gentek1145

This is a warning to all you guys buying parts from part importers...This was a hard lesson to learn from, hearing from shawnthemonster and some of the moderators about their lessons learned, I'm glad to have even received the parts ordered.

So (Ronald Wu) owner of "Sakamoto Engineering" A.K.A. Ebay Store/Retail store in California. This guy has been on the boards for awhile, and several forums dealing his parts... Never met in person, just always seemed like a good dood from the boards and was recommended to me through other people.

He's been holding out on a deal that we made for the last 2 months, and not followed up on resolving the issue we have. It was his fault for not insuring the kit against damage, and when it was severely damaged by the shipping company, he doesn't want anything to do with it.

I ordered the Garson body kit from him back in december, paid it up front with a check (he waited a week for it to clear before sending the kit). He sent me photos of the kit, describing it in good condition, no damages. He assured me that he would pack it good, and insure for full value it incase of damage during transit. He said that his friend worked for conway freight and he could ship it fast and cheaper for him to use his buddy (I said that was fine). The kit arrived about a week later. I went directly to conway freight to pick up the body kit instead of having them deliver it (about a 45min drive), and upon arrival found that the box was ripped open, and the bumpers and side skirts were literally falling out of the box. They dropped the box, it was flipped upsidedown and everything that was small was crushed. I immediately called Ron to explain to him the situation before I signed for anything so they couldn't say it was me that damaged it. (The back bumper was cracked in multiple places, both side skirts were broken in half, and one door cap was busted all the way around).
A claims adjuster came within the same hour and documented everything. Ron assured me that he could get everything taken care of and to go ahead and sign for the package since it was insured.
A week after filing the claim, conway denied the claim and said that the items were not insured (as I previously thought and was told), and in fact they weren't going to be covered because they were used items. Upon hearing this, I phoned Ron again, and he told me that he would contact his friend again at conway and see about getting the claim covered.

Needless to say, nothing was ever done about my damaged body kit. The back bumper, both side skirts, and 1 door cap were damaged (severely). I would not have paid him the amount that I did for a body kit that was going to cost over $1k+ to repair. I took the body kit to 4 local body shops and got estimates ranging from $1300-1700 to repair the damaged areas. I phoned Ron with these estimates and asked him what he was going to do about this situation, he said that he was going to try to work something out with me...

2 WEEKS LATER: still nothing. I have emailed him multiple times, text messaged him, called him...nothing. Finally he answered the phone and I purposed a solution to him since he didn't seem interested in resolving this issue. I found a local guy that did body work on the side, he said he could fix the kit for $550 back to new shape. I purposed Ron to either cover the repair bill ($550), or, to send me the mid wing he had in stock (Which i was planning to purchase beforehand, and he had it priced at $350 shipped) and we could call this situation over with because this is a stressful headache to both of us. Being a business man, I figured Ron would choose the lesser of the two and opt to send me the mid wing, which he agreed to do over the phone. Instead of paying to fix the kit, I paid the $550 for the repairs, and he would send me the mid wing that I wanted and he already had it in stock (so it wouldn't cost him anything more)... He said, yeah, give me a few days and i'll ship it to you - LOL THAT WAS ABOUT 2 MORE WEEKS AGO...
Since this last 4 weeks has gone by, I've attempted to email and phone him since I know he is on Ebay with his store always updating inventory...He won't answer my calls/texts/emails etc...

I hate to have to drag someone's reputation to the mud in order to get things done, especially when he's been recommended by so many people. It was his fault for not insuring the kit against damage when he said it was insured, and when it was severely damaged by the shipping company, he doesn't want anything to do with it and takes no responsibility in the matter.