Quiksilver
forum member
Some of you may have remembered I posted a post a few months ago about how I was getting screwed over by Cervinis. As it turns out a lot of Stangers here in Dubai are getting screwed around too. This is a long story so I am going to break it into parts but here is what I have been through with them. Its been a nightmare and I would not repeat this experience if you paid me and would suggest you raed this if you have any thoughts of ordering any of their products.
Please take the time to read this as it’s a long story and just be grateful that living in the US you don’t have to go through what we go through to Mod our stangs. Its all 100% truth and I tried my best to keep to the facts.
Make up your own minds about how I have been treated.
PART 1 - ORDERING
I bought a Mustang so I could Mod it and really liked the “Eleanor” style kit and looked on the net for it. I wanted a full C-500 kit with a Ram air hood. I am a South African living in Dubai and this is a once in a lifetime experience to own such a car.
I contacted Cervinis via email from their website to order a C 500 bodykit and was contacted by a "Jackie" who said an order would not be a problem. It a bit harder to order from out here and it often needs direct contact instead of internet orders.I told her what I wanted and got responses via email immediately. I was a little concerned as the emails had no logo or identification on them (see Pat @ Steeda or any other vendor for an example - always have a logo and company details or a "signature"). I was a little suspicious so I asked for paperwork before I paid over the few thousand dollars. I was then told that I would receive no order information, Proforma, Invoice or any paperwork until I made the money transfer. I have done a lot of business around the world and this is not common practice so I was a little worried and didn’t want to make such a large payment. I was still suspicious and refused to pay my money into a randon bank acc number in the states. She also still refused to make the order or provide me with any paperwork.
The total for the order was just over $6000 including shipping. I was also quoted $2000 for shipping alone and told that I was not allowed to use any other shipping company except theirs or I couldn’t get the parts. If I wanted the kit I would have to pay. It was a hard decision but I had just received my car and was very excited about the kit and modding a stang.I then made a post on a Forum in the States and was told that Cervinis were a reputable company and that I would not get screwed. It made me feel a little better. I then went on holiday to Vegas which was previously planned and checked out the bank details with their bank while I was in the States. They checked out and I phoned the company to check on "Jackie". She was there and it all seemed legit. I was satisfied enough to make the order. Please bear in mind that internet fraud is huge and I know of a lot of people who have been ripped off. I am South African so we are naturally suspicious as we deal with a lot of crime back home.When I got back from Vegas I made the transfer which takes a week and a week later they confirmed receipt of payment via email. I then (once again) asked for paperwork. I was then told she would fax the internet order page to me. I didn’t want the order page (I could copy it myself from the net) but perhaps some sort of confirmation of where my $6000 has gone to. After "several attempts" by here I had not received any paperwork via fax as promised. I asked for internet paperwork but received no response still. Incidentally, I have never received any further since except for the shipping papers. I just presumed this was common practice at the time.
That was the ordering side.
PART 2 – DELAYED SHIPMENT
Now onto the next part – the shipping
I then asked for confirmation that my order was going to be shipped only to be told that there was a 2 week backorder delay. Even though I was not informed of this before I ordered i was still patient and thought I would give them that window as delays do happen in life. I had discussed and emailed about my order several times before I paid and was NEVER ever told about any potential delays before I paid my money but remained patient still.After the 2 weeks was up I emailed 3 times for a response to confirm the shipping date. I finally got a response..... The first one was to ask the model of my car (?) and to hold back on the transfer! All of which I had done and supplied weeks ago before I paid. This got me worried and I started to think that something was up here.Next I finally got a mail that said my order would only be shipped after a further 3 weeks from the last due date but no shipping confirmation date would be given. That’s 5 weeks after payment so far. I the waited another week after the last proposed shipping date to be told once again that there was going to be another 3 weeks delay. That’s 6 weeks after the payment was received and almost 7 weeks since I confirmed the order and made payment.
How patient should I be? Is 7 – 10 weeks before the shipping even starts ACCEPTABLE?
Well, I took a few phonecalls and advice from the brethren in the club and decided to give Cervini's a call.....in the States from the Middle East. A nice long phonecall at my expense.
Firstly they apologised and said that there were parts on back order which was holding up the rest but they would be happy to send the parts that were ready.....but the extra shipping costs (as if $2000 US for shipping already isnt enough!??) would be on MY account. So in a nutshell wait or pay.
