Here is the letter I sent Kingpin about their services. The bold is
their response. The underlined is my opinion on Kingpins response.

Hi Mike, Well now that I have had time to go over my car and
compare what you've charged me for vs. what I'm actually happy with,

I'll break it down below from your invoice along with an explanation
as to why I feel the charge was wrong.

1) Shop Labor-Interior Clean/Glass Removal-$85 I found some glass
under the front seats and when I removed the rear seat to install
the cage there was enough glass on the floor to fill half of a baby
food jar. There are several of Daves greasy hand marks all over the
interior, on the pillars on the headliner etc....

We charged you for one hour of cleaning. This full interior was
stripped from this car carpet was removed and all glass that was
visable was cleaned. This took 3-4 hours. We charged you for 1. Do not
see that as unfair to you.

IMO: It doesn’t matter if it took 5 minutes or 5 hours, bottom line is the car had lots of “visible” broken glass under the rear seat. I know the rear seat was out of the car so why wasn’t all the very obviously visible broken glass removed? Why should I have to pay for this service that did not happen?

2)STi Door Cards-shop labor-$170 The front doors are not even attached all the way across the bottom. If you press in the bottom to engage the clips they just pop back out. There is a good 1/2 inch gap.

If there is a problem with the door cards we will be happy to address it for you. All cards were correctly secured when the vehicle left. You do have a large aftermarket unit in the driver side door that was installed before the car came to us. We did not remove. This will keep that one door card from securing completely at the bottom. Inovice should read 1.5 hours for install will credit for .5 hours.

IMO: The car does have a window unit installed from the cars alarm unit.(Which, BTW, Kingpin was supposed to remove and didn’t.) But it had the extender clips that they make and the door cards were attached and not flapping around before the theft. Remember, Kingpin was doing an auto vandalism repair.

3)AC/Heater Controls-$200
4)Shop Labor-Install AC Control/Reconnect Unit-$510
The AC does not work, nor does the rear window defogger, nor does the
lighting for the climate controls.

The cost of the AC/Hheater controls was already discounted. I can not
change the price for the unit. You did not have one in the car and we
had to install one. We did not charge the AC before you left. We can
credit you for that. Charge is $35. The wiring and hard lines to this
unit were destryed and had to be replaced and re run. The time
reflected on this is the time that was spent installing it. If there
is a problem with the wiring we will be happy to fix that at no charge
or we can refund you a partial amount, $170.

Imo: Bottom line, the A/C worked before the vandalism and Kingpin was paid to repair it. I did pay a separate charge of $200 for the A/C Heater Controls unit itself. I am disputing the $510 “AC Control/Reconnect Unit“ installation charge. The unit does not work. It is not that the AC needs charging for $35, it does not work (electrically) so if I paid to have it “reconnected” then maybe it should actually work!!!!

5)Shop Labor-Gauge Rewiring-$340
Gauge lighting works on the 2 steering column gages but gages don't function. Vent mounted gage does not function at all.

Wiring for gauges was destroyed. The wiring had to be completely rerun
for both the power and for the sensors. We are willing to have a look
at them and if the wiring is not correct we can fix it at not charge
to you or we can refund a partial amount, $170.

IMO: The wiring is obviously wrong because it does not work. Again, Kingpin was hired to repair this , it was part of the vandalism claim.

6) Greddy Gage Controllers-$130 Why did you replace these and if you
did replace them see #5

1 Greddy Gauge Controller was missing. We replaced it. This was the
cost for that unit.

IMO: You charged me for 2 control units. Neither one works. One was “jerry rigged” with a sad attempt of soldering and 5 ft of electrical tape wrapped around the unit to hold the wire clip from falling out of its socket.

7)Shop Labor Center Console/ Head Unit
install-$85/$340 After about 3 days of driving the dash rattles in the center console area bad + The head unit cannot open due to the fact that it hits the dash while trying to open then automatically closes again.

We can check for the rattle at no cost. Or refund a partial amount
$85. The head unit install incuded all the of the wiring and fitting.
The head unit opened and closed fine when the vehicle left the shop.
There were several people standing there when the car was started and
stereo was tested including you. It opend and closed fine. We can
check to see if there is a problem with the unit that has occured
since then. Will not bill to check it but will not refund any money as
it worked when the vehicle left.

IMO:Like I said, “after 3 days” it didn’t open. Does Kingpins “warranty” expire as soon as you pull out of their garage?

8)Shop Labor: Headlight-$170
Low beam never did work. Ballast was not even plugged into light
housing. Probably due to wrong connector type. So somebody took it
upon themselves to use about 25ft of electrical tape to just wrap
the **** out of the ballast wiring along with 10ft of needless
wiring going nowhere. I found the correct wiring diagram on the web
in about 5 minutes and fixed it myself in 15 minutes, $170?

The labor that was charged was for phsyically installing the light. We
did not do any wiring for this unit. It was prewired before the car
arrived here by the previous shop. we will refund .5 hours on the
install.

IMO: Come one guys. Have you ever R& R’ed your headlight. 5 minutes max. $170 is what Kingpin wants to do this for. Wow. The car was “prewired” for the headlight that was damaged. But Kingpin installed a headlight that was not compatible with the prewired condition so instead of taking 10 minutes to do a seach for the correct wiring they jusy decided to give me the car back with the headlight physically mounted on the car but IT IS NOT WIRED, SO IT DOES NOT WORK!!! I’d be willing to pay $5 for what little work they did on the headlight. Not to mention I paid $400 for the fricken headlight!

9)OEM Steering column trim-$45 It is cracked near the
key area.

We replaced the lower trim with a brand new piece. The upper trim was
not replaced as it was what your gauges were mounted to. If this lower
peice is cracked we will replace at no cost or refund the cost, $45.

IMO: Again, part of the insurance claim. Work Kingpin was hired to repair.

10)Shop Labor-Steering Column Trim-$21.25 The screw that holds the
bottom steering column plastic housing is missing. It is missing
because the threaded clip it screws into is missing.

The treaded clip that this screw threads into was broken when the car
came in. We did not replace nor did we charge you for this. Labor
charged was to fit the peice that we replaced. 15 min was charged.
Will not refund this amount.

IMO: Again, part of the insurance claim. Work Kingpin was hired to repair.


11)Shop Labor-Center Vent Assy.-$127.50 Shop Labor for JDM center vent
assembly.

This actually took 3-4 hours to properly fit. It is a custom job. We
charged only 1.5 hours. We cannot credit you for anything there.

IMO: See “stereo head unit won’t open” gripe.

So this totals $2223.75 worth of Kingpin Performances services that
basically I paid for and with valid reasons stated above, I am not
happy with. I know we had a long haul with this car but the bottom
line Mike, is that you were paid nearly $10000 in late August/early
Sept 2004. The balance in October. On top of that you still had the
car til the 1st week of Jan. 2005. Then, as is now becoming evident
you guys just rushed the car back together after my sad but true
phone message. Not to mention the fact that I sold my beefed up 5
speed with less that 2000 miles on it thinking I was getting the 6
speed I saw sitting in front of my car. Then you sold me a used
stock 5 speed with who knows how many miles on it for $950 and
charged $680 to install it (another $1630). All that was wrong with
my 5 speed was the clutch master cylinder. The whole deal just sucks
Mike. You have a show car and you should know that when you are
working on a show car maybe a little more care should be taken. I
really have no gripe about your tuning capabilities but to be honest
the rest of your operation is chaotic at best. I guess my next
question is, what does Kingpin intend to do about this. I am real
leary about bringing my car back to your shop but I also feel like
we should settle this matter somehow. Your timely response would
be greatly appreciated.

