ANOTHER Bad Experience With DPI
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C. Robert Krause
Apr 23, 2013, 2:53:32 PM4/23/13
to dmctoday
I wanted to share this story from DMCTalk of another person who was screwed over by Josh at DPI for the benefit of those who are banned and cannot view the site.
My dealings with DPI.
I'm sure many of you have seen my epic battle to return my car to the road. Initially this started with my own attempt at an EFI conversion.
Initially successful, I turned the car over to a local tuning shop to have them tune the car.
At one point the car stopped running. The motor was at fault.
One option the shop had given me was a possible engine swap with a transmission swap as well, or rebuild my own engine.
When I posted this on DmcTalk.com back in 2009. Josh Bengston had contacted me. He offered to look at my car and get the 3.0 motor running and tuned. First however he would do a very detailed inspection. He requested that I send all items with the car, so I did as instructed. Being I had just placed the motor in the car it had all new sensors, new engine cover (Eagle), with the Delorean badge, and my laptop.
A customer I had at Firestone agreed to transport my car to and from Ohio. The full charge (being that I knew him) was $600. And he wouldn't charge me for the return trip.
Once my car arrived at DPI in February of 2010 I was sent an email by Josh a few weeks later with the condition of the car. He gave me an estimate for the motor, tuning, EDIS system, coolant system overhaul, and misc jobs such as the oil change and wiring.
I agreed to this, with the understanding I couldn't pay the full bill up front. So our agreement was I would pay whatever I could each month until I could secure full payment.
The first year Josh was very quick to get back to me about progress of my car, he even called me to report in that summer of 2010 he had the wiring sorted out.
I made sure that he knew to only do what I could afford that month.
Due to some health issues that arose with a family member. I had to stop having the car worked on. Because of this I asked Josh if he wanted me to transport the car out of his shop so it would not be in the way. He declined.
So since the car was taking up space I offered to pay $200 a month storage, to which Josh agreed.
Unreturned messages and unreturned phone calls began to happen very often at this point.
I applied for a loan in the fall of 2011, and sent Josh an email saying that within a week I should have a verdict on what they would give me. In this time Josh said the car would also need a brake overhaul in order to safely drive the car, to which I agreed. If this attempt at a loan did not go through I would figure out another form of payment or if the car could be returned, I would take it incomplete
and return it once I was able to afford the payments. Keeping in mind the only work done was what was paid for and no more. Josh agreed to these terms.
That fall (same week as the bank) I received a message on Facebook from Josh demanding the remaining balance be paid. I went back and forth with Josh on Facebook since I was right in the middle of the loan. I would have an answer on Monday but he wanted full payment before the weekend. Another option was if I gave him my car. He also said if the car was to stay there be was changing the terms to $50 a day to hold the car.
Those terms were unacceptable.
When I asked just to have my car turned over not finished he said he could not do that, breaking yet another agreement. When I inquired as to why, he stated that I still owed several thousands of dollars for completed work.
This confused me because I said to only do what I paid for.
Once I was given approval for the loan I immediately contacted Josh and sent him the remaining funds to finish the car. He assured me that the car would be finished before January of 2012. Therefore, I had arranged a pick up date for the first week of 2012.
I made several calls the week before with no answer.
The second week Josh called me back and stated the car wasn't done and needed some extra time. Being in the auto repair field, I was understanding. He also stated the AC compressor was locked up and needed to be replaced. Since I now had funds, I said to do all work that needed to be completed, as long as the car is running.
The next date the car would be ready would be March of 2012. In this time Josh had ignored most of my phone calls, as I had yet to receive an invoice for the AC compressor.
Once Josh got back to me, he said the engine which he installed and ran in my car ( keep in mind he stated he installed and ran an engine in my car) that this motor was no good as well.
Working at a garage myself I understand hang ups happen.
Josh said he would replace that engine and call me as soon as it was done.
I didn't hear back for some time. After repeated phone calls
he had told me that his shop was broken into. Tools and a trailer were stolen. Another excuse was a film crew had held up work at his shop as well.
At this point it was mid 2012 and the car was suppose to be returned January, March, May, June, July. Now The end of the summer is when it would be done. Josh had asked me if he could replace the suspension as well. At this point I said no, and wanted the car fished since I had to turn my other car in to the garage for much needed work.
