[longtran@ltbmw]

Originally Posted by Gunners_Mate

Not that I’m trying to be a give anyone a bad rap, but I’ve basically been trying to get a hold of LTMW for two months-more specifically Long Tran, but I have emailed other people. I’ve called, left emails, and left more emails. A while back, Long told me that he could get me parts for my project and beat any dealer price, so I decided to call him up on it. I basically sent a list to him twice telling him what I needed, and he messaged me on the forum telling me to send him a list of what I needed in the same email that I sent him that was telling him what I needed. This was on the 4th of this month. It’s now the 22nd , not to mention the emails from last month, and the month before that. I called and was able to get a hold of Phillip at LTMW this morning, in which he told me that he’d be able to get a price for me if I called back this afternoon. I called back asking for Phillip, and it turns out that the one time that Long Tran is available he tells the clerk on the phone instead of talking to me (even though I had requested a few times in the past to talk to him); $400 for each fender, which is way more than what I would pay buying the fenders I need brand new from anywhere that sells them. I even told them I don’t care if they’re used, secondhand, etc, as I’m going to do have all the work done at a body shop and my car repainted. I’m currently deployed so it’s very hard to call people ($20 for ten minutes), and email is no problem.
Maybe it’s because I don’t drive a 335i or an M3? I mean, I have the means and I was hoping to get lots of other parts from them, but nobody has made an effort at LTMW to email me back or to do business with me until today, and then I get a bogus price and the guy I want to talk to talks to me through someone else. I was never rude, and always waited around a week before contacting them again. I know other people have had great experiences with them, but why is it that I get left out?

Gunner, I quoted you $400 for the fenders in addition with the filled in side vents. You've previously inquired about fenders similar to Creaminz. His fenders were filled in. As we've discussed, Tischer has the fenders listed for $391.08 each without the filled in vents. Hence, the $400 quote for filled in vents. If you want the fender without the filled in vents I would be more than happy to offer them at $350, which is cheaper than Tischer.

Any time we communicated, it was always the same questions. "What do I need? How do I do this? How do I do that?" I know you are trying to save money by doing it yourself, many people do it, but I have a shop to run here. I cannot guide you through the entire process. I am sorry.

Originally Posted by jasonn

I've experienced similar bait and switch practices but Long is a friend so I've let it go. I try to understand from their perspective that they are extremely busy so I continue to let it go. Long would always give me a killer price, and because of that price I do not hesitate and move forward immediately. When the job is done, he gives me a final price with a 30% mark up. I never argue with him because there is no written proof of our original agreement and since Long is so busy he wouldn't remember anyway.

I just had an insurance claim of near $5k. It took LTMW over a month to get my vehicle done. I gave LTMW plenty of space and did not bother them at all. That was my mistake. I have found you really need to stay on top of LTMW because they have so many customers otherwise your car would be lost in the shuffle. If you tell LTMW you can't pick up your car Tuesday but can on Saturday, they will interpret that they have more time to work on your car and it will be placed in the back burner. Then when Saturday comes, it won't be done and your Saturday is spent waiting in their lobby. Now $5k is no joke and is a hefty insurance claim, I signed over the check no issues, did not request any cash back or that they itemize anything. Meanwhile there was some guy there the same time also with an insurance claim who was checking up on every dollar spent and was asking for this and that AND expected cash back from the insurance claim. Me? I just wanted my car done.

And when I got my car back, the iDrive system did not work. But LTMW fixed quickly, albeit at the cost of my time and my inconvenience. Before, when I was a kid, I did not consider my time too valuable...but now that I am older...I make appointments, I have meetings and it becomes more and more difficult for me to let things like this go when the people I deal with at work never seem to fail me and never seem to give me any excuses or delays. If I can expect and demand such professionalism from the people I work with, why can't I expect the same from LTMW, a vendor so esteemed and with such high repute?

And my car was terribly detailed. I don't detail my car ever anymore, but at least I try to maintain. LTMW's detailer seemingly poured SmartWax leather cleaner all over my car and did not even wipe clean...leaving my interior extremely greasy. As you may know, leather is not supposed to be shiny but matte, and I've tried so hard over the years to maintain my interior...only for LTMW to ruin it in one short month.

Lastly, my car suffered misfires and long cranks immediately after receiving from LTMW so I took it into my local dealer. The local dealer informed me through the course of their inspection that my oil filter was not put on correctly, causing an oil leak. Now I knew about this oil leak previously, which mysteriously occurred after my first oil change with LTMW, so I specifically went back into LTMW for a second oil change within 5 months. The leak persisted but I never had time to address it. I informed Long who told me it was impossible to mess up the oil filter and that he did not believe me. I did take a quick pic of the dealer technician's notes, but did want to continue the he-said she-said so I never sent it to Long.