Beefed up 5 speed? This transmission was not funtional. The case was
cracked, the pin and throwout bearing were damaged, the slave cylinder
was bad, not to mention as we found out later 2nd gear did not work.
The 5 speed that we installed in your car had 6k miles on it. It is in
perfect condition. The amount you payed did not cover the additional a
$5,000 plus that it would have cost to install the 6 speed. We had no
intention of having you pick up the car while still owing us on your
bill and after the phone message you left we were left with the
impression that you wanted the car back immediately and had no
intetion of paying any more money. You paid a total of $14,325. This
is already $689.00 that was unpaid on this ticket. We did that a s a
favor to you. The total amount that we would be willing to refund is
$505. This is less than the unpaid portion on the ticket. I do not see
that we can refund you any aditional amount. If you would like to have
the problems address we would be happy to do that for you at no charge
even tho you are already beyound your balance. We would do this as a
compensation for the length of time this project took. If you would
like a 6 speed installed we would be happy to do that for you.
Obviously we cannot do that for free. Thank you for your time. All the
Best, Mike

PS-I do have a show car and I do take the same care with
every car that I take with mine. I also have 100k+ in my car with
parts an labor included. We can certainly bring your car up to the
level of mine but we cannot do it for 15k, much less for free. Thanks.

IMO:The original 5 sp had a brand new gearset installed less than 2000 miles ago. I called the previous owner and he can confirm this as he had the work dome himself.The transmission had a small broked (cracked) part in the case where the access hole to the clutch master cylinder is. I could have had that welded for free and it would have been fine beings I have a full blown aerospace machine shop at my immediate disposal. And it is literally 4 blocks from Kingpin. The only other problem with the transmission was the Clutch Master Cylinder, tranny fork and tranny pin needed to be replaced. Which I did pay $285 for. Besides that Kingpin used the “we are still waiting on your 6sp we ordered from Japan” as an excuse to put me off for weel over 10 weeks. They finally received the 6 sp, called me and told me it was in. Said it would be about “2 more weeks” and I would have the car back. Then another 6 weeks paased before I finally could not take it anymore and called and left a message that I was picking up the car in 1 more week, regardless of weather it was finished. **** Boyd Coddington can build a compelte car from scratch in less than 5 months. Then read Mikes little sarcastic P.S note. ***??

Oh and did I mention that Kingpin needed 100% of the money, all $14, 200 and some, up front before they even touched the car. 1st garage in my 28 years of dealing with repair shops that I have ever had to prepay for services. Bottom line is Mike takes everyones money, puts his car in the shop, sinks your money into his car and then waits, at the customer inconvenience, for a great “junk yard” JDM salvaged car to come along. Strips it down just like any chop shop can do, then installs used crap from totaled cars onto your nice new ride. Real nice, ********. But on a lighter note Mike and Clark seem to be good tuners, I’ll give them credit for that. But don’t put it beyond Kingpin to slightly detune your car (as others have told me the've done to their cars) if they were not the ones who installed their plagiarized version of a Garret turbo. What you have just read are facts. I am in the process of preparing a lawsuit against Kingpin. In the words of the reputable shop that now has my car and is fixing it right “ we are appalled at the workmanship that Kingpin has done to your car, how much did you say they charged you to make this mess again?” I guess a judge will have to decide who's right but felt I had to share this story with the community. Just remeber, just because a company has a nice website, does not mean they have a nice shop. Just the fact that Mike is scowering the community for help (see "Kingpins hiring" threads) kind proves my point. They are in dire ways IMO. ..and Mike, sorry about this but you guys F'ed me bad and even though you do offer to take a look at your shortcomings, I just cannot bring my car back to you, it's beyond that now :furious:

wow that's long.... CN please.

Believe me, this is only scratching the surface of this story. I could write a whole book about these guys.

Wow!! Sorry your dissapointed. I've got nothing but good to say about Kingpin myself however, and have seen some amazing cars that they put together like Ebeck's car as a prime example! Personally I'd never let anyone but Dave touch my car as well because everytime someone else had(at other shops) bad things would happen. Not saying you are lying or whatever, but surely there is more to this story? And if you are truly taking legal action shouldn't you keep this quiet and not publicy threaten suit? It looks like this is personal. :confused:

Mike is aware of what is happeneing. I did not slander anyone here. There is no human alive that would approve of how Kingpin handled my particular situation. Mike can play mister nice guy all he wants. Like I said, great, great, great tuner, but you can't just take a customers cars and stick it on the back burner for months on end when you have over $14K of that customers money. Hell, I'm sure anyone who has been down at Kingpin between July 2004 and Feb 2005 has seen my car there. And noone can tell me that that car ever moved from the back of the garage other than the last 10 days it was there. and that is only because I called and said I was coming to get it and I needed to be able to drive it home. The fricken car was set a 8psi when I picked it up, barley idled, check engine light glowing like a neon light . And this was after paying Mike $695 for the "tune".?! I was there when he was sittng in the car with his laptop doing it. Nice........... :huh:

I do remember your car there that's for sure, but everytime I'd been there something was being done to it. Plus the guys at Kingpin seemed to have empathy for your situation and it didn't seem like a project that was on the back burner. Somewhere there is a misunderstanding. Have you truly given Kingpin an opportunity to make things right? Did you act hostile and abusive and not give them the chance to make it right? Did you stop by every few days and check the progress, and let them know exactly what you want done and how? It's hard to swallow that they would just screw you over on a 6speed w/ no reasonable explanation. I'm not flaming you but this is just not like them, and believe that legal action should be an absolute last resort for something that could maybe be handled w/out clogging the justice system.

I read your entire post, some of it twice.

It's obvious you've left out some major details which would help those of us that have no knowledge of your situation form an opinion. For starters, you could tell us about your car, what happened and how/why it ended up at Kingpin for repair.

I've been to Kingpin a few times in the timeframe mentioned, and I saw various cars in assorted states or repair... nothing atypical for this kind of shop. I probably even saw your car--so what's your point?

I personally have received good service there, would return without hesitation and would recommend them without restriction.

From the little I could understand of your situation, yours is a showcar or a highly modded street vehicle... didn't you do a point-by-point inspection before taking possession from Kingpin?

I'm over here too! As you can see, I'm a reputable member over here... I'm not a "friend" of the shop... I've just never had any sort of issues.

-Matt

Hmm, so far only the guys at Vivid Racing seem to believe me. I wonder why.

Here is what they sent me:

Sorry to hear about your car. I know Robert Shaw quite well and him and I went at it with my Blue 2002 back in the show days. So i know that car well. Unfortunately experiences like this happen. We would love to be involved with your car and servicing it with the fleet of our other vehicles. You will find our ASE certified mechanic very professional and willing to help you. Since you have paid so much in work, we will be happy to help you out further at little or no charge if you need. We have been around for 4 years with over 15 magazines and 6 awesome cars built and serviced. If you get a chance, come down and check out our new Porsche 996 and BMW M3. Our professional staff and and instock products can hopefully get your car back on track.

If you need any help with your car, suggestions, racing, or just to BS, please come down and talk to us!
__________________
Team Vivid Racing

NOW THAT'S a real garage stepping up to the plate. Kingpin, take note. :)

Hmm, so far only the guys at Vivid Racing seem to believe me. I wonder why.

Here is what they sent me:

Sorry to hear about your car. I know Robert Shaw quite well and him and I went at it with my Blue 2002 back in the show days. So i know that car well. Unfortunately experiences like this happen. We would love to be involved with your car and servicing it with the fleet of our other vehicles. You will find our ASE certified mechanic very professional and willing to help you. Since you have paid so much in work, we will be happy to help you out further at little or no charge if you need. We have been around for 4 years with over 15 magazines and 6 awesome cars built and serviced. If you get a chance, come down and check out our new Porsche 996 and BMW M3. Our professional staff and and instock products can hopefully get your car back on track.

