Ok, I figured I’d post this so that anyone considering ordering a supercharger or turbocharger from S. A. Alpine Developments
Alpine Developments or any of the distributors of their products (like
Importshark) is forewarned. I started a new thread so that this is all in one place.
Here’s the story:
I placed an order for the S. A. Alpine Developments “Hyundai / Kia 2.0 Liter Supercharger system (Beta II)” (
Alpine Developments) on 5/10/07. It consists of 5 main parts (Eaton / Magnuson supercharger unit, 4 groove S/C pulley, a dual pulley belt guide, a longer poly vee belt, a unichip piggyback chip) so how hard should it be for Alpine to get all the parts together quickly?
Silly me…
I paid using a Visa card through PayPal. The PayPal transaction was processed on 5/14/07, so Import Shark / Alpine had my money from that point on. Import Shark states “Alpine kits are pre-assembled after your order, please allow 1-3 weeks for delivery” on their order page for Alpine kits (
http://www.importshark.com/ProductIm...AlpineSC.html). Also, a representative of Alpine told me via email that the kit should take 14 days “door to door” for delivery. I assumed that the kit would be at my door on or before June 4th, 2007.
Silly me…
I contacted Import Shark a few times early on and was told to contact John Conchie at Alpine directly for the status of the kit.
It wasn’t ready after 2 weeks.
It wasn’t ready after 3 weeks, at which point Alpine was violating both their own statement on how long it should take and the written statement at Import Shark.
I stayed in touch with John via email and phone for the next several weeks. Every time I contacted John to see if the kit was ready to ship, or better yet had shipped, all I got were excuses:
First, it was Magnuson’s (the supplier of the MP45 supercharger unit) fault – they didn’t ship the supercharger on time.
A week or so goes by…
Then the excuse was that they didn’t have any of the supercharger intake manifolds in stock and had to get one cast. Why they didn’t realize this on 5/14/07 when they got the order is beyond me.
Another week or so goes by…
Next, it was that the machine shop drilled out the fuel injector holes incorrectly and were going to try to fill and re-tap the manifold.
Another week or two goes by…
Then, the excuse was that the machine shop couldn’t re-tap the holes and needed to start with another new manifold.
Another week or so goes by…
Finally, on July 13th, 2007, I get an email from John asking me if my 2002 Hyundai Elantra is MAP or MAF based. That told me that John / Alpine either didn’t have the part needed to be customized for MAP or MAF or hadn’t bothered to set it up until then. On top of that, it meant that he didn’t even know that ALL 2002 Hyundai Elantras are MAP based, yet he’s putting together a supercharger kit for it?!?!?!
Keep in mind that we’re now almost two full MONTHS (60 days) out since I ordered a supercharger kit with a “1-3 weeks” delivery time. At that time, it could be considered fraud.
So I’m fed up. I tell John that I want the kit shipped by the end of the following week (7/20/07).
Another week goes by…
Silly me.
I try to call John on Friday 7/20/07 in the afternoon (about 2 PM in Arizona time) and find that he left early that day. No tracking number for the shipment was sent to me.
Surprise surprise…
The kit STILL WASN'T SHIPPED on or before 7/20/07!
So, on Monday, 7/23/07 I contact John at Alpine by Email and tell him that I want a full refund. I get a voicemail at work while I’m out at lunch to call him. Call him about WHAT???? – the kit isn’t ready still? It must not be or it would have shipped on Friday 7/20/07. I'm done with his excuses.
I had no kit, he had my money, and he never shipped it even after 67 days of receiving payment!!!
I email John back and tell him I’m too angry to speak with him (which I was and still am) and tell him I want my money back by email AGAIN. I tell him that if he has anything to communicate to do so through email.
I hear nothing back.
So on Tuesday 7/24/07, I try to contact John Kimes (the manager / owner? of LC Engineering which is the parent company of Alpine now) on Tuesday, 7/24/07 by email to see what’s going on.
I get no response from him, either.
I contact Import Shark and Mike says that Alpine is issuing a refund, and it should be issued by Friday 7/27/07. I assume that it means that I’d get my $3,000.00+ back in my PayPal account by the end of the day on 7/27/07 (74 days after they took my money).
Silly me...
The refund money is never posted to my account. I email Mike at Import Shark and he tells me that Alpine cut a check for the refund on Friday and is sending it to him. He will then send me the money (eventually).
Silly me...
I waited TWO WEEKS for them to give me my money back. I never got my money back from Import Shark.
I had to do a Visa charge back FOUR MONTHS after I ordered the supercharger, because Import Shark did not send me a check or credit back. After I did the charge back with Visa I had money back in my bank account in two days!
Mike C. at Import Shark never refunded my money, even after two weeks from the request for one.
The upshot of this is that S. A. Alpine Developments (and therefore LC Engineering, their parent company) cannot deliver their products on time and in full. They may take several thousand dollars of yours and sit on it for months and give you nothing but excuses. To be fair, I have heard that some people got their kits very quickly, so it must be that Alpine is simply unreliable and erratic in their fulfillment of orders.
The bottom line is this – you might get lucky and get a turbo or supercharger from Alpine very quickly. You might be unlucky enough to need a replacement part, at which time you might get it quickly. However… you might find yourself with a car sitting in the driveway for ten weeks while you wait for Alpine to get their a$$es in gear to get you one part.
Beware…
you have been warned.
Alpine / Import Shark Supercharger Debacle
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