krman68
07-25-2003, 03:17 PM
I recently had a bad experience with this Ford performance vendor. I’d like to post this thread as a public service for my fellow readers in an effort to save others from possibly experiencing the nightmare that I’ve gone through with this vendor. The vendor is JDM Engineering in Freehold NJ and the owner is Jim D’Amore.
I do not consider this to be vendor bashing but merely a presentation of the facts and my opinion as to how I was treated. I also do not take this matter lightly. I am only speaking the truth. I also welcome any comments from D’Amore or JDM. To date, I made repeated calls to JDM to discuss this but D’Amore has not returned my calls.
I have a 1995 Mustang GT that is modified and is driven occasionally. I’ve owned the car since it was new and I am fully aware of all of the work done to it in the past and the car’s present condition. After installing a 73MM Pro M Mass Air Meter and larger 24# injectors, I experienced the common idle surge that is prevalent with 94-95 stangs. I took it JDM since they are authorized Superchip dealers for a chip re-burn. When I called to make an appointment, JDM stated that they should be able to correct it and asked to bring the car in. On their website they advertise that chip re-burns cost less than $300.
I dropped the car off in early March fully expecting it to be ready within the week. I called every few days to inquire and was told of delays due to racing schedules and other projects etc…. After about 4 weeks they called me and told me that the car had all kinds of problems – allegedly the wrong spark plugs were in the car, header bolts were allegedly missing or loose etc and they wanted to replace the header gaskets and bolts with the thought that this was the cause of my idle surge. I instructed them not to replace any gaskets and disputed the claim of missing bolts since I was fully aware that 1 header bolt was loose - I had just tightened them all with the exception of 1 a few weeks prior. He also claimed that I had an aftermarket cam in the car – which I do not – it is stock. At this time I got the impression that the chip re-burn didn’t solve the idle problem and he was fishing. At no time did he tell me this or indicate that he couldn’t fix it. He acted like the car was full of problems that he was discovering and resolving.
To make a long story short, after 8 weeks and constant calls on my part, I finally went to get the car. D’Amore was still playing around with it when I got there but stated to me that he fixed the idle surge and that the car was running much much better. He quickly disappeared, left me waiting in the office for 20 minutes and finally the clerk billed me a total $1,605. This is $1,605 for supposed $300 chip re-burn. This bill included 9 hours of labor, header gaskets, bolts, a new chip and a mass air meter. I was very annoyed but initially trusted them, thinking that they may have fixed a slew of unknown problems.
I get home and drive the car only to find out that the idle surge was still present, just as before. It ran exactly the same as it did when I dropped it off. I popped the hood and noted that my rusty header bolts were still on the car and the 1 loose bolt that I was aware of was still loose. It was clearly evident to me that none of the header gasket work had been done by JDM even though I was billed for it. This made me wonder if JDM did anything productive, since the car ran exactly as it did before even though I was billed 9 hours of time and other parts.
Additionally, I looked at my Mass Air box and meter and noted that JDM replaced my PRO M meter with some no-name plastic meter and they used a different base since the sensor plug was different. They had replaced my PRO M mass air meter and base with something else which I neither requested or was told of – only billed. On top of that they kept my PRO M meter. I had to drive all the way back to return to JDM to retrieve it. They actually kept my meter and didn’t bother to even ship it to me or tell me. While there, I dropped off the plastic meter that they put had on the car but I was charged $33 for re-stocking for a part that I neither wanted or asked for.
Afterwards I repeatedly contacted JDM to attempt to get the bill adjusted for the work not done. The one time I spoke with D’Amore, he would not admit that I was billed for services not done and did not offer to correct my bill. Now he won’t even contact me to address the situation.
In my opinion I would not patronize JDM Engineering in Freehold NJ or Jim D’Amore its owner. In my opinion D’Amore is either a poor business man, some one who couldn’t admit that he did not have the capability of fixing the car or he is someone who is not to be trusted and this billing fiasco was intentional. I may never know - I was billed $1,605 for a $300 chip re-burn that didn’t solve the idle surge.
