This is a long story, so expect a wall of text about this.


I have the Milltek Catback exhaust, in the process of getting the stock V-band like flange welded onto the front pipe to bolt up to the factory DP.

Now i know beforehand that the pipe would require work before it would fit the US Mini. So i contacted VIPCUSTOM regard to such job, due to their name being "CUSTOM" thinking that they could offer custom work on pipes and such.

Well i was WRONG, It was about early December when i first reached out to them, I told the guy my situation and he told me they dont do custom work. I am not sure if he understood what i described it to him, or what the problem was.

So then 2 weeks after the 1st phone call, I call them again inquiring about purchasing their FRONT pipe. So then i told him i was going to buy their pipe and mate it with the Milltek that i have. Now this time he tells me he can see if he could help me out by welding that flange on MY pipe, maybe just build a brand new front pipe to make it fit or sell me the flange connection and have a local muffler shop to do the welding. I decided i would ship him my pipe and have them look at it to save the hassel. Well at that time it was Christmas and new year and they wasnt open, so i waited til 1/6/2015 to ship it to them.

On 1/7/2015, they received it and tells me they cant help me because it is metric piping and there is nothing he could do to help. Which is understandable. Then i asked if i could buy the stock flange that they offered in the first place. Now they tell me it is not available for sale. This leads me to think that they are just telling me they cant help, so i would buy the system they offer for the F56.

I am not sure what their intention is, but i feel like this is a shady business.


PS: During the 1st phone call i had with the guy, he suggested that i sell my exhaust and buy THEIRS.
So now perhaps everything makes sense!!!

 

While I empathize with you, I'm sorry but I have no sympathy for your situation.

I don't know this guy, but its his choice to run his business he sees fit, and I personally wouldn't call his responses to you entirely unreasonable.

While he could have perhaps been a little more flexible, I don't think you can use that to try to discredit him in a public forum. If this was the UK, you would be opening up yourself to libel by doing this.

Now I might be considered by many to be a grumpy, cynical old git, but I have been following some of your posts, and you strike me as being somewhat naive and over confident on your abilities. I don't know, but I suspect you are under 30 and of the "playstation generation" Why is it these days people of this generation think its all about me, me, me and when ever they encounter an issue with something or someone, its always someone else's issue and not theirs? Why can't people take responsibility for their own actions anymore? This, I also suspect is the reason for some of the rather kurt responses from other people in your other threads.

Lets look at the facts:-

1) You purchased an exhaust system (from a great British company BTW) knowing full well it will need to be modified.
2) You found a supplier in the US that MIGHT be able offer a solution/modification once they had taken a look at this exhaust
3) From the start this supplier indicated he would rather sell his exhaust but you didn't realize this might prejudice his willingness to help you, and you went and shipped it to him anyway.
4) When he didn't give you what you wanted and was under no obligation to supply, you threw your toys out of your stroller on this forum.


I think your solution lies with finding a really good custom muffler shop close to you that can adapt what you have to fit. Metric pipes should be no problem (and I do agree this was a bit of a lame excuse). The MINI oem pipes will all be metric too.

Please take this as constructive feedback and try to learn from the experience.

 

You should of did some local shopping first. Not sure where you live, but there are many muffler shops and welding shops all over. Not taking sides here, maybe Vip thought your pipe would fit in their jig/fixture in order to weld the proper flange to your pipe.

 

I understand you guys points.
I'm not angry that they tell me they can't help me.
but the way they communicated with me, i felt like they wanted to screw me over on purpose.

I asked them why they wouldn't sell me just the flange? They never answered, when they clearly said they would in the first place.

I have records of all email communications with them. I will post them up when I get the chance.


My point is that the way they practice business is SHADY.

Also I choose to use them for help because they r specialize in MINI parts and there isn't any shops around me that does mini performance.

