Our Experience With Driven Concepts... While Thread Lasts...

Kamikaze · 08-24-2007, 07:26 PM

Well as most of you know on Tampa Racing, my friend Robert Kolp passed away on the Courtney Campbell Causeway back on April 22, 2007. So as a deal to the family, all of his close friends are working on fixing up his car to what he would've (or close to what) he would've wanted done to it. So the first thing we do is call up Driven Concepts...

I know Ian, you might not have much to do with this but here it goes....

1st thing - Suspension was a must for the father. He says that he really needs to stiffen up the suspension, so we call over, talk to Ian, he says he can give us a deal based on the situation...

So the suspension is ordered, or at least that's what I thought. The guy that used to work there Jesse didn't actually put in the order, and it took a good while for the suspension to get to us.... not too bad, this isn't the problem story, here it is:

2nd thing - Roberts car had a black hood on it, and we were going for a Vis Carbon Fiber hood.. So the day we pick up the suspension we put down a down payment for the "Vis" hood that we wanted. The guy Jesse says the orders been put in, and that it should be here in a couple of weeks. Well, about 2 weeks go by and I decided to give them a call back. Well come to find out, this Jesse guy has been fired, and before they canned him, the order wasn't put in... So the next guy in line (didn't get his name because I passed the friend off to my friend Justin because I was very pissed at this point) put in the order for the hood. More weeks passed, no hood etc, etc... So this last week I went on a cruise, came home, and told Robert's mom that I got a call from these guys saying that the hood was in. She went and picked it up after dropping me off at the house, and I went out with a friend to the dyno... Monday comes, and I get a call from Robert's next door neighbor Floyd, saying him and Robert's dad put the hood on his car... Every Monday, as per request of his mom, we eat dinner at Robert's house. So the first thing I notice is that the hood fitment is horrible, like a TR used hood. So I asked, "What kind of hood is this?" and Floyd says, "It's a Carbon Creations".... Carbon Creations for the price of a Vis?!?! Now this past week Robert's mom has been telling me that she's made repeated attempts to talk to Ian, and you guys put her on hold, hang the phone up on her, and sometimes just don't answer. This is by request that I post this, because I think this is purely unprofessional, and also she wants her money back but can't talk to anyone. I mean seriously, Ian asked to rep the shop for the discounts or whatever, but that's hard to do when we've gone through this on just two products, we still have more stuff on the list to do with his car, but I hate to say it, but it will DEFINITELY not be from you guys.. The service has been very unacceptable...

Love...

Lionell

**VolvoBoiClw** · 08-24-2007, 08:13 PM

sounds like a lot of miscommunication. I'm sure they can get it resolved. I would just go to DC and talk to em. They all seem damn good at what they do, so why would they try to screw over a dedicated project?

hOtPiNkDRFT · 08-24-2007, 08:27 PM

Robert's mom has been telling me that she's made repeated attempts to talk to Ian, and you guys put her on hold, hang the phone up on her, and sometimes just don't answer.

Lionell[/quote]

It would be very helpful to know whom it is that answered the phone in order to rectify...

Griffin400 · 08-24-2007, 08:34 PM

This thread will not be deleted! Our shop is not perfect and nor have we said it is. This problem WILL be resolved.

Please call us and specifically ask for IAN if not please, please if you have time come up to the shop and you wll get a better response!

Sorry to hear about your experience!

SpottedMango · 08-24-2007, 09:27 PM

Lionell,

I must apologize for what's been going on.

Here's my 0.02, Carbon Creations and VIS are the SAME exact quality hoods, they both go for around the same price, the CF are all GRADE A quality. I have personally seen fitment on the hood and they are just as good as each other.

Bottomline, my supplier, without my knowledge sent us the Carbon Creation CF hood. There's nothing I can say, if you came in and requested VIS and the Carbon Creation one came and is NOT up to your standards, then we will do what we need to do to get this right.

Now, a couple of things, if you guys can accept the Carbon Creation CF hood for the quality, but you believe fitment is not 100%, bring it by the shop and we can fit it for you.

That would help me, but again, if it's not acceptable, let me know and I will take care off it.

I am offended by the statement that the thread might get deleted. I can say that I have NEVER deleted ANY negative threads that are reasonable and accurate. This is a shop forum, good or bad.......I keep it that way, no matter what.

Call me Monday and we can work this out.

