Ripped Off by Customer - Warning to the community and maybe some help finding him!

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Not going to get into too much details but did an install and upgrade (to a JB4) for customer along with a couple other things and he said he didn't bring enough money (misunderstood the amount owing according to him), so he paid me a part and I told him to paypal me the rest when he got home that evening. Well its been 2-weeks and my txt's and calls are being ignored so obviously he has no intention on settling up. (Based on the amount of time which has passed and his attitude towards me when I was doing the work for him)

I am wondering if anybody knows this guy

Adrian Sang
416-271-XXXX

Drives a black 135i and I believe he lives in Richmond Hill / Markham

Also a warning to the community not to deal with him as I know he is buying and selling some used things. I don't know his e90 screen name but hopefully we can figure out who this is.

Its now more about the principle of it as in 3-4 years of business this is the first person to every rip me off. I am probably too trusting as I let customers pay like that a lot and never had any problems as everybody has been great to deal with and always settled their account within a day or two. I guess there always is a "bad" seed. The amount owing isn't anything to loose sleep over but like I said the principle of it is eating away at me.

Mike

[T-Dubbs]

how much did he get the jb4 for??

[135IS]

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

how much did he get the jb4 for??

LOL did you miss this part?

Its now more about the principle of it as in 3-4 years of business this is the first person to every rip me off. I am probably too trusting as I let customers pay like that a lot and never had any problems as everybody has been great to deal with and always settled their account within a day or two. I guess there always is a "bad" seed. The amount owing isn't anything to loose sleep over but like I said the principle of it is eating away at me.

But damn i hope this guy gets what he deserves. do you have his plate by any chance?

[mattryan]

sorry to take away from your threat here but are you in TO?

[T-Dubbs]

Originally Posted by 135IS

LOL did you miss this part?

i was asking, how much he was ripped off.

[godmans]

what color rims if you mind I ask? I drive through that area alot due to work/family, and I often notice a black pre LCI with black painted/powder coated OEM 135i rims.

[mattryan]

Originally Posted by Mike@N54Tuning.com

Not going to get into too much details but did an install and upgrade (to a JB4) for customer along with a couple other things and he said he didn't bring enough money (misunderstood the amount owing according to him), so he paid me a part and I told him to paypal me the rest when he got home that evening. Well its been 2-weeks and my txt's and calls are being ignored so obviously he has no intention on settling up. (Based on the amount of time which has passed and his attitude towards me when I was doing the work for him)

I am wondering if anybody knows this guy

Adrian Sang
416-271-88XX

Drives a black 135i and I believe he lives in Richmond Hill / Markham

Also a warning to the community not to deal with him as I know he is buying and selling some used things. I don't know his e90 screen name but hopefully we can figure out who this is.

Its now more about the principle of it as in 3-4 years of business this is the first person to every rip me off. I am probably too trusting as I let customers pay like that a lot and never had any problems as everybody has been great to deal with and always settled their account within a day or two. I guess there always is a "bad" seed. The amount owing isn't anything to loose sleep over but like I said the principle of it is eating away at me.

Mike

can you post the last 4 digits of his phone #?

[doublegbmw]

Mike, sorry to hear this. It's guys like this that ruins the great service & deals by businesses like yourself. I hope someone can help you locate & catch this guy.

[CDN_135i]

If you have his vin look him up at mto or you can look him up in the land registry to see where he lives.

[M2point5]

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

i was asking, how much he was ripped off.

A penny. Who gives a f**k?

[mattryan]

Originally Posted by M2point5

A penny. Who gives a f**k?

+1

[135IS]

Originally Posted by M2point5

A penny. Who gives a f**k?

+1 tried to tell him but i guess he didnt understand

[magha]

what a douche, sorry to hear mike

[ipitythefoo]

I might have dealt with this guy before.. Black 135i M Sport package with red interior, manual shift? I sold him my old tail lights... He paid in one full payment... I have his number but that's pretty much it..

I thought he was a cool guy.. he let me drove his car (manual) around in the parking lot and he drove mine (DCT)....

[jrsharpebc]

I don't post here a lot, but this really chokes me prompting me to speak up...

Mike I don't know you, but I'd love to be able to afford to be a really good customer. From what I've read, you do an incredible service to the BMW community and it sucks that someone would rip you off like this. I too would like to think that it's an honest mistake and that Mr Sang will see his error and drop you an envelope.

I'm not sure of the legalities of what I'm about to propose, but if his complete phone number was published maybe the BMW community would be obliged to help track down Mr Sang...no threats verbal or otherwise & no crossing the legal boundaries, but maybe Mr Sang would cave under the pressure and pay up or at least return your phone call to explain his ways.