 

I don't like it when people call out business owners who haven't done anything illegal, or even, really, anything wrong. It might make you feel good to vent about an unsatisfactory experience, but souring the name of someone over such a minor issue seems petty. He said he might be able to help, he looked at it and couldn't, and was honest. Better that than doing a hack job and billing you for it.


It's odd that the stock flange was no longer available, but it's possible it was just out of stock and he didn't want to take up any more of your time. It's possible that this was a big elaborate ruse to dupe you into buying his product, but I don't expect most people running a small operation like this really have that much time to **** around in the hopes of getting one sale.

I could be wrong, but I'd be very sure of ill intent before dragging someones name through the mud on a whim.

Oh and Space Cadet, I was born in the '80s, so try not to get too deep into the "These kids today!" stuff, okay?

 

Not calling anyone out to vent.
Simply just sharing my experience.
If u think about it in a different point of view, he could have handled it in a different way and as a business owner he lacked that.

If he informed me well on the situation, instead of ignoring my emails and calls. I wouldn't have posted this on the forum.

If this can happen to me, it can happen to another Mini owner who might be experiencing problems with their products.

Lack of communication from the seller themselves, that is not how a business run.


I even provided him pics with measurements of the piping. So he should have known that it is metric tubing from the start, yet he told me to just ship it over.

Whys that?

 

Fair point dannyhavok - apology if I caused offense. I still think the blame culture is a malaise affecting society in general. The UK is just as bad these days.

I'll also be the first to admit I can come across as far too serious with a penchant for pedantry

 

OP said "Well i was WRONG, It was about early December when i first reached out to them, I told the guy my situation and he told me they dont do custom work. I am not sure if he understood what i described it to him, or what the problem was."

At this point, if I was you the end of my dealings with that vendor happened. You kind of forced your will and tried to get something going when the first sign was NO. It is pretty much all on you. End of story.

Although I doubt it will be. . .

 

Well the 2nd time, I inquired about BUYING one of his front pipe and use an adapter to make it fit.
Which had nothing to do with anything custom, however he gave me the options of sending them the pipe to get worked on.


Btw i didn't post this so i can have supporters on this. I know that there will be folks agree and disagree.
This was made to INFORM others regards on how this business is run

 

Having commisioned custom exhaust systems before, there is no way I would trust sending just a part to a fabricator and hoping they could do something to make it fit the car. It's not the fabricator, it's the fact that they need to be able to mock it up, test fit it, etc. They have to have to have the car. No ifs, ands, or buts. The other option is to just buy a drop-in entire piece (such as a header, downpipe, etc.). It's the "grafting" that creates the problems.

 

I have my Policie Maison-Doyon. It's that if there is an inkling of doubt on the phone, or the slightest hint of misunderstanding, that I hang up the phone and deal with someone else.

It's still very hard to follow my own advice, but I never forget.

 

Actual Email from Milltek from the beginning

(VIP) "Hello, we have to see if the pipe fits in our fixture. If not we may need to build a new complete front pipe, that would cost around $300.00. All you will be out is the shipping if you decide not to go that way. I would say ups ground each way would be $20.00. When we receive your pipe then we can discuss the options after we look at it, we could also sell you just the front v-band flanges and you could have an exhaust shop near you weld them to your miltek pipe, that would cost $50.00 for those, Thanks"

ME: "I will get a label made.
Also how much is that flange connection?
I would like to just buy that from you guys?"

VIP: "Not available for sale. Must be purchased with a full system."

This is not a matter of i am angry that they can not help me. It is the fact the way they communicated with me that lead me to think they are trying to sell me THEIR system altogether. That is shady business!!

 

Do with my 2-cents what you will: I work in machinery manufacturing and sales and often, we get customers who want some type of "guarantee" that this or that machine will do a certain thing that is outside the scope or realm of what we normally expect it to do. My response always is, "Anything is possible. It's just a matter how how much you are willing to pay". The issue is, at least in my industry, that the guys asking this question are not asking it because they are prototyping stuff themselves. They're asking it because they are cheap and because they are trying to use our products as a shortcut or because they don't really understand wha it takes from a manufacturing or from a performance perspectibe, what is truly needed for something to work and operate reliably.