Some of you may have had good experiences with them and I am glad for you but I, for one, did not, I’ve chatted with at least one other individual who has had a similar experience with JDM for billing for services not performed. I would just like to make sure that the readers are aware.
I do not consider this to be vendor bashing but merely a presentation of the facts and my opinion as to how I was treated. I also do not take this matter lightly. I am only speaking the truth. I also welcome any comments from D’Amore or JDM. To date, I made repeated calls to JDM to discuss this but D’Amore has not returned my calls.
I have a 1995 Mustang GT that is modified and is driven occasionally. I’ve owned the car since it was new and I am fully aware of all of the work done to it in the past and the car’s present condition. After installing a 73MM Pro M Mass Air Meter and larger 24# injectors, I experienced the common idle surge that is prevalent with 94-95 stangs. I took it JDM since they are authorized Superchip dealers for a chip re-burn. When I called to make an appointment, JDM stated that they should be able to correct it and asked to bring the car in. On their website they advertise that chip re-burns cost less than $300.
I dropped the car off in early March fully expecting it to be ready within the week. I called every few days to inquire and was told of delays due to racing schedules and other projects etc…. After about 4 weeks they called me and told me that the car had all kinds of problems – allegedly the wrong spark plugs were in the car, header bolts were allegedly missing or loose etc and they wanted to replace the header gaskets and bolts with the thought that this was the cause of my idle surge. I instructed them not to replace any gaskets and disputed the claim of missing bolts since I was fully aware that 1 header bolt was loose - I had just tightened them all with the exception of 1 a few weeks prior. He also claimed that I had an aftermarket cam in the car – which I do not – it is stock. At this time I got the impression that the chip re-burn didn’t solve the idle problem and he was fishing. At no time did he tell me this or indicate that he couldn’t fix it. He acted like the car was full of problems that he was discovering and resolving.
To make a long story short, after 8 weeks and constant calls on my part, I finally went to get the car. D’Amore was still playing around with it when I got there but stated to me that he fixed the idle surge and that the car was running much much better. He quickly disappeared, left me waiting in the office for 20 minutes and finally the clerk billed me a total $1,605. This is $1,605 for supposed $300 chip re-burn. This bill included 9 hours of labor, header gaskets, bolts, a new chip and a mass air meter. I was very annoyed but initially trusted them, thinking that they may have fixed a slew of unknown problems.
I get home and drive the car only to find out that the idle surge was still present, just as before. It ran exactly the same as it did when I dropped it off. I popped the hood and noted that my rusty header bolts were still on the car and the 1 loose bolt that I was aware of was still loose. It was clearly evident to me that none of the header gasket work had been done by JDM even though I was billed for it. This made me wonder if JDM did anything productive, since the car ran exactly as it did before even though I was billed 9 hours of time and other parts.
Additionally, I looked at my Mass Air box and meter and noted that JDM replaced my PRO M meter with some no-name plastic meter and they used a different base since the sensor plug was different. They had replaced my PRO M mass air meter and base with something else which I neither requested or was told of – only billed. On top of that they kept my PRO M meter. I had to drive all the way back to return to JDM to retrieve it. They actually kept my meter and didn’t bother to even ship it to me or tell me. While there, I dropped off the plastic meter that they put had on the car but I was charged $33 for re-stocking for a part that I neither wanted or asked for.
Afterwards I repeatedly contacted JDM to attempt to get the bill adjusted for the work not done. The one time I spoke with D’Amore, he would not admit that I was billed for services not done and did not offer to correct my bill. Now he won’t even contact me to address the situation.
In my opinion I would not patronize JDM Engineering in Freehold NJ or Jim D’Amore its owner. In my opinion D’Amore is either a poor business man, some one who couldn’t admit that he did not have the capability of fixing the car or he is someone who is not to be trusted and this billing fiasco was intentional. I may never know - I was billed $1,605 for a $300 chip re-burn that didn’t solve the idle surge.
Some of you may have had good experiences with them and I am glad for you but I, for one, did not, I’ve chatted with at least one other individual who has had a similar experience with JDM for billing for services not performed. I would just like to make sure that the readers are aware.