DDM Tuning: E36 Mirrors

[Phil Marx]

A bit off topic, but I ordered a set of HID glass headlights from DDM. They acknowledged my order on 10/3 and my card was charged including $34.75 in shipping. On 10/13 I received the shipping notice and the box arrived on 10/19. When I opened the box one of the lenses was smashed from being face-down at the bottom of the box. Granted it was in a separate box with bubble-wrap around it but it was still facing down on the bottom of the large, heavy, container.

No big deal, I figured. I sent them an email that evening including photos of the smashed light. The next day I received an email saying my claim was being transferred to their claims department. After another week, on 10/25 I received an email request for additional photos:

I am sorry about your headlight being damaged during shipping. I looked over the photos and I will need more photos of the actual packaging please. Can you send me the box and inner packing. Once I receive them I can move forward with the claims process. Please get me the photos within 24 hours is possible.

I sent several additional photos taken with a DSLR clearly showing the smashed lens and the packing material as well as the outside of the box which had made it all the way across the entire country relatively unscathed by UPS standards, including this reply:

I'm not exactly sure what you're requesting of me. I've attached photos of the inside of the right headlamp box showing the packaging protection, that box from the outside, the inside of the main shipping container showing packing and orientation, and the outside of the shipping container. You can see there was undamaged bubble-wrap surrounding the broken head-lamp unit. The broken head-lamp is oriented face-down at the bottom of the shipping container. There is no obvious damage to either the interior head-lamp box or the outer shipping container but it is obvious by the result that the packing and/or handling of the shipment was the cause of the damage.

It has been over a week since I notified DDM of the shipping damage and sent photos of the damaged head light to DDM. It has been 24-days since DDM charged my credit card for this purchase. I have not had the use of the items in my order over that time. I would appreciate hearing what course of action you intend to take to replace the damaged items, and how long that will take, before I decide what steps I need to take with my credit-card company to protect my exposure.

Another week passed and while I was at work my wife took a call from Melissa in DDM's claim department. Melissa told my wife in no uncertain terms that I had obviously broken the lens after unpacking it, which my wife denied (my wife and daughter were with me when I un-boxed the lights). They were denying my claim of shipping damage.

On top of that, my wife said the woman was very rude and kept insisting on her expertise in examining damage and there was no way this could have happened in shipping. I called and spoke with Melissa and even suggested I'd be happy with just a replacement lens that I could install myself. She insisted it was still my fault but had spoken with her boss who said they would send out a replacement lens if I would pay shipping. She thought this was more than fair considering that I had broken the lens and they weren't at fault or liable in any way.

That evening (11/01) I sent the following response with additional photos, as described in my message:

Melissa,

First let me just say the tone you took with my wife when you talked with her by phone yesterday was inexcusable. I can assume from our brief conversation that you are attempting to put the fault of your packaging squarely on my shoulders and I am unwilling to accept what you are insinuating. I did not damage your product. It arrived at my address broken in the box. As I stated, the broken head-lamp was lens-down in the shipping container. The unbroken one was oriented with the lens facing the interior of the outer shipping container. Both had identical bubble-wrap inside their own boxes but the broken one was simple oriented face-down with nothing but bubble wrap between it and the floor of the box. That's the only way they fit in your container. They were not both placed the same way in the box as you contend.

I supplied you with photos within hours of opening the box. I complied with your request for additional photos one week later. Now that I know you are basing your decision on whether you replace my item or not on my photos, I'm attaching a detailed shot of the outer shipping container taken this morning, showing compression damage and rubbing from obvious distress during shipping. How or why this happened and whose fault it is should not be my concern. The head-lamp was broken when I received it. You said you weren't calling me a liar, but then what are you implying?

Take a look at the photo. The box has not moved from my living room since UPS delivered it nearly two-weeks ago. All I'm asking is that you replace the broken part at no cost to me. By "no cost" I mean no shipping or other charges. This has become a matter of principle since your stance is that I am lying to you, that I broke the lens, and that you are doing me a favor by only charging me shipping.

