ECS Deseptive Advertising
 

WARNING

Do not believe ECS Tunings "lifetime replacement" for the tools they sell. What they actually mean is you buy the tool, it breaks, you pay them for the same tool again and send back the broken one, then you get a store credit, NOT YOUR MONEY BACK. Beware.

I now have a $275 credit to buy more of their deceptively advertised products when what I want is my money back for the tool that broke. When I called them I got nothing but attitude about it.

AVOID ECS TUNING. DO NOT REWARD THEIR DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING.

ECS Deseptive Advertising
 

Ok I misread your post at first. I would expect exactly as you, they would copy fcp euro model of buy replacement, send in broken part and get refunded once the broken part gets there.

What if you send the broken part first to get credit and use credit for replacement?

The situation you described is not a good policy just ending up with store credit not really replacement of the "warranteed" item.

Yeah. FCP Euro has similarly changed their "lifetime replacement" policy to that as well. But I have noticed they are no longer charging a 5-10% premium on their parts either. Still weighing whether or not I want to keep buying from them. I have enough BMWs that store credit might make sense... but the principality of it has me still on the fence. :dunno:

Because I had to pay for the replacement before they shipped it. Then return the broken tool. If it had been a true lifetime replacement they would have refunded me the first money for the damaged tool when they replaced it.

I discovered the same thing on my last set of replacement parts. Store credit instead of refund as they used to. But, they announced the change and made it obvious. I don't think they're claiming "lifetime" replacement with store credit.

NOw I need to figure out what to spend my $250 on at ECS, because not only is it a store credit (actually "rewards"), but it expires after 2 years. It will be the last think]g I buy from them. I don't like doing business with shady companies.

Yes I agree. When I've done warranty replace at FCP I pay for new they refunded new replacement cost I think including shipping once they got the broken part. Misread at first as I mentioned.

What I read was that you didn't want replacement just wanted to cash out. Not what you said and I agree it's deceptive if you only get store credit every time something breaks. In reality it wouldn't make much difference other than you have some $ tied up like savings account for next time X5 breaks.

I have to see what FCP says about this. Ive only ever gotten refund to cc when part was returned in the past.

I've been buying car parts from FCP Euro for many years, and I don't recall a time they ever just offered money back for a broken part. You always had to buy a replacement for the broken part and get your money back when you send to them the broken part at your cost. But I find this perfect for self-car maintenance and I have no complaints with them. I think this business model would turn into a loss if they just refunded your money. The model has to be supported by new purchases and they benefit from volume sells/stock turn over discounts from their suppliers. That's where they make their profits given car parts don't break that often as they're busy making sells from repeat customers :D. What ECS is doing, on the other hand, is pure crooked.

FCP recently changed their warranty deal. It is now for store credit. But, I think they sent out an email announcing the change and I don't think they call it "lifetime replacement". That term is what is really deceptive. And I think they know it. They got super defensive when I called them out about it.

I agree, but I wasn't looking just for a refund. I wanted the tool replaced. In order to do that I had to purchase a replacement and then send back the broken tool. ECS should then have refunded me the cost of the broken tool. They would still be paid for the tool, but they would be honoring their warranty. That is exactly how FCP used to work. Buy the replacement part, return the old part, get refunded for the old part when they received it.

Really? I recently returned some broken parts and got money back to my paypal account. Or maybe the new policy applies to new purchases:wow:.

Interesting. I did my return a couple months ago. It was for some suspension parts that weren't broken, just worn. Had over 100,000 miles on them. Originally bought the first parts about six years ago. Don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Not sure it's really deceptive they list the whole process out here: https://www.ecstuning.com/LifetimeReplacement/

Well, they refunded me my money after I bitched about it. They also made it much clearer how their "lifetime replacement" works. It isn't actually a lifetime replacement, it's a send it back and we'll give you store credit so you are forced to spend more money here.

Wonder if you send back the broken part first if you can do a proper exchange. Fcp does it correctly. You pay for the new part and get refunded on the current price.

In the long run it's not a huge difference if you regularly buy parts you just have a bit of pre-paid debit card ready to fire for the next part but that $ is ∞ tied up.

FCP's website says they issue "customer credit" instead of a refund now. Very disappointing.

Yeah, they made that change a little while ago. They notified their customers when they did it. I don't mind as I purchase from them fairly frequently. Their prices are generally better than ECS, so having a credit there isn't a big issue. I bought a tool from ECS that I've been unable to find anywhere else. $275 sitting waiting to be used at ECS when I don't typically buy from them did not make me happy.

I recently read on another forum that they credit you the ORIGINAL purchase price, not the current. :(

FCPs LRG policy changes have me looking other places more frequently for parts... I buy parts frequently, but I don't like the new policy changes.

Agreed. They used to be my defacto parts supplier. $3-5k per year. Not anymore. Though they have lowered their prices ~10% so I still do order from them. Just not exclusively.

Unless they also changed the price I've done exchanges whrer the new part was much more and I got the new price credit (back to cc not store).

Glad somebody brought this to my attention. I need to return some unused parts to FCP which past normal return date so already know that will be store credit

I have been finding the best prices on Eeuroparts.com lately. Sometimes, the price difference is enough that I'm willing to risk having to buy it again at my own expense some day. I've also recently had an opportunity to deal with their customer service, and I was happy with the way that went.

AM.

Lord in heaven, I almost blew my cheerios out of my nose.

CW doesn’t just have one car and maintains them like a police or fire department. Based on how much longer his cars will last it pays for itself.

Pays for the Aero kit (until his wife finds the bill) [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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Paying the price of an extra E53 every year I sure hope so :wow:

Yeah. BMWs aren't just transport for me. Both the wife and I have a passion for them so we buy them beat up, fix them, use them for a few years and then sell them on. Usually at a loss obviously. Though have done pretty well with a few E30s and E36s.

We very rarely have a car payment though and typically have 5 Bimmers at all times. Have 7 currently, though sold 1 recently (F15 X5 diesel) so 6. But I already have my eyes on a 535i E28...

I try. Complete front suspension, rear shocks, and airbags going on the E61 this week. That was $950... :D I blew up one of the rear air bags carrying a load of shingles and the Christmas tree home. :bustingup It made it to the house but I made the mistake of leaving the load in the car for a few hours because I had to pick up the kids. I'm sure they are original bags and have 205k miles on them so they don't owe anyone anything.

:bustingup:bustingup:bustingup:bustingup

I keep a VIN list of aero equipped X5s. I almost bought a pre-LCI M54 powered alpine white aero kit one for $3000. But the check for the F15 didn't clear fast enough. :D

I’ll be patiently waiting for that phone when you’re ready to sell me ReD. :bustingup


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

I think that red one may be CW coffin one day. (sort of attached to that one).

I wouldn't be surprised if his tombstone has an aero kit....[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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