Clearly I've been holding this in for a while; I could make my own thread but I'll just add my two cents (venting) here cause at the end of the day, Long is still a friend but I'm just gonna stay on top of him next time I bring my car over.

It just leaves such a bad taste in one's mouth. LTMW, please know that I am not a fool, you change the price on me, I let you take and keep all of the insurance check--I let a lot of things go out of friendship but I see everything that is going on. But in the end I all care about is getting stuff done right and on time. But I can't even get that level of service...I don't think that is too much to ask :/

I've experienced similar bait and switch practices but Long is a friend so I've let it go. I try to understand from their perspective that they are extremely busy so I continue to let it go. Long would always give me a killer price, and because of that price I do not hesitate and move forward immediately. When the job is done, he gives me a final price with a 30% mark up. I never argue with him because there is no written proof of our original agreement and since Long is so busy he wouldn't remember anyway.

I am so confused with your statement Johnson. bait and switch practices?30% mark up? I do not recall you buying anything from us here. We've performed a service of your car. If you believe us to be friends, why wasn't these issues addressed to me personally? And if you've come to the conclusion that my service was so bad, why did you bring in your GF's car for us to service as well? This is not the only time you've complained or brought up any negative statements. You've done this in the past, and to my knowledge we've cleared things up with you. I have never heard another complaint from you and now I see this? This came out of the blue, I am so confuse with you Johnson.

I just had an insurance claim of near $5k. It took LTMW over a month to get my vehicle done. I gave LTMW plenty of space and did not bother them at all. That was my mistake. I have found you really need to stay on top of LTMW because they have so many customers otherwise your car would be lost in the shuffle. If you tell LTMW you can't pick up your car Tuesday but can on Saturday, they will interpret that they have more time to work on your car and it will be placed in the back burner. Then when Saturday comes, it won't be done and your Saturday is spent waiting in their lobby. Now $5k is no joke and is a hefty insurance claim, I signed over the check no issues, did not request any cash back or that they itemize anything. Meanwhile there was some guy there the same time also with an insurance claim who was checking up on every dollar spent and was asking for this and that AND expected cash back from the insurance claim. Me? I just wanted my car done.

Johnson, your car was repair amounted to $4237.34. That was how much it was going to cost to fix your rear bumper, quarter panel, side skirt, and rear passenger door. Being the "friend" that I am, I offered to fix your front passenger fender, repaint your front passenger fender and repair your curb rash on your wheels in addition with the other work at no extra charge. Your car was here for three weeks. I know I had previously promised you two weeks, but my body guy forgot to repair your front fender. The car was done in 2 weeks, but he had only followed the repair order on the insurance claim and not the addition work. It was my fault for not mentioning to him to repair the fender as well. I offered to get you a rental, at my expense, and I tried to accommodate with you on your schedule. I even offered to meet you on sunday, which was what we did.

And when I got my car back, the iDrive system did not work. But LTMW fixed quickly, albeit at the cost of my time and my inconvenience. Before, when I was a kid, I did not consider my time too valuable...but now that I am older...I make appointments, I have meetings and it becomes more and more difficult for me to let things like this go when the people I deal with at work never seem to fail me and never seem to give me any excuses or delays. If I can expect and demand such professionalism from the people I work with, why can't I expect the same from LTMW, a vendor so esteemed and with such high repute?

I helped you fix your navigation at no charge, and this service is an inconvenience you? You are complaining about free work?

With such time constraints I understand how crucial it is to make appointments. I did my best to make it work for you. If I had known you were that busy and required the car then, I would've had the car towed to you immediately.

And my car was terribly detailed. I don't detail my car ever anymore, but at least I try to maintain. LTMW's detailer seemingly poured SmartWax leather cleaner all over my car and did not even wipe clean...leaving my interior extremely greasy. As you may know, leather is not supposed to be shiny but matte, and I've tried so hard over the years to maintain my interior...only for LTMW to ruin it in one short month.

Johnson, you do not maintain your car at all anymore which shocks me. Your car came in dirty as hell. The only thing you care about in your interior is your steering wheel. You have a cover for it. We never took that off. I apologize for my detailer and the way he handled detail. I had no idea you didn't want shiny interior. That is how my detailer does it. I am sorry.


Lastly, my car suffered misfires and long cranks immediately after receiving from LTMW so I took it into my local dealer. The local dealer informed me through the course of their inspection that my oil filter was not put on correctly, causing an oil leak. Now I knew about this oil leak previously, which mysteriously occurred after my first oil change with LTMW, so I specifically went back into LTMW for a second oil change within 5 months. The leak persisted but I never had time to address it. I informed Long who told me it was impossible to mess up the oil filter and that he did not believe me. I did take a quick pic of the dealer technician's notes, but did want to continue the he-said she-said so I never sent it to Long.

