!Warning! Prospeed Motorsports

[3.6 911]

This is a warning to all Pelican Members regarding Prospeed Motorsports.
I saw this auction on Ebay for front and rear 993tt calipers; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2405794524, and contacted Michael Wacholtz.
(give me a break on the color)
He and I discussed several different options and agreed on a price that included the calipers, front rotors, hats, and adapters. I paid that day by Pay Pal and awaited delivery.
Anxiously I waited and nothing showed up. There were a couple of e-mails sent and nothing returned. Finally I got Michael on the phone and he said he shipped them and sent me a tracking number.
Friday the 21st I came home to a box on the front porch. Instantly I noted the size of the box and knew something was missing. The box only contained the calipers. I called and he said he was going to ship the rest on Saturday.
On saturday I go to take the rear cailpers to get machined to fit my car. I picked up another set (rear calipers) and noticed they were not as advertised, 993tt. They are in fact either 993 or 944turbo rears.
A couple of voice mails were exchanged and he tried to explain that these would be better for my car. Finally I sent a note and called on Monday outlining posible solutions. I get no reply. I also shipped the calipers back on Monday as they were not as represented. At this time I sent a tracking number to Michael so he would know they were coming back.
This does get a reply which states,"all sales final and that he will not accept them."
Keep in mind I have only received half of what I have purchased and what I did get was not as he represented it. If you go to the site listed above, he clearly states these are 993tt front and rears. His goal was obviously to blatantly lie and mislead.
Please don't let this happen to you!

[ChrisBennet]

I'm lucky I learned about him cheaply. I bought caliper adapters from him for $175. They are aluminum and don't weigh much. I was charged $25 shipping and handling.
-Chris

[targa911man]

This appears to be a pretty blatant misrepresentation. A good example of why I don't deal with shades on ebay.

[widebody911]

I'd bought (or tried to) some 930 rotors from him that he posted on Rennlist. Rotors never arrived, and it took months to get my money back, and it tricked it in portions at that.

[RickM]

Well, we hear quite a bit about the fact that Paypal will withdraw funds from a seller's account when a complaint is made. This may actually work to your advantage.


Good luck!

[TerryBPP]

If I were you I would cancel the credit payment with PayPal and give them a description of what happened. PayPal has a advantage if you the consumer, no so if your the Seller.

[Embs]

Bill,

Despite our differences in the past, you should definitely dispute the charge if you paid by credit card through Paypal.

If you didn't pay via credit card file the "buyer complaint process" and you should get your money back. Don't delay or the guy could close his paypal account.

Good luck and thanks for the warning.

[Paul_Heery]

If you go to the site listed above, he clearly states these are 993tt front and rears.

Just to play devil's advocate...If you go to the auction at that link, it is pretty clear that you did not purchase the item listed. That item did not sell. Do you have an invoice that lists exactly what you did buy? The eBay listing does not support your position.

[RickM]

"A complete set, front and rear of Porsche 993tt Big Reds completely reconditioned in Yellow."

Paul, This is what I read in the action.

[Neilk]

Paul,

I assume that Bill saw the listed items and bought those items or similar items outside of the Ebay auction process.

[Bill Verburg]

Sorry to hear this Bill,

The rear calipers at the link are not 993ttt rears. The fronts may or may not be 993tt, it's difficult to tell from a picture.

If you use either 993tt(Big Red) or 993/S4 fronts on a 911 the best rear is the 965 rear.

I was always taught to say nothing if I couldn't say anything nice, So I have nothing else to say.

[Paul_Heery]

Rick and Neil,

That is exactly my point. If he disputes the charge based upon the auction listing, he does not have a leg to stand on. He purchased items other than what was listed. He will need to provide some type of documented proof as to what he agreed to purchase. That's why I asked if he had an invoice.

[dad911]

29 positives with three negatives. More than 10%. I wouldn't bid on his auction based on that, even worse to buy from directly.

[RickM]

Paul: You are correct AND good point.

[APKhaos]

I talked to Micheal several times about some race seats he had advertised. I was quite keen about the seats, but there was something about the discussions that set off major alarms for me.

