I have to warranty electronics constantly and when someone's stuff is down, they become the priority.

Sounds to me like they are trying to source engines and getting desperate. There are alot of people doing this swap.

They started with all the best shape eco's they could find in their area and now they are down to the ones from the BAD wrecks or that have been sitting in the yard or laying in a pile.

Outfront told me that was the reason they started going to JDM pull outs for almost every motor. Too many gambles to take with their reputation on a junkyard motor.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:07 am 
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Location: Northwest Indiana
And there is no such thing as being a pest when someone has your money and you don't have their product.

I called Bernie Bergmann every week until I had my vw motor (5 months later). In the end I got a rush job motor that gave me nothing but headaches, but something tells me I was gonna get that after 1 month or 5...


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:05 pm 
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Location: portage county ohio
I have been following this thread since is was made and I'm wanted to know if you have sent the motor back to get the refund or did they offer you money back for your troubles. Im sorry if your already stated this and I missed it. If you did send it back and still don't have a refund that's messed up! I did buy my adapter plate and flywheel from Shawn and it was a nice product. I hope they make it right cause I think what they got going is a awesome thing. And it definitely don't take long for a reputation to go bad if they let things like this happen.
Go big what are you doing for a engine now. I did a 2.2 eco swap and worked out nice I can show you my setup if you want, I probably live 10 min from u in edinburg

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:54 pm 
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Location: batavia ohio 45103
fancy talker with a friend that owns a junkyard....

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