I mean this with all due respect but did it ever occur to you that the one company you mentioned doesn't now want to sell you anything because they sense that you might do a bunch of stuff that might or might not work, and then hassle or otherwise come back at them afterward? That they just didn't want to deal with you, which is their right? I have a number of customers where I wish I could turn back the clock and not have sold them something after all the hassle they put me through after the sale. That doesn't sound like shady tactics to me. It might seem rude and bad for PR but what's dishonest about that? They're probably trying to sell you their whole system because they know it will fit right.

 

That is also a valid point, but something tells me from my gut that was not the reason.

I am not bashing on the company, just saying they could have handled it better.
Sometimes as a business you need to be aware of the things you are informing to your customer.

 

Just for conversation's sake, how much is all the welding and fabrication going t cost you, assuming you have all the parts in hand, at your local muffler place versus buying a whole drop-in system?

Also, I assume VIP's system is 100% stainless and perhaps you are aware of this already, but there are not a lot of muffler shops that are equipped to weld stainless. Sure, they weld in stainless tubing, flanges, etc. but 99% of the time, they are using a regular welding stick and in that case, you might as well not have a stainess system at all because it's the beads which will rust through.

In other words, what are you really getting and how much are you really saving by DIY'ing it?

 

Honestly i am not trying to save money from doing this....
I just really like this system i have.

 

In that case, why not just take the whole car to a local fabricator that does mufflers and exhaust and let them see what they can do to graft that thing in there? Not a mom-and-pop muffler place but a place that specializes in custom exhausts, intercooler piping, etc. V-bands are a pretty standard coupler in the fabrication world. You'll pay a lot for good work but like we have said....

 

Fenderpicks, it seems to me that you don't have sympathetic audience for your complaint. If the man took your money and didn't provide a service, that is shady or downright criminal. VIP maybe a small shop that is growing and getting a lot of email traffic. Answering everyone's emails cost money (time) and they may not have sufficient manpower to dedicate someone to take this task to the level that would please you and probably other people.

If the man said ship your pipe and he would see what he could do, you shipped it and he said sorry he couldn't help...did you get your pipe back? If so, you have no complaint.

If he chose not to sell the flange for whatever reason, that is his choice.....lost of a sale, no matter how small.

Take your pipe to a muffler shop and see what they can do for you. Flanges of all different sizes and shape are available to these shops and they probably could find something that works. But forwarding: I was a small business owner at one time and if the research would take a lot of time and result in a small sale, I would tell the customer, sorry can't help you.

If I can make $100-150 an hour (or more) doing what I do and to find the part you need would take me a few hours or days and the part sells for $5......is it cost effective for me to do this.....even if it makes you happy.


Google muffler or exhaust flanges and look it up yourself, buy it and take it to a muffler shop to weld it up.

If you don't like a business's customer service, take your business elsewhere. Unless they were rude and cussing you out ....ripped off your pipe by not returning it....you really don't have a complaint and never should have started this thread.

 

Not looking to get sympathy from the forum.
I was just informing the community, now however if so many of you folks think i am at wrong. Then i here apologize about this post and bashing on VIPCUSTOM.

But hey whatever you fellas think and feel. At the end of the day, i was the one who experienced it first hand and because of that, it could be a different point of view for all of you here, because you are not the one in my shoes in the first place.


Also lets see if my pipe will come back undamaged

 

Unfortunately this forum is getting pretty horrible with bashing of others for no reason. I purchased a axle back system from VIP several years ago. They were nothing but professional, shipped in a timely manner with awesome packaging. I had to do a little extra on fitment but that is expected when modifying vehicles even when it is listed as direct fit. I would definitely buy from them again.