colorTHEORY

[redacted], RIPP has been providing quality automotive and performance tuning services and products for more than two decades.  Our attention to detail and to our craft remains the cornerstone of our relationship with our clients.  In no way are we interested in or practice misleading...

tactics to sell our items. In this case [redacted] first contacted RIPP after having had his RIPP Supercharger installed on his 2013 Jeep Wrangler JK by a third party dealer. Shortly thereafter he found that his vehicle was not performing to his expectations in relation to his expenditures and parts he had installed. We sided with him considering RIPP is the leading manufacturer of supercharger systems for 2007-2016 Jeep Wranglers; (A supercharger is a complex engine power adder with many complex parts. It essentially pressurizes the engine to yield more horsepower and torque. The system is comprised of electronic, mechanic and fuel driven parts. All parts are made in America and require automotive mechanical knowledge to install them. The system [redacted] elected to purchase adds an additional one hundred and thirty horse power to his engine. RIPP has sold over seven-thousand supercharger system around the world and is considered the leading authority on the platform and topic). It struck us as odd that his vehicle would run so poorly as to shut down so we immediately engaged in tech support as we would with any other valued RIPP client. RIPP spent a serious amount of time doing tech support with his installing shop and after much real-time-tech-engagement with very little results. Growing frustrated, [redacted] agreed to bring his vehicle to the RIPP headquarters in Staten Island NY so we could see the issue first hand. Ironically the vehicle was not half as bad as he suggested and it seemed nearly fine but not up to standard. RIPP Spent several weeks unraveling [redacted] technical issues and found several issues with the install and in turn the vehicle. In an effort to accommodate [redacted], RIPP conducted extensive diagnostics on the entire engine and “uninstalled” the supercharger system that had been poorly installed by the his technician and made worse by our effort to help him electronically via email tuning, a service we provided for free. RIPP discovered numerous problems within the engine, in particular with respect to crucial mechanical and electrical components. One such component was the factory main computer or Electronic Control Module Unit (ECU) that had been previously programmed with another programmer and then stacked with our provided electronics during the supercharger system installation. It is clearly outlined in the RIPP installation manual that all previously installed electronics must be fully removed prior to the installing of our supplied electronics to avoid this very situation. This will/woud-have compounded into several corrupting problems with the very drive dynamic [redacted] was pointing out and likely the root of his issues. That issue caused the failure of other critical modules and sensors, and RIPP explained to [redacted] that his car was in fact running in “Limp-Home-Mode”, a safety feature built into the factory ECU to ensure that a car in a compromised situation could at least return home or to a garage. RIPP was not surprised with its findings and conclusions, especially in light of the amount of time RIPP spent providing previous technical assistance for [redacted]’s vehicle. We proceeded to have the stock ECU cleared by a certified Chrysler tech at a cost of $175.00 and continued with the diagnostics and programming. Once concluded, and at no charger to [redacted], RIPP replaced the following components in an effort to fix his vehicle; six spark plugs, all six fuel injectors, MAP and air temp sensors. All these components were either worn or damaged during the initial install, their retail value total $648.23 without labor. Additionally RIPP performed many data logging and calibration updates to help solve the problem that his vehicle had along with our electronics partner, Diablosport, Inc. located in Stamford Florida. RIPP spent over twenty paid hours at a net cost of $2000 along side the engineers at Diablo who would work remotely with us. This process took many engineering hours away from our future programs (new-products) which needed attention and pushed their launch back nearly three months. During this time we rented [redacted] a vehicle at our expense ($583.00) as a continued effort to support our products and clients. While the vehicle was in our possession we made sure to drive the vehicle for local errands so that when [redacted] took delivery of the vehicle he was driving what we were driving. At all times we were hyper critical of the vehicles behavior so as to put our best foot forward. Additionally in a final effort RIPP hired an third party calibrator at the cost of $1000.00 to further tune his vehicles with a third party tuning system and ran his vehicle on our in-house Dyno (a machine that measures the total output of the vehicles HP at the wheels by spinning rollers with the tires) and it produced 312 rear-wheel HP which is low for a manual transmission vehicle but in line with our advertising material. On the day [redacted] arrived to pick up his vehicle we made sure to let him drive it before he took it home. He commended us on how well the vehicle drove and how impressed he was with the quality of the package. This came as a relief to all of us and closure to a long struggle with a difficult project vehicle. Unfortunately some time later [redacted] called into our offices and stated that his vehicle was acting odd and falling into old habits. With a choice of colorful words [redacted] questioned our technical ability and credibility and unfortunately tempers flared. It was best to take a few steps back from that conversation and it ended. At no time do we as a company want to be criticized for our lack of effort, especially after weeks of work and resources invested. Unfortunately [redacted]  may have assumed the lack of performance was associated to lack of effort and this simply wasn't the case. RIPP has been providing quality automotive and performance tuning services and products for more than two decades and our attention to detail and to our craft remains the cornerstone of our relationship with our clients. In this case, RIPP provided [redacted] with exactly what he asked for, fully disclosed to him what issues that were unraveled with his automotive project, and at all times acted professionally, responsibly and in good faith. RIPP also provided all assistance to [redacted] every step of the way. Our only error was continuing to attempt to patch [redacted]'s project when it was clear that his vehicle may have had some underlying anomaly that falls outside of our ability to fix and certainly not in relation to the components we supplied. The condition he was experiencing seems to target his home area which is much higher in elevation than the RIPP headquarters, we assume whatever event is happening is happening at his elevation and we simply did not catch it. We have not heard from [redacted] since his last call and we had no way of knowing he took matters into his own hands. Judging from his letter it sounds as though [redacted] hired a third-party to fine tune into the problem in his vehicle which is outside what we offer as a component manufacture. The services he sought after are not covered under any RIPP warranty-or-guarntee written or implied. We did not charge him for the work we performed or the parts we installed nor the professionals we hired in an effort to correct his vehicle and make him whole. In total RIPP spent over 100 hours in labor and $4406.23(-/+) in parts and services. While we respect his position and certainly understand his frustration it still does not shadow the tremendous effort and expense RIPP incurred while his vehicle was in our possession in an effort to correct his problem. The cost associated with this vehicle far exceed any profits we could have earned on the parts he purchased from RIPP.  His accusations that RIPP somehow provided out of order procedures are without merit. We reject this type of strong-arm tactic out-of-hand.  RIPP welcomes the opportunity to discuss this matter with you, any consumer or other regulatory agency, the City or State of New York, or any other neutral third party, all of whom will view with disfavor his baseless attempt to obtain free parts, services and money from RIPP Superchargers. The Offices of RIPP Superchargers a RAND Solutions Inc.