Ian

pheobo · 08-24-2007, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpottedMango

...
I am offended by the statement that the thread might get deleted. I can say that I have NEVER deleted ANY negative threads that are reasonable and accurate. This is a shop forum, good or bad.......I keep it that way, no matter what.

Call me Monday and we can work this out.

Ian

I have had my differences at times with DC, but Ian has always steped up like he's doing here.

Good luck.

Mdeniz · 08-24-2007, 11:19 PM

Carbon fiber hoods need to be be fitted proffesionally and they will still not fit like an OEM hood. Especially (which i dont know if its the case) if the car has ever been involved in an accident, just keep that in mind. Carbon Creations, VIS, etc all fit the same from my experience.

Good Luck

Kamikaze · 08-25-2007, 05:26 AM

Well my friend Justin (BG-33P_Hatch) has a carbon creations hood, and a friend of mine at a H-T meet had a Vis hood on his Teg, and the difference is noticeable... Anyway, I will probably have to drive up there with Fay and Justin and her husband next week to rectify the situation, I'll keep you guys posted.... Monday = dinner at the Kolp's so no can do on Monday...

back2Nissan · 08-26-2007, 04:03 AM

We used to sell the best carbon hoods made and they still weren't a perfect fit. There are too many variables with those type materials. Take a Lorinser kit for Mercedes $12k + and still need body work to fit perfect. I dont think you can blame the shop for the fitment of the hood. As far as the other stuff goes... I have worked in all of the fields from manufacture, retail and distributor... You can never count on any products timely arrival unless you see it in front of you at time of purchase. The manufacture will make up a time that the distributor will get it, the distributor makes up a time to give the retail store and then they have to guess and give you a time based on what they were told. This can be a couple week difference based on many different factors. Employees come and go and leave behind piles of shit for owners to clean up but this does not mean the shop is cappy... it means the person you dealt with was crappy in following-up with you on the delays. Sometimes I swear there is some UPS driver out there with the most hooked up car in the world courtesy of all the parts that were "lost" during shipping.

**I'm Phucked** · 08-27-2007, 09:37 AM

Had the same problem a while back. I ordered something, never came, and Jesse ordered it. The problem was resolved and these things happen. I won't boycott DC for a bad employee now removed; however, if the whole store had the same shop ethic then yes I would be very upset.

SpottedMango · 08-27-2007, 10:08 AM

Guys, as the owner of Driven Concepts, it is hard for me to take action when I have complaints that do not accompany any names. I appreciate those that have made complaints with detailed information. With detail information I am able to move forward and take action to better serve our customers.

So, on another note, if anyone out there believes that they can provide excellent customer service on behalf of Driven Concepts and needs a job.....hit me up.

jb96s14 · 08-27-2007, 10:14 AM

sounds like typical driven concepts i dont know how many painters you guys fired while you were hacking up my car for the six months it took to get it done i reported you to the bbb after you charged me to fix the wiring problem you guys caused and i broke down again in lutz. nice move on telling me the pfc was causing the problem!! because it wasnt. you guys charged me to repair my car and you never touched it. your all very unethical. i dont know how ian can live with himself and sleep well at night knowing how many people youve screwed. (powerline,me,jj,shawn from baymimmers, the list goes on) i want you to know ive told every person that has asked about my car never to go to your shop i have flamed you all over nicoclub.com and i plan on informing everyone i ever meet anywhere about your poor customer service and qaulity or lack there of workmanship. i have found loose hose clamps on my intercooler,i still have the same wiring problem you guys charged me for fixing,the i/c pipe you hacked apart has boost leaks on the welds and i am taking it to be replaced today, the paint on the car is two different colors,there are no light bulbs at all in my corner lenses, you left wet sand dust all over everyhting in the engine bay, one of the fenders in the rear is rolled out way more then the other, i cant think of anything else right now but i will. i brought my car back to you guys three different times all three times you said it was fixed all three times it wasnt. you said you couldnt replicate the electrical problem but but i replicate it EVERYTIME I START MY CAR. all you have to do is turn the key. it is my personal opinion that you guys are incompetent and uncapable of repairing the problems you caused. ian is very unprofessional and will not return emails, calls or for that matter even speak to me in person he is always hiding behind his cubicle,(i call him oz). if you guys want to resolve this matter my email is dankindler@hotmail.com and you know my phone number. but i can gaurantee that i will never hear a word from any of you

justin r. burch

Griffin400 · 08-27-2007, 10:26 AM

Man Justin you just opened a can of very ugly monster worms!