I said I just want to have the car running and tuned and I would take care of the laundry list of safety issues.
Josh agreed.
After failed attempts at getting a hold of Josh I sat and wrote a long letter saying it was best to have the car returned and we would work out the difference in cost.
I stated I would have the car finished somewhere else since I am now not only working but in school.
Josh got back to me immediately and said the second motor he put in was also no good. So he now claimed the vehicle would be finished in December of 2012. I said I would give him until January 2013 and I would be out to get it.
If it was not finished I gave Josh several ways to work this out.
I arrived to pick the car up in January of 2013, to find it not only NOT running, but also lacking the majority of wiring.
Josh said he would send me a new invoice justifying the cost of the total of $13,000.
Once I got the car back home (which cost me $300 since the person who first took it out could not bring it back)
We went through the entire car, and as Josh admitted the wiring was not completed.
Josh also said he would help me with getting the car put back together. He also said he would replace my laptop since he lost mine, and replace my trunk carpet since it was missing.
After spending hours following Josh instructions he left taped to several wires, we tried to start the car and immediately it shut down.
We found the majority of ground wires weren't attached to anything they were hidden along with other sensor wires under tape in the harness which we had to rebuild . So this blew up out the ECU. For his negligence he replaced the ECU at his cost with one that had a marked up case and missing serial number. Although he claimed the one I sent back as able to start and run a car.
In the meantime he sent me the updated invoice which still had a charge over $800 + $400 for the wiring, which he admitted to not completing. Once we fixed all of he issues Josh left me with the wiring, we filled the car with coolant (since I allowed him to over haul the entire coolant system) and coolant started shooting out of the front of the car.
The upper hose on the radiator on the passenger side wasn't attached at all. It was missing. So I had to install another one. Once that was taken care of and the motor was getting hot we noticed oil leaking from the timing cover as well.
Once the car was idling smooth coolant started to form under the intake.
We pulled that and fixed that as well. The clamp
Was never tightened down.
When I called Josh for further diag help he wouldn't get back to me. His reply was I should be doing this on my own and not at work. He also informed me that wiring which he screwed up, he told me wasn't rocket science to figure out...
Some customer service. Not only did I get back a car with work not completed, failed parts, missing parts, and a year late, I wasn't working to the conditions Josh liked.
After these items were fixed we had the car running.
Josh informed me my battery wires would need to be replaced. So we looked at those since we lost all power.
During inspection we found they weren't on all the way, the nut was loose on the starter.
When we tried to tighten the nut it just spun in place.
So we found it was stripped. We had to pull the starter and it will need to be replaced as well. Yet another issue.
I reported all of these issues to Josh about his work. Normally I know he has an excellent reputation, and some work was done very well. The rest left me with more bills which should have been fixed to begin with.
I attempted to contact Josh multiple times daily, between phone calls, txts, emails, Facebook messages etc...
I have most of the messages saved since 2009. And pictures of before and after plus the areas noted. As well as the conflicting invoices.
After seeing Josh does not care to fix his work, or return my personal property, I turned everything over the the Better business bureau in Akron. He declined to work with them as well.
Obviously my property needs to be returned, as well as being compensated for the faulty and incomplete work.
I'm working on my next step now.
I'm still willing to let Josh fix his mistakes and keep this between us. However it is not right to take advantage of customer.
-Darryl
I'm sure many of you have seen my epic battle to return my car to the road. Initially this started with my own attempt at an EFI conversion.
Initially successful, I turned the car over to a local tuning shop to have them tune the car.
At one point the car stopped running. The motor was at fault.
One option the shop had given me was a possible engine swap with a transmission swap as well, or rebuild my own engine.
When I posted this on DmcTalk.com back in 2009. Josh Bengston had contacted me. He offered to look at my car and get the 3.0 motor running and tuned. First however he would do a very detailed inspection. He requested that I send all items with the car, so I did as instructed. Being I had just placed the motor in the car it had all new sensors, new engine cover (Eagle), with the Delorean badge, and my laptop.
A customer I had at Firestone agreed to transport my car to and from Ohio. The full charge (being that I knew him) was $600. And he wouldn't charge me for the return trip.
Once my car arrived at DPI in February of 2010 I was sent an email by Josh a few weeks later with the condition of the car. He gave me an estimate for the motor, tuning, EDIS system, coolant system overhaul, and misc jobs such as the oil change and wiring.
