First of all, I absolutely I have no intention of posting anything negative about anyone, but I feel I should share my experience so that others can make a more well informed decision when choosing a tuner.
I needed a tuner who could flash my MS43 ECU for my M54 swap. After contacting a few I decided on Randy Mueller at Epic Motorsports based on positive reviews I had read. He initially attempted at selling me his interface cable so that I could flash the ECU myself. Although that is a very attractive option, I declined because of the additional cost. So I sent him my ECU last July along with a breakdown of what I thought should be disabled (the systems my older vehicle cannot satisfy.) After I could see that it had been delivered based on the tracking number, I received no confirmation from him that he had received it. After a few days I called down there, which is very frustrating by the way because they rarely answer the phone, and one of his guys told me they got it and although he couldn’t give me a specific time frame, because they were busy, they would get to it as soon as they could.
So then weeks go by and I call again and I’m told Randy is working on it but he’s afraid of his code being stolen so he wants to have his code encrypted. I had no problem with that since I had no intention of having another tuner work on my ECU. So then months go by and I send emails every now and then requesting an update. No word from Randy. I called again and one of his guys told me the ECU is ready except the code still needs to be encrypted. He apologized for the delay and told me because of that they were going to give me a free interface cable so that I could flash updates myself at home. That was very nice! So then I let a few more months go by as I didn’t plan on starting my engine swap until the next summer so it wasn’t urgent I have the ECU soon.
Then I call again and I’m told by one of his guys that they still hadn’t been able to encrypt the code, but an engineer was working on it. He said they were very busy that time of the year because of racing. He told me they could send my ECU back to me because I had been waiting so long. After all that time I didn’t wish to receive the ECU back without the work completed so I asked him if they could have it done by June when I wanted to start my engine swap. He said, yes, they were going to do some software encryption for a race team before then and they could do mine as well. No problem he said.
So then June rolls around and I send an email requesting an update. No word from Randy. So a few days later I try calling down there. No answer. The next day, no answer. Then I finally get through and a lady answers who seems friendly. I tell her who I am and ask her if my ECU is ready. I told her I sent it to them a year ago. She said OMG that long?? Then she said okay, hold on. So I hold and she comes back to tell me they are going to send my ECU back and asked for my address. So then about a week goes by and I sent an email to Randy requesting a tracking number for the return shipment. No word from him. So a couple days later I call again and he answers. I told him who I was and he said he’s sending my ECU back and asked for my address. He was very short with me.
So then a few days go by and I sent him another email requesting a tracking number. I also included my address. No response back, but then I get a request from PayPal to pay an invoice from them. At first I thought oh good, finally an invoice for the work completed, but no, it’s just for the return shipping. So I paid it and shortly after that PayPal emailed me a tracking number. At this point I was frustrated a year had gone by and he didn’t do the work, but I was happy my ECU was coming back to me at least. Then it arrived and I opened the box, yay my ECU! But wait, it looks a little different. There’s a sticker on the bottom I don’t recognize. I pulled out my receipt from LKQ that has the VIN number on it. It’s a different VIN number. He sent me the wrong ECU. Mine is for a manual car, this one is for an auto. Lovely. So I emailed him. No response of course. So then I disputed the PayPal invoice for the return shipping. He refunded it and didn’t say a word. Interesting. I sent a couple more emails, one kind of rude, and the last one very kind and apologetic. Still nothing.
I then sent my ECU to the tuner I should have originally who I hope to be able to leave a very positive review for as soon as I’m able to get my engine started. He told me it didn’t matter if it was from an auto car because he could fix that so I gave up trying to get my ECU from Randy. He completed it very fast. :up:
I needed a tuner who could flash my MS43 ECU for my M54 swap. After contacting a few I decided on Randy Mueller at Epic Motorsports based on positive reviews I had read. He initially attempted at selling me his interface cable so that I could flash the ECU myself. Although that is a very attractive option, I declined because of the additional cost. So I sent him my ECU last July along with a breakdown of what I thought should be disabled (the systems my older vehicle cannot satisfy.) After I could see that it had been delivered based on the tracking number, I received no confirmation from him that he had received it. After a few days I called down there, which is very frustrating by the way because they rarely answer the phone, and one of his guys told me they got it and although he couldn’t give me a specific time frame, because they were busy, they would get to it as soon as they could.
So then weeks go by and I call again and I’m told Randy is working on it but he’s afraid of his code being stolen so he wants to have his code encrypted. I had no problem with that since I had no intention of having another tuner work on my ECU. So then months go by and I send emails every now and then requesting an update. No word from Randy. I called again and one of his guys told me the ECU is ready except the code still needs to be encrypted. He apologized for the delay and told me because of that they were going to give me a free interface cable so that I could flash updates myself at home. That was very nice! So then I let a few more months go by as I didn’t plan on starting my engine swap until the next summer so it wasn’t urgent I have the ECU soon.
Then I call again and I’m told by one of his guys that they still hadn’t been able to encrypt the code, but an engineer was working on it. He said they were very busy that time of the year because of racing. He told me they could send my ECU back to me because I had been waiting so long. After all that time I didn’t wish to receive the ECU back without the work completed so I asked him if they could have it done by June when I wanted to start my engine swap. He said, yes, they were going to do some software encryption for a race team before then and they could do mine as well. No problem he said.
So then June rolls around and I send an email requesting an update. No word from Randy. So a few days later I try calling down there. No answer. The next day, no answer. Then I finally get through and a lady answers who seems friendly. I tell her who I am and ask her if my ECU is ready. I told her I sent it to them a year ago. She said OMG that long?? Then she said okay, hold on. So I hold and she comes back to tell me they are going to send my ECU back and asked for my address. So then about a week goes by and I sent an email to Randy requesting a tracking number for the return shipment. No word from him. So a couple days later I call again and he answers. I told him who I was and he said he’s sending my ECU back and asked for my address. He was very short with me.
So then a few days go by and I sent him another email requesting a tracking number. I also included my address. No response back, but then I get a request from PayPal to pay an invoice from them. At first I thought oh good, finally an invoice for the work completed, but no, it’s just for the return shipping. So I paid it and shortly after that PayPal emailed me a tracking number. At this point I was frustrated a year had gone by and he didn’t do the work, but I was happy my ECU was coming back to me at least. Then it arrived and I opened the box, yay my ECU! But wait, it looks a little different. There’s a sticker on the bottom I don’t recognize. I pulled out my receipt from LKQ that has the VIN number on it. It’s a different VIN number. He sent me the wrong ECU. Mine is for a manual car, this one is for an auto. Lovely. So I emailed him. No response of course. So then I disputed the PayPal invoice for the return shipping. He refunded it and didn’t say a word. Interesting. I sent a couple more emails, one kind of rude, and the last one very kind and apologetic. Still nothing.
I then sent my ECU to the tuner I should have originally who I hope to be able to leave a very positive review for as soon as I’m able to get my engine started. He told me it didn’t matter if it was from an auto car because he could fix that so I gave up trying to get my ECU from Randy. He completed it very fast. :up:
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