LET THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE JUSTIN!!!

manifoldmike · 08-27-2007, 10:28 AM

if you have boost leaks on the intercooler piping welds, i would need a picture or you need to stop by and let me take a look at it. i'm pretty sure you don't have leaks on the welds.

this would be the first time i've heard about it and frankly this isn't the best way to bring it up. if there is a problem, you havn't given us any chance to fix this problem.

silvia tech · 08-27-2007, 10:30 AM

what is funny about that is that we had the car running nfor around 5 hours without any problems. I started it close to 40 times and never had the problem. After you brought the power FC and commandcer to us We tried to start it then. The only time that I could replicate it is when the commander was plugged in. Again yes you brought it back several times to us to fix the problem but never brought us the power FC or commander. Also you want to talk about competance if it were a wiring problem dont you think that it would happen with the stock ecm and it didnt it only happened with the the power fc. so would think that since the wiring is staying the same but the ecm is changing that would tell you were the problem would lie. you paid us the first time to simply put the motor in that is what we did. You did not want to paint the whole car that is why you have to different colors of paint. You are comparing 20 year old paint to damn 2 month old paint are you kidding me. Ok we could have cleaned the job better. What is also funny is that you are so immature that you could not tell us in person that you were dissatisfied instead you acted as old as my daughter and said everything was fine and then went onto every forum flamming which will make people think about if they want to service your car.

08-24-2007, 07:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kamikaze Li-Neezy™ Car: 94 Integra LS My TRGarage Orlando / Tampa : 93614115	Our Experience With Driven Concepts... While Thread Lasts... Well as most of you know on Tampa Racing, my friend Robert Kolp passed away on the Courtney Campbell Causeway back on April 22, 2007. So as a deal to the family, all of his close friends are working on fixing up his car to what he would've (or close to what) he would've wanted done to it. So the first thing we do is call up Driven Concepts... I know Ian, you might not have much to do with this but here it goes.... 1st thing - Suspension was a must for the father. He says that he really needs to stiffen up the suspension, so we call over, talk to Ian, he says he can give us a deal based on the situation... So the suspension is ordered, or at least that's what I thought. The guy that used to work there Jesse didn't actually put in the order, and it took a good while for the suspension to get to us.... not too bad, this isn't the problem story, here it is: 2nd thing - Roberts car had a black hood on it, and we were going for a Vis Carbon Fiber hood.. So the day we pick up the suspension we put down a down payment for the "Vis" hood that we wanted. The guy Jesse says the orders been put in, and that it should be here in a couple of weeks. Well, about 2 weeks go by and I decided to give them a call back. Well come to find out, this Jesse guy has been fired, and before they canned him, the order wasn't put in... So the next guy in line (didn't get his name because I passed the friend off to my friend Justin because I was very pissed at this point) put in the order for the hood. More weeks passed, no hood etc, etc... So this last week I went on a cruise, came home, and told Robert's mom that I got a call from these guys saying that the hood was in. She went and picked it up after dropping me off at the house, and I went out with a friend to the dyno... Monday comes, and I get a call from Robert's next door neighbor Floyd, saying him and Robert's dad put the hood on his car... Every Monday, as per request of his mom, we eat dinner at Robert's house. So the first thing I notice is that the hood fitment is horrible, like a TR used hood. So I asked, "What kind of hood is this?" and Floyd says, "It's a Carbon Creations".... Carbon Creations for the price of a Vis?!?! Now this past week Robert's mom has been telling me that she's made repeated attempts to talk to Ian, and you guys put her on hold, hang the phone up on her, and sometimes just don't answer. This is by request that I post this, because I think this is purely unprofessional, and also she wants her money back but can't talk to anyone. I mean seriously, Ian asked to rep the shop for the discounts or whatever, but that's hard to do when we've gone through this on just two products, we still have more stuff on the list to do with his car, but I hate to say it, but it will DEFINITELY not be from you guys.. The service has been very unacceptable... Love... Lionell Last edited by Kamikaze : 08-24-2007 at 07:29 PM.

