Since Bill has made posts regarding his Z06 and it being sent to my shop, I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight regarding his car:

1. His car was always stored inside. Always. We have a large enough facility that any vehicles that are in our care remain inside all the time. This cannot be said of any C5 tuner, either large or small.
2. I spoke with Bill just last week. We had a nice and cordial talk. I told him that we had just moved our entire shop encompassing 15,000 sf of equipment, parts, etc. to our new building. This move along with 9/11/01 had taken the last month. We had also decided not not remove and disassemble his motor prior to the move as I felt that his car and parts would have been more secure to be moved as a whole rather than in many parts bins, etc.
3. When Bill and I had spoken last week, i gave him a firm delivery date of Nov. 15. He said that was fine. I requested that he come to Houston for final dyno and track testing prior to shipping his car back to HI. He agreed. I had also told Bill that we had a hard time sourcing the crank that we wanted for his upgrade (sorry we do not use Lunatti parts as we dont feel that they are of the quality that we require). I told him that we had just sourced a 4.125 stroker crank and that his short block would be ready in a few weeks.
4. I get a call from Bill yesterday telling me that the entire deal was off and that there would be a wrecker at my shop in 5 min. to pick-up his car and parts. I was shocked. We had just spoken the last week and he was in full communication on what is happening with his car. We gave the car to the driver, but with 5 min. notice it was not possible to assemble his parts, nor was there a safe place to put them on to the flatbed wrecker.
5. His parts are ready to be picked-up and I just emaile Bill earlier to inform him of this.
6. I will deal with Bill fairly in regards to handling this sad way he chose to end this deal. He has posted that he is proud to conduct his business in a "No Mercy" fashion. I do not share his "No Mercy" approach to doing business.

I am proud of what we have been able to acheive with the LS1. Jon Paul Vetter's Z06 makes 447 sae rw hp - more power from a heads/cam system than is available from any other LS1 shop anywhere. Maybe this bothers some people, I dont know. We have built and delivered (4) Z500 Z06's and will continue to build these cars. If you have any doubts about me or how I conduct my business, feel free to ask Z06 owners who are local here in Houston, including Jon Paul Vetter and Brent Penn.

That is really all I have to say about this. I dont like the way Bill handled this at all, but at the same time I wish him the best in the future.

Sincerely,

John Hennessey

 

I don't know who is right and who is wrong. But I do respect the way you responded to "No Mercy". I hope things work out well between the two of you and good luck in all your future dealings.

 

I think he said it had been delayed several times and he wanted someone else to do the work given his experience. As long as he pays you for what you have done so far... I think he said he would.... I don't see a problem. I guess he has the money to do things that way.. so its his business. Thanks for explaining things more, its nice seeing both sides.

 

No matter............. it's an unfortunate situation for all. :yesnod:

 

John, who is making your new cranks? What don't you like about the Lunati pieces?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

"sorry we do not use Lunatti parts as we dont feel that they are of the quality that we require"


:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :bs

 

Very profesional and well worded reply John, it always is good to hear both sides & your sticking to the facts & not involving emotions speaks volumes.

Good luck to both in this ordeal. A peaceful solution is usually the best. :cheers:

 

Sorry guys, I did mean to imply that anyone who is running with Lunatti parts, that they should not be happy with them. However, I will say that since Lunatti was rolled-up into being part of Holley, that I would prefer to deal with a higher quality of parts. FYI, we use Scat cranks, Oliver rods and JE pistons. All of these items cost more than similar parts that can be obtained via Lunatti (which a lot of LS1 shops use), but this is the spec that I would prefer to run. Just as I would prefer to go with parts such as Jesel rockerarms over other brands, etc.

On another note, how many on this forum have had their C5 at a shop such as LPE, Mallett, ARE, MTI and other fine LS1 tuners for engine work and had their car there for 3-5 months? How many of you sent a wrecker over to these shops to have your cars picked up in the middle of the job and gave the tuner 5 minutes notice? I make no excuses for having Bill's car in my shop for 3 months. At the same time, the parts and specs that I had planned for his motor are not the same low cost, off the shelf parts (Luatti, etc.) that you get from some other shops. Custom, trick parts can make some serious power (take Darth Vetter's 447 rw hp and add 81 cubic inches and see what you get for final power output). You cannot be in a hurry or be impatient for a motor such as this. We do offer our Z500 upgrade which requires 4 weeks to complete (we did Brent Penn's in 5 weeks while we were moving) but does not involve as many custom parts as a built motor.