You also stated the lens damage was on a corner "proving" that it was not shipping damage but, instead, dropped. I've also re-sent you photo DSC_1671.jpg which was taken the day the shipment arrived and sent to your website. It is quite obvious to me that your assessment is incorrect as the entire lens shows damage from being crushed by force while within the package, not dropped on a corner out of the packaging as you insist.

I've made no threats but I can assure you I am well within my rights to simply refuse payment on this shipment and let you incur the entire cost for return shipping as well as any loss of profit. Again, all I'm asking is that you make my shipment whole at no cost to me. Any reasonable business would not find this a difficult decision. You're telling me you'll only charge me shipping. I never even asked what that cost would be since your "offer" was so insulting. It's time you rethink your position. Your website includes the following statement:

WE TREAT FRAUD AS A VERY SERIOUS CRIME AND WILL TAKE ANY AND ALL STEPS TO RECOUP PAYMENT.

Trust me, I understand and feel that same way. However, in this case it is you who are attempting to extract additional payment from me not owed to you.

I've already waited nearly a month since my credit card was charged to have a working set of headlights to install in my BMW. I ask that you let me know within twelve-hours what action you will take to rectify this situation and when I will expect to receive a replacement part.

Sincerely,

-Phil Marx

One week later Melissa called and told me that even though it was still my fault, they were offering to send out a replacement lens for me to install on the headlight assembly myself at no charge. That really pissed me off and I told her I would probably have been inclined to accept that offer two weeks ago but not now since they still insisted the damage was of my making. I also mentioned that since I'd heard nothing from her since my last email, I had already instituted a claim with American Express. At that she said they would never deal with me again, would put my name on a black list, and hung up.

[Phil Marx]

Then I sent this last message on 11/7:

Melissa,

This an immediate reply to our conversation earlier this evening.

I wrote you (below) on 11/1/11 offering another opportunity to make this transaction right. Your response tonight was nearly a week later and without even an apology for the now month-long delay in getting my order to me in a usable form. Tonight you insisted you are doing me a favor in replacing a product that I received in an unusable condition. All I ever asked was to have what I ordered, in usable condition, at the price I paid back on October 7.

When I never heard back from you in reply to my email of 11/1/11, I started the dispute process with my card company. I mentioned that to you after our first conversation the day you abused my wife over the phone with your insistence that we must have broken the lens after receiving the shipment, that unless I received a usable set of lights I would have no recourse but to institute a dispute. I mentioned it again in my email on 11/1/11, below. I've now waited a month to have use of the product I ordered and have only been met with refusal and recrimination from you on behalf of DDM.

Given our current rate of resolution, I had no choice but to file a dispute. Your offer tonight to ship a replacement lens at no charge was over one-month after my purchase was charged to my account. Had we gone another 25-days without resolution, I would have lost the right to dispute. Your company's treatment to-date gives me no confidence that once, I have a replacement lens and can install the lighting system, any further problems will be dealt with with my best interests in mind.

If you can simply supply me with a working lighting system, I will happily end the dispute. This would require me to believe that the rest of the system, bulbs, ballasts, etc, are in working order. This is something I've not had an opportunity to determine since all items are still inside the shipping container in the condition in which they were received. I cannot cancel the dispute prior to receiving a replacement lens given your insistence that I abide by your return and/or replacement policy when I still don't have a usable lighting system and your company continues to insist that that is my fault.

I still make the same offer that all I'm asking you to do is to supply me with a functional lighting system at no additional charge to me beyond what you already charged me back on 10/3/2011. If you can tell me when to expect the replacement lens and if it is received in working order at my place of residence before my 60-day right of dispute has expired, I will ask for the investigation into the dispute be dropped.

Honestly, I'm fed up with dealing with this and with your company's recalcitrant attitude. Had you simply called me tonight to tell me you've decided to send the replacement lens at no charge without continuing to accuse me of damaging the item, we'd not be still having this discussion. It is your reluctance to simply honor our purchase agreement that has brought us to this point. As I said before, it has now become a matter of principle since you continue to make this my responsibility and not yours. I have been reasonable beyond reason in the face of your accusations and I have two witnesses to the condition of the lens the moment it was removed from your packing.