I also told them that the car was a show car (which is not far off from the truth as its having sponsored work done to it for vendor sales here) and that it needed to be ready by end of Sept and that I would miss my deadline if it was not on the way to me within 3 weeks. That’s 3 weeks after the 7 weeks I had been into already. Bearing in mind I paid in June. Well, now that the car was gonna be in a "show" my order became high priority" (apparently) and would be shipped within 2 weeks.
High Priority my ass!! I continued to wait as we passed yet another deadline and another promise was broken. I now started to weigh up my options as I entered my 8th week since I started this horrific experience. I was starting to think I was getting screwed so I decided that I would have to take action.
I wrote a long letter explaining all this and posted it on Cervini’s forum for the world to see. I got no answer after a few days and so I wrote another letter but sent it to jackie. I carefully explained that I would contact the better business bureau and also a lawyer if I didn’t receive my parts immediately. I then very calmly phoned them again (at my own expense) and was immediately put through to a manager who knew exactly who I was. Without any apologies at all he explained that the back order of 1 small part was holding up the entire order. He then promised to ship my parts immediately and the other part separately at Cervinis expense when I suggested that I contact a lawyer to straighten all this out. I was then sent a shipping bill with an apology and presumed that this ordeal was over. I was also promised that ram air system parts which were missing would be sent mid September at the latest.
PART 3 – THE SHIPMENT
I then waited another 2 weeks before I received the shipment which takes us to around the end of Sept. So much for quick shipping? I realise I live far away but I have never waited for more than a week for anything else to be shipped before. I collected all the 6 massive boxes and took them home. I was really surprised that there we so many boxes for the kit.
It was to my shock and horror when I opened the boxes to see how badly they had been packed! I have never in my life seen anything so bad. None of the bumpers or plastic parts were wrapped in bubble wrap or any kind of protection. And to add to that there were these massive boxes and when opened they had like one small part in them! They weren’t even filled up. Only the exhaust parts were bubble wrapped. I was absolutely shocked and panicked because I know how the shippers worldwide handle goods. I repacked everything and it fitted quite comfortable into 3 boxes. I then counted the damage – a nicecracked hood and a few damaged bits. All this time waiting for damaged parts. Probably repairable but at whose cost?
Considering we pay for volumetric weight when shipping this is unbelievable! And to rub salt into the wound I had to pay $2000 for damaged goods. How do you sort this out? Pay for reshipping back and wait another few months or suck it in and cut your losses?
I emailed the manager at Cervinis with a searing and rude email and never got a response.
I decided to cut my losses and try not to be resentful or bitter because I was really pissed and this was fast becoming a nightmare. The only relief I had was that I had enough parts to start working on the car.
PART 4 – THE BUILD
I took the parts into my shop and they started the installation. They repaired the hood but mentioned that they could not guarantee that it would not break in the future. A bit of body filler straightened up the other parts and the car continued to be worked on.
Incidentally the parts I was promised in Mid Sept were nowhere to be seen close to Mid Oct. Another lie, but I wasn’t too fussed as the ram air kit wouldn’t fit the CAI. I had also asked Jackie about this when I initially ordered and she said it would fit. Good solid advice thank you.
Around Mid Oct I was in the shop when we tried to fit the stock fog lights and they would not fit. I posted the problem on cervinis forum and waited several days for an answer. I finally got it and was then told that I needed to fit the special cervini fogs that were supplied in my kit. I was the livered as I never received mine and due to the fact that I never got any paperwork I couldn’t have known!! I left a feisty message on the forum and phoned the Manager at Cervinis. He (with no apology) said that the parts would be shipped immediately. I received them with the last parts a week later. I also noticed that my feisty post as well as my unhappy one from before had been removed on the forum so their mistakes were all covered up for the potential customers.
As we neared the end of the build I got told that I also wasn’t given the mesh for the lower front bumpers also which was just another painful reminder of this whole affair. I had given up on Cervini so I decided to source my own and we made a plan even though I paid for a full kit.
The car is about 95% completed now and is looking real nice. I have posted a few pics already and the response has been good. I was quite happy to let this whole thing go but am having issues with the exhausts as they are very low and scraping on speedbumps. I decided to put up a nice message on the Cervini forum to ask how to solve this – only to find out I am banned!! I go through all this and get banned for it. That’s pretty low in my opinion.
Well, as I said I am not resentful and get over things quickly but that as the final straw and so I decided to pen this for all those who have had good, bad and potential dealings with Cervini. Those of you who have had great experiences with them - lucky you, those who are considering a kit you have been warned. There are several of us here who have had bad experiences and there is not a lot we can do about it.