Regards and peace,

 

:cool: interesting answer on the parts end which I was curious, to each his own I guess. Hope it all ends fast and clean for both. :cheers:

 

john. if it matters at all. i wouldnt mind having an 800tt to drive around in. to bad i dont have the cash flow. thats an awesome car.

 

I will respond to each point as well:

1. I will wait for the pics that were taken at MTI. From what I have been told the car was filthy. We will see just how well you took care of my car soon. That will be a whole new post. Apparently you have lots of birds and trees in your shop.

2. Why was I not told "before" the move. The car sat for a month and you told me only after I had to call you and and get my 60 day update :rolleyes:. This car was to be finished in late August as of the tragedy of 9/11 nothing still had been done. So anything after 9/11 was late anyway. I was under the impression that you were doing "extensive" testing and in fact nothing was done at all. Please tell me exactly what you did to the car from late July until 9/11 thats about six solid weeks. What was done? Other than blowing a massive Nitrous shot through my stock motor and bending rods. By the way it was really professional to inform me of my new dyno numbers via the Corvette Forum "Guess who's got 660ft lbs ...". You never gave me a call or as much as an E-mail that it had been done. You just posted and got some more free press. Well this free prees forum can cut both ways!!

3. Your "firm delivery" date so far has been a joke!! I had a firm delivery date back in Feb for the Z500 head and cam in 3-4 weeks, remember. After almost 8 weeks you still had not delivered the parts and, like a fool, I sent you even more money for a crated stroker moter. That was going to be finished in about 4-6 weeks. After 6 weeks and still no motor I called and asked for my update. Again waiting for parts that were "up to your standards". I, like an even bigger fool agreed that it would be better for you to do the install. As you have never done a stroker for a C5 we both thought it would be wise to let you have the car and do the appropriate testing. Well you have had the car since the last week of July and have not done squat. As of our conversation last week the car was still intact. You must have taken the engine out late last week. I then decided to do a little more checking on my own. I got concerned and actually spoke with some people that know you, vendors that do business with you, people who you have done cars for needles to say I was not happy. It is obvious that what I found out was enough for me to take what I feel was the most prudent action. When I called yesterday you, in an attempt to save the deal, told me that you could have the car done in a week if I wanted it that bad :eek: :eek: :eek:. Sure just slap this thing together and ship it back to Hawaii ... so much for the testing. If you had not yet been anywhere close to delivering my car when promised in the past why should I have believed the Nov date?

4 & 5. I guess "full communication" means this: You called me three times in one week before I sent you the money for the Z500. After you got the money ... nothing. You "NEVER EVER" called me not once. I received I think a total of four E-mails, (one of wich was thanking me for not listening to those Viper guys, remember), so after receiveing over 20k I did not even rate one phone call. Yes your customer service SUCKS!! As far as the flat bed and 5 minutes notice. This is a rotten industry and after the deal was off I did not want you anywhere near my car ... just call it a hunch! The parts were picked up (minus the heads) and you have gone out of your way to remind me of the potential damage in transport. The driver of the truck was the owner of the company and MTI trusts them explicitly! I wonder if any parts will be "damaged" or "lost" in transport. Hmmmm

6. That is all I want ... a fair deal!! As far as my "sad" way of doing business this is, as I said before, the way to handle as B.S. situation. All of my dealings are done in good faith, handshake, trust, confidence etc. Anyone who knows me would attest to that. But when I am getting played like a sucker I must act and protect my interests. Many of you I am sure have felt this way as well. :mad If I was worried about the money I would have probably had to let the project finish. Although the money is important the principle here is obvious. Too many tuners screw with guys like me and once and a while it backfires on them!! Why did I pay in full up front? Just stupid and trusting I guess.

John you brought this upon yourself. With all of the delays, the extreme distance and past problems you should have gone out of your way to ensure that I was aware of all developments. You chose to let me sit and wonder. "Idle minds" You have no idea what value a bi-monthly phone call would have been. But if there is nothing being done then I guess there is no reason to call! Hopefully you will learn from this and treat future customers and their cars with more respect!!!

I also would like to say this issue has nothing to do with Hennessey performance. I am sure, eventually, they produce a quality product. There are plenty of tuners out there and while the numbers may vary from one to the next, the piece of mind one gets with quality customer service makes a huge difference. Living as far away as I do I can not tolerate delays in service. I am sorry this situation had to happen. But I needed to do this. Even if my car was eventually done right. I would never be able to truthfuly give Hennessey a good recommendation.

Thanks for you interest and support in this rapidly gettin boring topic. :D

 

Why does it take longer than normal for Hennessey to receive other brand parts compared to other shops? I know for a fact that Jeff at MTI ordered some Scat cranks and JE pistons for another customer's 422ci motor and had them in less than 2 weeks delivered. This was less than two months ago.

