ComplaintsforTerlizzi Autoconcepts

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I ordered a Gen1 Mazda3 custom Headlights on August 15th, 2022. From someone on Instagram that went by the username @ms3_Terlizzi. I paid $520 and told me that they would be done by December of the same year. I have never received any information on my order and as of February of 2023 I began to try and contact him to get a full refund of the amount I paid. He never responded to the emails i sent him. I even Emailed him on a different email account and he did respond but when i provided the Invoice number with a screenshot of it he stopped responding. As of March 29th he finally responded when I called a number that was connected to the Address he provided in the invoice. He began to get VERY Argumentative because I called that number. He then told me that my Order was never started and stated he would not give me a refund and that all the months i waited was for a waiting list. After he told me that i contacted some of his recent customers and they told me that they ordered in December of 2022 and received them January of 2023. They also told me that they were not put on a waiting list and were not told there was one. It seems that he never planned on making mine and was going to keep the $520 that I paid. So I Emailed ******************************* and I explained to him I no longer want the product Nor do anymore business with him. I only want my money back of the exact amount i paid which is $520. He has not tried to do anything to resolve the issue nor to makeup for his mistakes. My invoice number was #****.

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  To whom it may concern, 
  
  
  - Opening Statement
  
  Good afternoon, my name is *******************************. I am the founder and current owner/operator of Terlizzi Autoconcepts, LLC - located in **************. Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I have no intentions to argue with *****, or anyone else. I am simply looking to come to a compromise with this consumer complaint as a great opportunity to do so. 
  
  
  Link to our website is here if needed. www.terlizziautoconcepts.net
  
  
  This is my written reply to a consumer complaint under the name of "***********************" as he has brought to attention an issue with his order, and as I am looking to help him with a resolution with his purchase, I am providing my in-detailed response with my suggested resolution. To begin, I'd like to address my issue with ***** calling a random number that is not associated with us. The business he called, and failed to mention in his complaint, is "Terlizzi ************ LLC" which is operated and owned by my biological father, *****************************. We are not associated with this business, nor do I find this an acceptable manner of getting in contact with us, as this business is clearly not the same name as ours. I find this to be unacceptable from *****, especially when my father called me over the phone saying that ***** had asked lots of interrogative questions regarding his order. To conclude, I find it unacceptable that ***** decided to call my father's business and ask questions regarding another business that isn't even related, despite attempting to email us which I will address later in this response. 
  
  
  
  - Payment/Lead Time - (Images attached below of purchase date and the physical products he purchased)
  ***** put down a parts cost only amount of $520 USD on August 15th, 2021. At this time, our business was only being operated under myself, therefore the lead times for getting custom orders built and completed was at its highest. (6-8 months lead time) It has occurred to me that ***** does not understand what a "lead time" is when it comes to custom, hand-built products such as our custom headlights for automotive applications. We are not able to build the customer's product until the end of the lead time, hence why it is called a lead time. The customer seems to be fixated on the fact that his custom headlight product has yet to be started, this is because he is still under a lead time to be built, as this is an extremely common term when it comes to custom products. If It took us 6-8 months to build a simple set of headlights, that would not make any logical sense. The parts cost of $520, otherwise known as a deposit, is for us to purchase the customer's products so that we may assemble them, and when the product is finished, they can pay the remainder of their invoice. I have attached pictures of *****'s parts that we have in stock from when he made his purchase on August 15th. *****, in his response, made a false accusation that I am "stealing/keeping his $520" which is clearly false. We do not sit on our customer's money when we require it to purchase their parts and complete their custom product for his vehicle. Our lead times between 6-8 months would have put him at the estimated December turnaround that I clearly stated. With us being overloaded at this time with many changes of us growing rapidly, we are now closer to the 8 month mark. We are still within this average lead time at 7 months and 20 days as of today, April 4th. I informed ***** over email that his headlight build order is still going to be completed the week of April 3rd. (this current week). We are on time and despite going over the past estimated date of December, we are within the quoted lead time. 
  
  
  
  
  - Accusations/Communication
  ***** made an accusation that I was lying to him when I mentioned that I hired two recent employees to help make our operation more efficient/cut down on our lead times. This is a fact, I have one full time and one part time employee and can prove their employment if needed. 
  
  Another accusation that I touched on earlier is that I am keeping his $520 deposit with no intention of fulfilling his order. This is simply incorrect. I have attached proof of the dates when he purchased his product, when we are finishing his product, and the parts that he purchased here in our shop. They are *****'s parts that he purchased for his custom built product. We are not stealing his money, and have intentions to fulfill the order this current week as mentioned in this email and as we also stated to ***** over email. Our responses have been the slowest possible as of late, with a high volume of inquiries. It is a true statement that the day I received a phone call from my father, that I also received *****'s email regarding his order. I had not seen any other emails before this date. 
  
  
  ***** has also mentioned that he has "contacted previous customers" to provide dates that are not accurate to their order, as it varies between customers. After asking ***** to provide us with the names of these customers so that we can confirm this information, he has failed to provide us with these names of the customers he has allegedly spoken to. 
  
  
  
  
  - Our Current Policy/Suggested Resolution (Link in this section for policy, images attached below for balance owed via Paypal Invoice)
  Our current policy, as stated on our website, is that we are currently not accepting refunds at this time. This can be clearly viewed at this link below: 
  
  *************************************************************
  
  This is the same for all customers, we are not stealing anyone's money as ***** seems to believe despite my reminders of this policy via email. 
  
  
  - Resolution A:
  I also informed ***** via email that my resolution is that we can move his current build over to a new customer so that we would be able to refund him this full amount of $520. I am in no way against giving ***** a refund as long as we have a buyer for his current build, should he choose this option. I have yet to hear a response from him if he would like to go this route or not. We have never offered this option to customers but for this scenario I would be more than happy to make that happen as our products are popular, and we can easily find a buyer so that we can refund him his cost of $520. Again, as our policy clearly states, we are not accepting refunds at this time. 
  
  - Resolution B: 
  My other suggested resolution would be to waive *****'s remaining balance of $475.17 and send him his product for only the parts cost. This would allow ***** to have his product with no balance owed for a 50% discount to make up for his wait time and frustration. 
  
  
  
  
  
  - Conclusion
  As I have stated before, it is my intention to come to a compromise with ***** as I am not looking to keep him within an "iron fist" for options here. Despite him being under lead times, and also despite our policy of not accepting refunds at this time, I am more than happy to come to a conclusive compromise with *****. It is not our goal to make this a hassle, I want a resolution for his sake as well. I care about this resolution and take this seriously, as I have spent a considerable amount of time on this response. 
  
  
  If I am required to talk over a cell phone, please ask me for my contact number. Thank you. If any of these images are not able to be viewed, please contact me also.
  
  
  Thank you for your time.
  
  Sincerely,
  ~*******************************
  Owner/Founder of Terlizzi Autoconcepts, LLC

  Customer response

  04/05/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution A is satisfactory to me as long as I get the Full exact amount of $520 by the end of the week. I have grown tired of waiting an extraordinary amount of time but I can be patient for a couple more days as long as i get the full Amount. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