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To be fair, I would first like to say that while asking around and doing research about local shops, JHP came highly recommended from everyone I spoke with and had favorable reviews in various posts. After completing the research, I felt comfortable enough with their reputation to make a purchase from them.

The item in question is a Mugen S1-R seat. I had originally gone in a few months prior to test-fit the seat and Tony of JHP was kind enough to allow me to sit in it for a bit to make sure the fit was adequate. The seat was boxed and in bubble wrap but had some cosmetic damage, but this didn’t matter at the time since I did not fit as well as I would have liked in the seat and I ended up not buying it.

Fast forward to Thursday the 31st of May. I contacted Tony to see if they had any S1-R’s in stock and he informed me that he had 1. I asked if the seat was new or used since I know King Motorsports has been on backorder for quite some time now. Tony stated it was brand new. I was unable to pick up the seat Thursday due to running late in a meeting, so I phoned in Friday to arrange a time to meet with him to pick up the seat.

Tony brought the seat out and asked me to inspect it. Since he stated it was brand new, I did not think to get a magnifying glass out to inspect it, but I glanced at the fabric side briefly and it seemed ok. A few minutes later, the seat was paid for and I was on my way home.

35 minutes later I arrived home and took the seat out of the bubble wrap to take a look at it. I first noticed there were several scratches near the mounting holes where the rails would go. Upon further inspection, I noticed deep circular indentations of a washer on all 4 corners. I then flipped the seat around to the back exposed side and saw that on the bottom left side where the seat rounded out to make a place for your rear, was a flat-spotted area.

At this point I didn’t even begin to think that I’d been taken advantage of since of all the positive praise they had received. Included with the seat was a package containing the instructions, 4 screws and washers. The main package had a quarter-sized hole in it that allowed all 4 screws to fall out when I picked it up. The screws themselves had the black paint scraped off of them and the package of washers within the main package was also open!!! At this point I knew I had been cheated and that the seat had already been mounted by someone else.

I then made my phone call to Tony. Going forward I will briefly list my questions to Tony and put the response I got in bold.

1) Tony, I just got home and noticed the washer marks and damage on the seat, I thought you said it was new? // I asked you to inspect the seat before you left. You already left the store, how do I know you didn’t go home and install it.

2) Tony, I’m 30 miles away and I purchased the seat 35 minutes ago. How is that possible and how about the damaged flat-spot on the bottom rear of the seat? // You could have damaged it on the way home. I can assure you that we in no way mounted the seat.

3) At this point I knew that he was just trying to blow me off and not even listen to what I had to say and upon voicing my displeasure I was told… // I don’t have half an hour to spend with you on the phone.

4) I asked to speak with the owner and was told hew as not available and upon spending another 10 minutes on the phone, I was offered a $50 discount. This was unacceptable, so I told Tony that I don’t want a discount, I want my money back since I paid for a new seat and received a used one. I was told… // All cash sales are final.

5) I arrived at JHP and Tony came outside to talk with me. I showed him the seat and all the indentations from where it was mounted. He finally agreed with me that it had been mounted and NOT by me, but stated…. // You need to take that up with King Motorsports.

6) I told him that as a reputable shop, they should stand behind the product that THEY are selling to me.

I asked to speak with the owner again and finally had an opportunity to speak with Shane. He took a few seconds and informed me that they take photos of all the products they receive and that the seat did in fact show wear from it being mounted in the photos. Whether this is true or not, I was just happy that he agreed to refund my entire purchase, and even after Tony offered a 10% discount on the $1200 seat, I had to refuse simply because I cannot patronize a business that just tried to take me to the cleaners, even though they refunded my money.

The icing on the cake occurred when I realized that this seat that I just bought was the same exact one I tried out months back with the damage on it that was for sale for $1,1xx even though when I asked for them to match the price, I was told that they could not because they paid more in shipping for this seat.

Overall, I’m seriously disappointed in the whole experience. I convinced myself that I was buying from a reputable shop and being the trusting type, did not even think that anyone with their reputation would try to take me to the cleaners. Thankfully, Shane decided to refund my money, which he was not forced to do, and I do want to say thanks to Shane for doing so.

Lastly, Tony, I come from a large family of small business owners that have been in business for years. My family is living proof that it is possible to run a thriving business built on the foundation of honesty and integrity. Like I said when we talked, you should not lie in person because you just don't have the face for it

(I harbor no ill feelings toward JHP, Shane or Tony. As well as being the trusting type, I'm the forgiving type as well. I just had to get this off my chest.)


Modified by George H at 4:05 PM 6/20/2007

 

fwiw, i have never purchased from jhp but do know others who have with similar experiences to yours...

 

That is pretty shady if you ask me. Good to know though.

 

would u buy from them again?

 

Wow... Glad it worked itself out. That's pretty damn sketchy though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by migs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Moral of the story: Look at your **** before you take it home. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Word.

I am never willing to hand over the cash without spending at least 40 minutes looking over the product if it costs me $.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97CWITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would u buy from them again?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont think he will unless he has to and does a 500 point inspection on the item before he leaves.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GO-FIGHT-KILL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow... Glad it worked itself out. That's pretty damn sketchy though.</TD></TR></TABLE>
i would just say its poor customer service.