By the way, the name is spelled L-U-N-A-T-I

I think you should have just given a humble apology and spared the details John, a thread like this does nothing but bring negative press to you. You do realize that 1000's of potential Corvette customers are watching your every move here don't you? A simple, precise apology about the entire situation and your guarantee that Bill would be taken care of at his highest expectations would do wonders for your negative image right now.

Tony :seeya

 

It's good to hear both sides of the story,

I want to see the evidence, let's see the pics of Bill's car... :D :yesnod:

 

Although I am not a Corvette owner I feel I must speak up here. I have been on the forum a bit and made a few friends here and there, hopefully the fact that I drive a Supra will not hurt me too much. I have been eagerlly awaiting Bill's car to get done, almost as much as he. He is a very good friend of mine and I have been waiting for the competition. (I knew the car would be a beast!) I always ask him how the car is going along and the thing is, he didnt know. He hasnt been informed of anything and when he gets information it's usually 2nd hand. I cruise all the car boards. On the LS1 boards a few months ago I see post from Kyle challenging someone to go to the track in Texas. He said he would be there with 2 cars. One of those cars was a white Z06 with Hawaii plates! I told Bill about this and showed him the thread. He had no idea that this was going on. The engine was due to be shipped here in June! It should have all ready been completed. In fact, my wife was the one that was going to arrange for the airfare for the 2 Hennessy techs that were supposed to install the engine. Then Bill decided to have the car shipped to Hennesy. The only reason Bill didnt act sooner is because he has another nice car to drive. If it was my Supra I would have pulled my car a long time ago, but I am a bit more fanactical about my car than Bill. (One of the reasons I do most of my own work). The fact is the car has been sitting there for months waiting for an engine that should have been done a long time ago. I also didnt like that fact that Bill found out about the huge nitrous shot put on his engine FROM READING THE CORVETTE FORUM! You could have at least given him a heads up before posting something like that. I understand the you are a great tuner, but a good business man you are not. You customer service skills are sorely lacking. For the amount of money that was put out by your customer UP FRONT, you should have been more forthcoming with information about what was going on.

 

Enough, is Enough, :U

How dare you give these readers the impression that the above well known tuners pull crap like you do esp when they are supporting vendors of this forum. !
I will ask Chuck Malllett if he agrees with your public statements.

Retract it ! :mad

No Mercy, IMHO suggest you check matching numbers of the parts that were yanked out of your C5 and if any damage due to any marketing hype tests that were done on your drivetrain without your permission. :smash:


[Modified by team-zr1, 5:51 PM 10/9/2001]

 

I agree... I live near Mallett and have never seen a car their for longer than 3-6 weeks... granted they might not be a busy as JohnH but they get a nice load of cars during the summer... and even a bigger load in the winter... but they do tell you if they will keep you car for the winter since the drivers wouldnt drive them in the winter, they work on them quickly but not as quickly as usual..

....... but they do tell you in advance......

 

After reviewing this case..........I find John H.....GUILTY AS CHARGED!!! :mad
Sorry, there is no way that No Mercys' car should of sat for so long, that is the trouble with paying up front, they spend the money and then don't want to work on the car! :rolleyes: I find .....No Mercy........ guilty of getting a Viper tuner to tune a C5 :D I hope that we all have learned a lesson here :(


[Modified by racer44, 8:38 PM 10/9/2001]

 

I been Lucky enough to meet both Chuck Mallett and John Lingenfelter and I would be quite surprised to see what their reaction would be to your satement :nono:

 

OK so this was handled completly wrong. I am not siding with one person ot the other, but No Mercy, you said that John never called you (which he very well should have) but did you ever think to pick up the phone and dial his number? I don't want to start another war here. Im not trying to defend John or anyone else here. I do think it was in poor taste to give someone only 5 mins to get everything together. I can't even get ready to go to my g/f's house in 5 mins. It takes me longer than that to role outa bed! :lol: But I understand why you did it. I have heard good things about John and this is the first bad thing I have heard, althought I don't spend much time the VCA forums. I have also heard good and bad things about almost every tuner and custumizer out there. Good luck with everything.

PS John what did the TT that MT tested really do in the 1/4 when they ran it?

 

I think everone on the forum that reads this will truly feel for you and will look forward to a post stating that they made you whole.Any reputable tuner will never ask for more than a 50% deposit up front.Remember they also have your car.

Hopefully ALL the tuners will read this and learn from it.Communication is a wonderful thing.From what I have read I would of picked my car up also.Its really sad that things llike this happen.Sounds like you sent your car to a backyard mechanic.

Bill