Tampa/Clearwater Tuning???
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Brandon, Fl
Well, you can always dispute charges. It's best to get the "quoted" price in writing. That way you can always bring it to the table when the work is done.
I sent you a PM. Just like to get to the Bottom and maybe shed some light on it or tell you why or maybe I owe you some money. I do make mistakes from time to time. Just to give you a Ideal we services 81 cars last month and 66 cars so far this month. I will make a mistake trust me, I am only human.
Kinda cool to see all the 350zcof peeps jump in to stand up for their shop. Regardless of the bad stories (every shop has em), with such a big following, they must be doing something right.
I sent you a PM. Just like to get to the Bottom and maybe shed some light on it or tell you why or maybe I owe you some money. I do make mistakes from time to time. Just to give you a Ideal we services 81 cars last month and 66 cars so far this month. I will make a mistake trust me, I am only human.
PM sent back
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Florida
I cant believe my first post on this forum was on this. 
I joined really just to monitor the marketplace.
But I had the same thought as Sen. Not trying to discount the experience that 98intrigue says he had, but every shop and customer has bad experiences. We all have them.
We own very custom cars, each with an individual track record of people working on them. Things are just going to go wrong every once and a while (not saying something did or did not go wrong here). But S&R has a huge following, and there is a reason for that. One poor experience does not dictate the character of the shop.
Justin
2 big posts...am I still a noob??
I joined really just to monitor the marketplace.But I had the same thought as Sen. Not trying to discount the experience that 98intrigue says he had, but every shop and customer has bad experiences. We all have them.
We own very custom cars, each with an individual track record of people working on them. Things are just going to go wrong every once and a while (not saying something did or did not go wrong here). But S&R has a huge following, and there is a reason for that. One poor experience does not dictate the character of the shop.
Justin
2 big posts...am I still a noob??
Wow...this has blown up! Where do I start...
I first called S&R to see if I could dyno my car to test out the new Motordyne intake manifold for the 370Z. Tony at Motordyne was offering $125 rebate for the first few with dyno results of testing his new manifold. I spoke with Marti everytime and it was a pleasant experience. In regards to customer service, Marti was great! When I spoke with Marti about dynoing my car, I made sure he knew the circumstances...that I needed to do initial baseline dyno pulls, then install my manifold, and then redyno my car to see the power difference. Marti told me I couldn't do the install in the shop due to insurance reasons and I completely understood. I was fine with installing the manifold outside the shop. I made an appointment for October 2nd.
October 2nd rolls around and I take my car for the dyno testing. Bobby did the 2 or 3 initial pulls. I was expecting to install the manifold outside the shop... I asked if Bobby was going to take the car off the dyno so I could install the manifold and he told me it was no problem and he let me install the manifold while the car was still on the dyno. I thought that was really cool of him because I know all about insurance issues since I used to work for a shop. I don't know where everyone gets that he bent over backwards for me??? Yeah, it was a nice gesture, but he didn't go out of his way or anything. I had all my own tools, except for a 12mm deep socket and an allen key socket that I needed. I HATE having to ask for things, but I had no choice. Bobby grabbed a socket wrench with a 12mm and then another employee grabbed me the allen key socket. Once again, I thought this was nice of them. Fast forward to the end of the testing and I leave my email address for Bobby to send me the dyno graphs. I also setup an appointment for S&R to do the Osiris UpRev tune on my car. Also, my seats/steering wheel/knee pads were dirty from Bobby getting in/out of the car. I understand people are dirty at a shop, but have respect...whether its a '89 Civic or a '10 370Z. Lay down a sheet of paper or something.
A few days pass and I have no dyno graphs. No big deal...I understand it was the weekend. I call Marti Monday and he tells me Bobby will send them. I didn't receive them, so I called the next day. Marti lets me know Bobby was having problems putting the dynos on a thumb drive, but assured me I'd have them that day. Another day goes by and I still don't have my dynos. I understand S&R is extremely busy with a heavy workload, but there is time in one day to take 5 minutes to go to the dyno computer and copy the dyno files onto a thumb drive and then transfer them to another computer and email them. To most, it's just a graph...but to me, it was $125 I was waiting on! I talked to Bobby Wednesday and he says he's still having problems getting the dynos onto a thumbdrive and asked if I could just wait until Saturday when I was getting my tune. I told him my $125 was waiting on him sending the graphs, so I'd prefer to have the graphs as soon as possible. Well, I never got them.
