Neapolitan Mastiff Club

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2017/08/14) */
On 05/16/*** *** commissioned us to install a Rancho 4" suspension system with 315x70rtires 35.4" tall and front-rear HD steel bumpers.Approximately a month later he came in inquiring about re-gearing the vehicle as the transmission
would not shift into overdrive gears on the freeway and vehicle had no power.I informed him about different options which would work for him and even broke down the vehicle RPM at both MPH as well as MPH in 4th gear, 5th gear, and in 6th gear for his stock ratio he had now as well as 4.10/ 4.56/ ratiosHe asked what my opinion was and I told him my choice would be the ratio based on my type of driving.I did due diligence by explaining in depth what each ratio would do and made perfectly clear it was his decision to make, not mineI even went so far as to tell him about a vehicle a customer couldn't make up his mind between and and chose the and we ended up having to change them back to a to make him happy and I wouldn't do that againHe called back later and told us to go with the ratio, which we did
So now he tells me that he is an engineer with wind tunnel experience and that he researched afterwards and we should have gone with ratio and wants us to the entire job at no charge to himI told him I would work with him and I agreed to split the cost with him but that was not good enough and stormed out of my shopHe complained about a gear whine and after driving it agreed there was a slight whine at a certain speed very slight and went to work on my vendor to get them to warranty the rear gear which they did agree toSo we contacted *** and re-quoted and completely warranty the rear including upgrading gear set to an OE version more expensivereducing his cost to $complete to change some thing to a different ratio that cost him $to begin withHis response was the offer wasn't fair at all and we were putting 75% of the repair cost back on him! On top of that his tires are wear poorly and we obviously aligned it improperlyWe found this out by reading the Revdex.com complaint, not from him contacting us personallyWe immediately contacted him to get the vehicle in and at no charge to him we would re-adjust the height and re-align it*** refused and said he would wait until after the outcome of this and if need be make us buy him new tiresIf charging him hours labor and only charging him for the parts in the front on a hour job that he was made know prior that I would not made liable for which ratio he chose is not trying to settle this manner in a fair manner, really? He says the only thing he did wrong was listening to what we had to say? I'm not willing to stand by my work? He's an engineer and yet he waits doesn't get the MPG that he says he used to get, and expects a gear change to get him that again even after lifting a truck, putting larger tires-wheels, and bumpers that probably added over lbs to the vehicleThe fact that he did his research after he already had the job done speaks loudly
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2017/08/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I spoke mostly with a service writer at Folbeck and was then referred to the owner, who is their expert on gearing to discuss what gearing would be best for my specific applicationBoth people were made aware of what type of driving I would be doing with my TahoeI was very clear my intended use would be 90% highway so getting the better mileage would be very important to meThe off-road operation would be very limited with most driving on flat desert terrain, trails and dirt roads with possibly some wash outs where higher ground clearance is needed
The tires installed are not inchesAccording to the manufacturer they are at least inch shorterA shorter tire will affect gear ratio and the best ratio to useTo falsely state my tires are larger sounds like a way to help justify such a drastic gearing mistakeIt should also bring into question the honesty of their above reply
According to the gearing recommendation chart I have supplied for you there is no justifiable reason to go to such a drastic gearing change for a vehicle used in the manner I told themBy many of these calculators it should have gone from to or maybe as high as but nothing close to the they insisted would be best
The only option explained in detail was his choice of gearing and why it was the best choice
He did explain in depth what his choice of gearing would do and how it would get me the best MPG and as noted in his reply it would be his choice in gearingOther options were never explained to me and I was admonished when I suggested anything elseI asked more than three time if they were sure their recommendation of would do what I wanted and every time they told me yesI wish he had told me about his other customer going with the wrong choice of gearing before he had done the work on my Tahoe
So, upon their insistence and trusting in their 4WD experience and recommendation I told them to use what they felt would work bestI informed them this was my first real off road vehicle and I was trusting in their expertise and experience to get my vehicle running properly for the type of driving I would be doingAs a consumer, we can only rely on recommendations of a technician when it comes to maintaining our vehicle and getting the best performance from itFor this work, I relied on and trusted in a company who specializes in this type of workI trusted them so much I spent over eighteen thousand dollars to get my Tahoe the way I hoped for
The gearing noise was reported to the company a day or two after I picked it up and I also told the service writer the gearing was way too low and he assured me they would take care of it and they would do whatever is needed to fix both gearing problemsI was told to bring it in the following week so they could listen to itAfter their inspection, they agreed to cover the complete cost of repairing or changing the rear end gearing under warranty because it was not done correctly the first timeBut, I would have to pay for re-gearing the front end at half the original cost of $I asked what happened to them standing behind their work? I was told the owner did not want to cover it and the service writer would get with me on the actual cost of fixing it later
Please see the attached statement of my witness who was present during some of the conversations I had when determining what gearing to useI did not choose gearing but I did authorize them to install what they thought would work best
Thank you for any help you can give me in this matter
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 14, 2017/08/25) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The person answering this complaint is NOT the person whom I spoke with when I agreed with doing this repair and he does not know what was said when the decision was made on what gears were usedHis response is not and has not been very accurate
When Donny asked me what gears we were going to use I asked him what is their recommendationHe replied is what the owner recommendsI asked are you sure this is going to be the best choice and his reply was yes the owner has done all the mathMy reply was "If this will work best for me then I guess we will go with those gears"
I acted solely on their recommendation of gearingI have never stated they guaranteed my original fuel economy and I understand they would not be able toI was told gearing would provide the best efficiency and thus the best mileage that could be expectedAnd this is certainly NOT the truth
I have spoke to many people with comparable modifications like mine with the same vehicle who went with a much less dramatic change in gearing and they are getting dramatically better results
My improvement at best is only miles per gallon with the gearing they recommended to me
It is obvious Folbeck knows very little about making proper gearing changes and what results you could expect from the many combinations
His last reply above with all Capital letters (shouting) is his method of dealing with people and making his pointSpeaking loud and aggressive was his method of telling me gearing was the best choice and or lower would NOT work or give me what I was looking for
At this point I have very little confidence in getting my Tahoe repaired correctly by this company nor can I trust in anything they sayIf possible I would prefer to be compensated monetarily so I can have the work preformed at a qualified business
They have admitted the rear gearing needs to be replaced / repaired and the alignment is off and tires need to be replaced or at a minimum balanced and rotated
The following compensation would be reasonable so I can get it repaired correctly
Half of my original bill $
Cost of Alignment $
Mount & balance $
Two tires $
Tax $
Total $
Final Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2017/09/05) */
This customer continues to lie and make accusationsI stand by my records in my 38+ years of businessWhats next with this individual, demanding me refund half his money spent on the lift kit for installing something that diminished his gas mileageI state again, I have never nor will ever guarantee gas mileage! I feel I have more than tried to find a compromise with this customerI have a perfect alignment sheet from when we aligned this vehicle, and yet he expects me to buy him new tires even though he never even said one thing to us about tire wearIf in fact he has a alignment issue it is either from settlement of his suspension, or could have been from contacting somethingHe talks about me yelling at him which I have never raised my voice to him, yet he comes into my shop packing a gun on his hip each time he comes inMy original offer stands