Volvo C30 2.0D "Shark Performance" nightmare!

[shark90]

Originally Posted by yalrafai

Why the "lol"? Yes it cost me c. £2k to get my ecu reset by volvo amogst other things, why is that funny to you? If you read the volvo report that has been posted on this thread they themselves even said the damage was most likely caused by the shark map so why like Cheshired5 are you licking their arse?

We had already reset your ECU for you, totally back to standard, for free. I've made this clear before.

[shark90]

Originally Posted by iantowil

For me Shark have removed the map, but kept his money. Why should they keep his money for something he no longer has.

The service that we offer was performed and accepted, a remap is not a product that can be returned and put back on a shelf. I don't have exact timeframes of when the customer suggested there was a problem our advice was not heeded within an acceptable time.

The remap was carried out on 24/08 and came back on 16/10 for diagnostics. Remaps don't change or wear out but cars and their components do, so if it was down to the map surely it would take less than 7 and a half weeks to report a problem and and bring it back? Edit: Just been reminded in another post that the customer said in this thread that the engine management light had been on since the remap. If so, why leave it so long?

The customer had no interest in us fixing it for him and said his local garage could fix it, which they didn't. The advice given was free, the diagnostic scan was free yet neither were taken any notice of? We returned the car back to standard, for free (the same as what Volvo seemingly charged £££ for) and the fault was still present.

So please tell me, do you work for free? I don't. Would you like to give all that time (and remember, time=money) FOC, especially when your advice has not been heeded and then the customer, having not heeded that advice goes onto a public forum, posts half of the story and tries to get potential customers of ours to be put off using us by moaning about the "customer service" he received?

I'll do all the above, and spend hours on the forum explaining it all, causing arguments with my mrs because I'm on a "bloody forum" at all sorts of hours, offering for the customer to contact us because he repeatedly ignored our calls, THEN offer the customer a refund? I don't think so. I'm a human being and my response to that is a negative I'm afraid. I will not be bullied, not by one customer, or a forum full of potential ones (or in your case, not even a potential one it seems), and if I don't think it's right, then as the MD of Shark Performance I will make the decision to not offer a refund. This is a matter of principle, not £314.25 (of which £52.37 goes to the government, so in reality to refund this gentleman would only have cost us £261.88).

If the customer has approached this situation in a different way, accepted our advice, or perhaps even CONTACTED US then this may have played out a bit differently.

I hope that clears things up for you.

[don kalmar union]

I have to say that Shark are a highly respected competitor of mine and I find much of the content of this long and widely read thread pretty foul and quite unacceptable.

Don.

[paddyred]

I have been following this thread for a while trying not to be involved and biting my tongue but I cant do it anymore. The remap shark provided is not the paid for item so it shouldn't be refunded, the multiple man hours (most of which provided at no cost) are the paid for items here. Shark has every right to refuse to refund it considering the amount of time the customer was AWOL for. I have had cars remapped by different companies and they have offered a 14 day cool off where I can go back for a refund and have the map taken off. If I went back 6-7 weeks later then I would be laughed at. If the lights were on and it was smoking/running rough then turn around and go back. Shark may have even said on your return that it is a "ECU learning" issue and you need to wait it out and you would have had a little more of a case here. You haven't got any case in reality, you refuse to talk to the company and have spent months slagging them off because your car is broken.
Then you come back and say that your car is fixed by a magical box of resistors with a switch on it?? Are you insane?! The box is just taking your MAF sensor readings and making the engine think it has colder air and maybe if the manufacturer is feeling ballsy then they take the fuel pressure reading and make it look a tiny bit lower so the engine pumps up the pressure more. It will not adjust the turbo actuation etc that a remap will do. If a couple of resistors connected to a rotary selection switch (Maybe it has a few LED's too for an under bonnet disco?) have fixed your fuel pressure and gearbox mechanical issues then it must be magical and runs off unicorn horn.

On a side note I will be selling my own tuning boxes labelled "Placebo XXX GTR spinny turbo time" priced at £70 with free postage (seems the least I can do at £5 a unit manufacture cost!)

Also in relation to smoking. Every diesel I have ever seen remapped smokes a little more. Thats a fact. Fast diesels with more power smoke, ever seen tractor pulling? No smoke, no poke!

[850Chris]

Originally Posted by shark90

Hi Chris

Blame me! Well, you can blame Carl a little bit to be honest. Parcel has been out to you twice and is back out yet again today, this time we have made sure your name and telephone number were on it because it didn't print on the label. It'll get there if I have to deliver it myself at this rate!

Also thanks to the time it's taken, I've had the opportunity to already make the software for your car and the Handheld is already preconfigured ready for use, so you can just plug it in and flash the car without having to wait for your maps back from us. So whilst I appreciate the delay is annoying and I understand your frustration, there's no 24/48hr delay once you've received the unit so hopefully that numbs the annoyance of the delay for you.

Cheers

Ben

Thanks Ben / Carl,

Happy with this and I'll confirm once STS received.

Chris

[NickP]

I nipped down to Shark Performance last week for oil, fiter, plugs and cambelt kit and water pump. All sorted, with a friendly team and a comfortable waiting environment. They identified some worn out bushes on my front LCAs too. I'll probably go back to Shark to get those done.