Saturday, October 9th rolls around and it's time for my UpRev tune. I had an appointment at 1pm. They were still tuning a 350Z, so I sat and waited in the waiting room...and waited...and waited. At 2, I get up and ask Jeff how much longer until they were done with the 350Z? He says they just made the last pull and shouldn't be much longer. I also asked how long a tune usually takes and he tells me it usually takes an hour to tune a car. It's now 3, and I'm still waiting. Bobby/Jeff (I can't remember) comes in and says an Eclipse had been waiting on having his car dynoed since the morning, so he needed to do 1 quick pull. I may have missed seeing the owner, but I was the only one there in the lobby/waiting room? I don't believe the Eclipse owner was there. Plus, who pays for only 1 dyno pull?
My car finally goes on the dyno at 3:50. That's almost 3 hours later. That's where my poor customer service claims come into effect. I had even called at 11am to make sure my appointment was still set for 1pm. You do not make a customer wait that long...S&R never once apologized or seemed sympathetic to me wasting 3 hours of my day. Once again, my seats/steering wheel are greasy/dirty. Plus, Bobby left handprints on my hood.a-pillar from leaning on it while talking with the tuner. Once agin...have a little respect.
So they start tuning my car around 4pm. By 4:20, they are done tuning my car. Only 20 minutes of tuning and I just spent $650? That's an hourly rate of $1950. If I'm spending $650, I would expect more than 20 minutes worth of tuning? I'm sure most of you would agree. Add that fact along with my poor numbers for a tune...I have a right to think they just copied a map, uploaded it, and did 3-4 pulls worth of tuning(?) and called it a day. So my car finally comes off the dyno at 4:45pm. Why did it take 25 minutes to get my car off the dyno? I understand it takes a few minutes to unstrap the car...but 25 minutes? By the time I got out of there, it was just after 5pm. If everything was on schedule, I should have been out of there by 2-3pm. I guess it didn't help that I had plans to meet my gf's parents at 6pm and I was 40 minutes from home and still needed to clean up.
Now lets talk about these dyno graphs that were holding me back from receiving the $125 rebate. Bobby sent me the graphs that Saturday, October 9th in a .wmf format. This allowed me to view the graphs in MS Paint.
Well, that wasn't much of a help. I could barely make out the numbers. If I tried to zoom in to guess what power I made at 5k rpms, the graph would become way too pixelated to make out. Plus, this graph is not the graph Tony at Motordyne needed to see. He wanted the raw dyno files so he could do his own analysis of where the manifold gained/lost power, averages, etc.
Monday 10-11: I emailed Bobby and asked for the actual dyno files, not the graph that was only viewable in MS Paint. Plus I needed all the dyno files, not just 1 graph with only the best runs overlayed. He said he could do that, but I'd need to download Land and Sea's dyno software...no big deal.
Tuesday 10-12: I coulnd't find the software on Land and Sea's website, so I asked if Bobby could point me in the right direction. He sent me a link, which I appreciated. Later on, he emailed me the dyno files in a .run format. Once again, it's just the 3 best runs from each session...not all runs like I needed for data analysis. This format only provided a window with very limited data like temperature, humidty, etc.
Thursday 10-14: I emailed Bobby letting him know these were not the correct dyno files. The dyno files I needed were a .raw format and asked if he could try again. Bobby replied saying the .run files are everything I need and to contact Land and Sea to see if there was a different version I needed.
Sunday 10-17: I emailed Bobby with Land and Sea's response stating that the .raw format is what I needed to view the dyno graphs. Land and Sea said "Ask the shop to use DYNO-MAX’s “File - Send To – Zip Run for E-Mailing to Owner” menu item, it bundles up everything you need (in just seconds) - to graph and replay your runs."
