I just had a very unpleasant experience dealing with Marti Autoworks.
I'm building a 65 GT convertible, and when the engine was rebuilt I decided to build it up to K code specs. At the same time, I decided to upgrade the old ignition system to a Pertronix system. I wanted to maintain the factory look though, so I bought nearly everything Marti Autoworks had to offer, including the hoses, clamps, decals, ground and battery cables, radiator cap, new door tag, and new spark plug wires. Everything looked great, expect they shipped me the wrong spark plug wires as I had ordered the ones with "radio resistance" written on them. No big deal though. I just decided to use those wires, and I had the guys at the shop install most of the stuff when putting the engine back together.
When the car was ready, I went to get it and started it up and noticed it had a faint hiccup at idle. It was intermittent and hard to notice. I drove it away and about 5 miles down the road it started getting worse, so I brought the car back. They tested for voltage drop, coil primary and secondary resistance, ignition wires, ground issues, the condenser, vacuum leaks, lean fuel conditions, if something wrong with the carb, spark plugs, and unfortunately, the last thing they checked was the wires. It turns out that the #8 wire was faulty.
I emailed Eric at Marti Autoworks and after providing a very detailed and very polite explanation, his reply was very short and basically stated "our wires will breakdown over time when used with a performance ignition system, and therefore there is no warranty, return or refund. As a favor, we can send you one wire at your cost that I claim is bad" as if insinuating that I'm lying about it.
No where on their site does it say that their wires won't work with electronic ignition systems, and since they sent me the wrong wires to begin with, and the fact that they were faulty, means that warranty should not have been an issue. The wires did not "break down over time", they did not work from the start. Additionally, for me to ship one wire to Canada would cost as much as buying a new set of wires here locally.
So I emailed Eric back stating as much, and his reply is that that they have no wires marked "radio resistance" and that its just "generic art work" on their site and that my wires, which were not marked "radio resistance" wires are in fact radio resistance wires.
So I looked into that claim and called Virgina Classic Mustangs, and spoke to one of their techs, and was told they use those wires all the time with Pertronix electronic ignition systems, AND that the radio resistance wires DO in fact have "radio resistance" labelled right on the side. So they just straight faced lied to me.
Then to make matters worse, I call Marti Autoworks and leave message to speak to a manager. A short time later, I get a call from them. I explain the situation, and just part way in, the gentleman stops me and says "I'm just the accountant here. Sorry, we have a guy who deals with those kinds of things. His names Eric". I told him I had already dealt with Eric via email, and that was the reason I was looking to speak to a manager and he said "oh really. oh well... uh... let me speak to Eric and I'll have him get back to you?".
No one called back, and the next email I get is from Kevin Marti himself, who said I must have a "poor mechanic" and that there must have been "other problems with the car" for it to take 3.5 hours to diagnose the problem. He then insults me by saying I'm a man who "sounds very sure about himself", and says that he "listened to the phone conversation that I had with Eric and Jon" and that I was very unprofessional and then says the reason they sent me the wires that did not say "radio resistance" (thereby confirming Eric lied to me), is because they took it upon themselves to change my order because I do not have a K code engine.... lol. If they were concerned about that, you'd think they would have called me. I wanted those specific wires, which is why I ordered them. It was not their place to change my order without my consent and then blame me for it.
The best part is that I didn't even have a phone conversation with Eric, so Kevin himself lied to me again. When I called him on that, his reply was that he "had instructed Eric to quietly listen in on the other line while I was talking to Jon"... lol. Like another straight out lie. When that accountant called me, he had no idea who I was, what the issue was, or why I had left a message for a manager. He also suggested I talk to Eric. There is no way Eric was listening in quietly.
I honestly expected a lot from a company that's been around as long as Marti Autoworks. I would have thought they were a very respectable outfit. I never would have expected to be treated like that. I had to go as far as disputing the transaction and my credit card company sided with me after reviewing the emails. read more