Or is there? You decide.
Thanks for listening and reading my story.
Please take the time to read this as it’s a long story and just be grateful that living in the US you don’t have to go through what we go through to Mod our stangs. Its all 100% truth and I tried my best to keep to the facts.
Make up your own minds about how I have been treated.
PART 1 - ORDERING
I bought a Mustang so I could Mod it and really liked the “Eleanor” style kit and looked on the net for it. I wanted a full C-500 kit with a Ram air hood. I am a South African living in Dubai and this is a once in a lifetime experience to own such a car.
I contacted Cervinis via email from their website to order a C 500 bodykit and was contacted by a "Jackie" who said an order would not be a problem. It a bit harder to order from out here and it often needs direct contact instead of internet orders.I told her what I wanted and got responses via email immediately. I was a little concerned as the emails had no logo or identification on them (see Pat @ Steeda or any other vendor for an example - always have a logo and company details or a "signature"). I was a little suspicious so I asked for paperwork before I paid over the few thousand dollars. I was then told that I would receive no order information, Proforma, Invoice or any paperwork until I made the money transfer. I have done a lot of business around the world and this is not common practice so I was a little worried and didn’t want to make such a large payment. I was still suspicious and refused to pay my money into a randon bank acc number in the states. She also still refused to make the order or provide me with any paperwork.
The total for the order was just over $6000 including shipping. I was also quoted $2000 for shipping alone and told that I was not allowed to use any other shipping company except theirs or I couldn’t get the parts. If I wanted the kit I would have to pay. It was a hard decision but I had just received my car and was very excited about the kit and modding a stang.I then made a post on a Forum in the States and was told that Cervinis were a reputable company and that I would not get screwed. It made me feel a little better. I then went on holiday to Vegas which was previously planned and checked out the bank details with their bank while I was in the States. They checked out and I phoned the company to check on "Jackie". She was there and it all seemed legit. I was satisfied enough to make the order. Please bear in mind that internet fraud is huge and I know of a lot of people who have been ripped off. I am South African so we are naturally suspicious as we deal with a lot of crime back home.When I got back from Vegas I made the transfer which takes a week and a week later they confirmed receipt of payment via email. I then (once again) asked for paperwork. I was then told she would fax the internet order page to me. I didn’t want the order page (I could copy it myself from the net) but perhaps some sort of confirmation of where my $6000 has gone to. After "several attempts" by here I had not received any paperwork via fax as promised. I asked for internet paperwork but received no response still. Incidentally, I have never received any further since except for the shipping papers. I just presumed this was common practice at the time.
That was the ordering side.
PART 2 – DELAYED SHIPMENT
Now onto the next part – the shipping
I then asked for confirmation that my order was going to be shipped only to be told that there was a 2 week backorder delay. Even though I was not informed of this before I ordered i was still patient and thought I would give them that window as delays do happen in life. I had discussed and emailed about my order several times before I paid and was NEVER ever told about any potential delays before I paid my money but remained patient still.After the 2 weeks was up I emailed 3 times for a response to confirm the shipping date. I finally got a response..... The first one was to ask the model of my car (?) and to hold back on the transfer! All of which I had done and supplied weeks ago before I paid. This got me worried and I started to think that something was up here.Next I finally got a mail that said my order would only be shipped after a further 3 weeks from the last due date but no shipping confirmation date would be given. That’s 5 weeks after payment so far. I the waited another week after the last proposed shipping date to be told once again that there was going to be another 3 weeks delay. That’s 6 weeks after the payment was received and almost 7 weeks since I confirmed the order and made payment.
How patient should I be? Is 7 – 10 weeks before the shipping even starts ACCEPTABLE?
Well, I took a few phonecalls and advice from the brethren in the club and decided to give Cervini's a call.....in the States from the Middle East. A nice long phonecall at my expense.
Firstly they apologised and said that there were parts on back order which was holding up the rest but they would be happy to send the parts that were ready.....but the extra shipping costs (as if $2000 US for shipping already isnt enough!??) would be on MY account. So in a nutshell wait or pay.
I also told them that the car was a show car (which is not far off from the truth as its having sponsored work done to it for vendor sales here) and that it needed to be ready by end of Sept and that I would miss my deadline if it was not on the way to me within 3 weeks. That’s 3 weeks after the 7 weeks I had been into already. Bearing in mind I paid in June. Well, now that the car was gonna be in a "show" my order became high priority" (apparently) and would be shipped within 2 weeks.