Monday 10-18: Bobby sent me the 3 graphs individually, instead of all on one graph...and in the .wmf format. Once again, it was just the best of the 3 dyno sessions...not every graph, which Tony needs to analyze all the data. I replied saying I already told him I couldn't use these files and told him specifically I needed the .raw files. I had already provided Land and Sea's simple instructions on how to send the correct files.
Tuesday 10-19: Bobby replies saying he's been sending the same files to everyone for the past 4 years and I'm the only one having a problem. Have I really been the only person in 4 years that would want to compare numbers (for example) what hp dyno #1 vs dyno #2 made at 5500rpms? I can't imagine I'm the first person who would ever want to analyze their own dyno runs? FINALLY, 17 days later, Bobby sent me the correct .raw format dyno files...but they are still just 1 best run from each session.
I hope this sheds a little light on why I've been so frustrated. I understand I'm just one little guy among S&R's thousands of customers...but every customer's needs should try to be met with urgency and accuracy. Take into account me waiting so long for dyno files ($125 rebate), the amount of time I was at S&R for my tune, the little amount of time spent on my tune, and the very minimal gains from my tune and I hope some of you can understand the problem I have with S&R. I know a shop can't satisfy every customer...but I'm one of the unhappy ones. I didn't post this book because very few people care to read such a lengthy post. With so many people jumping on my back...I needed to defend myself.
I first called S&R to see if I could dyno my car to test out the new Motordyne intake manifold for the 370Z. Tony at Motordyne was offering $125 rebate for the first few with dyno results of testing his new manifold. I spoke with Marti everytime and it was a pleasant experience. In regards to customer service, Marti was great! When I spoke with Marti about dynoing my car, I made sure he knew the circumstances...that I needed to do initial baseline dyno pulls, then install my manifold, and then redyno my car to see the power difference. Marti told me I couldn't do the install in the shop due to insurance reasons and I completely understood. I was fine with installing the manifold outside the shop. I made an appointment for October 2nd.
October 2nd rolls around and I take my car for the dyno testing. Bobby did the 2 or 3 initial pulls. I was expecting to install the manifold outside the shop... I asked if Bobby was going to take the car off the dyno so I could install the manifold and he told me it was no problem and he let me install the manifold while the car was still on the dyno. I thought that was really cool of him because I know all about insurance issues since I used to work for a shop. I don't know where everyone gets that he bent over backwards for me??? Yeah, it was a nice gesture, but he didn't go out of his way or anything. I had all my own tools, except for a 12mm deep socket and an allen key socket that I needed. I HATE having to ask for things, but I had no choice. Bobby grabbed a socket wrench with a 12mm and then another employee grabbed me the allen key socket. Once again, I thought this was nice of them. Fast forward to the end of the testing and I leave my email address for Bobby to send me the dyno graphs. I also setup an appointment for S&R to do the Osiris UpRev tune on my car. Also, my seats/steering wheel/knee pads were dirty from Bobby getting in/out of the car. I understand people are dirty at a shop, but have respect...whether its a '89 Civic or a '10 370Z. Lay down a sheet of paper or something.
A few days pass and I have no dyno graphs. No big deal...I understand it was the weekend. I call Marti Monday and he tells me Bobby will send them. I didn't receive them, so I called the next day. Marti lets me know Bobby was having problems putting the dynos on a thumb drive, but assured me I'd have them that day. Another day goes by and I still don't have my dynos. I understand S&R is extremely busy with a heavy workload, but there is time in one day to take 5 minutes to go to the dyno computer and copy the dyno files onto a thumb drive and then transfer them to another computer and email them. To most, it's just a graph...but to me, it was $125 I was waiting on! I talked to Bobby Wednesday and he says he's still having problems getting the dynos onto a thumbdrive and asked if I could just wait until Saturday when I was getting my tune. I told him my $125 was waiting on him sending the graphs, so I'd prefer to have the graphs as soon as possible. Well, I never got them.