Johnson, are you blaming us for the misfire and the long crank as well? For your oil filter leaking oil, I have already told you this over the phone. It is not the cap that is leaking, it is your oil filter housing that was leaking. How can a cap be installed wrong? If it was installed wrong, the threads would be crossed and the cap would serve useless. I have asked you to bring it to me for evaluation. You've never brought it by. I even told you, if we did it wrong and caused this issue, I would cover it 100%. I know you have a busy schedule, but you know me, I am here from 9am-8pm. I would have met you at your house if you wanted to. The dealer is not there to be your friend.

Here is a thread about the oil filter housing.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=746310


Clearly I've been holding this in for a while; I could make my own thread but I'll just add my two cents (venting) here cause at the end of the day, Long is still a friend but I'm just gonna stay on top of him next time I bring my car over.

You still say we are friends but yet you do not speak up. How am I suppose to know what to do?

It just leaves such a bad taste in one's mouth. LTMW, please know that I am not a fool, you change the price on me, I let you take and keep all of the insurance check--I let a lot of things go out of friendship but I see everything that is going on. But in the end I all care about is getting stuff done right and on time. But I can't even get that level of service...I don't think that is too much to ask

It's not too much work to speak up. If you don't speak up, I have assume everything is ok.

Originally Posted by cable96

A Friend that takes advantage of someone, isnt a friend at all.

Similar post, just sharing my previous experiences with LTBMW.

Going back x months, i had sent a PM to both LT & Robin for a price quote on an Mtech rear bumper & an LCI IS Diffuser painted & shipped. In the PM, i had specifically asked them to paint the diffuser in a certain way and to include that in their pricing. They gave me a very decent quote compared to what i could get from other vendors such as Tischer shipped then painted at my local shop. This was before all the mtec rep bumpers were introduced.

So i responded back letting them know that im in and to get the process started. They had told me it would take 5-7 days to have everything ready and sent out so in my mind, i knew it would realistically take 2 weeks tops. As Jasonn mentioned above, i really had to stick them inorder to followup on the parts to make sure they are on top of it. After a few phone calls/pms speaking with both Long Tran and Robin, i had reconfirmed with them on MULTIPLE occasions how i wanted my diffuser to be painted etc. ( i did this intentionally to drill that in their heads incase they comback and say I never said this and that). I even sent them a picture detailing what i wanted it done.

After about two and a half weeks just around the painting phase, i get a PM from Long stating " There has been a mistake, please contact me". In my mind, i was like.. Oh Boy..., rang him up as soon as i read the message and he tells me the price he quoted me was for an Mtech bumper + the STANDARD LCI diffuser, which is essentially the same as the pre-lci diffuser and that i had to pay an additional $300 if i wanted the IS one. At that point i was extremely heated, but i kept my cool. I explained to him that i had confirmed on multiple occasions both PM and Robin himself via phone at least 3x. But Long said if he had taken the original quoted price, he would be taking a loss and was very adament about it.

I could go on about how our conversation went but by reading that top bit im sure you get the jist of it. The entire transaction left a bitter taste in my mouth and i will most likely NOT do any business with them in the future. How can a vendor be considered "reputable" by running shady businesses like this? Im sure he has helped many people, especially locals but his online or out of state business transactions needs work.

Hey, I'm sorry but this is the first time I am seeing this,I am not sure who you are but Robben has left LTMW for quite sometime.

If we misquoted you, I apologize. But did you expect us to take a lost because it was mis-quouted? When I do mis-quote, I always try to make it up to make our customers happy. So what was it that we did that left a bitter taste in your mouth? what did we do to deserve to be call shady? I did not steal or do any fraudulent act to you or anyone. it was just simply, a mis-quote on our behalf.




I am not going to deny I do have somewhat of an issue with communication at the shop. I think I took on more than I can handle, and I understand this now. This transition has been tough. Even till this day, my pricing has remained fairly the same as it was 6 years ago. I guess the only difference now is me having a family. I am not using that as an excuse, but my family is my priority. As you guys know I am not online as often as I use to be. I wish I can duplicate more of myself to satisfy everyone.

I do appreciate this thread, I believe in constructive criticism. This will only help us improve on our services and know what we need to improve in order to be a better company. I am still the same guy from my garage.
I am still growing. I stand behind everything we do here. If there is an issue with anything please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Thanks!

LTMW
5442 N. Peck Road
El Monte CA 91732
P. 626-452-8321
F. 626-452-8347
C. 626-975-3350
Email: Longtran@ltbmw.com