08-24-2007, 08:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
Griffin400 Saddlebrook Car: Lexus SC400/LS400 My TRGarage Wesley Chapel : 365359220	This thread will not be deleted! Our shop is not perfect and nor have we said it is. This problem WILL be resolved. Please call us and specifically ask for IAN if not please, please if you have time come up to the shop and you wll get a better response! Sorry to hear about your experience! Last edited by SilEightySX : 08-24-2007 at 09:19 PM.

08-27-2007, 10:14 AM	#12 (permalink)
jb96s14 slow 240 for sale $15,000 Car: 1989 nissan 240sx My TRGarage palm harbor : 2229	sounds like typical driven concepts i dont know how many painters you guys fired while you were hacking up my car for the six months it took to get it done i reported you to the bbb after you charged me to fix the wiring problem you guys caused and i broke down again in lutz. nice move on telling me the pfc was causing the problem!! because it wasnt. you guys charged me to repair my car and you never touched it. your all very unethical. i dont know how ian can live with himself and sleep well at night knowing how many people youve screwed. (powerline,me,jj,shawn from baymimmers, the list goes on) i want you to know ive told every person that has asked about my car never to go to your shop i have flamed you all over nicoclub.com and i plan on informing everyone i ever meet anywhere about your poor customer service and qaulity or lack there of workmanship. i have found loose hose clamps on my intercooler,i still have the same wiring problem you guys charged me for fixing,the i/c pipe you hacked apart has boost leaks on the welds and i am taking it to be replaced today, the paint on the car is two different colors,there are no light bulbs at all in my corner lenses, you left wet sand dust all over everyhting in the engine bay, one of the fenders in the rear is rolled out way more then the other, i cant think of anything else right now but i will. i brought my car back to you guys three different times all three times you said it was fixed all three times it wasnt. you said you couldnt replicate the electrical problem but but i replicate it EVERYTIME I START MY CAR. all you have to do is turn the key. it is my personal opinion that you guys are incompetent and uncapable of repairing the problems you caused. ian is very unprofessional and will not return emails, calls or for that matter even speak to me in person he is always hiding behind his cubicle,(i call him oz). if you guys want to resolve this matter my email is dankindler@hotmail.com and you know my phone number. but i can gaurantee that i will never hear a word from any of you justin r. burch Last edited by jb96s14 : 08-27-2007 at 10:19 AM.

08-24-2007, 08:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
VolvoBoiClw Ru Noises... Car: 2008 LGT My TRGarage Clearwater, and Ft. Myers : 5869636	sounds like a lot of miscommunication. I'm sure they can get it resolved. I would just go to DC and talk to em. They all seem damn good at what they do, so why would they try to screw over a dedicated project?

08-24-2007, 08:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
hOtPiNkDRFT THE Driven Concepts Girl Car: '06 Scion TC My TRGarage Bathing in gojo : 5929731	Robert's mom has been telling me that she's made repeated attempts to talk to Ian, and you guys put her on hold, hang the phone up on her, and sometimes just don't answer. Lionell[/quote] It would be very helpful to know whom it is that answered the phone in order to rectify...

08-24-2007, 09:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
SpottedMango Driven Concepts, Tampa FL Car: 03 M45, 98 GS300, 94 Supra, 04 Silverado SS, 05 GSXR1000, 01 TL1000R, 04 GSXR600, a few more My TRGarage Wesley Chapel, FL : 403593948	Lionell, I must apologize for what's been going on. Here's my 0.02, Carbon Creations and VIS are the SAME exact quality hoods, they both go for around the same price, the CF are all GRADE A quality. I have personally seen fitment on the hood and they are just as good as each other. Bottomline, my supplier, without my knowledge sent us the Carbon Creation CF hood. There's nothing I can say, if you came in and requested VIS and the Carbon Creation one came and is NOT up to your standards, then we will do what we need to do to get this right. Now, a couple of things, if you guys can accept the Carbon Creation CF hood for the quality, but you believe fitment is not 100%, bring it by the shop and we can fit it for you. That would help me, but again, if it's not acceptable, let me know and I will take care off it. I am offended by the statement that the thread might get deleted. I can say that I have NEVER deleted ANY negative threads that are reasonable and accurate. This is a shop forum, good or bad.......I keep it that way, no matter what. Call me Monday and we can work this out. Ian

08-24-2007, 11:19 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mdeniz Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 36596	Carbon fiber hoods need to be be fitted proffesionally and they will still not fit like an OEM hood. Especially (which i dont know if its the case) if the car has ever been involved in an accident, just keep that in mind. Carbon Creations, VIS, etc all fit the same from my experience. Good Luck

08-25-2007, 05:26 AM	#8 (permalink)
Kamikaze Li-Neezy™ Car: 94 Integra LS My TRGarage Orlando / Tampa : 93614115	Well my friend Justin (BG-33P_Hatch) has a carbon creations hood, and a friend of mine at a H-T meet had a Vis hood on his Teg, and the difference is noticeable... Anyway, I will probably have to drive up there with Fay and Justin and her husband next week to rectify the situation, I'll keep you guys posted.... Monday = dinner at the Kolp's so no can do on Monday...