Saturday, October 9th rolls around and it's time for my UpRev tune. I had an appointment at 1pm. They were still tuning a 350Z, so I sat and waited in the waiting room...and waited...and waited. At 2, I get up and ask Jeff how much longer until they were done with the 350Z? He says they just made the last pull and shouldn't be much longer. I also asked how long a tune usually takes and he tells me it usually takes an hour to tune a car. It's now 3, and I'm still waiting. Bobby/Jeff (I can't remember) comes in and says an Eclipse had been waiting on having his car dynoed since the morning, so he needed to do 1 quick pull. I may have missed seeing the owner, but I was the only one there in the lobby/waiting room? I don't believe the Eclipse owner was there. Plus, who pays for only 1 dyno pull?
My car finally goes on the dyno at 3:50. That's almost 3 hours later. That's where my poor customer service claims come into effect. I had even called at 11am to make sure my appointment was still set for 1pm. You do not make a customer wait that long...S&R never once apologized or seemed sympathetic to me wasting 3 hours of my day. Once again, my seats/steering wheel are greasy/dirty. Plus, Bobby left handprints on my hood.a-pillar from leaning on it while talking with the tuner. Once agin...have a little respect.
So they start tuning my car around 4pm. By 4:20, they are done tuning my car. Only 20 minutes of tuning and I just spent $650? That's an hourly rate of $1950. If I'm spending $650, I would expect more than 20 minutes worth of tuning? I'm sure most of you would agree. Add that fact along with my poor numbers for a tune...I have a right to think they just copied a map, uploaded it, and did 3-4 pulls worth of tuning(?) and called it a day. So my car finally comes off the dyno at 4:45pm. Why did it take 25 minutes to get my car off the dyno? I understand it takes a few minutes to unstrap the car...but 25 minutes? By the time I got out of there, it was just after 5pm. If everything was on schedule, I should have been out of there by 2-3pm. I guess it didn't help that I had plans to meet my gf's parents at 6pm and I was 40 minutes from home and still needed to clean up.
Now lets talk about these dyno graphs that were holding me back from receiving the $125 rebate. Bobby sent me the graphs that Saturday, October 9th in a .wmf format. This allowed me to view the graphs in MS Paint.
Well, that wasn't much of a help. I could barely make out the numbers. If I tried to zoom in to guess what power I made at 5k rpms, the graph would become way too pixelated to make out. Plus, this graph is not the graph Tony at Motordyne needed to see. He wanted the raw dyno files so he could do his own analysis of where the manifold gained/lost power, averages, etc.
Monday 10-11: I emailed Bobby and asked for the actual dyno files, not the graph that was only viewable in MS Paint. Plus I needed all the dyno files, not just 1 graph with only the best runs overlayed. He said he could do that, but I'd need to download Land and Sea's dyno software...no big deal.
Tuesday 10-12: I coulnd't find the software on Land and Sea's website, so I asked if Bobby could point me in the right direction. He sent me a link, which I appreciated. Later on, he emailed me the dyno files in a .run format. Once again, it's just the 3 best runs from each session...not all runs like I needed for data analysis. This format only provided a window with very limited data like temperature, humidty, etc.
Thursday 10-14: I emailed Bobby letting him know these were not the correct dyno files. The dyno files I needed were a .raw format and asked if he could try again. Bobby replied saying the .run files are everything I need and to contact Land and Sea to see if there was a different version I needed.
Sunday 10-17: I emailed Bobby with Land and Sea's response stating that the .raw format is what I needed to view the dyno graphs. Land and Sea said "Ask the shop to use DYNO-MAX’s “File - Send To – Zip Run for E-Mailing to Owner” menu item, it bundles up everything you need (in just seconds) - to graph and replay your runs."
Monday 10-18: Bobby sent me the 3 graphs individually, instead of all on one graph...and in the .wmf format. Once again, it was just the best of the 3 dyno sessions...not every graph, which Tony needs to analyze all the data. I replied saying I already told him I couldn't use these files and told him specifically I needed the .raw files. I had already provided Land and Sea's simple instructions on how to send the correct files.
Tuesday 10-19: Bobby replies saying he's been sending the same files to everyone for the past 4 years and I'm the only one having a problem. Have I really been the only person in 4 years that would want to compare numbers (for example) what hp dyno #1 vs dyno #2 made at 5500rpms? I can't imagine I'm the first person who would ever want to analyze their own dyno runs? FINALLY, 17 days later, Bobby sent me the correct .raw format dyno files...but they are still just 1 best run from each session.