 

Can't inspect things you need shipped to you. Anyway George good job on standing firm with them and not letting them push you around.

 

I think the situation could have been better handled by Tony initially because those responses are like adding fuel to a fire.


But for a resolution

 

to businesses like that...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Damon Reeves &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am never willing to hand over the cash without spending at least 40 minutes looking over the product if it costs me $. </TD></TR></TABLE>

But the product was stated to be BRAND NEW. If you can't buy BRAND NEW stuff from a shop without worrying then there is a serious problem.

 

I've bought from them many times with perfect results and will continue to buy from them in the future

 

i have gotten a lot of parts from them shipping was fast and in good condition but it makes me think twice now before buying from them now

 

thats crazy, i would have never expected that from them. glad to hear it was resolved

 

From reading your story, even though it showed you attempted to be unbiased in telling it, I would not buy from them if given the opportunity.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George H &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tony brought the seat out and asked me to inspect it. Since he stated it was brand new, I did not think to get a magnifying glass out to inspect it, but I glanced at the fabric side briefly and it seemed ok. A few minutes later, the seat was paid for and I was on my way home.

</TD></TR></TABLE>Tony obviously thought the seat was brand new as well, if he did not, then why would he ask you to inspect the seat before you purchased it? IMO, you are in the wrong for posting something like this. This whole problem could have been avoided if you did what you were asked to do. If I were going to spend that kind of money on a seat and had a chance to inspect it before purchasing it I would have taken that opportunity.

If you say you have no ill feelings against JHP/Tony then why was this thread made? Obviously you do have something against JHP/Tony if you're making a thread like this.

There's always two sides to a story, and it seems like you're making yourself the good person out of all of this, IMO, JHP/Tony comes out on top for giving you back your money especially after he told you that all cash sales are final...




Modified by Cacky_Who at 10:59 PM 6/19/2007

 

George,

I'm not even going to fully get into how furious I am that you made this post. Not just because it makes JHP look bad. But because your story is totally one sided and anyone that knows me knows that I am not a shady person.

With that said. This seat was brand new. No one here at the shop has mounted that seat or cares to mount that seat. From the damages you pointed it out it does look like it has been mounted but not from us. Gump (Darryl), Katman (Jason), Sheng and myself do not hold our reputation at the shop and on this forum by lying to customers and peers. Like you said, I don't have the poker face to lie and you're right. I had no need to. As the seat we purchased from King was new and never mounted, so we thought, and we had no reason to doubt that.

I will admit I was a little upset over the phone because you were just at the shop an hour before inspecting the seat and then called with accusations. I have no idea where you live. You really pointed a figure at us in the beginning and I didn't like that. So of course I'm going to be defensive. For items like the seat you purchased, carbon products, headlights, etcetera, I always have customers inspect them before they leave for that very reason. Which is what you did and why I was so shocked you called. Who's taking who for a ride?

You make it sound like the seat had cigarette burns and was dragged through the mud. The marks were very inconspicuous and really wouldn't have mattered either way if you planned on mounting the seat into your car and using it. Since your car sits in the garage and never gets driven I can understand your concern.

The only reason we decided to give you the refund was because that seat was the only S1-R seat we ever got in. We purchased the seat from King right when they came out and had Katman take pictures of it. Katman had archived the pictures and zoomed in on the marks, while you were in the shop, and we noticed that they were there before it was sold. I'm hoping someone from King will come forward and validate this as it does look very shady on our part.

George, I thought you had a lot more integrity than this. After we resolved this at the shop and you mentioned how grateful you were and you make a post like this. How is this a "bad business experience" if you tell us before you left our shop that you were not upset at all by the situation and that you would "definitely come back"?

I hope your chest feels better. I hate having to respond to these types of posts.

 

Why was this post even created ?

There was a misunderstanding, it got resolved, got the cash back.

So WTF is the problem again??

 

I've had good experience with JHPUSA and will continue to buy from them.

A post like this was not needed, if you needed it off your chest you should have wrote it on paper then tear it up and throw it away like your first grade teacher taught you to do!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vivid 02 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why was this post even created ?

There was a misunderstanding, it got resolved, got the cash back.

So WTF is the problem again??
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have to agree.

 

Sounds like King Motorsports is to blame, but I also think JHP should have made a better effort to get the customer in contact with the owner if that's indeed how it went down.

 

I've ordered from them plenty of times and will order again. If you got your money back I don't see the point of this thread.

Moderator approved? how is this ITR related?

 

sounds like a third party that isn't biased or people that aren't going to side either way needs to post

IMO photo's of the seat in question with the "damage" need to be posted.

to be fair, if the seats been mounted once and never been used then, unless you're intending to put it in a stand in your living room that isn't really much of an issue. as when the purchaser is mounting it they'll do the same damage over again.

in which case i wouldn't be bothered about that


however i WOULD be bothered about premature wear on the seat. could this be explained more? pictures?

i think the OP has over-reacted a bit, but to JHP, they DO have some cause for concern. even if they went about it in a bad way

 

He should have inspected it when given the chance before he took it home. Not only was it asked by Tony, anyone putting down a grand for a seat IMO should go over it with a magnifying glass