If you need any help with your car, suggestions, racing, or just to BS, please come down and talk to us!
__________________
Team Vivid Racing

NOW THAT'S a real garage stepping up to the plate. Kingpin, take note. :)
They(Vivid) say sorry, but nothing about believing you. Maybe you should have this thread locked because it's not getting you anywhere positive. Of course Vivid will accept your business they need to make money like anyone else. You are jumping the gun, and reading some of the responses at azsubaru.org shows that. You should call Kingpin tomorrow and set things straight before digging a deeper hole. You will feel like a better man doing that than losing all your cash(that could be spent on a 6speed) on a sleezy lawyer. This whole thing w/ the thread and the comments is the wrong way to go about it period!

I think everyone is entitled to there opinions...

GReddy.. I think you do have some valid concerns based on the information provided... I have had (and seen) only great service from Kingpin, so I find it extremely hard to fathom this situation.. I do however respect the fact that you are entitled to your opinion and don't think it's bad that you posted here about it... Hell, most everyone on these boards remembers the horror stories posted about Vivid... (Search if you want for info...)... I had great service through them as well, but I realize I was in the minority...

Good luck with a satisfactory outcome, I wish you well... I will be bringing my car into Kingpin for some installs very soon...

-Shane

Sorry to hear about the issues you've had. I hope it can get back to what it used to be soon. There is no excuse for wasting your time and doing a half-assed job. There are a couple of people here that have the "Kingpin is God" mentality and would refuse to believe that they could have done something wrong. I personally know of a few horror stories coming out of there. I have seen your car since you brought it to the shop it should have been at in the first place, and that thing has some issues!! I think they have the skills and best of intentions, but they definitely fall short.

Best of luck! I'm sure it'll all get handled soon.

Wow. I am not even really sure where to start here. I guess we go to the beginning. This all started off with Kerry having the car towed over to us from the police impound yard. We in good faith paid for both the towing and the impound charges out of pocket even though we had not even been informed that the car was en route. At that point we began working with his insurance company. For approximately 6 weeks the car was stored in our shop at no cost while we regularly met and corresponded with Kerry's insurance representative, again at no cost.

After going to bat for him we got the insurance company to issue Kerry 2 checks for repair services. These checks total well more than what was ever paid to us. We instructed both Kerry and his agent that this was a preliminary invoice and more labor and parts would most likely be added to the invoice as the repair went along.

Kerry then decided that he would like to change the actual work going into the car and use some of the insurance money to get some other parts, 6 speed included. Before any money was ever transferred to us we had several hours of work in the car.

It is our policy that all parts are paid in advance. Especially special order items. Kerry did not by any means pay us in one lump sum but instead made several payments on his bill over the course of the install. This is not typical, however we were aware of the difficult situation he was in and attempted to help him in any way.

Kerry picked up his seriously damaged 5 Speed and sold it online to a fellow Subaru owner. We informed Kerry of the damage to the case, fork, etc. That individual contacted both Kerry and us that the 5 Speed he received, on top of the other damage, would not go into 2nd gear. This claim of a perfect condition built 5 speed is simply untrue. Kerry then got into it with this individual and eventually returned his money for the purchase.

We instructed both Kerry and his agent that this is a fully built show car. Many of the parts on the car are rare and will have to be special ordered from Japan. Everyone involved was well aware that this project would not be completed over night.

As parts came in and work was finish we began to get phone calls form, Not Kerry, but his Wife. She was not happy with the time frame that the car was being completed in. We explained to her on a regular basis and kept her updated on the progress of the car. Kerry at the point began to occasionally stop by to check on the car. On several occasions he would apologize for the way he or his wife had acted when they call. He would then admit that he was not really worried about the time frame but that his wife was "breaking his balls over it."

Work continued and as the car neared completion we received a call from Kerry in which he left us a very abusive message. Cursing and screaming at us. He said that he was picking up the car come hell or high water. Fortunately the car was close to completion. I tried to reach Kerry by phone and email about the final amount due on his bill. I informed him that there are, as we discussed more charges on his bill than he had paid for. Knowing how badly Kerry wanted the car back and receiving no response from him we made the decision to not install a 6 speed and associated parts in his car as it would put his balance several thousand dollars over the paid amount. It is our policy as well as any shop in the country that a car cannot leave the shop with an unpaid balance due.

When Kerry did pick up his car we discussed this with him. We instructed him that if he would like to have the 6 speed there would be x amount of additional cost and that we would even credit him back the amount charged for the 5 speed as well as the labor toward that project. He declined. After having the car for about a week Kerry sent me the above email to which we responded.

I think that our reputation and customer base speaks for itself. I understand that this is Kerry's first car of this caliber and has had no experience with building show cars or race cars. I am sorry that he feels he did not get a fair shake. In reality we charged him hundreds of dollars less than the amount due for the work that was done.

Keep in mind that we did not originally build this car and a good deal of time was spent both repairing the vandalism but also cleaning up the previous shops poor work. We did not get to it all. I wish we could have. However obviously time and money did not permit us to do so in this case.

There is as Kerry has mentioned more to this then is even posted here. We will refrain from posting any other information that may embarrass Kerry any further. We are more than willing to talk to anyone regarding this matter further if someone would so desire.

I was very understanding of Kerry's concerns and tried to offer a reasonable solution to his issues. He apparently does not feel that way. Again we billed well short of actual labor/parts installed. If Kerry feels as though he was wronged here he has the recourse of both coming to us and in taking to a court of law. We welcome either course of action. Thank you.

Mike
Kingpin Performance

Class... That's KiNGPin. Period.

-Matt

Class... That's KiNGPin. Period.

-Matt

I disagree.

I disagree.
How so? Am I giving them too much credit because I have received great service and great pricing on everything that I have purchased?

-Matt

Have you ever been in their filthy garage? Class? How about Dave's greasy palm prints all over my interior? Class? Kingpin is NOT GOD. Thanks for support for those few who are living in reality. I hope to see some of you out at the gatherings. I'll be the one with the KINGPIN F'ED ME window sticker :banana:
And I'll be sure to get the settlement document framed to bring to Ghetto Icy's gatherings. Some of you guy are fuuunny, you act like I just bitch slapped your sister or something. :)

Chill out and accept what happened. Do you want pics of the paid invoice showing the charge for the 6 speed? What does it take for you to see? You see, if I buy a Hamburger, fries and a coke and pay in full for it,and there are only 3 fries and they forget my coke. I need do something about that. I made over 35 calls to Kingpin, I made 5-6 visits. Then I showed up at 6pm when they told me all work would be done. I end up standing there watching them piddle around til midnight, then they give up and have to drive me home. It still takes them the entire next day to purchase and install 1 damn bango fitting. This isn't chump change we are talking here Matt..

Mike and I decided to grow up and handle our situation like adults and are trying to work out our issue's behind closed door so that a amicable solution can be had.

I'm done...

-Matt

Sounds to me like Kastle & I could own Kingpin if we really wanted to.
But who would want to :confused:

The facts are, Kingpin may have done a great job for your standard repair of your cars but they are not in the right league to deal with show quality cars. I guess it will all come out in the end.

I wouldn't even come close to saying I own them, or even want to. I can state facts and personal opinion until I'm blue in the face. And I know Mike and crew can do the same. We are entitled to our opinons, all of us.

People will goto business they feel comfortable with. I was, at one time, comfortable and trusting of them. I can't say that I feel that way now and that's how, I as a person, feel. I know tons of people who love Kingpin, and they provide those customers (and others) with excellent service. That's business. You can make good and please 1000 customers and have 1 person pissed off at you, and it feels like ****.

I can't say my experience was the same or even remotely close, though my situation will be different and more unique then anything you (any of you) can come up with.

I'll leave it at that. And like Matt, I'm done...

There are always two sides to every story - my advice would be whenever you have problems with a shop after they have done some work, go there and talk it over with them in person - email is a very, very bad way to communicate, particularly in emotionally charged situations like this. I can't say I have ever dealt with a shop that was unreasonable when I talked things over with them. By sending the email, then posting your comments to them on an open forum, you are making the situation worse than it need be.