I hope this sheds a little light on why I've been so frustrated. I understand I'm just one little guy among S&R's thousands of customers...but every customer's needs should try to be met with urgency and accuracy. Take into account me waiting so long for dyno files ($125 rebate), the amount of time I was at S&R for my tune, the little amount of time spent on my tune, and the very minimal gains from my tune and I hope some of you can understand the problem I have with S&R. I know a shop can't satisfy every customer...but I'm one of the unhappy ones. I didn't post this book because very few people care to read such a lengthy post. With so many people jumping on my back...I needed to defend myself.
Last edited by 98intrigue; Oct 20, 2010 at 10:12 PM.
But I had the same thought as Sen. Not trying to discount the experience that 98intrigue says he had, but every shop and customer has bad experiences. We all have them.
We own very custom cars, each with an individual track record of people working on them. Things are just going to go wrong every once and a while (not saying something did or did not go wrong here). But S&R has a huge following, and there is a reason for that. One poor experience does not dictate the character of the shop.
We own very custom cars, each with an individual track record of people working on them. Things are just going to go wrong every once and a while (not saying something did or did not go wrong here). But S&R has a huge following, and there is a reason for that. One poor experience does not dictate the character of the shop.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Florida
Yeah man, this whole thing is really unfortunate. I realized just a bit ago who you are. I met you in Orlando in September and then at the run. I have the dark silver Z with the black rims. Your a great guy and I enjoyed talking to you. I know S&R too though, and I know they do good work. This is just an really unfortunate happening between two good people (granted, I only know what has been posted).
I really hope you guys can get it figured out.
I really hope you guys can get it figured out.
What I don’t understand is why didn’t you say something that day, instead you come on to forums and bash my tuner and me. You do realize we have tuned tons of Z’s right. We have spent many hours testing tunes on other cars. I can show the logs from your runs on timing and fuel. Keep in mind Osirus has not fully developed the software on the 370z’s, the only thing we can control is fuel and timing. I can spend 45 mins or 6 hours you still pay the same. Don’t get mad because your intake didn’t make the power. I tell you what put your stock intake back and I will retune the car for free and I put money on it will make more power.
Saturdays are very busy days and we had small dyno day on that day and of course none of them showed up on time. I can’t help it if other people don’t make it up on time.
Its amazing you can go to doctors and have a appointment at 1pm and wait in there lobby for hours and no ones says anything.
I can understand why you would be upset with my finger prints and I can arrange to have car fully detailed
And if you like I can retune your car and have you sit in and look at every data log until you are satisfied. I can assure you the results will be the same. I would like to do a smoke test on the intake to make sure you don’t have any leaks.
Saturdays are very busy days and we had small dyno day on that day and of course none of them showed up on time. I can’t help it if other people don’t make it up on time.
Its amazing you can go to doctors and have a appointment at 1pm and wait in there lobby for hours and no ones says anything.
I can understand why you would be upset with my finger prints and I can arrange to have car fully detailed
And if you like I can retune your car and have you sit in and look at every data log until you are satisfied. I can assure you the results will be the same. I would like to do a smoke test on the intake to make sure you don’t have any leaks.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Clearwater, FL
its very unfortunate for this to happen.. ive had a few things done at S&R and dont have one complaint.
its good to see them stepping in on the forum and trying to get things worked out. hope it all gets resolved.
its good to see them stepping in on the forum and trying to get things worked out. hope it all gets resolved.
Bobby and I talked on the phone for about 20 minutes. He was willing to have mycar detailed, which I kindly denied. He also wants to smoke test the manifold next Saturday and try tuning the car without the Motordyne manifold. I appreciate Bobby contacting me and trying to resolve our issues. He accepted the blame for a few things and I'll say, that was very professional of him.
I take back my bad customer service comment. Bobby is trying his best to make me happy. Thank you.
I take back my bad customer service comment. Bobby is trying his best to make me happy. Thank you.