theduke

It all started last October 2013. I was speaking to the owner of Skyline Speed Tuning (Frank Padula) in regards to doing a custom muffler setup for my 2013 Audi S6. I was interested in a custom setup since every available option at the time didn't seem to do any good in terms of the sound I was trying to achieve. Frank suggested he had a great connect over at GTHaus and could get me custom Audi C7 S6 muffler made and do custom piping over at the shop once the mufflers arrived from GTHaus. I asked Frank how long the mufflers would take to be manufactured. Frank told me 4-6 weeks. Shortly after that I dropped by the shop and paid for the mufflers cash. Receipt in hand. Patiently waited 6 weeks, with no updates from Frank. Week 7: I text Frank asking for an update. No reply. A couple days later asked for an update again. No Reply. Figured he was busy with other jobs. Week 9: I message Frank and ask for an update and remind him it is week 9. He tells me GTHaus is having problems and ordered the wrong inlets. I told him I understand as it is a custom job. Week 11: I ask for another update. Frank tells me GTHaus is taking too long and he wants to cancel the order and return my money. But then he suggests to keep the order just because he thought they would deliver soon. Week 14: I message Frank telling him to go ahead and cancel the order as I do not wish to keep waiting for mufflers that seem nonexistent at this point. Week 15: Frank tells me that GTHaus does not want to return my money. And they are only offering a credit for my mufflers. He told me this is my only option and that I could use the credit towards any GTHaus product for my next car since I was now planning on getting rid of the S6. This raised a red flag for me. So then after doing some research on my own, I got in direct contact with GTHaus through another shop in the area.

Here's where the truth shows up. GTHaus rep (Rob) tells the other shop that they never refused Skyline Speed Tuning a refund. They gave the option of either a credit or a full refund since they are an honest company and realize they did not deliver the mufflers within the specified delivery dates. Skyline being the crooks that they are, only gave me one option. The credit. However, I had no use of this credit at ALL. Since the next car I purchased was an RS5. And GTHaus doesn't even offer any products for this car. I called Frank left a message and told him to get back to me. No calls returned. Next option was to call him from a different number. So I got a friend to call the shop. They immediately answered. My friend politely asked them why they haven't been returning my calls and again politely, told them to give me a callback whenever they get a chance. This is when the other shop owner started to get rowdy on the phone with my friend and told him that they'll call me whenever they want and started cursing my friend off.

Now I called Frank shortly after my friend got off the phone. Frank got extremely pissed off that I found out that there was a refund option. And began to threaten me over the phone. Saying things like "why don't you come down to the shop and my fist can give you the refund you want." I tried to remain calm. But when he said that I began to curse him off and called him out as the scammer that he is. But not once did I threaten him. Yet he kept threatening me. Then he tried to play the victim and at the end of the phone conversation and said he recorded the whole conversation. (Keep in mind that it is illegal to record any phone conversation without notifying the person on the line before the conversation begins. And that individual must consent to the recording of the conversation. Otherwise the recorded conversation is illegal).

I then contacted Rob at GTHaus again and told him about the situation. Rob said he would speak to Frank as he hasn't ever had him do this with any order before and he would get back to me. A couple weeks went by. No returned phone call from Rob. I called Rob again. Rob said Frank specifically said he would smooth things out with me and that Rob shouldn't worry. However, Frank never called me nor messaged me. I called Rob yet again. Told him I never heard from Frank. Rob now tells me that it is now between me and the shop aka Skyline Speed Tuning.

Recently I messaged Frank very politely asking him to give me a call back whenever possible and telling him that we should work this whole situation out as there seems to have been a lack of communication and a big misunderstanding. However Frank never called me back nor messaged me. If the situation involved a small amount of money, I would have overlooked it and taken it as a loss. However, it is not a small amount of money. Nor do I take getting swindled/scammed lightly since I work hard for my money. I have decided to take this matter to court. I have all the documentation available. And proof that his so called "shop" owes me money.

Going back on things, I wouldn't ever get work done from a shop I do not trust. However, I moved up to Toronto for work. So I needed a shop that could get the job done. I saw this shop being advertised and "shouted out" from a page you all must be familiar with aka CarsWithoutLimits on Instagram. So I figured I'd give them a shot. Had I been in New Jersey or New York, I would go with the only shop I ever trust -- ONEighty out in Brooklyn. Frank can dodge all the messages and calls, however once he gets a legal notice served to him, maybe then he will realize that I am no pushover nor am I going to let another consumer unknowingly go to this shop to get scammed. If I were a consumer looking to get work done in the Greater Toronto Area, then I too would like to know the history of a shop and if they have bad business practices. I will be reporting Skyline Speed Tuning to the BBB as well as sending the legal notice. I will not keep quiet until justice is served and I am returned what I am owed. And I will not rest until the truth is known about this shop and every person knows of their ill business practices.