High Priority my ass!! I continued to wait as we passed yet another deadline and another promise was broken. I now started to weigh up my options as I entered my 8th week since I started this horrific experience. I was starting to think I was getting screwed so I decided that I would have to take action.
I wrote a long letter explaining all this and posted it on Cervini’s forum for the world to see. I got no answer after a few days and so I wrote another letter but sent it to jackie. I carefully explained that I would contact the better business bureau and also a lawyer if I didn’t receive my parts immediately. I then very calmly phoned them again (at my own expense) and was immediately put through to a manager who knew exactly who I was. Without any apologies at all he explained that the back order of 1 small part was holding up the entire order. He then promised to ship my parts immediately and the other part separately at Cervinis expense when I suggested that I contact a lawyer to straighten all this out. I was then sent a shipping bill with an apology and presumed that this ordeal was over. I was also promised that ram air system parts which were missing would be sent mid September at the latest.
PART 3 – THE SHIPMENT
I then waited another 2 weeks before I received the shipment which takes us to around the end of Sept. So much for quick shipping? I realise I live far away but I have never waited for more than a week for anything else to be shipped before. I collected all the 6 massive boxes and took them home. I was really surprised that there we so many boxes for the kit.
It was to my shock and horror when I opened the boxes to see how badly they had been packed! I have never in my life seen anything so bad. None of the bumpers or plastic parts were wrapped in bubble wrap or any kind of protection. And to add to that there were these massive boxes and when opened they had like one small part in them! They weren’t even filled up. Only the exhaust parts were bubble wrapped. I was absolutely shocked and panicked because I know how the shippers worldwide handle goods. I repacked everything and it fitted quite comfortable into 3 boxes. I then counted the damage – a nicecracked hood and a few damaged bits. All this time waiting for damaged parts. Probably repairable but at whose cost?
Considering we pay for volumetric weight when shipping this is unbelievable! And to rub salt into the wound I had to pay $2000 for damaged goods. How do you sort this out? Pay for reshipping back and wait another few months or suck it in and cut your losses?
I emailed the manager at Cervinis with a searing and rude email and never got a response.
I decided to cut my losses and try not to be resentful or bitter because I was really pissed and this was fast becoming a nightmare. The only relief I had was that I had enough parts to start working on the car.
PART 4 – THE BUILD
I took the parts into my shop and they started the installation. They repaired the hood but mentioned that they could not guarantee that it would not break in the future. A bit of body filler straightened up the other parts and the car continued to be worked on.
Incidentally the parts I was promised in Mid Sept were nowhere to be seen close to Mid Oct. Another lie, but I wasn’t too fussed as the ram air kit wouldn’t fit the CAI. I had also asked Jackie about this when I initially ordered and she said it would fit. Good solid advice thank you.
Around Mid Oct I was in the shop when we tried to fit the stock fog lights and they would not fit. I posted the problem on cervinis forum and waited several days for an answer. I finally got it and was then told that I needed to fit the special cervini fogs that were supplied in my kit. I was the livered as I never received mine and due to the fact that I never got any paperwork I couldn’t have known!! I left a feisty message on the forum and phoned the Manager at Cervinis. He (with no apology) said that the parts would be shipped immediately. I received them with the last parts a week later. I also noticed that my feisty post as well as my unhappy one from before had been removed on the forum so their mistakes were all covered up for the potential customers.
As we neared the end of the build I got told that I also wasn’t given the mesh for the lower front bumpers also which was just another painful reminder of this whole affair. I had given up on Cervini so I decided to source my own and we made a plan even though I paid for a full kit.
The car is about 95% completed now and is looking real nice. I have posted a few pics already and the response has been good. I was quite happy to let this whole thing go but am having issues with the exhausts as they are very low and scraping on speedbumps. I decided to put up a nice message on the Cervini forum to ask how to solve this – only to find out I am banned!! I go through all this and get banned for it. That’s pretty low in my opinion.
Well, as I said I am not resentful and get over things quickly but that as the final straw and so I decided to pen this for all those who have had good, bad and potential dealings with Cervini. Those of you who have had great experiences with them - lucky you, those who are considering a kit you have been warned. There are several of us here who have had bad experiences and there is not a lot we can do about it.
Or is there? You decide.
Thanks for listening and reading my story.
I am very sorry to hear of your experience!
