The details of my V.L. Enterprises saga


In order to decrease scroll-time on the main page, I've moved all the "history" information here.  This page will serve as an archive of my experience.

The Saga Begins - The Gory Details


THE SAGA BEGINS

When I first called Vince in January of 2001 to ask some basic questions about his kit, he was very responsive and polite.  He gave me some pricing information and told me it would take him about a week to perform the work on my transaxle.  He also told me that, since he's a small business, he doesn't produce the parts for the kit himself.  He has them manufactured in batches, and the next batch wouldn't be ready until March or so.  That was cool with me, because my Scirocco was in storage for the winter anyhow.  I got a good vibe from Vince, and appreciated his honesty about the availability of the parts.  I told him I'd call him back sometime after March when I was ready to have the work done.

I called Vince back at the end of April, 2001, and reminded him of our conversation earlier in the year.  He said he had parts available.  He also said it would take about 1 week to ship my transaxle to him, one week for him to do the work, and another week for the transaxle to ship back to me.  That's a total of 3 weeks for those of you who don't want to do the math.

To make an excessively long story frighteningly short, I shipped my transaxle to Vince on May 2, 2001 and have not seen it since as of this writing (July 16, 2001).  I've paid Vince in full for all the work he promised to do with my credit card and made several fruitless attempts to contact him since then.  He did respond to me twice since then, and each time he gave me a new completion date--neither of them were met.

THE GORY DETAILS

Below is a listing of all my communications with regards to this matter.   Telephone calls will be in green text, and e-mails/internet correspondence will be in purple text.

1/24/01 - 1:03PM - Discussed basic pricing for the Option 6-Speed kit and installation, and got an estimate for the cost of the work I wanted done: full rebuild of my 020 4k transmission, installation of a Quaife differential (supplied by me), and installation of the Option 6-Speed kit with a .71 6th gear. The estimate was $1534 if my transaxle was in fair condition, $1695 for a worst-case scenario if it was not. Was told that parts for the kit wouldn't be available until March or so, as Vince was pretty much the only guy doing the work and ordered the parts on a batch basis. Vince told me it would take about 1 week to complete the work.

4/23/01 - 12:57PM - Asked about availability of parts for the Option 6-Speed kit. I reminded Vince of our discussion in January, and he asked me for contact info, I assume to get a "file" started. I asked him how long it would take to do the work, and he told me it would take 1 week to ship my transaxle to him, 1 week for him to perform the work, and 1 week to ship it back to me.

5/1/01 - 2:00PM - Asked Vince about shipping my transaxle to him (what materials, how much to insure it for, etc.). I told him I planned to ship it to him in the next day or so, and he said that he would call me after it had arrived and had a chance to take it apart for an inspection (so he could quote me the final price of the work).

5/14/01 - 12:45PM - Left a voice mail to let Vince know that I got his note and gave my phone number. Vince called me back to let me know that my transaxle was in pretty good condition. We discussed a couple options for the 6th gear, and agreed on the .71 for my application (tall highway cruising gear). Vince gave me a final quote of $1534.07 and said that he'd have the work done by 5/21/01. He also said that he'd call me before shipping it back. I asked him to ship it to Autopia, the shop that removed the transaxle from my Scirocco (which is where it sits to this day). I gave Vince my credit card number and billing address.

5/21/01 - 5:49PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

5/23/01 - 3:54PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

5/24/01 - 3:24PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

5/25/01 - 4:43PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

5/29/01 - 2:42PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/1/01 - 10:48AM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/4/01 - 6:16PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/6/01 - Posted my woes in response to the "Deadbeat Vortexers" thread in the Off Topic forum on the VW Vortex web site. Later that day, I received an e-mail from Adam Moore, who had also posted to that thread with a similar story. Adam had shipped his transaxle to Vince on 12/5/00, and hasn't seen it (and his money for parts and labor) since. Adam also told me of another person named Boyd Drew who had sent Vince his transaxle in November of 2000 with the same results (or lack thereof).

6/6/01 - That evening, I sent an e-mail to the Scirocco.org mailing list. In my e-mail, I briefly described my situation and asked if anyone else had done any business with V.L. Enterprises.