In any case, good luck. And thanks again for giving lurkers like me the wealth of info you do.

John

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by ipitythefoo

I might have dealt with this guy before.. Black 135i M Sport package with red interior, manual shift? I sold him my old tail lights... thank god he paid in one full payment... I have his number but that's pretty much it..

I thought he was a cool guy.. he let me drove his car (manual) around in the parking lot and he drove mine (DCT)....

Ya I think thats the car You got any more info on him? (email or e90/1addicts screen name?)

Mike

[1Boss]

Hi fellow 1addict members,

I am the customer that Mike referred to. Mike makes it seem as if I had pulled a fast one on him, when in reality, I feel he has totally blown it out of proportion. I hope that you guys would give me a chance to tell my side of the story and take the time to hear me out.

It all started when I purchased a used jb3 off another member and was asking around on where I could get it installed, as even after watching the instructional video, I did not feel comfortable doing it myself knowing that I am not too mechanically inclined and would probably screw something up with the pins. A friend of mine with a 335i mentioned to me that he had gotten his installed around a year ago off Mike for $20 (don't see why he would lie to me about that). I got a hold of Mike's contact, and shot over a few texts to him to try to inquire more information.

We exchanged a few texts:

[May 5, 2012]

Me: Hi, do you install jb3?

Mike: yes i do, what car do you drive?

Me: 135i

Mike: install is $55 and I am in mississauga (50 minute drive from my location without traffic)

Me: I hearsay it was $20?

(I thought, maybe he works out of a shop now to be charging $50?)

Me: $55 is too much, plus gas and time to mississauga. Ill pass, thanks.

(thinking, hmm I shall shop around!)

Mike: no problem, you should think about upgrading it to the jb4 before you install

Me: oh, why is that?

Mike: jb4 is smoother and has all the CAN steering wheel gauges and controls. the upgrade kit is $150, i could do it for you, i am the canadian distributor

Me: if i can purchase it off u, could u possibly help me with the install?

Mike: ya i can upgrade your jb3 and install the jb4. i wont charge you the upgrade fee but would need to charge for install.would be 205.00 cash, no tax if paying cash

(so here i was thinking: uhhhh he stated he is not charging me upgrade fee ($150) and would charge for install, so only $55 for upgrade AND install?!? I think he may have probably gotten it the other way around! Charge $150 for upgrade and he'll install it for me if more like it)

Me: ok i shall look into it some more. Thanks for your advice thus far!

.
.
A few weeks/month later (I thought oh well, might as well pay a little more and drive a longer drive to him, since he probably has the most experience in doing this task)
.
.

[June 18, 2012]

Me: hi mike, am i able to book an appointment with you next tues, june 26? I am looking to upgrade and install my jb3. Let me know, thanks.

Mike: Sure, just text me this weekend and we can figure out a time

Me: Sounds great, keep in touch

[June 24, 2012]

Me: hi mike, are we still good to meet on tuesday? around 12pm?

Mike: can't at 12. Can in the evening.

Me: When are you free? What is your location?

Mike: I am by the Dixie outlet mall. I just have to check what time my hockey game is.

Mike: Game is at 7:30 so earliest I can do is 9:00pm

Me: Hmmm reason I mentioned tues and around 12 is because it is my day off. Would weeknights typically be good for u? I figure you'll be exhausted tues after a full day and hockey

(I'm thinking, hmmm this guy still operates from his shop afterhours eh? Hard working fella!)

Mike: Ya weeknight are good. Tuesday is the worst day as I have hockey.

[June 25, 2012]

Me: Hi mike, sorry for being so sudden, but i was wondering if you were available later today?

Mike: Ya should be. Maybe 8:00pm?

Me: Sure, address please?

Mike: Meet at the Dixie outlet mall burger king parking lot. Text me when there.

(I'm thinking, uhhh $50 for a install at the side of burger king? Hmm i guess so??? He is, afterall, a knowledgable guy about N54)

Me: You are able to install in a parking lot?

Mike: Ya. My neighbour is a douche bag and doesnt like me working on cars so I do all my installs there.

(Hmmmm...)

Me: Ok, would 8:30 be okay? I'm coming from Richmond Hill

(Those who live around would know it is a pain to drive all the way to mississauga, with the possibly of unpredictable traffic)

Mike: That's too late

Me: Ok I'll see you around 8

Me: My apologies mike. I'm on my way almost there (traffic, I actually get there around 8:20ish)


We met up, he helped me upgrade the jb3 to jb4 and has all the parts apart. While everything was out, I remembered that I had DCIs but no couplers kicking around in my trunk. So I thought, oh what the hell, I'll see if I could get Mike to install those too while he is at it. He said he will charge $20 and he has extra couplers laying around for $15. Wow $20? This guy doesn't even operate out of a shop and he's charging these shop rates? I took $200 cash out from the ATM before we met up, so I thought okay, $150 for the upgrade and install, I could spare another $35.