Anyway - as far as paying up front goes, if insurance is covering it, they almost always pay based upon the estimate up front, then make any adjustments for additional damage found as the work progresses. Expecting a small shop to cough up $14k to repair a car is a little unreasonable in my opinion.

don't get me wrong - I agree that the car should be fully functional when you get it back (since that's what an insurance claim is all about - returning the car as close to the original condition as possible) - the comment from Mike about the estimate (and $ paid out by the insurance company) being more than what was paid for repairs on the car by a fair margin is worrisome, though - if you were paid to have the car fixed, why didn't you just give the $ to them when you received it from the insurance company?

I think that our reputation and customer base speaks for itself. I understand that this is Kerry's first car of this caliber and has had no experience with building show cars or race cars. I am sorry that he feels he did not get a fair shake. In reality we charged him hundreds of dollars less than the amount due for the work that was done.
Very reasonable and rationale explanation provided by KingPin, and nothing yet from Kerry. The above graph speaks volumes about this situation.

Kevin [aka kastle] -- As far as your experience with KingPin, I'd be interested to hear that as well... but interjecting your feelings in this situation without any explanation, as a moderator of this forum, is wrong.

Kevin [aka kastle] -- As far as your experience with KingPin, I'd be interested to hear that as well... but interjecting your feelings in this situation without any explanation, as a moderator of this forum, is wrong.

That could be very true. There is no easy way to go over what happened, and nothing will change from what happpened. I don't believe that from a professional level, as a moderator and vendor, that my dirt with them needs to be thrown about.

I've held my tongue for 7 months on what happened... And I don't think it'll acoomplish anything... I could be wrong...

Wow. I am not even really sure where to start here. I guess we go to the beginning. This all started off with Kerry having the car towed over to us from the police impound yard. We in good faith paid for both the towing and the impound charges out of pocket even though we had not even been informed that the car was en route. At that point we began working with his insurance company. For approximately 6 weeks the car was stored in our shop at no cost while we regularly met and corresponded with Kerry's insurance representative, again at no cost.

I had told Mike the car was comming 2 weeks before it showed up on the tow truck. In fact when it showed up at the shop the 1 st time, nobody was there, the shop was closed in the middle of the day on a weekday. The towing dervice had to keep the car another day. an 80 mile round trip towing charge for me. And, like I said before I have a shop less than 1 mile from Kingpin and I could have easily stored the car there until they were ready to start working on it] Mike never expressed concern about storing my car, if he had, I would have had it moved to my shop until they were ready to start work.

After going to bat for him we got the insurance company to issue Kerry 2 checks for repair services. These checks total well more than what was ever paid to us. We instructed both Kerry and his agent that this was a preliminary invoice and more labor and parts would most likely be added to the invoice as the repair went along.
Gee, I have 3 documents from Kingpin. 1st one is for ~$17,500 it is an "estimate" of repairs to replace everything that was damaged, this is the estimate given to my insurance. The 2nd is an "invoice" for ~$14,200, this is the actual work I authorized Kingpin to perform. It is stamped "paid" ,it is invoice # 401. On page 2, lines 2 & 3 there is a charge for a 6 speed and and install charge. THIS IS WHAT I AUTHORIZED AND PAID FOR BACK IN OCTOBER. The 3rd document is an "invoice" also. This is the "suprise invoice" that Mike presented me when I showed up to pick up the car. He basically removed the 6 speed and several other items that I had already paid for on invoice#401. Then he jacked up some prices over and above what he had already originally charged me on invoice #401 and added additional work that I never EVER authorized, this new "suprise invoice" was ~$15,000. This is the invoice Mike referes to as "being several hundred dollars more than they charged me". IMO this invoice does not mean anything as I NEVER gave them any authority to change my staement of work defined and paid for on invoice #401.

Kerry then decided that he would like to change the actual work going into the car and use some of the insurance money to get some other parts, 6 speed included. Before any money was ever transferred to us we had several hours of work in the car.
True staement

It is our policy that all parts are paid in advance. Especially special order items. Kerry did not by any means pay us in one lump sum but instead made several payments on his bill over the course of the install. This is not typical, however we were aware of the difficult situation he was in and attempted to help him in any way.
Right, I gave you my credit card in early September, You charged ~$10,000 on it before mid September. I then paid the balance of ~$4200 in early October. So yeh, you r right. I made 2 payments, both substainial. You were paid in full for invoice#401 by Oct 8th. I had to take my car from your shop Feb 6th 2005..

Kerry picked up his seriously damaged 5 Speed and sold it online to a fellow Subaru owner. We informed Kerry of the damage to the case, fork, etc. That individual contacted both Kerry and us that the 5 Speed he received, on top of the other damage, would not go into 2nd gear. This claim of a perfect condition built 5 speed is simply untrue. Kerry then got into it with this individual and eventually returned his money for the purchase.
It cost the guy $275 to fix, I was unaware of the 2nd gear problem when I shipped. I did reimburse him for the repair. I have the reciept. Seriously damaged, come on Mike, how would you even know, you are never at the shop.

We instructed both Kerry and his agent that this is a fully built show car. Many of the parts on the car are rare and will have to be special ordered from Japan. Everyone involved was well aware that this project would not be completed over night.
Rare?, what parts would that be Mike. The headlight you got me that does not match the one you replaced?, The blue STi seats, whats rare? Besides that you lied to me repeatedly about these "Japan ordered parts" I would call in the morning and Dave would feed me a line of crap. Then my wife would call later in the day and Lucky would feed her another line of crap. My father could call the next day and Mike would give a whole new line of crap. Kingpin used the the "we are waiting for your 6 speed to arrive" excuse to stall me for at a minumum 12 weeks. Then it finally showed up and I physically seen it sitting there. But it never made it into my car.

As parts came in and work was finish we began to get phone calls form, Not Kerry, but his Wife. She was not happy with the time frame that the car was being completed in. We explained to her on a regular basis and kept her updated on the progress of the car. Kerry at the point began to occasionally stop by to check on the car. On several occasions he would apologize for the way he or his wife had acted when they call. He would then admit that he was not really worried about the time frame but that his wife was "breaking his balls over it."
Hey we all have to deal with wives, and you are correct, sometimes she got pissed and it rubbed off on me. Sometimes I would have her call because I didn't feel I could be friendly.

Work continued and as the car neared completion we received a call from Kerry in which he left us a very abusive message. Cursing and screaming at us. He said that he was picking up the car come hell or high water. Fortunately the car was close to completion. I tried to reach Kerry by phone and email about the final amount due on his bill. I informed him that there are, as we discussed more charges on his bill than he had paid for. Knowing how badly Kerry wanted the car back and receiving no response from him we made the decision to not install a 6 speed and associated parts in his car as it would put his balance several thousand dollars over the paid amount. It is our policy as well as any shop in the country that a car cannot leave the shop with an unpaid balance due.
Yeh, my cell phone just happen to not be working when Mike was ready to call me with this new news about the "suprise invoice" I'll bet Verizon is in on this. Geesh. Mike called me at about 3:30 and said my car would be ready for pickup at 5:30-6:00pm. I gave them the benfit of the doubt and showed up at 6:10pm. I then preceeded to stand there for over 5 hours while Dave & Mike tried to finish the car. That evening is when I was presented the "suprise invoice" ,I was so pissed by this point that I made the decision to remove my car from their shop, as long as it could get me home I was done dealing with Kingpin. But, guess what, they eneded up having to give me a ride home at around midnight because they could not fix an oil line leak at my turbo. I then had to make another 50 mile out of my way trip back the next day. Mike swore the car would be ready by 9:00am. But as I called several times that day they kept stalling me more. It ended up being after 4:00pm before they were able to replace 1 easily accesible banjo fitting.