08-26-2007, 04:03 AM	#9 (permalink)
back2Nissan Bakermotorsource Car: Another SC400 My TRGarage Ellenton, FL : 348748425	We used to sell the best carbon hoods made and they still weren't a perfect fit. There are too many variables with those type materials. Take a Lorinser kit for Mercedes $12k + and still need body work to fit perfect. I dont think you can blame the shop for the fitment of the hood. As far as the other stuff goes... I have worked in all of the fields from manufacture, retail and distributor... You can never count on any products timely arrival unless you see it in front of you at time of purchase. The manufacture will make up a time that the distributor will get it, the distributor makes up a time to give the retail store and then they have to guess and give you a time based on what they were told. This can be a couple week difference based on many different factors. Employees come and go and leave behind piles of shit for owners to clean up but this does not mean the shop is cappy... it means the person you dealt with was crappy in following-up with you on the delays. Sometimes I swear there is some UPS driver out there with the most hooked up car in the world courtesy of all the parts that were "lost" during shipping.

08-27-2007, 09:37 AM	#10 (permalink)
I'm Phucked fuck if I know Car: 2007 STI My TRGarage Rock Springs, Wyoming : 66231670	Had the same problem a while back. I ordered something, never came, and Jesse ordered it. The problem was resolved and these things happen. I won't boycott DC for a bad employee now removed; however, if the whole store had the same shop ethic then yes I would be very upset.

08-27-2007, 10:08 AM	#11 (permalink)
SpottedMango Driven Concepts, Tampa FL Car: 03 M45, 98 GS300, 94 Supra, 04 Silverado SS, 05 GSXR1000, 01 TL1000R, 04 GSXR600, a few more My TRGarage Wesley Chapel, FL : 403593948	Guys, as the owner of Driven Concepts, it is hard for me to take action when I have complaints that do not accompany any names. I appreciate those that have made complaints with detailed information. With detail information I am able to move forward and take action to better serve our customers. So, on another note, if anyone out there believes that they can provide excellent customer service on behalf of Driven Concepts and needs a job.....hit me up.

08-27-2007, 10:26 AM	#13 (permalink)
Griffin400 Saddlebrook Car: Lexus SC400/LS400 My TRGarage Wesley Chapel : 365359220	Man Justin you just opened a can of very ugly monster worms! LET THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE JUSTIN!!!

08-27-2007, 10:28 AM	#14 (permalink)
manifoldmike Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 151980596	if you have boost leaks on the intercooler piping welds, i would need a picture or you need to stop by and let me take a look at it. i'm pretty sure you don't have leaks on the welds. this would be the first time i've heard about it and frankly this isn't the best way to bring it up. if there is a problem, you havn't given us any chance to fix this problem.

08-27-2007, 10:30 AM	#15 (permalink)
silvia tech Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 97095	what is funny about that is that we had the car running nfor around 5 hours without any problems. I started it close to 40 times and never had the problem. After you brought the power FC and commandcer to us We tried to start it then. The only time that I could replicate it is when the commander was plugged in. Again yes you brought it back several times to us to fix the problem but never brought us the power FC or commander. Also you want to talk about competance if it were a wiring problem dont you think that it would happen with the stock ecm and it didnt it only happened with the the power fc. so would think that since the wiring is staying the same but the ecm is changing that would tell you were the problem would lie. you paid us the first time to simply put the motor in that is what we did. You did not want to paint the whole car that is why you have to different colors of paint. You are comparing 20 year old paint to damn 2 month old paint are you kidding me. Ok we could have cleaned the job better. What is also funny is that you are so immature that you could not tell us in person that you were dissatisfied instead you acted as old as my daughter and said everything was fine and then went onto every forum flamming which will make people think about if they want to service your car.