Nothing specific, but I just decided it was better not to proceed with the deal. This is just an anecdote - I have no comment or opinion on the transaction that started this thread.

[JasonAndreas]

[MMARSH]

Originally posted by Bill Verburg
I was always taught to say nothing if I couldn't say anything nice, So I have nothing else to say.

Bill

It doesnt really concern this topic. but I wish other people would use that simple rule on alot of the other posts around here.

[3.6 911]

Thanks for the support. My intent is/was to warn other members of the questionable operating practices of Prospeed Motorsports.
This being said there is not an invoice but there are several emails that were exchanged that describe the purchase and directly reference the ebay page.
We'll see what happens.
Thanks again!

[BoostBuggy]

My, what an interesting set of comments. And some of them from folks that have called me and spent HOURS of my time asking questions about brakes and related as I was the only one they could find that had the no B.S. answers. Nice to see no good deed goes unpunished.

While I do understand Mr. Howeard's concerns, there are two sides to every story and he is definitely leaving out part of this one.

First, the front calipers are 993tt calipers. Absolutely no question about it. As they were on my 968, as clearly stated in the ad, the only difference, other than the obvious color change, was/is the x over pipe is on the wrong end for mounting on a 911 vehicle. So there was clearly absolutely no possibility of any misrepresentation on that.

Second, while I will admit to making an error in the ad text, there were 4 accurate photos posted. And the photos clearly do NOT show a 993tt rear caliper. There were 3 photos that showed the rear calipers, 2 photos showed the rears with the fronts and the 3rd pic had the rear calipers by themselves. Mr. Howard did not ever ask a question as to teh nature of this clear conflict between text and photos. As Bill has certainly represented himself as one who knows the difference between the 993tt rear calipers and the 944t/C4 rear calipers on sight, I feel there was no misrepresentation. He has stated to me in numerous e-mails that he knows the differences and there is no way anyone can tell me, by looking at the photos (which I will provide upon request) that Mr. Howard could not see the rear/small calipers are NOT the 993tt rear calipers.

Furthermore, none of his reasons for returning the calipers makes any sense. He said he has the 993tt calipers (F&R) on his car currently and he was only interested in changing to a 2 piece front rotor. Then what did he need my calipers for? And for that matter, without extensive suspension modifications, the Big Reds (fronts) will not even fit his car (82 SC) with a one piece front rotor. And then, I'm not aware of a safe way to use the 993tt rears on his car. Unless you go with a custom hat/rotor, there is no 322 x 28 mm rear rotor that will fit his car and fit the 993tt rear caliper. Hell, to even get an axial mount caliper to fit his car, it needs to be machined and new mounting holes drilled. On the 911 rear trailing arm the caliper mount bolt spacing is 3" and the caliper itself, whether the 993tt rear or the 944t/C4/993 rear has a bolt spacing of 3.5"

There is absolutely no advantage to going with the 993tt rear caliper. The larger pad does not do anything except wear slower and withstand more heat. Neither of which are an issue on his car. The 993tt rear caliper has a reduced clamping force relative to the 993/C4 rear caliper. The 993tt has 28 mm pistons and the C4 rear has 30 & 28 mm pistons. A reduction in piston size equals a reduction in clamping force. Period. And finally as the 993tt rear caliper weighs more, it increases the unsprung weight, which is a performance/handling issue. Finally. The 993tt rear has a retail price of $416.10 and the 944t/C4 rear caliper has a retail price of $480.11 so he not getting a less expensive or valuable product.