When Kerry did pick up his car we discussed this with him. We instructed him that if he would like to have the 6 speed there would be x amount of additional cost and that we would even credit him back the amount charged for the 5 speed as well as the labor toward that project. He declined. After having the car for about a week Kerry sent me the above email to which we responded.
Mike, I already paid you for the 6 speed and it's install labor, see your invoice#401 pg. 2, lines 2 & 3. Are you blind, do you know how to read, it's your invoice dude, read it.

I think that our reputation and customer base speaks for itself. I understand that this is Kerry's first car of this caliber and has had no experience with building show cars or race cars. I am sorry that he feels he did not get a fair shake. In reality we charged him hundreds of dollars less than the amount due for the work that was done.
Myself and my father have 5 street cars worth well over $300,000 We even own the 2001 Oakland Roadster Show 1st place winner. How can you say that "I have never built a car of this caliber" when you don't even know me. I've been building cars since you were in diapers. I have also had to deal with many custom shops(which you aren't) including Boyd's, SoCal, Lance Troup Interiors etc... We deal with cars that are much more presige than any fricken Subaru. THIS IS A FINE EXAMPLE RIGHT HERE OF MIKE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE AND THERE STUFF. I brought my nice car to Kingpin because I honestly thought they knew what they were doing. I could have done all this work myself but I didn't have the spare time to do it and since my insurance was paying for the repairs I thought I would give Kingpin the opportunity to work on my car.........they failed, I did talk over my concerns with Kingpin throughout this entire feasco. All they kept doing was feeding me half truths. You guys keep saying "gee, Mike is telling you he will look at your concerns", but you see it is beyond that now. If I was bringing my kids to day care and over a period of 6 months I notice my kids are not being treated well. I'm taking my kids out of that day care. Even if the daycare owner appologizes and offers to correct their wrongs, I am not going to give my kid back to that day care. Same principle here, Kingpin has had plenty of time & money to fix what was wrong with my car, they didn't meet my expectations, so I am done with them. And I didn't just post this stuff on a whim. I picked my car up on Feb 6th 2005, it is now March 7th. I did try to make ammends with Kingpin, but to no avail.

Keep in mind that we did not originally build this car and a good deal of time was spent both repairing the vandalism but also cleaning up the previous shops poor work. We did not get to it all. I wish we could have. However obviously time and money did not permit us to do so in this case.
"We did not get to it all. I wish we could have." Mike. Yeh, Greddy built the turbo setup and did the wiring and Easystreet built the motor, but hey what do they know right?

There is as Kerry has mentioned more to this then is even posted here. We will refrain from posting any other information that may embarrass Kerry any further. We are more than willing to talk to anyone regarding this matter further if someone would so desire. Go ahead and post it all Mike, I don't get embarrassed

I was very understanding of Kerry's concerns and tried to offer a reasonable solution to his issues. He apparently does not feel that way. Again we billed well short of actual labor/parts installed. If Kerry feels as though he was wronged here he has the recourse of both coming to us and in taking to a court of law. We welcome either course of action. Thank you.

Like I said, I'll be sure to frame the court decision and bring it with me to events.Or in the rare event that I lose this case, I will come on here and publically appologize to Kingpin, I'm a fair person.

Mike
Kingpin Performance

On page 2, lines 2 & 3 there is a charge for a 6 speed and and install charge. THIS IS WHAT I AUTHORIZED AND PAID FOR BACK IN OCTOBER. The 3rd document is an "invoice" also. This is the "suprise invoice" that Mike presented me when I showed up to pick up the car. He basically removed the 6 speed and several other items that I had already paid for on invoice#401. Then he jacked up some prices over and above what he had already originally charged me on invoice #401 and added additional work that I never EVER authorized, this new "suprise invoice" was ~$15,000.

So, let me get this straight. You "paid" for a 6 speed, then decided you didn't want it OR you didn't get it, so he refunded the amount. Then, since you needed a transmission, he put one in and billed you for it? Is this the issue? What exactly did the "suprise" invoice have on it? As Kingpin and otherts have stated, with insurance work there are often additional charges and could not be determined at initial quotation. Did the suprise invoice entail work for items damaged?

I really do not feel a court battle against Kingpin would leave you on the winning side of the stick. It seems that your major gripe is over the suprise invoice. If this entailed 'insurance' work (and the transmission which I think was dealt with properly), you authorized Kingpin to do the work when the insurance company cut you a check, and you left the car with Kingpin to do the work. Both Kingpin and your insurance company knew that there could be more charges at a later time, and your insurance company (should have) agreed to pay for these extra insurance-related costs.

fibuz

As I posted on your other posts cause your something else... I have no idea how your thinking your in the right... here goes:

WOW.... Ok well here we go. I will try to take each of your gripes and level them out for you before anyone else starts calling you names or something like that. Let me just say, that after reading all of this I have no idea how you get off trying to post something like this and walking away from it feeling your in the right...

1. Glass removal. Next time someone breaks into your or anyone elses car and you take the glass out, try to tell me you find it all. I don't know if its me but 1/2 a baby food jar isn't even that much. PLUS they didn't even charge you for the extra work they did so I have no idea how your bitching about it. And if your opinion was correct and they took every second to clean out every single piece of glass... NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.. you would be bitching about the time they did charge you, so I don't know where you get off thinkin that way.

2. Door Cards... OK you just looked plain stupid bitchin about these. READ THEIR RESPONSE!!! They said they would be happy to adress it with you and if you go back in they will help you with it and credit you for .5 hours! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?! How is that screwing you? Believe it or not they are trying to help you.

3.-4. A/C unit, AGAIN.... R.E.A.D. their response to you. THEY ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU. AND I QUOTE "we will be happy to fix that at no charge or we can refund you a partial amount" HELLO?!?!?! What are you thinkin man?

5. Gauge re-wiring... AGAIN!!!!! READ THE DAMN RESPONSE... Seriously, I have no idea where u get off thinkin people are going to get on your side here? Let me quote again... "If the wiring is not correct we can fix it at no charge to you"

6. Greddy controllers... I don't know whats goin on with this so you win that round.

7. Dash... WOW YET AGAIN R.E.A.D. the response... god... QUOTE "We can check the rattle at no cost or refund a partial amount" Wow they are reallyin trying to screw you over man....

8. Headlight... sounds like there was some miscommunication here and that happens... but Kingpin tried to rectify things with you AGAIN...\

9. Steering column... HERE WE GO AGAIN... READ THEIR RESPONSE... If the peice they replaced is cracked they would be happy to replace it at no cost to you... wow they are bendin you over again huh????

10. Well you know what?? Iam just gunna stop here because ITS THE SAME THING... you seriously need to learn how to take things up with companies and try to get everything done there. I realize that you want your car to be perfect. Who doesn't? But seriously man. I have no idea where you get off thinking that Kingpin wronged you? IMO they have done everythiing within their power to rectify this for you and HELP YOU OUT. maybe you should read your own post again... I think after you do you will be asking a moderator to delete it because you really don't look intelligent. Sorry things didn't work out for you the best way possible but it really doesn't sound to me like you were wronged and if the problems do exist I am sure Kingpin would have replaced them and worked with you to get your car up to your par. After posting I don't know if they are gunna work with you. I hope this is a learning expierence for you. Best of luck with your car.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
New stuff... You seriously need to get your facts stright. You bitch about a 6 speed charge that THEY REFUNDED TO YOU... and how do you get off bitching about how much money YOU paid to them..... IT WAS YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY!!!! And I am sure that they wouldn't have just given anyone that money... oh wait, thats right... Its because Mike met with them on more then one occasion to figure it all out. Sorry to tell you buddy but if your thinkin about a court case your dumber then I already think you are... but please, don't give your wife my e-mail address cause I don't want to have to deal with her too. Or is she gunna start posting to all of us that are disagreeing with you because as every post you make the dumber you look. Sorry if it sounds harsh but your really just not making any valid points at this moment in time. I kidna had your back for the six speed but then you admitted to them refunding it. So sorry to tell you but you should just stop posting before you make yourself look even more like a J@ck@$$. Like I said before, best of luck with your car in the future.. hopefully you find a shop that can put up with your wife...... PANTS ANYONE?
Chuckuss

