Todd11

DO NOT buy anything from JIC USA

Their customer service is unimaginably bad. If you get a bad part from them you are S.O.L. their policy is no return no mater what. You can send it back for repair or replacement and if they can't easily fix it, your out of luck.

I want everyone to know so you won't get burned like I did. I am going to join every car forum that JIC sells products for and let the world know.

If you are interested, here it what happened:
**I shortened it to make it a little easier to read**

I bought a JIC-Magic FLTA2 coilover suspension kit for my 2002 Acura RSX last June. The front left strut would not stay tight and back out every couple days. After several phone calls, e-mails, and digital photo's to Ben at JIC USA he finally agreed to send me a USED replacement locknut. Getting the replacement locknut was like pulling teeth. I had to pull the entire strut off, disassemble it and have the car re-aligned in order to replace the lock nut.

The strut would still not stay tight so I tried using Lock-Tite Blue. After that failed, Ben asked that I pull the strut off again and send it to them after the Sema trade show. I waited and called right before shipping it FedEx to expedite the process and make sure they could get right on it. Along with the parts I included a letter suggesting the problem appeared to be too much free play between the strut and the lower bracket and that thin locknut could not hold it tight.

After JIC USA received the parts and sat on it for two weeks Ben told me they had fixed it by surfacing the top of the lower bracket so the locknut would seat better. I told him that I was concerned that, that alone would not fix it and if he sent it back to me and it was still loosening up I would be furious and was going to expect a full refund and reimbursement for the three alignments, the shipping, and all the labor. He said we would talk about that later. Three weeks after shipping it to them, I got the parts back.

While installing the “repaired” left strut, I checked the right side. The locknut seemed tight by hand, but when I rocked the wheel I felt it move. I could see the strut rocking in the lower bracket. I used the spanner wrench to tighten it and the nut turned, so I kept tightening it, expecting it to stop turning. It did not stop turning, the nut stripped. I called Ben again and he told me it is impossible to strip the locknut. It is only three threads thick and made of aluminum, how is that impossible to strip.

My car sat for a couple weeks while I dealt with the stripped nut. Ben refused to give me a replacement, but offered to sell me one, that is their idea of working with me on the problem, sell replacement parts. After driving it for a couple days I rechecked the left side, the side they fixed. Sure enough it was loose, I tightened it again, drove the car and it was loose by the next day.

After this much trouble you would think they would be willing to take them back and refund my money. Well, you would be wrong like I was. They are willing to SELL you replacement parts, but no refunds, no returns, no reimbursement for shipping parts back to them, no help, no exceptions...NOTHING.



Modified by Todd11 at 11:53 PM 1/9/2004

Bbasso

Cliff notes, cause your long *** paragraph is hard to read

2kgs-R

Damn I'm sorry to hear this, but you should really do some research before purchasing expensive suspension parts like coilover systems. I'm not saying its your fault but I personally haven't heard too many good things about jic magic.

Like the previous poster said it's hard to read huge paragraphs like that, break em up or make cliff notes.

JjuuN R

sorry to hear about the problems, you posting on a ton of forums about this type of bullshit will definately show JIC usa who is boss as less and less people deal with them, good luck dude

Kicker773

hmm.. was about to pick up someone's jic from this forum...i guess imma stick with mah moogen's..

RGoose18

iTrader: (1)

That sucks man, if all else fails call a lawyer.

Ronin Panda

ive delt with JIC many times and ive never been un happy with out transactions

i have a jic magic bullet cat back on my car and after i bought it i called them because all of my hardware and gaskets were missing(i could have easily spent 5 bucks at the hardware store and said screw it) but i called them and told them what happened..they didnt ask for a order # or anything i just told them what exhaust i had and my adress and they shipped out the parts it took 3-4 days to get to me which didnt matetr because i wasnt in a hurry

i also called them one time to see if i could just buy certain parts for a custom exhaust i was thinking about building and they were very nice and i think i ended up talking to them for like 20 minutes about stupid stuff that didnt have anything to do with what i called for.

i think you just had a bad experience it happens to everyone everywhere

sqwerz

seems like you had just a bad experience..sometimes **** happens but you just cant dis a product for 1 particular incident...Never had a bad experience with JIC
JIC-USA

Todd11

I am not putting down JIC USA because of one bad experience. It has been bad experience after bad experience. Their idea of fixing the problem is to sell me more replacement parts and/or having me keep pulling my suspension apart and shipping it back to them so they can sit on if for a couple weeks and ship it back to me to re-install it, have my alignment done again and still have the same problem.