I agreed to this, with the understanding I couldn't pay the full bill up front. So our agreement was I would pay whatever I could each month until I could secure full payment.
The first year Josh was very quick to get back to me about progress of my car, he even called me to report in that summer of 2010 he had the wiring sorted out.
I made sure that he knew to only do what I could afford that month.
Due to some health issues that arose with a family member. I had to stop having the car worked on. Because of this I asked Josh if he wanted me to transport the car out of his shop so it would not be in the way. He declined.
So since the car was taking up space I offered to pay $200 a month storage, to which Josh agreed.
Unreturned messages and unreturned phone calls began to happen very often at this point.
I applied for a loan in the fall of 2011, and sent Josh an email saying that within a week I should have a verdict on what they would give me. In this time Josh said the car would also need a brake overhaul in order to safely drive the car, to which I agreed. If this attempt at a loan did not go through I would figure out another form of payment or if the car could be returned, I would take it incomplete
and return it once I was able to afford the payments. Keeping in mind the only work done was what was paid for and no more. Josh agreed to these terms.
That fall (same week as the bank) I received a message on Facebook from Josh demanding the remaining balance be paid. I went back and forth with Josh on Facebook since I was right in the middle of the loan. I would have an answer on Monday but he wanted full payment before the weekend. Another option was if I gave him my car. He also said if the car was to stay there be was changing the terms to $50 a day to hold the car.
Those terms were unacceptable.
When I asked just to have my car turned over not finished he said he could not do that, breaking yet another agreement. When I inquired as to why, he stated that I still owed several thousands of dollars for completed work.
This confused me because I said to only do what I paid for.
Once I was given approval for the loan I immediately contacted Josh and sent him the remaining funds to finish the car. He assured me that the car would be finished before January of 2012. Therefore, I had arranged a pick up date for the first week of 2012.
I made several calls the week before with no answer.
The second week Josh called me back and stated the car wasn't done and needed some extra time. Being in the auto repair field, I was understanding. He also stated the AC compressor was locked up and needed to be replaced. Since I now had funds, I said to do all work that needed to be completed, as long as the car is running.
The next date the car would be ready would be March of 2012. In this time Josh had ignored most of my phone calls, as I had yet to receive an invoice for the AC compressor.
Once Josh got back to me, he said the engine which he installed and ran in my car ( keep in mind he stated he installed and ran an engine in my car) that this motor was no good as well.
Working at a garage myself I understand hang ups happen.
Josh said he would replace that engine and call me as soon as it was done.
I didn't hear back for some time. After repeated phone calls
he had told me that his shop was broken into. Tools and a trailer were stolen. Another excuse was a film crew had held up work at his shop as well.
At this point it was mid 2012 and the car was suppose to be returned January, March, May, June, July. Now The end of the summer is when it would be done. Josh had asked me if he could replace the suspension as well. At this point I said no, and wanted the car fished since I had to turn my other car in to the garage for much needed work.
I said I just want to have the car running and tuned and I would take care of the laundry list of safety issues.
Josh agreed.
After failed attempts at getting a hold of Josh I sat and wrote a long letter saying it was best to have the car returned and we would work out the difference in cost.
I stated I would have the car finished somewhere else since I am now not only working but in school.
Josh got back to me immediately and said the second motor he put in was also no good. So he now claimed the vehicle would be finished in December of 2012. I said I would give him until January 2013 and I would be out to get it.
If it was not finished I gave Josh several ways to work this out.
I arrived to pick the car up in January of 2013, to find it not only NOT running, but also lacking the majority of wiring.
Josh said he would send me a new invoice justifying the cost of the total of $13,000.
Once I got the car back home (which cost me $300 since the person who first took it out could not bring it back)
We went through the entire car, and as Josh admitted the wiring was not completed.
Josh also said he would help me with getting the car put back together. He also said he would replace my laptop since he lost mine, and replace my trunk carpet since it was missing.
After spending hours following Josh instructions he left taped to several wires, we tried to start the car and immediately it shut down.
We found the majority of ground wires weren't attached to anything they were hidden along with other sensor wires under tape in the harness which we had to rebuild . So this blew up out the ECU. For his negligence he replaced the ECU at his cost with one that had a marked up case and missing serial number. Although he claimed the one I sent back as able to start and run a car.