/\/\Seems pretty hell bent on going the litigation route, and I'm wondering if the insurance co. copped out on some of the custom stuff that is not oem to repair the car. The banjo bolt for that turbo kit I think is custom to a greddy kit which could take a long time to get, just for a bolt! It sucks, but remembering that car, it was fairly customized and to get something like that in need of repair is going to be a PITA i'm sure. Also I know the stress the wifey can put on a situation GOD do I know! It would make me a jumpy individual for sure. Just seems like a bad mix for any shop to deal with(insurance co.,Wife, Father,angry customer,and now lawyer!) I don't have the "Kingpin is God" mentality but sure respect them in watching them grow and seeing all the folks that they did make happy w/ rebuilds etc. So can you tell us now what happened w/ this LAST shop it was at? Just curious, again not flaming but curious.

edit: posted twice ;)

As I posted on your other posts cause your something else... I have no idea how your thinking your in the right... here goes:

WOW.... Ok well here we go. I will try to take each of your gripes and level them out for you before anyone else starts calling you names or something like that. Let me just say, that after reading all of this I have no idea how you get off trying to post something like this and walking away from it feeling your in the right...

1. Glass removal. Next time someone breaks into your or anyone elses car and you take the glass out, try to tell me you find it all. I don't know if its me but 1/2 a baby food jar isn't even that much. PLUS they didn't even charge you for the extra work they did so I have no idea how your bitching about it. And if your opinion was correct and they took every second to clean out every single piece of glass... NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.. you would be bitching about the time they did charge you, so I don't know where you get off thinkin that way.

2. Door Cards... OK you just looked plain stupid bitchin about these. READ THEIR RESPONSE!!! They said they would be happy to adress it with you and if you go back in they will help you with it and credit you for .5 hours! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?! How is that screwing you? Believe it or not they are trying to help you.

3.-4. A/C unit, AGAIN.... R.E.A.D. their response to you. THEY ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU. AND I QUOTE "we will be happy to fix that at no charge or we can refund you a partial amount" HELLO?!?!?! What are you thinkin man?

5. Gauge re-wiring... AGAIN!!!!! READ THE DAMN RESPONSE... Seriously, I have no idea where u get off thinkin people are going to get on your side here? Let me quote again... "If the wiring is not correct we can fix it at no charge to you"

6. Greddy controllers... I don't know whats goin on with this so you win that round.

7. Dash... WOW YET AGAIN R.E.A.D. the response... god... QUOTE "We can check the rattle at no cost or refund a partial amount" Wow they are reallyin trying to screw you over man....

8. Headlight... sounds like there was some miscommunication here and that happens... but Kingpin tried to rectify things with you AGAIN...\

9. Steering column... HERE WE GO AGAIN... READ THEIR RESPONSE... If the peice they replaced is cracked they would be happy to replace it at no cost to you... wow they are bendin you over again huh????

10. Well you know what?? Iam just gunna stop here because ITS THE SAME THING... you seriously need to learn how to take things up with companies and try to get everything done there. I realize that you want your car to be perfect. Who doesn't? But seriously man. I have no idea where you get off thinking that Kingpin wronged you? IMO they have done everythiing within their power to rectify this for you and HELP YOU OUT. maybe you should read your own post again... I think after you do you will be asking a moderator to delete it because you really don't look intelligent. Sorry things didn't work out for you the best way possible but it really doesn't sound to me like you were wronged and if the problems do exist I am sure Kingpin would have replaced them and worked with you to get your car up to your par. After posting I don't know if they are gunna work with you. I hope this is a learning expierence for you. Best of luck with your car.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
New stuff... You seriously need to get your facts stright. You bitch about a 6 speed charge that THEY REFUNDED TO YOU... and how do you get off bitching about how much money YOU paid to them..... IT WAS YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY!!!! And I am sure that they wouldn't have just given anyone that money... oh wait, thats right... Its because Mike met with them on more then one occasion to figure it all out. Sorry to tell you buddy but if your thinkin about a court case your dumber then I already think you are... but please, don't give your wife my e-mail address cause I don't want to have to deal with her too. Or is she gunna start posting to all of us that are disagreeing with you because as every post you make the dumber you look. Sorry if it sounds harsh but your really just not making any valid points at this moment in time. I kidna had your back for the six speed but then you admitted to them refunding it. So sorry to tell you but you should just stop posting before you make yourself look even more like a J@ck@$$. Like I said before, best of luck with your car in the future.. hopefully you find a shop that can put up with your wife...... PANTS ANYONE?
Chuckuss

He basically removed the 6 speed and several other items that I had already paid for on invoice#401. Then he jacked up some prices over and above what he had already originally charged me on invoice #401 and added additional work that I never EVER authorized, this new "suprise invoice" was ~$15,000.
Read this part and comprehend:Then he jacked up some prices over and above what he had already originally charged me on invoice #401 and added additional work that I never EVER authorized, this new "suprise invoice" was ~$15,000. So Mike basically removed the $4630 charge from invoice 401 that I authorized, but then added new items, (not authorized by me) to this suprise invoice and padded some of the numbers on stuff I had already paid for on invoice 401. He subtracted $4630 but then added another $5400 or so back on. Plus, lets get real, here's an example: They charged me $170 to R&R a headlight. That charge did not even include wiring it up, just removed broken headlight and replaced with new (actually used & non-matching) headlight. Has anyone on here ever R&R'ed a WRX headlight. Wouldn't you feel guilty charging someone $170 to do it. $170= 2 hrs labor at Kingpin. If they cannot R&R a headlight in less thatn 2 hrs, something is wrong.

Here is a little education for you guys:

Estimates, well they are just that, estimates.

Invoices, well you see, invoices, they are bills/binding contracts that businesses give customers for work they've performed. This is what a customer uses to pay the bill. I paid the invoice (my authorization of work to be performed) against the "invoice", the now infamous #401. The estimated holds absolutely no water here. It was my perogative to pick and choose what items were stolen that I wanted replaced. It isn't up to my insurance or Kingpin. I chose to not replace my nav system, 2 7" TV's and the Playstation II. In place of those items, I chose to put a 6 speed in. Mike knew I wanted this from day 1. Hell I paid him for this. How can any of you actually side with them. I don't think anyone in their right mind who would accept a car with a transmission that is different than the one that is shown bought and paid for on the binding contract(invoice #401)

The car is at Dyno-Comp, I should get it back this week. My "estimate" from them is $4000-$5000. About $3000 of that related to Kingpins f-ups. The rest is new work. They also have agreed to support me during this lawsuit.

BTW, Vivid caught wind of this yesterday and emailed me. They are very familiar with this car as they used to compete against it at shows all the time. This is what they offered to do for me:

We would love to be involved with your car and servicing it with the fleet of our other vehicles. You will find our ASE certified mechanic very professional and willing to help you. Since you have paid so much in work, we will be happy to help you out further at little or no charge if you need. We have been around for 4 years with over 15 magazines and 6 awesome cars built and serviced. I hope it works out and look foward to meeting you. Maybe then we can get you to rock the true LifeStyle sticker! VividRacing.


So basically we have all the car owners siding with a f'ed up garage. And I have Dyno-Comp & Vivid (both far superior to Kingpin) siding with me. Neither one of these shops have a problem shelling out their own fund to work on cars. Then get reimbursed by the customer AFTER services are rendered. Both shops personel have expressed to me their dislike for the hack shop. But in a twisted way, they like Kingpin, because they get a lot of work from customers who were not satisfied with Kingpin.

And yes, I do have ~$3500 left from my claim, I intend on using it toward my Dyno-Comp bill. But I also intend on getting a judgement from Kingpin. I'm sure it will all work out in hte end. As for the name calling guys on here, please, if you ever see me at an event, by all means come over and introduce yourselves. I need to put a face with the ars..

