Well folks. It finally happened. UGR has stooped lower than I ever thought possible. Not only has UGR f*cked me over personally, but they have f*cked over a handful of other viper owners. All in the name of making a few bucks.
As you all know, I have used the same engine shop that UGR uses for a very long time. As you also know, UGR has recently signed a deal with them to ONLY do their motors. The two exceptions HAD been previous customers AND existing business. Makes good sense. And I can respect that. And even if existing customers weren't allowed, there was at least ONE customer who could have run engines through the shop other than UGR. And I would have had choices other than UGR for my local engine work.
Well, I have had an engine up at the engine shop for a month now that has been 'stuck' because Kevin @ UGR has been whining like a baby, threatening to pull all of their business from this one engine shop if they serviced my engine. And we aren't even talking about doing an engine rebuild or assembly here. We are talking about some basic machining.
Kevin had an opportunity to do the right thing and allow me to finish my business with these folks. I've been quiet on the boards and had no intention of saying a word. Life would have been quiet. But instead, he went out of his way to ensure that I cannot get my engine work done there. And several other previous customers.
Worse, v10kingsnake (thanks Josh) provoked this by whining to Kevin that my engine was actually there. Stirring the pot as usual. Being a true jerk-off, as usual.
wha wha wha.
I can understand why he doesn't want me to do my work there. I pay under 3k for the same work which he charges customers over 15k for! Attached are some motor build sheets just so you can all see how much of a 'mark-up' there is on the UGR engines.
Even though I provided my own rods and pistons, the cost of that hardware isn't more than ~2k. So the markup for the guy who is told "13k + core" to have an engine done by UGR... well that is borderline criminal.
No, the world won't end for me. I've already contracted with alternative engine builders to deal with my basic machining needs. But it is incredible how low UGR has gone in this case. To actually prevent me and the other EXISTING CUSTOMERS of the engine shop from getting their work done is insane. And also not allowing me to go through the one other person who was allowed to run engine business through that shop. Wow. I'm still in disbelief.
I'd like to publicly apologize to Jeff as well. I'd looked at purchasing a car from him but being that it is a UGR car I wanted to make sure that I could get it serviced locally in the event that I needed to. Kevin's dislike of me and other DIY people is so great that even if I'd bought Jeff's car I couldn't have the local engine shop that built it work on it!
How low is that?
That, my friends, is quite low.
And that, unfortunately, is all fact. indisputable fact.
I certainly respect the business decision of the engine builder and hold no ill-will. They are some great guys. I'm bummed I can't have them work on my engines but I understand. UGR, on the other hand, will never get a dollar of my $$$ ever.
Kevin - I know you told Jeff to have me call you. And you told Eric to have me call you. Well, I called you. Please disregard the message. I don't know why you were so insistent that I call you but I did and now I don't want to bother speaking to you. I have nothing to say to you. You've made your power-play. So be it.
That is all.
Flame suit on. But I don't really care. For those of you considering UGR to do work on your car, a) consider the mark-up that you are about to pay for your outsourced engine work, and b) consider your options carefully. The engine work is most excellent. But the UGR markup... not so much.
JD
Last edited by JID : January 10th, 2008 at 08:38 PM.
Reason: added word UGR before 'markup' in last line
So is the issue UGR's "mark up", or the fact that they wanted Pro Line to enforce their exclusive agreement?
Guess this is why you weren't in Bradenton.
S.
So is the issue UGR's "mark up", or the fact that they wanted Pro Line to enforce their exclusive agreement?
Guess this is why you weren't in Bradenton.
S.
Wasn't in bradenton b/c bradenton wasn't worth the effort. Car was ready to go but owner didn't care to be there.
RE: the agreement. If the agreement was enforced, the I could have had the _other_ guy who is allowed to do engines run that engine through him. Which I'd still happily do. even paying his markup. But this is just UGR being spiteful. To quote another alleyite:
I'm confused. Was the exception to allow existing customers to have engine work done part of the contract?
I will probably never know. But there are a few other existing customers that are in-progress that are getting serviced. Including one who dropped off their engine AFTER I dropped of mine.
Yes, it sucks. But only because I've lost both the time and a space on the couch at the engine builder's shop. They are very cool guys and I respect their business decision. Hell, if Kevin threatened me that he was going to pull his 30+ engines from my shop just b/c i serviced a few odd-ball motors then I'd do it too!
I'm dying to hear how UGR tries to spin this one. Fact is fact in this case. I'd like to hear how I'm at fault somehow or how I wasn't playing by the rules or how the 'exclusive agreement' applies to me even though I could have worked with the _other_ allowed party to do engines until now.
