Bought CAI from GMK

[nadthomas]

Finally, 5 months after paying money to GMK and being lied to several times I finally received my CAI. Just so people don't think I'm being outrageous calling GMK a liar I will detail the transaction, and each time he lied to me.

8/22/05 - (This one wasn't personally directed at me, but since it was addressed to all the people that purchased a CAI through the group buy, I am included.) GMK post in the GB thread that he ran out of short rams, and they will be in 8/24/05, but he will have the extensions done and they will ship out as soon as the short rams arrive.

9/5/05 - I sent GMK a PM to ask about the couplers and fitting on an SVT TB, and since I didn't receive mine yet I asked if he knew when it would be shipped. He answers my question and says that my intake will go out that week.

9/14/05 Still haven't received it, sent GMK PM asking about it.

9/20/05 No reply to the PM, send him another.

9/22/05 Says now that he's back from NOPI, he should have it boxed up and ready to ship tomorrow.

9/30/05 - Sent another PM to GMK after not receiving CAI.

10/1/05 - Tells me 2 wheel studs broke on his car, and he couldn't make it to the post office. But assures me its done, boxed up and ready to ship. Also invites me to the CEG Dragon run, and says he will install it for me there if I attend.

10/1/05 - I reply letting him know, I will not be going to the CEG Dragon run, and would like it shipped as soon as possible.( I will say this reply could have been lost due to the old forum issues)

While the forums were down - I talk to GMK on AIM for about 20 minutes talking about why the forums are down so long, the Dragon run, and the status of my CAI. He again invites me to the Dragon run, and I tell him I will not be going. He tells me again my intake is boxed up and ready to go, and will go out Tuesday or Thursday next week, as those are the only two days he can get to the post office.

10/31/05 - GMK posts in the GB thread that his computer crashed, and that the shipping information was lost, and to email him our info to his gmail account if you have not received your CAI. I send him the requested info.

11/27/05 - Sent GMK an email to his gmail account asking about the status of my CAI. No reply.

12/3/05 - Transaction GI8U2racing's feed back thread I post saying I still have not received mine either.

12/3/05 - GMK says I need to PM him my info again and my CAI will be shipped in a week. So, I PM him my info again.

12/10/05 - I finally receive my CAI.

While, yes I did finally receive my intake, but I was lied to numerous times during the process. This doesn’t fly with me. Additionally, I can understand some of the delays due to running short on supplies, the forums crashing, having car problems, and his computer crashing, but I do find it interesting that GMK also found time to go to CougarFest, prep his car for NOPI, go to NOPI, and attend the CEG Dragon run. When I paid for this intake it was Sunny and 80 degrees outside, and I was in the middle of replacing my engine, but due to these delays I was forced to buy another cheap intake off ebay, and it is now 20 degrees and snowing outside. I wil not be able to install this for another 4-5 months now. This has been by far the worst NECO transaction I have ever had, and I have others that are still unresolved, but this one has been the worst. I will never buy from GMK again, and I suggest others do the same.

[Moraki]

Took me about 8 months. I didnt pursue this as aggressively as you did. And I'm not as perturbed as you are. But i do think GMK did not try very hard to get these out.

While it is cold here... i installed it already... it was 17 degrees outside at the time.

[nadthomas]

I wouldn't have pursued this nearly as much, if GMK wouldn't have told me it was going to be shipped out. I had to keep following up with him to make sure it didn't get lost in shipping. I have had a number of issues with shipping companies recently so I have very little trust for them right now.

[Moraki]

Im not saying you shouldnt have pursued him... im just lazy is all. Personally i think its wrong to take money up front if your going to take so long to produce something like this. Maybe he should adopt a different business model... make them at the pace he wants and/ or has time to, then sell what he has made... you know like the rest of the world.

[fordrule]

i am still waiting since june for mine. do u have pics of ur cai

[fordrule]

its been 6months for me. he said it will be before the first of the year.....come on kenny keep our faith in you

[Topik]

Kenny is doing his best im sure. He is quite the busy guy. The quality of his CAI is well worth the wait IMO. Anyways look at the bright side, hes still keeping contact via PMs with you.

[fordrule]

i am just whining i am not pissed yet. he would get a not so nice phone call from me. i am mainly busting his balls . i know he does good work and just sitting here nicely waiting for him. hell with this long of a wait i should get free install also.....lol

[JScullin]

This is one of those problems when dealing with people who run businesses out of their garage (not literally, just a phrase).

Since they're not dedicated to it for 8hrs a day and have things like a f/t job an do other stuff in their personal lives they lose track of time. A prime example of this is powdercoatingworld.

The best you can do is call or email every other day for an update. If you want a refund then I would try calling every day until you get a response.


As for GMK, I would focus on building a batch and selling those instead of the build-to-order route.

[BackE1]

I ordered my GMK in the summer, got the first intake a month after school started, (so I wasn't home to see it) When I got home it was not what I expected, the pipes had sharp edges with burrs from cutting, the couplers and filter were the wrong color, the filter was all smashed up and the pipes were dented.
I contacted Kenneth and he paid for most of the return shipping. Then another few months went by and nothing, no response to email, finally he responds and said I should have gotten my intake months ago, (not even remember I sent back the first one to be exchanged).
So I explained and he remembered... then he said it would be shipped out that week... nope, after a month of emailing him with no response again he finally shipped it out, 6 months after he had my money...

I asked him to please ship the exchange to my house at school since I am not at my moms house during school, mom calls me one day tell me I have a package. So I had to wait again till I got home to make sure it was the right color and of better quality. Finally get home from school and open the box, the pipe ends are smashed from being shipped in too small of a box, filter is still the wrong color, the couplers are too big, the hose clamps just pinch and you can see right through them...
I gave up so I am going to try to make this intake work on my own.

I also will never do business with Kenneth again!

[Knight]

I also will never do business with Kenneth again!

:confused: http://www.newcougar.org/forums/showthread.php?p=881924#post881924 :confused:

[james99]

hahahaha i saw the same thing.

[BackE1]

ya, i wanted to see if it was the whole intake or just the pipe to see maybe if i can get my dented pipe replace with something that cant dent so he can't screw me over for a third time.

[Topik]

Kenny doesn't do this stuff full time and does do this out of his own home. You shouldn't expect so much from one guy who has several hundred people from CEG and NECO asking him for intakes.

Im only posting because I am a former customer of Kennys and he has been nothing but good with service to me, all the people I am involved with on NECO, and several people I didn't know at cougarfest that got intakes installed by him until 8 AM the next day.

[Jaguars]

I'm going with a GMK CAI. I think its really awesome we have members who do this for other members to begin with. I really don't give a **** what anyones opinion of him may be. He is a cool guy, he makes an awesome CAI, and not only that its a way to give back to the NECO community (and get an awesome CAI for your car at the same time).

[J-Man]

Im only posting because I am a former customer of Kennys and he has been nothing but good with service to me, all the people I am involved with on NECO, and several people I didn't know at cougarfest that got intakes installed by him until 8 AM the next day.

hey now! it was 8:30:biggrin:

[BackE1]

Well I guess if I had a cougar it would be different? I gave him a chance to fix his problem which he didn't. Before I ordered I research a ton to see that he was the best and the I shouldn't order the c.c. copy it was is not fair to him since he designed the intake. That’s why I spent more money to buy from him thinking I would get better quality. I was wrong...way wrong

[Topik]

Well I guess if I had a cougar it would be different?

give him a break, if anything he fancys contours MORE than cougars.You need to lighten up.

Kenny keep doing good work for us man.

[JScullin]

Issue ended. If you have your own transaction problem make a separete thread.