Yes, there is a good chance that I got coilovers from a bad batch. I could accept that, if they replaced them with working ones. Instead they tell me they have a no return policy no matter what. They even refuse to replace the stripped aluminum locknut. BTW after inspecting the stripped locknut I found only the tips of the threads sheared off, that means either the threaded strut body was too small in diameter of the locknut was too big. I told them that and they still refuse to do anything about it.

I am not some grumpy customer, flying off the handle at the first little problem. I have given them multiple chances to make it right and have had to fight for every crumb. I am done with JIC products and can't wait to take them off my car. I have a set of Endless Zeal V6 coilovers on the way.

Lucky-R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sqwerz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">seems like you had just a bad experience..sometimes **** happens but you just cant dis a product for 1 particular incident...Never had a bad experience with JIC
JIC-USA </TD></TR></TABLE>this has some truth to it, but you also have to consider the fact that the item in question involves one of their more expensive products and not some mass produced cheapy item off their catalogue. there's also the issue of safety, and if something terrible were to happen to this guy and his car even remotely connected to the problem he's describing, what would that say to the consumer considering jic products???

besides, if nobody says anything, then how can products and services improve???you would also be saving your fellow buyer the same headache that you endure now...and vice versa.

RyanR

I know a guy that road races with JIC coilovers on his Civic. The springs that came with the kit weren't working out for him. They were too short. He called up JIC and instead of giving him the right springs, they told him he had to buy some helper springs to raise them up. Cost him an extra $100. I have yet to hear anything good about JIC suspensions. I've had excellent experiances with Tein and Zeal.

Evs-One

Yellows and GC's...can never go wrong

acydphryck

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cliff notes, cause your long *** paragraph is hard to read </TD></TR></TABLE>

try reading it again...oh yea...and for JIC products...they can kiss my black a$$
that's why i use Tein
their US headquarters is like 30 mins. from my house and they treat me like a king

vtecvoodoo

That`s awful.

Buy American!

96 Ls lnTeG

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Emerika &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yellows and GC's...can never go wrong</TD></TR></TABLE>

Werd

bus stop

I guess you're not alone....I know someone also bought JIC for his RSX and having some problem as well. He told me JIC had fix his coilover twice and the problem is still there

dax-es

Just a quick question. Does anyone know the US laws regarding the manufacturer's liability. ie - fitness for a particular purpose and negligence? Also, is it legal to disallow a product return under these conditions as there's an implied warranty associated with it? I know JIC would have sold the suspension as race only, but from the sound of it, this batch wouldn't even work properly for a weekend.

Ill

This sucks. Hope it works out. You may have to sue them in small claims court to get your money back. I would look into that.

Thanks for sharing. I once considered JIC products, but was wary of the look of them, and the build quality. Now I am glad I went with my gut.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dax-es &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just a quick question. Does anyone know the US laws regarding the manufacturer's liability. ie - fitness for a particular purpose and negligence? Also, is it legal to disallow a product return under these conditions as there's an implied warranty associated with it? I know JIC would have sold the suspension as race only, but from the sound of it, this batch wouldn't even work properly for a weekend.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Fitness for a purpose is an extremely unclear and thorny legal issue, and way beyond the scope of a simple answer here. Negligence is difficult and complicated to prove. There usually has to be an injury first before you can get anything done in a court. You would have to sue in either case, and the lawyer fees would be much more than the shocks. An injury in a crash might be enough to sue, otherwise, forget it. Small claims is a good place where you can get your money back though, and it's pretty easy. PM me if you want info on the process.