6/7/01 - I sent an e-mail to Vince this morning, letting him know that I'd left him several unanswered voice mails and recapping the work he agreed to do on my transaxle. I reminded him that we last spoke on 5/14/01, and that he promised to complete the work by 5/21/01. I indicated that my credit card bill would be due for payment soon, and I wanted some confirmation that the work would actually be done before paying it. I stated that if he did not contact me by 6/15/01 (the date I planned to pay the bill), I would dispute the charge. I listed my work and home telephone numbers and the times he could reach me at each.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Dan who had purchased a 5th gear conversion from Vince. Vince said that it took awhile to get the part and was unable to contact Vince (supposedly due to vacation), but otherwise was successful.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Mike telling me that Vince is a one man show and is constantly busy. He also advised me that calling Vince several times a day was the only way to get in touch with him, and that he must be constantly prodded to get anything done. Finally, Mike indicated that Vince will complete your work faster the closer you live to him.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Jasin telling me of a friend of his who sent his transaxle to Vince a couple months ago for some work and has not been given a reply when it would be done. His friend calls five times a day and has sent numerous e-mails with no answer.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Craig who said that a friend of his dealt with Vince several years ago. He said that everything went off without a hitch and the work was very good.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Chris who claimed he knew Vince personally, as he had purchased a 79 Scirocco GTI ragtop from Vince. Chris said that Vince will complete the work, but he's "kind of a slacker some times because of how much work he has to do". Chris also re-iterated that Vince is the only one working on the transaxles.

6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from Mark Christiansen in response to my post to the Scirocco mailing list. Mark owns a company named EM Precision, which manufactures the parts needed for Vince's 6-speed conversion kit. Mark informed me that his company also manufactures aircraft parts, and that the F.A.A. shut down production of all their parts for a couple weeks for an audit as the result of one of their aircraft customers not following regulations. As a result, Vince could not get the parts he needed to complete the work on my 6-speed conversion (as well as 12 others). Mark went on to say that Vince runs a very good business and has dealt with him successfully for many years. Mark also said that Vince sells quality parts and does quality work, and has been extremely busy the past few weeks because it's race season. Finally, Mark said that he should deliver the remaining parts to Vince next week. I received a second e-mail from Mark detailing how his manufacturing the parts for Vince had been delayed, and that it wasn't Vince's fault. Finally, I received a third e-mail from Mark giving me his cell phone number and asking me to give it to the other people I knew about so we could call and ask him any questions we had.

6/7/01 - I forwarded Mark Christiansen's e-mails to Adam and Boyd.

6/7/01 - I received a couple more e-mails from Mark Christiansen, further praising Vince's knowledge of transaxles and his excellent quality of work. Mark also offerred discounts on products sold by EM Sport (the automotive branch of EM Precision, I believe) to those of us who had been waiting for our transaxles, in an effort to smooth things over. I forwarded these e-mails on to Adam and Boyd.

6/8/01 - 11:39AM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/13/01 - I received an e-mail from Mark Christiansen with an update on the parts he's manufacturing for the 6-speed kits. He also informed me that Vince had been very sick recently as the result of food poisoning from sushi. Finally, Mark indicated that he may try to pick up the 6-speed project, as he has some concerns over the way Vince has been doing business, and that he believes the 6-speed kit is a very good product that has been improving in quality over the last 3 years he's been making them.

6/14/01 - 7:56AM - Vince's voice mail box was full, so I couldn't leave a message.

6/14/01 - 10:54AM - Vince's voice mail box was full, so I couldn't leave a message.

6/14/01 - I sent an e-mail to Mark Christiansen (and copied Vince) to ask him to please let Vince know that I was trying to contact him (his voice mail was full so I couldn't leave a message), and that I planned to dispute the credit card charge if I don't hear from him by the following day. Again, I listed my home and work phone numbers, and the hours I'd be available at each.

6/14/01 - 10:00PM - Vince's voice mail box was full, so I couldn't leave a message.

6/15/01 - I received an e-mail from Mark Christiansen informing me that Vince had been very ill the whole week as the result of food poisoning and had not been checking his messages as a result. Mark said that he had finished the parts for Vince to pick up the following day, and also indicated that Vince had been "very short" with him on the phone.

