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doubtless
09-15-2009, 09:23 AM
Hello!

I'm new to the beyond.ca website, and I'm not from the southern parts of Alberta, but I feel compelled to pass on a summary of my dealings with an Airdrie tuner which some members of the board may be familiar with.

Anton English is a longtime Skyline tuner, Honda tuner, recently JDM Subaru WRX's and now JDM Mitsubishi EVO's are his most common work. He recently has denied a refund on a product purchase I made involving a JDM Subaru WRX tuning system following multiple rounds of faulty hardware being installed.

Below is a timeline of events for you to make your own judgments. This is not intended to slander or defame Anton English, but to make other potential consumers in our community aware of a businessperson who refuses to stand behind his promises.

doubtless
09-15-2009, 09:24 AM
June 27
I engaged Anton English (handle of 'stinky' on most forums) to see about this as a tuning solution for my car.

His prices were $800 for the installation with basic tune, or $1000 for a tune that would be more personalized on the car.

After some back and forth e-mails I opted for the $800 option, as I had no real performance mods which might require fine tuning.


July 10
I drove down to Airdrie, to Anton's home where We installed the board and I drove home. The next day when driving the car began exhibiting an extreme shudder and backfiring behavior for approximately 5 minutes all through the rev and load range, until finally settling down and driving normally again. This behavior continued on every cold start following the install.

I drove like this troubleshooting everything (coil pack swap etc.), gas being used, ECU connectors etc. etc. until...


July 22
Contacted Anton who suggested I could limp the car to Airdrie to look at it, meanwhile another Subaru owner was coming down to have his tuning system installed the next day.

SQUINY reported the same issues, and we came to the conclusion we may have faulty boards. Anton then ordered two replacements from the UK.


July 30
I received a replacement stock ECU from Anton to drive with until the new boards arrive.


August 13
I drive down to Airdrie again, Anton and I install the new ESL board and try again, same issue with both my replacement and the one intended for the other customer with faulty equipment.

Anton promises a full refund at this point, even if it means eating a loss on the deal after he returns all the hardware to the UK.

August 14
I receive a half-refund, the rest pending Anton's refunds from the hardware manufacturer


2 AND A HALF WEEKS PASS WITHOUT CONTACT


September 1
I e-mail Anton asking when I can expect the second half of the refund. Anton replies with no information telling me I will hear from him when he has news.


2 MORE WEEKS PASS WITHOUT CONTACT


September 14 - NOW
I e-mail Anton looking for an update as it had been a month since leaving Airdrie with nothing to show for my money. Anton changes his promise to me telling me that if I want an immediate solution he will offer to give me $400 credit in future tuning, and $400 that was already refunded on the hardware saying that his tuning was non-refundable.

I press him on this, pointing out that he had PROMISED a full refund.

I e-mailed the hardware manufacturer who responded quickly, telling me they would be refunding Anton's money as soon as they received the hardware, and that the delay was caused by Anton screwing up the shipping instructions.

Anton then reacts aggressively to being pressed for answers, accusing me of unprofessionalism, a lack of interest in my car (by asking for a refund), and of having an accusatory tone in my inquiries about the status of the refund.

At this point he turns completely saying he had changed his mind about giving a refund, saying: "I am finished working with you. You may start to slander me all over the internet, quote my emails, and do whatever else you choose."

I e-mailed Anton one last time before beginning to recount this tale of woe giving him a chance to come through, offering the following: I would keep in contact with the hardware manufacturer and leave Anton alone, with the agreement that when the hardware manufacturer confirmed they had received their product back and refunded Anton, that I would then receive the second half of my refund.

Anton sheepishly admits in one final e-mail that his relationship with the owner of the hardware manufacturer is strained so far that the two are barely communicating, and that upon sending the package, it had failed to be delivered 3 times, and that while working to reach a shipping solution, the hardware was destroyed by customs.

--

In further e-mails after this, Anton reveals that he learned of the hardware destruction the morning of September 14th, before our e-mail chain really began. Clearly by the timeline it was his intention in this chain of events to incite this disagreement in the hopes that he would find grounds to deny refunding my money.

I went through the e-mail history again to investigate the original negotiation and the website run by Anton - there was no mention that the 'tuning fee' was non-refundable until AFTER he knew the hardware was destroyed.

doubtless
09-15-2009, 09:25 AM
To conclude:

I am out $400 with nothing to show for it but a sour taste in my mouth, and 2 trips to Airdrie for no reason.

I have been misled, had the truth hidden from me, and feel victimized by a member of the local community.

The tuning solution is a good one... IF it works. There are 4 people on the continent who have functional installations on their car, but following those 4, the next 4 boards received were all defective.

There are a few things I expect as a customer.

1. To exchange money for a good or service
2. To retain goods purchased
3. A refund in the case of faulty product
4. Customer service

In this I paid money to have my product destroyed, without proper refund, and zero customer service.

