Hi everyone,
I'm pretty new to the forums and I just picked up a turbo II that needed new rotor housings. I have been searching for 3 weeks with no success. I was told that Japan2la could get good housing. So I pm'd him and he told me that he had a set. I paypal him the money with end 5 minutes of him telling me he had the housings. He told me that he would "box up the housing and send them in a day or so..." that was on tuesday 3/2/10 at 1:30 in the morning. I wait and I get no email about my shipment then couple days go by. I emailed him again about any updates. He told me to read the first email which "was the day or so.." comment. It's already friday and my shop locates a set of housings locally. I asked Brian for my refund he said "Will be a day or so" this was friday night 3/5/10. I waited emailed him on again on monday. He told me "I told you, it takes a couple days. I already started the transfer." It's now friday 3/11/10 I emailed him again about my refund. No reply. I then called paypal and asked was anything initialized on his end and they told he haven't done anything about the refund and to file a claim against him. I'm a broke college student and 597.40 is a lot of money to me. I know he gets great reviews on the forum and maybe its a misunderstanding. All I want is my refund.
Thanks
Tim

 

It's not a total misunderstanding. Busy or not, Brian has lied before about when he will ship things or, better yet, when he is having them "picked up" to be shipped. My 13BRE motor was like that. He has all the stories in the world about what happened, etc but when you have the ability to find the truth yourself, you see that they are just that... fabricated stories.

The fastest reply I got from Brian was when I sent him a PM saying I was ready to order. My phone rang in literally less than 3 minutes from the time I sent it. My experience was not 100% bad, but if you expect a shipper that will always do what he says when he says he will, beware. :shrug: My $.02.

I'm sure that Brian will have something to say about what I've posted here. If he does, I'll post my rebuttal and then he'll try to tear that apart.

Good luck getting your refund soon.

Reese

 

In order for you to get your refund, there needs to be funds in the account to refund to you. I ALREADY started the transfer from my bank back to paypal.. It takes a few days.. Never had an issue about giving you a refund..The process is simply the process.. So you started your paypal dispute, and you have started a thread... I am assuming the funds will be credited by paypal tomorrow.. When they do, you will have your refund

Resse, I have nothing to say to you, so you can keep your rebuttal

 

Smart man.

 

This doesn't surprise me at all..

a friend of mine had a similar problem a month a go or so.. he bought two housings from Japan2LA and asked him to ship them ASAP as he needed them to build an engine for a costumer the guy never shipped them when he was suppose to and to make a long story short he gave my friend the run around and blamed it on the warehouse guy etc, etc.. BUT he did refund the money after all the craziness.

the few times that i have done business with him have been great except for last time which was a bad experience and will not be doing any business with him in the future.

as far as your money goes dont worry he will give you the money back.

 

Lets get an understanding here...

I am not even a tiny bit worried about what you may have to type about me here..

If you have some sort of chip on your shoulder....or some sort of ax to grind with me, than lets have at it..

You can call me direct or PM me.. Your choice

What I will not do is go back and forth with you in an open thread..

So, if you have something on your mind, call me or PM me about it..

Lets be Adults and professional too..

 

Over a $45.00 Starter, that I would have gladly swapped out ( I have atleast 25 of of them) or given you a full refund for if you could have simply just sent it back to me...

But you refused to send it back???

 

No need to tell you in a PM when I already had it out with you on the phone that night you finally sent the motor. Remember that? That was the night you stalled on calling me back for three hours so you could run to Estes and ship it 5 days after you claimed it was picked up by the shipping company. It was convenient for you to blame them though. You tried getting mad at me because I had the NERVE to expect you to be a "professional" business man and do what you said you would. I'm SO sorry that you had to drive all the way back to your shop to get me a tracking number that you were supposed to send me the previous week.

Professional...? As in not sending photos to me 12 days after you told me you would? Or maybe never sending me the tracking number AT ALL when you said you'd send it the next day? Then again, it's hard to send a tracking number when all you have is a Bill of Lading. Those are pretty much useless. Or maybe it's telling me that you're going to give me a call back in an hour with that tracking number you supposedly had but you dodged my calls and messages for almost three hours. I understand that you might have gotten busy, but don't promise something you don't intend to follow through with.