I'm the exact opposite as you. I'd went to other shops and went to Kingpin to get things fixed that other shops messed up. If you think Kingpin is a hack shop that over charges and shotty labor you've got a rude awakening coming your way. There are some very shady places out there and now they see you comin' and they won't try to make things right either. Good luck regardless. :cool:

hahahaha please... I will definatly come introduce myself. Unless your gunna try to sue me for something too. Won't really matter, your gunna lose both cases neways... I wonder if there is a good Lawyer forum you can go bitch about your lawyer losing your case..... WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa

I'm the exact opposite as you. I'd went to other shops and went to Kingpin to get things fixed that other shops messed up. If you think Kingpin is a hack shop that over charges and shotty labor you've got a rude awakening coming your way. There are some very shady places out there and now they see you comin' and they won't try to make things right either. Good luck regardless. :cool:


Come on VXB XT. Dyno-Comp has well over a million dollars invested in there shop. Nice equipment, clean, professional, ASE Certified techs., over 16 years working at for a major car mfg. proving grounds. Joint ventures with Mitsubishi , they work on $100K + cars everyday, the list goes on.......

Kingpins garage looks like some hillbilly in Alabamas home garage. Crap laying everywhere, grease everywhere. You could clean their restroom and use the oil that's on the sink and toilet to power mother earth for a week. I stood there and watched Dave try to pipe tap my oil fitting that was leaking. He ran the tap all the way in til it bottomed out. One slight problem with this method IT IS NOT HOW YOU USE A PIPE TAP!!!! You see, pipe taps are tapered and are never to be bottomed out. This creates and oversized thread condition that makes that threads useless. So Dave f'ed up my good fitting with his lack of knowledge on the proper use of a pipe tap creating yet 1 more day that I had to wait for me car. I'm not sure of this but I would guess that Dave is anything but a "certified" mechanic, maybe a certified greaseball but at best. Hell, one whole room in the back is devoted strictly to peddling soft porn (don't get me wrong, I like porn, I actually asked if they would throw in a DVD) But does it really belong in a auto repair place of business? Nope. Geesh, there highest dollar piece of equipment is their lift. Even I have one of those at home.:) Get real dude, buy some glasses. :furious:

Never been to Vivid, yet, So i cannot speak about them other than I like their offer.

Burton, I don't reallly like punk kids. You are one. Please allow me to meet you so we can get to the real issue here. In other words. **** about this. You have no idea what really happened. You seem to only read between the lines. I'm neither here to make friends or enemies. At least I have stated more than once that I will publically appologize on all the forums if I lose my case. But, what are you going to do if I win? Email the judge and cry like a little inmature biotch like you are doing to me? Let's just see what happens, I'm willing to accept the judgement no matter who wins. This is not about money, money comes and goes, it's about customer service, period.

Even Mike knows he is sinking. He is looking for "qualified" people look for yourself: Maybe if he actually fills the positions his shop will improve, he really does know he has customer relation problems or else he would not be trying to hire a rep.

That's right boys and girls. This is your chance to come be a part of one of the most innovative tuner shops in the country. We pay fair wages and treat all of our employees with respect. This is more than a job, this is a career opportunity and a family. We are now accepting resumes for the following positions:

Shipping and Receiving- Entry level position. Great way to get your foot in the door. Duties including packing shipments, receiving and logging of incoming packages, and tracking outgoing and incoming shipments. Previous experience and car knowledge a plus.

Administrative Assistant-Assistant to the owner. Duties include greeting and directing both walk in and phone customers, invoicing, credit card processing, document filing, and general office assistance. Previous experience and car knowledge a plus.

Sales Associate-General Sales. Duties including fielding sales calls and walk in customers as well as follow up and customer service. Previous experience and in depth car knowledge required.

Enough. Keep the thread on the up and up, the flaming down, or it gets closed

Wow. I hate to see this happen. Seems like an issue for the courts then. Lots of he said she said. As far as shops, I have had an enourmous amount of work done at both KingPin and Dyno-Comp. I like them both. I use them both. My Whole USDM Stage 4 and suspension was doen at Dyno-Comp. The whole thing was redone at KingPin when I went decided to go JDM. I basically had 2 cars built. One at each facility.

Both those shops have things to bring to the table. I like them both and have never had anything but the slightest issue with both. I mean minor things happen no matter where you go. It is how thay are taken care of that counts. Both have been exceptional in that regard. Dyno-Comps facilities are great. That has never proven to be a plus or a minus in my case however. Service and final product is the issue for me. I have had none of the problems you report at any facility. Greasy or shiny for that matter.

Seems like you feel like you been wronged. Perhaps, perhaps not. Don't know don't care. I do however, hope you get it resolved. Problem with these kinds of posts is if you do go to court(I hope it does not come to that) and loose(for sake of discusion only), you can not un-ring a rung bell. You are ringing the bell here. I am just saying if you are going to court let the court handle it and do not put it on trial here. Not to minimize how you feel, understand me.

I have found there is enourmous value in using both shops. As a customer, I have found myself fortunate to be in AZ with many options and shops to draw on. I find it unfortunate that you have not had the same success as I have with both shops. :(

Perhaps it is just my staggering good looks, but both places treat me like I am the most important customer. Even for small piddly things. They both will continue to get my money.

I was really hoping not to see DynoComps name in this. But oh well. I just hate to see the DynoComp vs Kingpin pissing match. I am a loyal customer to DynoComp for them bending over backwards for me, but I have heard great things about Clark and even Rich at DynoComp has given him nothing but props to his tuning abilities with UTEC.

GReddy, I feel your pain bro. I really do. I had Basch Acura cross a coolant line with an air line (air to water intercooler on a S2K) and they ran coolant through the motor. Fortunately, DynoComp figured this out and told me what happened and at point, I didn't trust the motor, so I pulled everything off and traded the car for the WRX. I also agree about the professional appearance of DynoComp. You can eat off there floors.

With KingPin, it's cool that they get a lot of used JDM stuff and I think they are the only shop in town that does for the Subarus. I can understand why their shop might not be clean like DynoComp. I have yet to go to KingPin, but might try and stop over at their dyno day to get a few pics.
NOT IN REGARDS TO THIS, but I think that once you find your tuner, stick with them and don't bounce around. This way, in the event something goes wrong, you won't have tuners arguing about whose falut is whose in the event something goes wrong. By having one tuner, you and the tuner will know everything about the car and what has been done. There will be no guessing involved since they are the only ones who have done the work.

GReddy, best of luck to you and your car. I talked to you at the Pavillions a few weeks back and you do have a nice car. I hope it's up and running to your satisfaction soon. Will be following this thread.

I'm the exact opposite as you. I'd went to other shops and went to Kingpin to get things fixed that other shops messed up. If you think Kingpin is a hack shop that over charges and shotty labor you've got a rude awakening coming your way. There are some very shady places out there and now they see you comin' and they won't try to make things right either. Good luck regardless. :cool:
BTW, I did not point any fingers. So please don't think I started a dynocomp vs. Kingpin debate. Never been to Dynocomp.

I reiterate: I have absolutely NO issues with Mike's tuning capabilities, both he and Clark are great tuners IMO.:) however, tuning, is not the issue in this case.

And I am not trying to create a "my garage choice is better than yours". Someone asked where my car is now and I answered openly and honestly. So far I like the service I am getting from Dyno-Comp, Richard calls every few days with an update and things are moving along very smoothly. Kingpin not once EVER called me on there own accord. They only called to return my calls. Actually they avoided calling me more than they called me.