In the meantime he sent me the updated invoice which still had a charge over $800 + $400 for the wiring, which he admitted to not completing. Once we fixed all of he issues Josh left me with the wiring, we filled the car with coolant (since I allowed him to over haul the entire coolant system) and coolant started shooting out of the front of the car.
The upper hose on the radiator on the passenger side wasn't attached at all. It was missing. So I had to install another one. Once that was taken care of and the motor was getting hot we noticed oil leaking from the timing cover as well.
Once the car was idling smooth coolant started to form under the intake.
We pulled that and fixed that as well. The clamp
Was never tightened down.
When I called Josh for further diag help he wouldn't get back to me. His reply was I should be doing this on my own and not at work. He also informed me that wiring which he screwed up, he told me wasn't rocket science to figure out...
Some customer service. Not only did I get back a car with work not completed, failed parts, missing parts, and a year late, I wasn't working to the conditions Josh liked.
After these items were fixed we had the car running.
Josh informed me my battery wires would need to be replaced. So we looked at those since we lost all power.
During inspection we found they weren't on all the way, the nut was loose on the starter.
When we tried to tighten the nut it just spun in place.
So we found it was stripped. We had to pull the starter and it will need to be replaced as well. Yet another issue.
I reported all of these issues to Josh about his work. Normally I know he has an excellent reputation, and some work was done very well. The rest left me with more bills which should have been fixed to begin with.
I attempted to contact Josh multiple times daily, between phone calls, txts, emails, Facebook messages etc...
I have most of the messages saved since 2009. And pictures of before and after plus the areas noted. As well as the conflicting invoices.
After seeing Josh does not care to fix his work, or return my personal property, I turned everything over the the Better business bureau in Akron. He declined to work with them as well.
Obviously my property needs to be returned, as well as being compensated for the faulty and incomplete work.
I'm working on my next step now.
I'm still willing to let Josh fix his mistakes and keep this between us. However it is not right to take advantage of customer.
-Darryl
Stephen Rice
Apr 23, 2013, 3:06:31 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
I'm not getting in the middle of this but should anyone want to read the details (including what Josh had to say) you can find it at http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6878-Issues-with-a-vendor-missing-property-and-faulty-work&highlight=darryl
-Steve Rice
Proudly banned from DMCTalk
#16510
C. Robert Krause
Apr 23, 2013, 3:11:01 PM4/23/13
to dmctoday
I wanted to share this, as it's disturbing to see that I'm not the only individual who's lost a considerable sum of money dealing with Josh.
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roth...@suddenlink.net
Apr 23, 2013, 3:12:05 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
The biggest mistake I see is sending the car away to be worked on.
I like to do all of my work myself or in my supervision. I am no car mechanic, but I can figure things out and with the internet there is a way to figure out almost everything. That being said, some people don't have time. If you don't have much time then just stretch the project out for the time that you do have and become friends with or hire a mobile mechanic that will come assist you when you can work on your car.
Especially with these DeLoreans, there is usually ample help out there online and from a local D club.
It sucks to have a story like the one posted.
I like to do all of my work myself or in my supervision. I am no car mechanic, but I can figure things out and with the internet there is a way to figure out almost everything. That being said, some people don't have time. If you don't have much time then just stretch the project out for the time that you do have and become friends with or hire a mobile mechanic that will come assist you when you can work on your car.
Especially with these DeLoreans, there is usually ample help out there online and from a local D club.
It sucks to have a story like the one posted.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
From: "C. Robert Krause" <lord...@gmail.com>
Sender: dmct...@googlegroups.com
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:53:32 -0500
To: dmctoday<dmct...@googlegroups.com>
ReplyTo: dmct...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [DMCToday] ANOTHER Bad Experience With DPI
--
C. Robert Krause
Apr 23, 2013, 3:13:50 PM4/23/13
to dmctoday
I posted my story earlier here:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5602-Chad-vs-DPI-Discussions-***Split-from-other-threads***
To which I was met with criticisms and blind devotion to Josh despite no personal experience. It seems to me that his true character is finally showing through.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5602-Chad-vs-DPI-Discussions-***Split-from-other-threads***
To which I was met with criticisms and blind devotion to Josh despite no personal experience. It seems to me that his true character is finally showing through.