Ben - can you send me a price on that job please? I didn't get a price from Carl while I was there.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by NickP

I nipped down to Shark Performance last week for oil, fiter, plugs and cambelt kit and water pump.

I didn't know Shark sold genuine Volvo timing kits and water pumps.
What are the prices like?

[iantowil]

Originally Posted by shark90

The service that we offer was performed and accepted, a remap is not a product that can be returned and put back on a shelf. I don't have exact timeframes of when the customer suggested there was a problem our advice was not heeded within an acceptable time.

The remap was carried out on 24/08 and came back on 16/10 for diagnostics. Remaps don't change or wear out but cars and their components do, so if it was down to the map surely it would take less than 7 and a half weeks to report a problem and and bring it back? Edit: Just been reminded in another post that the customer said in this thread that the engine management light had been on since the remap. If so, why leave it so long?

The customer had no interest in us fixing it for him and said his local garage could fix it, which they didn't. The advice given was free, the diagnostic scan was free yet neither were taken any notice of? We returned the car back to standard, for free (the same as what Volvo seemingly charged £££ for) and the fault was still present.

So please tell me, do you work for free? I don't. Would you like to give all that time (and remember, time=money) FOC, especially when your advice has not been heeded and then the customer, having not heeded that advice goes onto a public forum, posts half of the story and tries to get potential customers of ours to be put off using us by moaning about the "customer service" he received?

I'll do all the above, and spend hours on the forum explaining it all, causing arguments with my mrs because I'm on a "bloody forum" at all sorts of hours, offering for the customer to contact us because he repeatedly ignored our calls, THEN offer the customer a refund? I don't think so. I'm a human being and my response to that is a negative I'm afraid. I will not be bullied, not by one customer, or a forum full of potential ones (or in your case, not even a potential one it seems), and if I don't think it's right, then as the MD of Shark Performance I will make the decision to not offer a refund. This is a matter of principle, not £314.25 (of which £52.37 goes to the government, so in reality to refund this gentleman would only have cost us £261.88).

If the customer has approached this situation in a different way, accepted our advice, or perhaps even CONTACTED US then this may have played out a bit differently.

I hope that clears things up for you.

I have to say a pretty good answer. A few things:

1. Its your policy not to give a refund if the customer is not happy, simple as that. The bull about a remap is a service not a product is utter nonsense (not sure your view, but many on here have stated this, and I think you did around Christmas - apologies if not) - it's a product that doesn't need to go back on the shelf - which just saves your business valuable shelf space. Lucky for you.

2. The work you did for free is I guess what you would normally do if anyone experiences problems with your map. There has to be a duty of care and some ownership from you as a business that your product works as it should, so the advice, diagnostic, and removal I guess would probably be expected if problems are encountered after loading the new map.

3. As a business, there are going to be times when things do not work out and don't always give you a profit. Not great, but that's the way it is. The risk of this is usually built into the price of the product or products you sell.

4. Did you see this coming? Sometimes it is better to cut and run and avoid all this, even if because it is just not worth the time and energy you have to put in. After all you do have a business to run and have to make money to survive - this is obviously not helping with that.

5. And yes sometimes I do work for free, usually because I know it will, or might pay off in the long run. So for selfish reasons really, but that is life. All you can hope is there is a natural justice that it pays off at sometime.

6. If you think I'm trying to bully you, you couldn't be more wrong. That was my view on what has been done to the OP (you have a big fan club on here), hence my defence of him - he does seem to have shelled out alot of cash, rightly or wrongly. Some think this thread has been appalling because of him. My view is that until recently, he generally been on the receiving end. Your posts around Christmas could have had a far better tone. I assume you're older and far more experienced than the OP, so maybe that could have come into play with a better outcome.

7. No, I'm not really a potential customer, but followed this thread as I have dabbled with the idea of a remap. I first posted on this thread when someone had a go at the OP very early on, and that attitude towards him gathered momentum - I felt pretty sorry for someone who seemed lost in what to do really.

8. What this thread has taught me is not to risk a remap, especially when there is no cool off period and refund if things go wrong. Just not worth the risk for me.

9. For your business, maybe worth thinking what could have been done differently to avoid all this, whatever that maybe. At least this would have served a purpose for you. And if you don't, then surely this really has been all a waste of time.

Yes, your post cleared up the refund issue. I hope you can see why I have posted what I have. If this post reads a argumentative, it is not meant to be that way towards you......others, I'm not so sure ;-)

[NickP]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

I didn't know Shark sold genuine Volvo timing kits and water pumps.
What are the prices like?

To be clear, I had them fitted there. Prices of the parts themselves are pretty standard. Labour was reasonable. Cam belt kit was an INA one, the same as Volvo fit.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by NickP

To be clear, I had them fitted there. Prices of the parts themselves are pretty standard. Labour was reasonable. Cam belt kit was an INA one, the same as Volvo fit.

Oh I see.
INA make the pulleys but not the belt.
Genuine pumps are normally bomb proof too which is why Volvo don't change them as course.
My 180k pump was like new so I left it until the 3rd belt change.