I am a thirty-plus-year member of the BMW Car Club of America and I currently own twenty BMWs. I've dealt with many vendors in my forty-years of BMW ownership. I know what customer service should be and I know when I'm being dealt with in a disingenuous manner. I ordered from your company based on recommendations from various forums, including 318ti.org. I hope you can change my mind about DDM Tuning. I'm giving you one more chance.

-Phil Marx

I had spoken with American Express on 11/1 and they told me I'd already spent too much time on the claim and to let them handle it. They also mentioned that as a Gold Card member I was entitled to replacement within 90-days even if it was my fault, but since I had no assurance that the rest of the shipment was functional and I had not attempted to install any of it, and that I had grave doubts as to receiving any resolution should I have any further trouble, I wanted to cancel the entire order. They immediately removed the charge from my account statement.

The matter is now listed as resolved and I'm awaiting notice from Amex as to what that resolution was.

Would I deal with DDM Tuning or recommend them to anyone? Hah!

[slow_ti]

Nice. They actually have the WORST customer service.

[teetime4one]

wow...that was an eye-opener type read. i had to battle with them also on a large order that i had placed back in 2008. our stories don't exactly mirror each other...but it was poor customer service nonetheless.
i would never recommend DDM to anyone after my experience...i'll pay premium prices through Tischer BMW before i go back to them.
bad business...tsk-tsk

[tiFreak]

DDM seems to be very inconsistent with their service, I've never had a problem with them and I know plenty of other people haven't either

[Phil Marx]

Well, their response to Amex was that their policy requires notification of shipping damage within 72 hours. I received the shipment and sent DDM photos and an email that same day, got an auto-reply, and the next day got an actual reply:

From: "DDM - Service" <customerservice@ddmtuning.com>
Reply-To: customerservice@ddmtuning.com

Hi Philip,
Thank you for the photos.
I will hand them off to our claims department to file a shipping claim and ship out replacements.
Our claims department will keep in contact with you in regards to the status of your claim.

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.



Please reply to this email after logging in to the Support Center (www.ddmtuning.com/support/). If you send the reply from your "regular" email, it won't be successful. Please refer to the automated email confirming the ticket for log-in information.

Thank you for contacting DDM Tuning
Tech Support
858-633-2020 x2
-Justin, DDM Vista

Notice the promise of replacement.

Since I just had to create a photo album to send to Amex (yeah, we've re-instituted the dispute), I'll drop a few of them here:

[cooljess76]

Phil, I've had good and bad experiences with DDM so I sympathize with you. It's widely known on the forums that their shipping is slow, products often arrive damaged and their customer service sucks. But this thread is about mirrors.


edit; that being said, purchase from DDM at your own risk

[Phil Marx]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

But this thread is about mirrors.

Umm, yeah, but the thread subject is actually "DDM Tuning: E36 mirrors". Seemed appropriate to me.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by Phil Marx

Umm, yeah, but the thread subject is actually "DDM Tuning: E36 mirrors". Seemed appropriate to me.

If you say so. I agree DDM sucks, but as somebody WHO ACTUALLY HAS EXPERIENCE with their MIRRORS, I'm just saying that their mirrors are legit. I also bought a set of Depo headlights before they switched to DJ Auto brand and they arrived in exceptionally nice packaging and worked flawlessly. However, the shipping was extremely slow considering that I only live about 3 hours away from them. I knew this well in advance though from what others have told me and from my own past experiences dealing with them.

I'm not here to defend DDM's poor practices, I'm merely saying that your long-winded rant was unecessary. A simple "I had a horrible experience with DDM" and a link to your own thread explaining your unfortunate experience would've been suffice and perhaps "appropriate" as well. But nevermind me, do what you like man, hope things work out for ya.