Actually, I'm sure that Josh will call Kevin as soon as he finishes unloading his car from the trailer and tries to reconnect his mouth to UGR's nuts while reading this thread.
I can understand why you are sad, but I am not sure why you fail to understand what is going on and feel the need to flame a tuner for practicing perfectly acceptable business practices, such as protecting their R&D.
Put it in perspective. Pretend you were UGR, and you walked into a machine shop and started doing tons of business with them in a rare application. In cooperation with this machine shop, you create world records and learn many things about the nature of the beast. You develop a refined and consistent solution for your customers.
Now, some DIY backyard fool who dropped 40 grand for a used Viper and thinks he can build a 1500hp street machine for 25 grand walks in to the machine shop and he wants the UGR package for the UGR cost. Uhh, no… that’s not going to happen. If I were UGR, I wouldn’t even want them to simply clean your block or even give you advice. Why? Because 3 months later when your melt your block into a doorstop attempting a record, you’re gonna go running your mouth about who touched your block or gave you advice and start pointing fingers at why your hoopie just melted.
Also, you are a complete ass for trying to expose a tuner’s markup on a product. There is always more than meets the eyes, and it’s most likely that you have no idea what you are talking about. Even if you are accurate, it’s still retarded and crybaby of you. If you cannot afford a UGR build, find your own machine shop and move on.
Besides, if you just want basic machining... whats the big deal? Take it to carquest.
im obviously sorry to hear this joseph. proline has been really great to deal with in the past and im upset i cant use them anymore i guess....THAT SUCKS. now im pissed, if i blow that fucking engine up one more time im TOTALLY FUCKED NOW.
id like to hear what eric and matt of proline have to say.
im obviously sorry to hear this joseph. proline has been really great to deal with in the past and im upset i cant use them anymore i guess....THAT SUCKS. now im pissed, if i blow that fucking engine up one more time im TOTALLY FUCKED NOW.
id like to hear what eric and matt of proline have to say.
Eric and Matt have been cool. Like I said before, I respect the work they do and their business decisions. Who wouldn't do it given the situation? It just sucks that you, me, and a few others get the raw end of the stick. And that the rules appear to have, ah, changed due to a little power-play out of NC. That's all.
Just think... I haven't been on viper boards for weeks. And I wasn't planning on being on-line either. But instead of letting me go about my business and finish my sh*t in private I get to whine to all of you about how I can't b/c of some stupid BS. And I also can't call myself other-twinvipers b/c I can't buy Jeff's car! That sucks even worse!!!
You know Joseph, you are seriously about as fucking delusional as they come. How you could honestly believe that I called and whined to Kevin because proline had your block is beyond me. Tell me dummy, how in the fuck am I, being in NJ, aware of what Proline has of yours in their shop? Here's a clue dipshit. I was told you motor was up there. I was told you and the "other" person aka Tony A. were the ones that brought it there in an effort to be a weasel cockbag and circumvent Kevins exclusivity with Proline. It didn't work. Your still FUBAR like the frosted pistons in that shitbox block you dumped off at Proline. "Minor machine work".BUHAHAHAHAHHAHAA that;s like saying your just a minor cocksucker.
You keep bringing up my name Joseph and expect me to leave you alone? It's a 2 way street. How you can blame UGR for wanting an exclusive engine builder who he supplies a ton of work to is beyond understanding. Do you think that Proline would agree to this if it was taking food off their tables? The fact is that you knew months ago that Kevin had this arrangement with Proline and you even acknowledged it in your previous posts and seemed fine with it. But Joe you weren't fine with it were you. TOUGH SHIT CRY BABY. You being the ultimate slimey cocksucker that you are decided to continue your backstabbing ways of being a jerk off and rather than calling Kevin and asking for some leverage in getting your job worked you thought you'd be sly bringing it up with Tony. Fuck you Joe, it didn't work.
News flash here guys****** Kevin runs a business. Has a family. Families eat food. Food comes from profits. YES Kevin makes a profit on work done in his shop. Joe Dell would expect everyone here to believe that Kevin would forego feeding his family by NOT charging a premium for work done. Yeah, makes sense... Joe Dell is a liar.
You know Joseph, you are seriously about as fucking delusional as they come. How you could honestly believe that I called and whined to Kevin because proline had your block is beyond me. Tell me dummy, how in the fuck am I, being in NJ, aware of what Proline has of yours in their shop? Here's a clue dipshit. I was told you moto
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