UP Mild springs dispute

[Li-ion]

So back in March. I placed an order for a set of mild lowering springs from unplugged performance. They processed the order and charged my visa despite them knowing that no products would ship anytime soon. I inquired a month after ordering asking what the ETA would be. They replied that they are still on back order and would be another 6 weeks. Another 8 weeks go by. I reach out and ask if they’re shipping soon? The reply I got was that I can change my order for some other products I have no interest in. I have sent 3 emails over the last 2 weeks requesting a refund with no response... guess I fell for the scam. 5 months later and $500cad out of pocket and no springs.. brutal.

Beware.

 

[BYE FOSL]

I will boycott unplugged performance until you get a full refund.

 

[804son]

Contact your credit card, and get the charges reversed.

 

[timk225]

This is an outrage! I hereby state that I will NOT be purchasing anything from UP at any time in the future, if this is how they treat their customers! They aren't the only place selling Tesla parts!!!

Actually, I haven't even looked at their website in a long time, and I have no plans to buy any aftermarket parts for my 3 in any case, but if I can come here and make an announcement like this, then all the better, I guess.

 

[dfwatt]

So back in March. I placed an order for a set of mild lowering springs from unplugged performance. They processed the order and charged my visa despite them knowing that no products would ship anytime soon. I inquired a month after ordering asking what the ETA would be. They replied that they are still on back order and would be another 6 weeks. Another 8 weeks go by. I reach out and ask if they’re shipping soon? The reply I got was that I can change my order for some other products I have no interest in. I have sent 3 emails over the last 2 weeks requesting a refund with no response... guess I fell for the scam. 5 months later and $500cad out of pocket and no springs.. brutal.

Beware.

Ask to speak to the owner. He's reportedly a responsible guy and I suspect he is not aware that this happened

 

[KenC]

So back in March. I placed an order for a set of mild lowering springs from unplugged performance. They processed the order and charged my visa despite them knowing that no products would ship anytime soon. I inquired a month after ordering asking what the ETA would be. They replied that they are still on back order and would be another 6 weeks. Another 8 weeks go by. I reach out and ask if they’re shipping soon? The reply I got was that I can change my order for some other products I have no interest in. I have sent 3 emails over the last 2 weeks requesting a refund with no response... guess I fell for the scam. 5 months later and $500cad out of pocket and no springs.. brutal.

Beware.

Responsible companies don't charge your card until a product ships.

 

[Lucky13]

Responsible companies don't charge your card until a product ships.

Tesla did with FSD... I kid.
Ben is a good guy I am a little surprised that you are having an issue like this were they won't get back to you. Hopefully this thread will get them to reach out to you.

 

[MasterC17]

Responsible companies don't charge your card until a product ships.

Er, that's really not the case for a lot of online companies, not sure where you got that idea from?

I pre-paid for parts from UP, RB, MPP, etc. Given, I have received/have had contact on everything I ordered.

Still, I waited months for some of the stuff I ordered. Reach out to the owner of UP, he is very responsive and helpful.

 

[UnpluggedP]

Li-ion, my name is Ben Schaffer and I'm the co-founder of Unplugged Performance. Thankfully I got a text message from a friend of mine at 9am (an hour ago) which pointed me to this thread and I've logged into our company account to directly reply.

Firstly, I want to apologize that somehow we've either missed your refund request or dropped the ball. Whatever the case may be, it is not intentional and we absolutely refund anyone in such a case that they no longer wish to wait for a backordered item. A private message was sent to you with my direct email address and I hope you'll email me so that I can personally oversee expediting your refund today.

20 years ago I founded Bulletproof Automotive (which has enjoyed an unusually rare 20 year existence in the aftermarket), and in 2013 we set out on a new path and started Unplugged Performance after a friendly chat with our Hawthorne business park neighbors at Tesla. In the 20 years I've conducted business, I've never been accused of scamming anyone, nor have I ever. Rest assured we will resolve this ASAP. Our company's history is easy to look up, as it my personal history in the industry. We've been around for 20 years because of our ethics and our unyielding commitment towards creating projects and custom work that our customers love.

Where we have clearly failed is by missing your email requests and therefore not acting swiftly enough to provide a refund. I'll be personally overseeing this and also reviewing how we may have failed to see or respond to your emails in a timely manner. Once again, my apologies for the trouble caused and we will get this resolved ASAP for you.

 

[kevwerks]

Li-ion, my name is Ben Schaffer and I'm the co-founder of Unplugged Performance. Thankfully I got a text message from a friend of mine at 9am (an hour ago) which pointed me to this thread and I've logged into our company account to directly reply.

Firstly, I want to apologize that somehow we've either missed your refund request or dropped the ball. Whatever the case may be, it is not intentional and we absolutely refund anyone in such a case that they no longer wish to wait for a backordered item. A private message was sent to you with my direct email address and I hope you'll email me so that I can personally oversee expediting your refund today.

20 years ago I founded Bulletproof Automotive (which has enjoyed an unusually rare 20 year existence in the aftermarket), and in 2013 we set out on a new path and started Unplugged Performance after a friendly chat with our Hawthorne business park neighbors at Tesla. In the 20 years I've conducted business, I've never been accused of scamming anyone, nor have I ever. Rest assured we will resolve this ASAP. Our company's history is easy to look up, as it my personal history in the industry. We've been around for 20 years because of our ethics and our unyielding commitment towards creating projects and custom work that our customers love.