In case you're wondering how or why I'm making this claim about the motor not being picked up/shipped when YOU say it was, I called the shipping company two days after you said it was picked up by them and they had no clue what I was talking about. As soon as I got off the phone with you on the 8th I called the terminal in your area. Guess what I was told? That package was JUST dropped off at our facility at 8pm PST. Hmmmm... kind of odd that a package mysteriously shows up at their doorstep just before you call me with the tracking number.

Here is what I found on their website when I punched in your tracking number shortly after I spoke to you:
--------------------------------------------------
<STATUSDATE>08 Feb 2010</STATUSDATE>
<STATUSTIME>23:57:02</STATUSTIME>
<SHIPMENTDATE>02/08/2010</SHIPMENTDATE>
<SCHEDULEDDELIVERYDATE>02/12/2010</SCHEDULEDDELIVERYDATE>
<ACTUALDELIVERYDATE/>
<ACTUALDELIVERYTIME/>
<CURRENTSTATUS>Awaiting departure from origin terminal</CURRENTSTATUS>
--------------------------------------------------

As if that wasn't enough, here is the reply I got from Estes themselves when I made an inquiry about that package. This is from Sandra Holte @ Estes and myself:

-----------------------------------
Do you have anything that shows when you actually came into possession of the shipment? I'm assuming that the date on the bill of lading is simply the date the shipper notified you he would be bringing the item to you to be shipped. If that date (Feb 4th) is when you took possession of it, that would mean that you held on to it for 4 days before sending it to me. Can you clear this up?

Thank you.
----------------------------------
Good Morning Mr. LeBlanc

We did not receive the freight until 2/9. Please let me know if I can provide you with anymore documentation.

Thanks
----------------------------------

The fact that they didn't get the item until 2/9 is because their main system is on the east coast. As you can see from my above inquiry, it shows that the status time I checked on it was minutes before midnight my time.

Now I can see why you got so defensive on the phone when I told you I wasn't happy with the way the transaction was going. I don't agree with it, but you had to try going on the offense to try to back me down. Pity I don't react well to that.

Anyway, I am sure you'll be happy to know that I won't be doing business with you anymore, nor will any of my friends or associates. In the last month, I've spoken to a number of people that have had this same type of issue with you. The common factor to all of them is that you screw up and then are more than happy to give them their money back so they will go away. Much easier than actually following through with what you say you will.

I won't say you don't have happy clients, but I have seen even the happy ones say that you aren't always the one to go to if you need it quickly. I guess the ones that say you ship quickly are the lucky ones.

As for you wanting to keep all of this private, I can see why you would want to. It's bad for business when someone with a true gripe steps up and posts it for all to see. Then again, that's what this section of the forum is for. It's how I finally managed to get my money back from one scammer, so I'm all for posting the good and the bad of transactions.

For what it's worth, the motor I got from Brian was absolutely covered in surface corrosion but it was totally complete including an uncut harness minus an ECU. It was packaged quite well.

Reese LeBlanc

 

i never refused to send you the starter and is def not about the $45 dollars. it's about the way you handled the situation. like i said in the previous post... this doesnt surprise me at all..

 

that sucks to hear about this. I have always had good deals with Japan2LA. I will continue to purchase from him since he always has parts i need. OP gl with everything.

 

sorry to hear the bad reviews. I've gotten stuff sent to me right away, found out it was the wrong part, he let me keep it and sent me the new part ASAP. I got everything within days.

 

I'm surprised to hear this, as in my dealings with Japan2LA, he had the stuff shipped out same day.

Perhaps some people simply have an axe to grind? Seriously, if your complaint is "Stuff was shipped out within 8 days!", I'm not so certain this belongs in this section. Go read other posts in this section - someone taking a week to ship an item is hardly on par with "It's been 18 months and he hasn't sent me my item or sent me a refund!"

 

Ya I read other horror stories and I'm trying to nip mine before it gets that far. And ya its just 8 days but this a business this isn't just a regular member selling parts. I got burnt from a business with my Evo I'm still out 2k. I'm not going to sit around again and hope and pray that one day he will reply to my email. If i would have spoke out back then I could have saved other ppl that he (the evo shop) stole money from.

I'm not by any means telling Brian how to run his business or trying to bash him. I just want him to be award that if you say you have something or you're going to do something the customer is going to hold you to it.

Brian you said funds should be credited today so far nothing but I'll keep looking.

 

lolwut?

So you are trying to say this is in the wrong section then?