Dpi
Apr 23, 2013, 3:15:47 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
Now chad... When you can't pay your bills things tend to go sideways. Same result as with the current complaint. The funds were just not there.
I will not start a fight over this again. But I will clearly state that I did you a favor by returning the second car to you. It was in my right to lien and sell both due to not being able to make your payments. Lets drop it an leave it in the past.
Must be doing something right here as both "negative" situations boil down to financial issues on the owners side. Everyone else is quite satisfied.
Josh Bengston
President
Delorean Performance Industries
433 Munroe Falls Road
Tallmadge Ohio 44278
roth...@suddenlink.net
Apr 23, 2013, 3:26:02 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
I have to agree with DPI on this part, he does have a right to lien the cars and sell them.
I have a friend with a Jetski shop and people always do this to him. Funniest part is that he makes more parting the jetskis out!
I have a friend with a Jetski shop and people always do this to him. Funniest part is that he makes more parting the jetskis out!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
From: Dpi <deloreanperfor...@gmail.com>
Sender: dmct...@googlegroups.com
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:15:47 -0400
ReplyTo: dmct...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [DMCToday] Re: ANOTHER Bad Experience With DPI
Bill Robertson
Apr 23, 2013, 4:19:02 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
Oh my, no matter whodunnit I think we have found posts even longer than Robert (DMCVegas) writes.
My beef is owners who pay someone else to work on their car, then look down their noses at owners who do their own work. For example, it takes some balls (small ones apparently) for "Accipter" to wage a personal vendetta against me when his own car is reportedly a rolling basket case. Same with Mike Lund (his engine compartment has been described as "throwing up on itself"). I may be poor, ugly, and stupid, but I do at least have a drivable DeLorean.
Darren Decker really got under my skin once when an owner of a work in progress came to one of his gatherings. Darren was as pleasant as can be while the owner was there, then talked all sorts of smack about his car after he left. FU Darren -- not everyone has thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to pour into a car that was a POS even when brand spanking new out the factory door (or out the QAC door as it were). Gossip: Darren's mother told me herself that she owns VIN 5000, not Darren. Consider this: if Darren and I were to wrap our cars around telephone poles tomorrow, both of us would be left with equally worthless piles of plastic that even a recycling center won't accept. I haven't been to one of his gatherings since. As bad as New Jersey ass wholes are, I'd rather drive four states away to hang out with them than drive 100 miles to Darren's house.
</rant>
Bill.
My beef is owners who pay someone else to work on their car, then look down their noses at owners who do their own work. For example, it takes some balls (small ones apparently) for "Accipter" to wage a personal vendetta against me when his own car is reportedly a rolling basket case. Same with Mike Lund (his engine compartment has been described as "throwing up on itself"). I may be poor, ugly, and stupid, but I do at least have a drivable DeLorean.
Darren Decker really got under my skin once when an owner of a work in progress came to one of his gatherings. Darren was as pleasant as can be while the owner was there, then talked all sorts of smack about his car after he left. FU Darren -- not everyone has thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to pour into a car that was a POS even when brand spanking new out the factory door (or out the QAC door as it were). Gossip: Darren's mother told me herself that she owns VIN 5000, not Darren. Consider this: if Darren and I were to wrap our cars around telephone poles tomorrow, both of us would be left with equally worthless piles of plastic that even a recycling center won't accept. I haven't been to one of his gatherings since. As bad as New Jersey ass wholes are, I'd rather drive four states away to hang out with them than drive 100 miles to Darren's house.
</rant>
Bill.
Stephen Rice
Apr 23, 2013, 4:24:49 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
I for one enjoyed Darren's tech sesison. He was super kind to me and I even installed a $20 eBay antenna in one of his fancy cars. What disturbed me was how everyone was so excited to dance to a songe with the lyrics "Hey, Shake, Shake, Shake, With the terrorists, Hey, with terrorists, Hey, Hey".
They looked at me like I was out of my mind when I refused to take part in that video.
-Steve Rice
Proudly banned from DMCTalk
#16510
Bill Robertson
Apr 23, 2013, 4:30:04 PM4/23/13
to dmct...@googlegroups.com
Darren is two faced. He doesn't talk smack until you're gone.
Bill.
Bill.
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