When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So purchased a number of things from rusogarage/leunam sotnas around 1-1.5 months ago. Totalled around $1000 so its no small sum. Anyway at time of purchase i was overseas and agreed via facebook PM for the items to be sent so they would arrive when i was back (supposed date was 5th january). Upon arriving home and messaging him, i received a number of (i would say, looking back on it) excuses about how it was not shipped and withheld. i was fine with this as i was in no particular rush and prefer things to be done properly.
A week later i message asking for the tracking number if he had it so i knew which day i needed to be home (i was in the middle of moving house at this point so needed a specific day)
Was told the tracking number was at the shop and he would provide it to me the following day.
2 days later no update, so i message him again for it. And i was provided with 'a' tracking number and was told it should be up tomorrow.
4 days later (jan 16)
The tracking number when put into auspost/ems simply said the item was still pending, with no update on whether it had been received or posted.
Was happy to wait as i found that ems can take up to a week to register - plus christmas delays
7 days later (jan 23)
messaged leunam again asking for an update as the tracking number was still simply giving me a response of 'pending' and i was starting to get worried.
Was again told it should be up before the end of the week.
At this point it was starting to get suspicious and i asked my local rx7 forum for any feedback or if anyone else had delt with him. Was at this point i was shown screenshots of pretty negative feedback with other people getting scammed and never receiving their items.
So naturally at this point i was ready to open a PayPal claim and get my money back.
Being me though i messaged him one last time, with the screenshots explaining i had lost a lot of faith and would look to open a PayPal claim.
Was told yesterday he'll contact the shipping guy to verify the items and ensure it was the correct tracking number
Message today (jan 26)
Was told the shipping guy misplaced the tracking slip (How did i get a tracking number in the first place then??)
And have been told Leunam will personally go tomorrow to ensure i get the right tracking number and my items have been sent
At this point i don't know what to do. PayPal is the logical next step but i just want to see, who's been burned before by him and who's actually received their products as im not sure how much trust i have anymore.
just file the claim already, if you ever wind up with anything actually showing up at your door then you can cancel the claim once you are satisfied. the longer you wait, the less the chances you can file the claim.
There is a thread on this on the rx7 facebook group. Seems like there are people that have received items on time and some who are still waiting. The good sign is that the guy is responding to all the call outs and what not. Paypal gives you 180 days for you to submit a claim at which point they will contact the seller and give them 10 days to provide tracking or they will close the case in your favor. I noticed you were in Australia, you may want to submit a claim sooner than later as if the currency conversion changes for the worse you will lose out on money.
I will NEVER EVER do business with them, or anyone associated with them, EVER AGAIN.
This is my experience with them.
I June 2017 I purchased a lip, wing, and side skirts from Javis Marte / JP Fiberglass / Ruso Garage / whatever they call themselves now. Javis Marte was the person that I bought the lip from and I believed that he was part of JP Fiberglass since the two account share the exact same pictures on all of their social media accounts.
I was told about 2-3 weeks to manufacture the parts and 1 week for them to arrive via EMS. Six weeks later and still nothing. I contacted the Javis Marte person with whom I had been talking to and he said that everything was being shipped ASAP and will send me the EMS with tracking number. I received an EMS tracking number after a bit. Some time later the tracking number said "delivered somewhere in the US aka 1000 miles away" and I still hadn't received anything. I contacted them again saying that I either want a refund or will file a claim. Then I got another tracking number and, a week later, a tiny package arrived containing carbon fiber exhaust heat shield but nothing else. This is now about nine weeks after I paid them. I contacted them again and said that I'm opening a claim. Magically, They replied immediately, saying that they are on the way to the "shipper," and I got another EMS tracking number within hours. A week later a huge package arrived. I opened the package and only the lip was inside (nothing else). I contacted them again and said that I want a refund immediately or that I am opening a claim. I also told them that I want a partial refund for the lip because it was trash (cracks, holes, resin gobs everywhere). They said that their Paypal/ bank account was over drawn and that they had to send me the money from a different Paypal account. It took about two days for me to finally get a refund. Of course they sent it as a "product" so Paypal took about $50 in fees but I was just happy to get my money back. The whole ordeal took close to three months.
