ComplaintsforIllusive Design & Fabrications

• Initial Complaint

  06/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a set of control arms from them in January 2022,got them and they were damaged ,he tried to get me to do a shipping damage claim but the box wasn’t damaged,after I installed them the boots tore BUT he and the manufacturer knew that and the manufacturer told me they should not have and something was wrong with them(but I talked to the manufacturer on the phone not email)but I figured I’d paint them,when I tried to install them they would not fit,he won’t answer phone calls so I had to email back and forth,got him pics and measurements like he asked and still got the run around,finally after me stating I was gonna just re sell them he offered to take back for credit,I sent them back and no response,I had to contact him and then he said give him till the next day and he would refigure up the stuff I was gonna get for credit,no response back,so a week later I filed a dispute with credit card company,got denied because I didn’t give the tracking number where I sent back,he wanted to settle but said I had to get my credit card to close the dispute,I did and now it’s been almost 2 weeks and no response back from him,sent many emails and tried to call,they sent the money back to him on may 16 and charged me back April 18,I’m out $842 and have no product,I have every email documented between us,I’ve searched his business online and he has done this to people before,this is the short version of it since I’m limited to characters here,I even agreed to a 20% restocking fee which wasn’t on his website that he has now taken down,communication as bd customer service is horrible.he said in his last email that his credit card processor hadn’t heard from mine?They sent them the money back on the 16,a simple email updating me would had meant a lot.Regardless I need my money back or product,****************** was the return tracking number

  Business response

  06/15/2022

  Hello, in response to Mr. ******** complaint, this order started out with Mr. ****** placing an order for custom S10 control arms for a custom truck he is putting an air suspension system on and promptly shipping them to him (******************). After him installing a combination of other products (drop spindles) that caused an issue with his wheels (running small factory style wheels and not large custom wheels). This caused an issue with his wheels hitting the control arms I had advised Mr. ****** to reinstall the factory spindles in order for the arms to work properly, the customer also damaged the ball joint boots in the control arms cycling his suspension or installation error. After a couple weeks and countless hours spent working with Mr. ****** (putting my other customers off) trying to help figure out the issue and a solution (after him changing his mind multiple times what he wanted to do), along with working with the products manufacturer, we all came to an agreement that the manufacturer would cover shipping costs back to their location for inspection and reimburse my account (UPS# ******************) and, Mr. ****** would accept an account credit and then an exchange for other parts he needed for his project as well as purchase more parts on top of that credit/ exchange amount.
  
  After the manufacturer received the product back and completed their process, I worked up the quote (including an extra discount) and notified Mr. ****** that we were ready to move forward with his exchange and new order to get him all of the parts he needed for his project. I also notified Mr. ****** in the final email I sent that one of the products costs has gone up and, we could look at a different air tank to substitute to keep the price in line with the original quote, as he had not committed to the new payment after the initial quote email was sent. I had not heard back from Mr. ****** and received a charge back. (There was nothing wrong with the product other than the damage Mr. ****** did during his attempted installation, we recommend professional installation and products are for show and off road use only.)
  
  We have had an extremely large number of emails back and forth mostly relating to technical help with his project, in which many of them were used as my evidence during the chargeback process. Stating all sales are final and any returns are on a case by case basis, may be subject to a restocking fee, refunds are in store credit only, initial shipping charges billed to customer are non-refundable. The terms also mention no returns on products that have been modified (product was damaged by Mr. ******) or no longer has the original packaging in resalable condition.
  
  Mr. ****** lied to his credit card company stating he was never made aware of the terms and conditions, in which I proved Mr. ****** was wrong as our web site has always had a check box to agree to terms and conditions before it would allow anybody to check out, along with screenshots I sent the credit card company and they were able to inspect as well. Mr. ****** is upset because he tried to scam my business and the credit card processor has finally stated we won the case after a couple months of back and forth. I made Mr. ****** aware the chargeback process takes a substantial amount of time and communications are not instant between the credit card bank and merchant processor. I do not know when his credit card billed him back for the funds but, I finally just received confirmation that my business won the case. I have spent way more than a reasonable amount of time trying to help Mr. ****** despite the fact he tried to scam my business, he has contacted me to the point I consider it harassment. I am extremely busy and always prefer all communication in writing, I get to emails in the order they are received. I have been in constant communication with Mr. ****** to the point it has caused me to push off other more patiently waiting customers. He has sent multiple emails this past holiday weekend in which we were closed and have not had time to respond to them yet. The funds were finally just released back into my account from the chargeback I won. (This was initially typed right after Memorial Day weekend when this complaint came through, I held off on sending this in as I was working with Mr. ****** as I was previously.)
  
  In one of our previous emails Mr. ****** mentions to me filing a charge back with a competitor so I feel like he abuses this system in a fraudulent manner. I also feel that I have gone way above and beyond my terms and conditions in an effort to help Mr. ****** out with his project only for him to make false accusations against and, attempt to scam my business. I have tried to do a partial refund for an order to the original card processed, it kept coming back declined so I contacted my processor and, they are stating they have blocked me from processing Mr. ******s card in any way to protect my business from any more "card to merchant abuse". With that said Mr. ****** had a partial credit on file since which he has used up, after he filed this complaint. Tracking shows his items that he used his credit for arrived on June 10th ******************.
  
  Thank you

  Customer response

  06/15/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

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