BTW, Dyno-Comps shop rate is only $4/hr more than KP. A small price to pay for the extra care and quality of workmanship Dyno-Comp offers. Plus when you actually show up at their shop unannounced, they are physically working on your car. The only time I ever showed up at KP and they were phsically working on my car was the last 4 days it was there. :mad:

Just ordered my "I got F'ed by Kingpin...ask me how" window sticker from Fast Signs. ....and I just spend several hours removing stickers. But I will proudly display my new sticker just as a reminder. :D

Wow Jay that is amazing. Basch Acura is world renowned. People ship thier NSX's there for service. Make thier own branded superchargers too. Man, stuff happens to the best of em.

WOW - I hate to see this happen to anyone.

I feel sorry for those of you who ever felt that they have been wronged. All the shops above mentioned are nothing short of spectacular. (Kingpin, DynoComp, Vivid)

I can testify to this as I have done business with all of them on more than several occasions.

One thing to note, Kastle was right when not in so many words he said "you cant please everyone 100% of the time".

I do however believe this matter is between the shop and the customer to resolve.

Mud slinging, negative propaganda campaigns and keyboard courage is NOT what this forum community is all about.

Granted - AZ has a great number of Suby resources available (we are indeed very very fortunate) - this creates healthy competition that results in better products and services for the customer.

But in the end, it’s still your choice whom you do business with. I hope that this "issue" gets resolved for everyone involved and we can get back to a "positive" southwest suby community.

I will say again. Not sure how your invoice could be a surprise as we discussed several times that the final amount would be more than we had previously billed you. The 6 speed was removed as a way to put you invoice back in balance as you were ready to pick up the car and made no intention of paying your extra balance even after repeted phone calls and e-mails. You were well aware of that at the time of pick up and had no issue with it.

Let's be clear. New employees are being hired on because of our enourmas growth. We have more demand than ever for our parts and services. We are preparing to move into a much larger shop and will need the extra guys to try and keep up with the amount of customers pouring in here.

Kerry, I am sorry you feel as tho you were wronged. You are really showing your true colors here. I was more than willing to work on this with you. I am sorry you decided not to take that route. I wish nothing but the best of luck with your car. Thanks.

Mike

[QUOTE=GReddy_Ready]Burton, I don't reallly like punk kids. You are one. Please allow me to meet you so we can get to the real issue here. In other words. **** about this. QUOTE]

LMAO I sure do hope we can meet so we can as you would say "**** about this" whatever the hell that means. I am pretty sure you would regret that little decision. But whatever you want, cause that way you could post about getting as you would say "****" by some "punk kid" and losing your court case unless you bring your wife out to "**** about this" cause if she comes out iam sure we are all doomed... some 350lbs chick stomping around no wonder she wears the pants....Since I am the punk somehow I wish nothing but the worst for your car. Cause your prolly the guy who broke into it to begin with. Insuance fraud sucks... so best of luck with that. BOTTEM LINE: I think your just angry that your wife wears the pants in your household... :lol: :lol: :lol: hopefully you don't spend too much time on the internet cause we don't want her coming after the rest of us AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

You're right Mike, whatever you say.

Bottom line is, I have an invoice #401 stamped PAID by you. On it is my 6 speed + install. That's it, it's in black and white, no smoke and mirrors just plain printer ink.

Your surprise invoice is not stamped paid by you,me or anyone else. It is something you put together the very day I came to get my car out of your shop, Feb 5th 2005.

Phone calls, emails? I challenge you to produce this email warning me about the fact that my car would be without the 6 speed I PAID FOR. Where are you going to get this email, out of your asssssssss.... The same place that you pulled all this ficticious "woulda,coulda, shoulda" hours you spent on the car that you didn't charge me for? Mike, you are dead wrong here and I would never bring my car back to your shop for anything..period. I am not going to allow a shop that messed up the quality of my car once, have a 2nd chance. I'm am not a hacker and I do nort approve of any shop that is. Even if it was free. The only option that I would have accepted is a refund for services NOT RENDERED. To be honest with you Mike, the reason I started having my wife and my father start bugging you is because I was totally fed up and felt like I needed to step back for a while and take a deep breath. I finally had enough and your right, was angry and did call you to tell you that you guys were done (as far as I'm concerned) working on the car. I basically felt I had to pull it out of the fire before I got burned even worse. Now another shop has graciuosly picks up the mess you left me with and it will be resolved, wait and see.:)

Burton, you have been warned via a post and warning points. Another little outburst like that and you get to visit Timeout land.

We are all allowed our opinions, and I'm not silencing that. I'm enforcing the rules of the board, like it or not.

Want my address Burton? We can meet if you want.

1st off, who are you, why are you like this and what have I done to you? I know you are a punk because of your punk ass attitude. Just like my 17 year old son. Maybe I'll let him deal with you. You have a lot in common.:)

Remember Burton, tuffs guy finish last, always. Are you an angry youth, what is it, parents wouldn't pay your insurance premium/car payment this month, why so angry?

I have an issue with Kingpin, the company, the LLC. Not any of the members of this site. Hell I don't even have a issue with Mike, he's cordial, just his business practices, that's all.

See Burton, you are standing at the gates of "Timeout Land" where all the immature punks live.

You are so lucky that Kastle is a moderator and will keep warning me cause he is mad BIAS against Kingpin when you’re the one who wants to "****" about this.
And anytime you wish to meet up just let me know... I would be happy to. And if you think you need to bring your son or wife along go ahead. I just think its sad that your teaching your son that suing people is the right way to go about doing things.... Just a horrible way to bring up your son. I guess we need to learn to deal with the Stay at home dads... nice apron by the way...

Kastle, you need to get your facts straight, try that un-bias thing or maybe you should move to a different area to be a moderator cause that’s just ridiculous to warn me and then just let that guy keep running his mouth... sweet lil system you got there.

its ridiculous that this thread has gone on this long. slander everywhere....kicks below the belt, and finger pointing running amuck. moderator moderator, where art thou?

oh he's here.... just waiting for people to post up somewhat with Kingpin so he can WARN all of us....... ETHICS.. WHAT?

Burton, I am a no one here on these forums, but what you said about GReddy inregards to insurance fraud (that's slander) and the remarks about his family are totally out of line. I don't know anyone that would tolerate that. It's cool KingPin has loyal customers and a lot of guys are here to make posts to defend them, but keep the personal attacks out of the forums.

You are so lucky that Kastle is a moderator and will keep warning me cause he is mad BIAS against Kingpin when you’re the one who wants to "****" about this.
And anytime you wish to meet up just let me know... I would be happy to. And if you think you need to bring your son or wife along go ahead. I just think its sad that your teaching your son that suing people is the right way to go about doing things.... Just a horrible way to bring up your son. I guess we need to learn to deal with the Stay at home dads... nice apron by the way...

Kastle, you need to get your facts straight, try that un-bias thing or maybe you should move to a different area to be a moderator cause that’s just ridiculous to warn me and then just let that guy keep running his mouth... sweet lil system you got there.

**** about this was the Forum edited version of the 4 letters I typed S T F U or Shut the Fk up about this do you understand no special Ed?


Once again you read something into what I typed and turned it totally around to make it sound as if I was calling you out. You, my friend need to go to ANGER MANAGEMENT class.

...and yes my wife is my partner, helper, companion and a lot of other things that are required of a true marriage. We share everything. We own the car together, she likes it too. So are you saying Lucky wears the pants in Mikes house because she helps him with his business at hand. If you truely wear the pants in your house then I have empathy for your wife having to live a subserviant lifestyle. Poor her.

btw, I have never filed a lawsuit in my life. You know why, because nobody has ever bent me over like this before. So, yeh, teaching my son to sue crooks in business is this right thing to do. He's taking a law class in HS so this will be a great topic for his classmates.

GReddy, we need to keep the pissing match to a minimum or Kastle will delete the post.

Burton, you seem to be biased too. :rolleyes:

I have read this post a few times, Funny pissing match. :lol:

This is the best thread I have read on this forum since coming here.

Enough. I've warned both of you, and give you both points. Closing this on the basis that you people can't follow simple rules.