Then fast forward and this Ruso Garage shows up. They made an account on Youtube an started spamming my Youtube videos with their "buy our lip" or "go to our website" or "like our Instagram page and buy stuff from us." I replied to them saying that I did not buy the lip from Ruso Garage and they started calling me out for not giving them credit for their "amazing" product. I commented that I purchased the lip from Javis Marte but they insisted that it was their lip and that they have no association with Javis Marte. I deleted their comments because they continued to get more and more hostile.
Then I see this guy posting on here, in the classified section, selling the same lip that I had purchased as "high quality ultra good" that his company makes. He was saying that it's ultra high quality, that he's from New York, and that his company makes these lips for him to sell. I called him out in his classified thread and said that he/ Javis Marte/ JP Fiberglass were all in the same boat together. The guy says that he is from Ruso Garage and had never heard of Javis Marte/ JP Fiberglass despite their products being identical and coming from the exact same small Caribbean island. I said that I can post lots of pictures of their "quality" products. The thread was deleted and taken down right away
Fast forward to about a month later and I see these guys using screen shots from my videos on their Ruso Garage Instagram page to sell their lip. Someone called them out on it and to defend themselves, they said that Javis Marte was/ is one of their "resellers." Funny that they went from never hearing of this Javis Marte guy to him suddenly being one of their resellers. Then they posted my full name in the comments of the picture that they stole from me. This was to show that they had done business with me and to "defend" themselves to this anonymous internet user. A real scumbag move to post my personal information for everyone to see because some anonymous 12 year old kid doesn't like you.
They have now also used a screenshot from my video on their website to sell their products. They say that the lip fits a 93 bumper without any modifications with my picture as "proof." I had to extensively modify the lip, drill new holes, and pull & stretch the bumper to get it to fit.
That is my experience with these people/ this company. They are the dirties and most unprofessional people/ company that I have ever dealt with. Pure scum.
Edit: I have many pictures of the lip that I received from them if anyone is interested in seeing the "quality" of their work.
Wow, I was wondering about these guys too..I follow them on ig and they have been popping up in my fb feed lately. I wanted to see some reviews on their stuff.. Glad I saw this post..will not be following them any longer
Yeah i started a Paypal claim a few days ago and PayPal instantly refund me if the seller doesn't reply within 10 days. Even if 'rusogarage' tried to keep my money, i have enough screenshots of people who have been screwed over by them before. So for PayPal it would be a pretty obvious and straight forward case. Same things has happened before to other seller, same situation, thus refund buyer.
Will probably make another post on the rx7 forum as I've searched rusogarage and luenam sotnas (seems to be the customer contact for rusogarage) on the Facebook page and can't seem to get any reviews or complaints. As a new customer theres very little information available to direct towards it being a scam.
Might be a good idea to contact the admins on the Facebook group to have him removed
I ordered an AutoExe style front lip and received it yesterday. It took a month to get shipped to me. Communication was an issue and I had to ask for the tracking info a few times. Not too happy with the quality of the lip.
^ Yeah, I shouldn't have had high hopes for the quality of the lip. Would of loved to buy the original, but a bit too pricey. At least I won't stress out when it scrapes on my driveway. I'll have more feedback once it's installed on my car. Here's some pics.
I knew that I was buying a replica for 1/2 the cost of the original part so I did not expect the quality to be on par. However, I did not think that the quality would be this bad. These are the pictures that I took immediately after unboxing my lip. I took a picture of the packaging too to show that there was no damage done during shipping and that all the cracks & scrapes were on the part before it was packaged. If I hold the lip up to the light, I can see hundred of holes and resin gobs that don;t show up in the pictures.
looks like a single layer of carbon, don't look at it too hard or it will crack more, in the 4th picture you can see right through the part, may as well be a carbon fiber painted sheet of lacquer.
THIS is why FB and instaspam groups suck, especially for buying parts. People like that can get over with no consequences, then change their name, rinse and repeat.