It took Mike half an hour to upgrade and install the jb4, and an additional 7 minutes at max to install the DCI (thinking back, pretty impressive!). After all was said and done, Mike asks for $235. I was caught by surprise. All I had on me was the $200 cash which I just took out from the ATM (I usually only spend via credit card) and gave him the whole $200. He gave me an odd look and with hesitation, resorted to offering me to pay the remaining $35 via paypal.

[June 28]

Me: My paypal visa setup is outdated and I dont want to update it with my current card. (Bad experiences with paypal) Who do you bank with? You could give me the account number and i'll go deposit cash into it?

Mike: you can do interact email transfer to that email you have online banking?

(Paypal has fees, interac has fees, why can't you just let me deposit cash?)

Mike mentioned in his post that he noticed my attitude towards him when he was doing the work for me, and in a way he was right. I felt he was unprofessional - perhaps I was biased and expected too much from reading his posts, seeming all friendly and helpful with info. He seemed he might of been slightly aggravated that he had to wait for me? Found out later he lived literally a block away from there. After a few days, I still felt he was overrated, hence overpriced.

It depends on how you view it. Yes, one could say that I did have Mike provide a service for me, which is true, but it isn't like I didn't pay him for his time and service? $235 is just too much in my opinion, and if I honestly knew that was his actual asking price, I would have definitely done it elsewhere. $200 plus $20 gas there and back at a location of his convenience is a very acceptable amount I am willing to pay, respectfully considering his effort and time invested. I honestly thought the amount was $150+$35 from the way he first described the prices to me when trying to get me to upgrade and install. I'm sure Mike still has our text logs saved on his iphone. The texts I have shared are word for word how it was.

Sorry to say, but until this moment, I still do not fully wrap my head around as to why everyone vouches so much for Mike's "extraordinary" service. Yes, he is very knowledgable and shares a ton of info on here. Or perhaps he is great in ordering and shipping out parts, but after what I've witnessed and experienced for myself, in terms of actual face to face transactions, he isn't really up to all that hype in my opinion. If my local friends mention, Mike@N54tuning does not get a recommendation from me. Sorry.

And to make an individual thread like this? Seriously Mike?

[cooler2442]

This is still your own fault for not confirming the details. He txted you saying something was free but then he also put the price which was 205$ as you stated in the txt. Instead of inquiring about the details you decided to avoid it.

Then you decided to book an appointment without confirming the price and attempt to pull a fast one because he said something was free but quoted the price as $205. You assumed that the price would be 150$ but never confirmed it with him even though he specifically told you 205$. The fault is yours and not Mike's.


Also trying to reason that Mike is charging shop prices when he isn't a shop is just dumb. Don't like his prices? Don't use the service. Simple as that.


Now pay up for the mistakes you have made and learn from it.

[kazin]

It doesn't matter how you feel his service should be priced. You're the one who purchased his service.

Sure there may have been better communication on both sides but since when does a dealer HAVE TO make sure the customer knows how much he is paying? You're the one spending the money, don't you think you should be more diligent?

And he mentions he's pestered you for at least 2 weeks now with no answer or response. If you were trying to pay him back why wouldn't you have come to some agreement earlier. We're missing something from someones side and I'm guessing it's probably yours.

Just pay up and apologize

[1Boss]

I did not choose to believe it was $150. I was led to believe that and followed through with it due to what he said in that text response.

[cooler2442]

Originally Posted by 1Boss

I did not choose to believe it was $150. I was led to believe that and followed through with it due to what he said in that text response.

Yes you did. This is the txt Mike sent you are saying:

Mike: ya i can upgrade your jb3 and install the jb4. i wont charge you the upgrade fee but would need to charge for install.would be 205.00 cash, no tax if paying cash


Even if he says something before the price it doesn't matter because he states what the price is. As a third party with no bias towards either you or Mike, I see it like this: You didn't question him about the 205$ txt, you didn't ask if something was a typo. You just choose to be oblivious about it and schedule an appointment later and think that it would only cost 150$.

No where does Mike explicitly tell you that it will be 150$. Did Mike make a txt typo by telling you something was free? Maybe but it shouldn't matter because he included the actual price he had in mind and you didn't question it.

[J-Sin]

Lots of drama over $35 bucks. Are you satisfied with the overall work? Your JB4 working alright? IMO just pay the $35 and be on with it. This is just one of those moments where 2 personalities clashed and a negative experience resulted. This thread should be deleted. It does nothing for the images of either party.