Bill took it upon himself to ship the calipers back to me prior to any type of agreement/resolution that would work for both of us without any sort of input or even opportunity for input from me. He called me on the weekend when my voicemail clearly states the office is not open and then I even returned that call. Then he calls me numerous times when the office is closed and doesn't leave any voicemail. Kind of a passive agressive thing I suspect. AFAIC, I did not have a reasonable opportunity to speak with him and attempt to resolve it, so, as the web site clearly states, "All sales are final"

And to address some of the other folks' issues with me . . . Mr. Bennett is pissed off at the shipping/handling charge for his adapters. Well, it takes time and money to ship parts. I have special packaging for all my items and that simply costs money. Would it be better to simply charge $200 for the item and then ship it for $6? I don't know. And for that matter, Mr. Bennet wanted to purchase the FVD or the Ruf adapters because they weighed less. Yes, I did my research. The FVD weigh .1 oz less than mine and cost more. And the Ruf adapter weighs MORE and costs MORE. Does any of this make sense to you? Someone want to explain this to me? So now I'm a bad guy becasue I want to be compensated for the time and materials it takes for me to ship a product?

And to Alan (dad911) Did you even look at the negatives? 2 are from the same person regarding the same issue/item and he doesn't tell you the issue has been resolved. I didn't cheat him on anything, I merely was a little slow in getting payment to him. Take a chill pill. I was busy. I'm sorry. And to the other negative, my mail server was down, therefore I couldn't get any of his e-mails. Why don't you e-mail these folks and find out what the result was. The guy got his stuff literally the day after he posted the negative and it had even been shipped before the date he posted. And finally, did you notice any of the positives? How the remainder of the comments all say, whether I was the buyer or seller, how smoothly the deal went. And how the service was GREAT! Why don't you check that sh_t out before you make a comment!!

To Tony K (APKaos) He and I did speak regarding the seats. Truth be known, Tony wanted to purchase the seats for about $200 less than I was willing to sell them for. Gees, I didn't want to take a complete bath on them. How unethical and insenstive of me. Again, I'm sorry.

To Bill Verburg, I think I know to what event he has (tacitly) referred to. I made a mistake on something some months ago and I publicly jumped on Bill about it. It was a knee jerk reaction on my part and completely unwarranted and undeserved. I have publicly and privately apologized to Bill and I, with all sincerity, apologize to Bill again. He is possibly the only other person I know of that has spent as much time on researching brakes as I have. My truest "hats off" to Bill. The info on his web site is very good and he clearly worked hard to put it together.

I have done hunderds of transactions with many Porsche, BMW, GM F-Body and Mustang guys and shops all over the world over the last 2-3 years. I make one mistake in a description of which there was clearly evidence available that demonstrated this (human) error and I'm getting raked over the coals for it. Mr. Howard didn't mention the the price he got on calipers, rotors, adapters, hats and shipping did he? $1800! That's right $1800 for parts that would have cost him somewhere in the range of $2500 or more from almost all other vendors . If he doesn't want the calipers, why doesn't he just post them to eBay and re-sell them?

Yeah I kknow I'm sounding a bit pissed off here and that's becasue I am. Have I made some mistakes? Yes! Have I not given the best customer service on occassion? Yes, without a doubt and I admit it. But ya know what, I have not EVER balantly or intentionally deceived or attempted to decieve a customer. This situation really gets me. I work hard to provide parts and services that you can't find elsewhere and I do a great job at it. As I siad, I'm human and sometimes do make a mistake. I'm sorry. Now get over it! And in Mr. Howard's case, he should take some personal responsibility for the error he made.

This is one of the many reasons I am getting out of the brake adapters, hats etc. business to concentrate on other things. Responding to this b.s. has taken way to much of my time to be worthwhile.

And if the rest of you guys need some specific like a dust boot or a bleeder screw for your calipers, go to the dealer and pay 3x the cost. And that's if the Porsche NA actually has the part in stock. You may soon learn the part will need to come from Germany. Oh and then you can spend more $$ on shipping or wait 4-6 weeks to get it.

Michael Wachholz
Prospeed Motorsport, LLC.

[TerryBPP]

I should probably stay out of this but I can't resist.

Why not just give him the money back for the calipers? I realize mistakes happen and I'am not blaming Prospeed. I just think that a simple refund would be the best solution. You may be out a little money now (S&H,ebay costs), but at least you'll have cleared your rep with no question. In my business its better to loss a little cash, than to get a bad rep even if its not your fault.

Just my thoughts and