I believe I more than upheld my role as a consumer, which generally is limited to handing over money in exchange for a good or service.

Caveat emptor.

Here are links to the relevant websites for the companies involved - should you wish to contact them yourselves.



www.stay-tuned.ca (http://www.stay-tuned.ca) - Anton English's Site

Direct link to Anton English's website (http://members.shaw.ca/stay_tuned/) - In case he unlinks the domain.

www.enduringsolutions.co.uk (http://www.enduringsolutions.co.uk) - Makers of the hardware involved

JAYMEZ
09-15-2009, 09:28 AM
Hmmm , small claims court?

doubtless
09-15-2009, 09:33 AM
Small claims court is on the table at the moment. Currently I'm just warning other potential consumers.

revelations
09-15-2009, 10:27 AM
Nice one.

This is presented a LOT better that some of the other one-sentence rants I've seen here.

adidas
09-15-2009, 10:34 AM
That must fucking suck ass!

Id keep appearing at his doorstep until he pays up. Id come at all times of day/night!

How far are you from Airdrie?

scat19
09-15-2009, 10:38 AM
Originally posted by doubtless
2 trips to Airdrie for no reason.


yeah, I'd be pissed to :rofl: :rofl:


Serious note - Well written, and well documented. Thanks for sharing. This is NOT how business should be conducted.

FiveFreshFish
09-15-2009, 10:39 AM
Did you pay with a credit card?

94boosted
09-15-2009, 10:41 AM
Finally a complaint with some backing and valid points. Thanks for the warnings will make sure to keep this guy in mind as a tuner to not go to. Good luck getting your money back.

doubtless
09-15-2009, 12:16 PM
I live in Edmonton, unfortunately this was the most cost effective long-term solution for the car, despite the distance from Airdrie.


As an update - on advice of a member of the Edmonton community I have contacted AMVIC in regards to this matter as Mr. English is running an unlicensed business out of his home.


Edit: FiveFreshFish, unfortunately I did not pay via Credit Card directly, I paid half in cash and half through PayPal. The PayPal monies have been refunded.

Obviously the payment option and banking records would show withdrawals and deposits reflecting the cash transaction, but I don't know for sure. I'm honestly less concerned over the money than I am about making sure this doesn't happen to anyone else at this point.

240SX92
09-15-2009, 01:08 PM
Is your JDM Suby blue hatch? Were you driving into Airdrie on the long weekend with your dad or an older fellow? Got a magnet with support our troops on the back?

doubtless
09-15-2009, 01:48 PM
Originally posted by 240SX92
Is your JDM Suby blue hatch? Were you driving into Airdrie on the long weekend with your dad or an older fellow? Got a magnet with support our troops on the back?

No, not me... I'm not from Airdrie or Calgary.

Diocletian
09-15-2009, 07:22 PM
I avoid all tuners and it works very well for me:)

mobius
09-15-2009, 08:12 PM
I'm just curious, but was there any actual 'tuning' involved with this ECU swap? Or was this a plug and play ECU with a pre-loaded base map?

wardpr68
09-15-2009, 08:49 PM
this guy is definitely gonna try to sue beyond now. hahahah.

ShermanEF9
09-15-2009, 10:10 PM
i thought this was gunna be another whiney bitchy story about how things did go your way... but its actually legit. this is good information and your timeline really helps your cause. thanks for the heads up

doubtless
09-15-2009, 10:59 PM
Originally posted by mobius
I'm just curious, but was there any actual 'tuning' involved with this ECU swap? Or was this a plug and play ECU with a pre-loaded base map?

The ECU add-on board comes with a pre-loaded base map which Anton claims to have tweaked here and there. Whether or not this is true I don't know, I'm not in the business of tuning cars, nor did he walk me through everything he was doing with his laptop at the time.

At the moment I would say there has been no tuning whatsoever, as I have a stock ECU, no external tuning hardware, nor a tune on said nonexistant tuning hardware.

mobius
09-16-2009, 07:39 AM
Originally posted by doubtless


The ECU add-on board comes with a pre-loaded base map which Anton claims to have tweaked here and there. Whether or not this is true I don't know, I'm not in the business of tuning cars, nor did he walk me through everything he was doing with his laptop at the time.

At the moment I would say there has been no tuning whatsoever, as I have a stock ECU, no external tuning hardware, nor a tune on said nonexistant tuning hardware.

I see, because it sounds to me like it isn't a hardware problem, but the map itself (warmup enrichment settings or some such) were wrong.

Not that it matters, but I don't see how you or he could expect a base map to just plug in and run perfect.

Mr.William
09-18-2009, 10:02 AM
That sucks guy, hope it works out for you one way or another. That's why you go to a business in the first place though, not a guys garage. Businesses are regulated and have insurance for stuff like this.