Where we have clearly failed is by missing your email requests and therefore not acting swiftly enough to provide a refund. I'll be personally overseeing this and also reviewing how we may have failed to see or respond to your emails in a timely manner. Once again, my apologies for the trouble caused and we will get this resolved ASAP for you.

I had also sent a request for a status regarding my order as well via email. I have not received any response. I was going to call today but possible to check the status of my order? Order: #WEB-232229 thank you.

 

[UnpluggedP]

Hi Kevin, I'll email you directly right now.
- Ben

 

[wenkan]

I have emailed twice to ask for recommended installer in Seattle area. No response making me doubt if there is any.

 

[UnpluggedP]

Hi Wenkan, I've sent you a private message. For springs any mechanic who can follow our instructions should be well equipped to handle the install. We've had some past clients say good things about Car Stereo Plus in Seattle.

 

[mcbarnet007]

Just want to add that I've bought many things from UPP and talked with Ben on multiple occasions and they are responsible and honest. I am sure they will take care of you.

 

[UnpluggedP]

Good morning Li-ion,
Over the past 24 hours we've replied here, sent you two direct messages, and tried any other way to find any customer relating to a "li-ion" in Vancouver to refund. We've received no reply or result to any of our attempts mentioned.

The nature of your post seemed quite urgent that you were wanting a refund, so we've responded as quickly as we can to support you. I'll leave this request in your hands whenever you are ready as you have my direct email info in your DM and we will absolutely support you fully in your request. I'll look forward to your direct contact at any time you so choose.

Sincerely,
Ben @ UP

 

[Li-ion]

Hi Ben. Thanks for reaching out so quickly. I don’t check this forum everyday, yes I did receive the email and have since responded.

I don’t mean to put you guys on blast, but I was charged the full pull plus shipping immediately upfront, then sat around waiting..months went by.. no parts. As soon as I have received the refund, I can request that an admin close this thread.

I see now you have a disclaimer on the website stating that the parts maybe not be available. Not sure if that’s a new addition or as I don’t recall seeing that when I placed the order.

Anyways, in future maybe only take a deposit order and keep your customers informed on a realistic timeline of when the product is expected to ship out.

Thanks

 

[Mysta]

No issues here with UP, bought coilovers that were on backorder and pinged them on Instagram every so often and always got a response until they arrived.

 

[UnpluggedP]

Since this has been a public thread, I'd like to provide an update now that I received an email from Li-ion Sunday night and can verify the account history and facts.

Summary: Li-ion was already refunded last week.

Specifically, a credit memo was made on 8/7/19 during business hours and our accounting team refunded his credit card in full the morning of 8/8/19. The refund may have taken some time to settle with his credit card, but the funds have been returned to the credit card promptly on 8/8/19. I would imagine that the funds are already on Li-ion's credit card but if somehow now I can follow up by email and provide evidence of refund on 8/8/19 from our credit card merchant account. Refunds sometimes take a little time by the cc companies to process but that is outside of our control and we've had the money returned from our account on the 8th.

As for the other topics, Li-ion was working with Jeff at our office by email. No emails went un-replied although there was an occasional lag to Jeff's reply since he's been sick recently. There was indeed a discussion of offering additional spring options which are in stock rather than waiting for the newly engineered Mild version 2 to arrive (likely end of this month ETA). A refund was requested over the weekend of August 3rd. Jeff was unfortunately out of the office sick most of the week. When Jeff got back in the office a refund was initiated and Jeff confirmed the refund via email to Li-ion at 12:53pm August 8th.

It is our sincere apology that our manufacturing process was not faster to fulfill the order in a more desirable time frame. We will keep pushing our engineers and factories to move faster to replenish inventory and to evolve each and every product as best we can.

As far as refund and customer service goes, we always strive to do our best. We are a small business and we are not infallible but we have always have good intentions and try our best to make everyone happy since we are a small company run by enthusiasts. The facts here as I review them in our CRM system show positive intention and no malice. Our integrity as a company is well known over our 19 year history as Bulletproof Automotive and Unplugged Performance, we don't have scandals, scams or drama. It is unfortunate we've been labelled as a scammer here, but anyone looking at the facts of this will hopefully appreciate that it is not a correct characterization of the situation. I can however appreciate the frustration waiting for inventory to arrive as I've felt it many times myself as a consumer.
Sincerely,
Ben @ UP

 

[Wennfred]

I was wanting to order the front & rear anti-sway bars from UP but I don’t want to be involved with any company that has no communication skills with their high paying customers. I will wait for another company to come out with them.

Hire someone to help with replying to emails on back order questions or someone that will keep customers updated on their orders. To be charged up front for something and then not hear from them is very bad. I could see why to OP was really pissed off, I would be too.

A suggestion would be to put “Out of Stock” “Pre-Order only” this gives the customer an idea they will be waiting a while.

Glad that Ben took ownership and corrected the problem.

Fred

 

[dmd2005]

I had no problem dealing with UPP. They sent me my F and R swaybars about 6 weeks after ordering and they responded to my emails when I inquired about backorder wait times.