 

My little 2 cents:

There aren't too many guys that have the connections/money/time/passion to obtain parts that people like Ramy and Brian get for us. Personally, I count my blessings that those guys are around.

When I had my Porsche 914, the junkyard was pretty much the only option for rare, hard-to-find parts. There is no one is importing interior parts and front lips overseas for a bunch of people they never met.

 

Blaen I'm just trying to get out my experience with Japan2la. If its in the wrong section I'm sorry could you please move it.

 

I do apologize if I came off inflammatory, it was not intended. Unfortunately, I am not a mod either, so I can't do anything about moving it .

However, please remember that Japan2LA is 3 hours behind you, so I doubt he was even awake when you were posting earlier about nothing from his end.

J2LA's not a scammer. He may be slow at times, but he's not a scammer. Give him 'till this evening, if there is no action, then worry. He's typically very good about refunds.

 

Thanks Blaen. I'm waiting

 

Nobody can be Perfect.
I am glad that there is someone like Brian that takes the initiative to sell people specific parts,rather than have to resort to a Damn junk yard,where you get,Well,JUNK!
So,he can't please everyone,but his Track record is good enough for me.I had to wait for my stuff too,.but he delivered.
you waited how long,a week?...wow..(is that long enough for Brian to take that 597 dollars and Fly to Cuba??)
I think you jumped the Gun on this one.Really.

 

misterstyx I'm stating my experience with Brian. I glad you had good transactions with him but I didn't. I don't care for the smart remarks I'm treating everyone with respect I would expect the same back. For the record its two weeks. I have to still pay the shop that found the housings for me I can't keep pushing them off.

People you don't have to comment about how Brian is a great guy. I just want my refund so I can pay people that I owe.

That's it.

 

Truthfully I have had a couple of transaction with Brian. One took quite a while but it was a big product and there was some shipping confusion, while the others came right away. All you have to do is be patience and you will get your stuff.. From what I have experience, he is very helpful and a honest guy. And if there was any wrong with the products, I know he would take care of it. My .02 cent.

 

sounds good guys! hopefully he will come through!

 

OK.....now that everyone's had their opportunity to bash each other instead of letting the thread serve its purpose, now its my turn.

First, I dont want to hear anything about "this thread doesnt fit with the others in here, like 18 months without shipping parts..." because that was never the criteria used for whether or not a thread belongs here. BOTTOM LINE IS THIS--Brian told his customer that the order would ship in a day or so. Not only did he not do that, but a few days later he still had not shipped out parts that he had in stock. HERE IS THE SOLUTION TO THIS WHOLE PROBLEM.....

BRIAN--if you promise something to a customer, FOLLOW THROUGH. If you cannot follow through, then TALK TO THEM AND LET THEM KNOW. You can talk all you like about the customers that are happy with your business, but this one fact remains--each and every time we hear from someone that isnt happy it is because you make promises and then do not deliver on them. This is YOUR FAULT. Telling someone "in a day or so" doesnt mean that days later you can say "I told you, a day or so". That simply isnt good enough.

When you tell a customer you'll do something, and the time has come and gone without it being done, they shouldnt have to be the one to try to find you to ask about it--that is on your shoulders to communicate with your buyers and keep them informed. This is not at all the first time I've seen this happen with you....I'm hoping that it is the last. All it would take is a little communication and common sense, and you would not have any threads like this posted about you. Think it over....

To everyone else, please keep this thread for the buyer and seller. We know Brian has sold a lot of parts, so there is no point in people posting that. We also know that other people have had similar issues with him like this one, so there's no more need to post that either. At this point, let's let them resolve the issue and move on. Thanks for your cooperation.

 

I had a horrible experience with Japan2LA that involved pretty much the exact same situation you describe. I ended up taking it to the forums and a bunch of people rushed to his defense saying he was a good trader, claimed I must have misunderstood him, etc. After managing to get a refund out of him, Japan2LA physically threatened me in a private message with intentionally vague comments about "knowing people in Texas", etc. I'd be happy to post the contents of the PM here if anyone is curious to see what it says. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't exactly strike me as "customer satisfaction"

From the way Japan2LA handled things in my situation, I can't say I'm surprised that this is still happening today. I'm no accountant or financial expert, but it sounds kind of like Japan2LA is running some type of investment scheme with customers money.

 

I find that hard to believe, Brian is busy business man, I would like to see some proof