At least here we have moderators like Goodfellas who can call them out and tell 'em to beat it.
THIS is why FB and instaspam groups suck, especially for buying parts. People like that can get over with no consequences, then change their name, rinse and repeat.
At least here we have moderators like Goodfellas who can call them out and tell 'em to beat it.
Quoted for truth.
Plus, the FB RX-7 group has as many lobotomized members as knowledgeable members. It's a crapshoot mixed with a shitshow in there on any given day
Quick update. So he responded to the PayPal claim with tracking information that worked which put the PayPal claim on hold and am now awaiting my products. Had another local friend from sydney receive his products today.
Well when i say received, he got one out of the 3 products (ordered wing, heat shield, intake mani cover) and was told the other two items were shipped separately and should arrive this week as well.
So basically this week or early next week should be when my stuff arrives and if its in as poor condition as that posted by H_M I'll definitely be looking for a refund. Even i did some carbon skinning recently and got a better result than that on my first time. Its not hard to sand down resin to a smooth texture.
Regardless will update again if and when my stuff arrives and ill go from there.
Cheers to everyone else, seems like theres loads (over 20) people in a similar boat. Not only on this forum but Facebook, australian forums and even instagram.
least you have paypal prepared and awaiting the outcome, still doesn't hurt to have filed the claim since they seem to be BSing people with fake tracking numbers, a shady business practice. fedex will let you print as many labels as you want, you only wind up paying for the ones actually used.
Plus, the FB RX-7 group has as many lobotomized members as knowledgeable members. It's a crapshoot mixed with a shitshow in there on any given day
The biggest problem is there's no organization or real archive. Some great info might be posted at 8am Monday - but by 8pm Tuesday is GONE. Like, gone. I still reference threads that are 10+ years old on here when I need to do ****.
Oh... and good luck to everyone getting their stuff.
facebook sucks, im not sure why anyone uses it for more than a quick update to friends.
oh right, you could also just send an instant message to them too, rather than posting things publicly.... but people these days seem to crave attention from total strangers, strangers who can abuse your naiveness.
facebook sucks, im not sure why anyone uses it for more than a quick update to friends.
oh right, you could also just send an instant message to them too, rather than posting things publicly.... but people these days seem to crave attention from total strangers, strangers who can abuse your naiveness.
Yeah i don' quite understand the need to post questions to such a large audience either. I have local rx7 groups with less than 1k members that allows for better local support and you get legit answers as opposed to thousands of useless answers from anyone and everyone.
only reason I made a big Facebook post on the rx7 group is awareness to this potential scam as it gets out to the largest audience possible.
But when it comes to people asking how to get 2000hp out of their stock 13b with a few bolt ons. I have very little time
^ Yeah, I shouldn't have had high hopes for the quality of the lip. Would of loved to buy the original, but a bit too pricey. At least I won't stress out when it scrapes on my driveway. I'll have more feedback once it's installed on my car. Here's some pics.
They could have finished it properly and sent it.
The stuff I get made is much better finished then the stuff they are selling after looking at pictures on this thread.
Last edited by GoodfellaFD3S; 02-11-18 at 02:42 PM.
I'm a lurker on the forum, but I feel the need to chime in here. I ordered a 99 spec bumper and 99 wing from Javis Marte back in October 2017. After numerous occasions of deflecting my quesitons and even sending me the wrong tracking number, I field a paypal dispute and got my money back.
Before people flaming me for buying replica parts, I shall say I didn't expect the part to be high quality at all; my rule of thumb is to use high quality parts with engine & safety related parts, and everything else could be more lax regarding quality. I thought people in the community are good faith; I guess not so much huh?
One last advice for OP, file the dispute NOW. Minimize loss should be your priority right now, instead of dreaming of your shiny new part to show up to your doorstep from the far-away Dominican Republic.
aftermarket suppliers for performance cars over the last 10 years or so have mostly been filled with thieves and lazy owners who wind up trying to play catch up with their orders while they sit on their thumb thinking they should be paid.
01-25-18, 10:30 PM