I have dealt with a manufacturer in another industry on such an issue. Sounds like JIC is doing the same thing that was done to me when they know they are having a problem with their stuff: Deny everything, look like you are trying to fix it, stall, and make it difficult so the person will go away. They have the cash.

After what happened to me, I was shocked to find out how many complaints, problems, and terrible things people had to say about the company I dealt with. Yet they were still able to sell their products.

Knowledge is power, and I love the net for that. Fight and get the word out. The company will eventually either fix it or die. Good riddance.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cliff notes, cause your long *** paragraph is hard to read </TD></TR></TABLE>

I did not find his account difficult to read. It does seem to indicate he may have edited it for clarity tho. I thank him for sharing, and hope others will do the same when they get bad service. The pressure this creates can force change and restitution.

Bbasso

Sorry about that comment, my eyes must have been tired I can see and read it fine now.

sgT

From what I have seen, the build quality of JIC is better than the Tein and Zeal
setups sold here. Tein especially is more on the low end of the susp spectrum
as far as quality goes. Zeal is a notch above that. Buddy club is somewhere
in between. None of these are really serious setups. They must either be
incredibly cheap or incredibly JDM to warrant buying them. A set of shortened,
revalved koni yellows and ground controls will do the job better.

Im still wondering why people buy these things over a set of koni double
adjustable shocks, which should kick the crap out of about 90-95% of jdm
setups.

sjracer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Emerika &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yellows and GC's...can never go wrong</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sgT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im still wondering why people buy these things over a set of koni double
adjustable shocks, which should kick the crap out of about 90-95% of jdm
setups.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's easy. The Koni shocks for the RSX have had a lot of problems, and they give their owners a big fat headache.

&lt;---------- Coming from a RSX owner who is running Koni Sport struts and Skunk2 sleeves (skunk2 sucks also by the way, but that's another story.) with Eibach ERS springs.

By the way, i'm on my 3rd set of warrantied front struts and 2nd set of warrantied rear shocks right now. Fronts "had" (hopefully, since i'm not having any problems with them right now *knock on wood*) a leaking problem around the front adjuster, and the rears are still having problems with the rubber eye busing.

*Note* Koni has owned up to the problems and have been trying to fix all of the little bugs for the past year or so now. to Koni for actually caring about their customers. If any of you guys have installed or taken out the front Koni inserts on the RSX, you know it's a b!tch. I've done it more times then i can count.

Like i posted over at clubrsx Todd, good luck.

zeroryde

I've had the same problem with customer/tech support.... as whositr stated... nothing but aggrevation, but my problems actually got someone fired at JIC USA

Asahi

Did anyone notice all the problems seem to be RSX related?

Did you BUY them directly from JIC or from a distributor?

SleepnCiViC

i had a great experience w/ JIC. i bought used JIC coil overs for my 240sx. front 2 shocks were blown. so i ordered 2 replacment shock from JIC. when they arrived i noticed they wernt the correct lenght and would not slide in the coil over.

after sending thema photo of my situation they told me i had JDM coil over (happy face haha) So they told me to just shipp the new shocks they sent me and my 2 front coil overs and that they would do a little custom work to make them fit free of charge

i got them back, good as new. i was satisfied.

by the way Ben was the guy i delt w/ too

RyanR

Too many brainwashed people on here. SGT, have you ever drove a car with Koni Yellows and GC vs. a car with Tein or Zeal? I have. I have owned cars with Koni Yellows, Tein HA, RA, RE, RS and Zeal B6. Here's a list of best to just average. Ride quality is not a factor since I don't really care about it, just the performance.
Tein RS
Tein RE
Zeal B6
Tein RA
Tein HA
Konis
It seems as if all these people who argue that Koni is the hot ticket see that posted in the road racing forum. Hate to admit it but most of those guys have never ran a "JDM" suspension before. I'll let you know when I have someone running Koni yellows pass me on the track. That includes a couple supercharged NSX's.