6/15/01 - I finally received an e-mail from Vince. He apologized for the inconvenience and said that he intended to complete my transaxle by 6/22/01. He said that he had not been in (to work) for most of the week, but he'd be in tomorrow. He also said he'd call me to apologize in person and "get on with the deal".

6/15/01 - I responded to Vince's e-mail (and copied Mark), letting him know that Mark told me he had been ill with food poisoning, and that I hoped he'd feel better soon. I also told him that I'd go ahead and pay my credit card bill without contesting the charge. I asked him to let me know if something prevents him from completing my transaxle by 6/22/01 as he promised.

6/22/01 - 4:18PM - Vince actually answered the phone. In an e-mail he sent me on 6/15/01, he said that he intended to have my transaxle completed by this date, so I called him to see how things were going. He told me that he was in the middle of working on it, and that he would probably ship it to me 6/25/01. I asked him to send me an e-mail once he shipped it and to include the tracking number. He said that he'd do that, and thanked me for my patience, and promised to keep me "in the loop".

6/25/01 - 6:26PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/26/01 - 3:29PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/26/01 - I sent an e-mail to Vince (and copied Adam & Boyd) asking about the status of my transaxle that he promised to ship by 6/25/01.

6/29/01 - 12:30PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

6/29/01 - 6:47PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/2/01 - 10:16AM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/2/01 - 5:52PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/3/01 - 3:56PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/5/01 - 3:42PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/6/01 - 3:01PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/6/01 - 5:26PM - Either left a voice mail or his voice mail box was full.

7/6/01 - I sent another e-mail to Vince (and copied Adam & Boyd) asking again about the status of my transaxle. I said that if he does not respond by 7/13/01, I would contact my credit card company to dispute the charge. I also vented my frustation that he hasn't been communicating with me at all.

7/9/01 - 11:12AM - Called and left a voice mail asking Vince to contact me by 7/13/01, or I would have to take action to reclaim my money and property.

7/10/01 - Boyd Drew found yet another person who is waiting on a transaxle from Vince: Greg Freeman. Boyd forwarded his e-mail and introduced him to Adam and myself.

7/11/01 - I received an e-mail from Greg Freeman about his trip to Oregon to see Vince. He said that he saw all the parts there and Vince was working on them. Greg estimated that 2 to 4 transaxles would be completed this week. Vince told him that it takes 1 to 2 days to complete a transaxle, and that he apologized for not calling everyone. Greg listed his phone number if any of us wanted to call him to ask questions.

7/11/01 - I received an e-mail from Adam Moore after he called Greg. He said that Greg told him that 6-7 transaxles were sitting in Vince's shop as yet unfinished, and that Vince told him that the end caps were incorrect (which was the cause for the delay). Finally, Greg said that Vince told him that his transaxle would be shipped today.

7/13/01 - 8:59AM - Called and left another voice mail reminding Vince of his deadline to contact me.

Well, Vince let the deadline go by without a peep.  Not a single phone call.   Not a single e-mail.

7/16/01 - I mailed Vince the following letter (my actual phone numbers and e-mail addresses are omitted--if you'd like a photocopy of this letter, send me an e-mail):

July 16, 2001

Vince Locicero
V.L. Enterprises
1414 SE 18th Suite #600
Hillsboro, OR 97123

Dear Vince Locicero,

I'm writing you this letter to express my dissatisfaction with your customer service to date. This letter also ensures my right to legal action, should that become necessary. In short, you never initiate contact to let me know what's happening, and on the rare occasion that I do manage to contact you, you provide completion dates that are never met. Below is a summary of our dealings to date:

When we first spoke on the telephone on January 24, 2001, I inquired about your Option 6-Speed kit and other work I wanted performed on my transaxle. Specifically, I requested that you rebuild my 020 4k transaxle, install the Quaife differential I would supply, and install your Option 6-Speed kit with a .71 6th gear. You told me it would take one week to complete the work on my transaxle, and that it would cost approximately $1534 in parts and labor. You also informed me that you were a one-man operation and that you wouldn't have the parts necessary for the Option 6-Speed kit until March or so. That was fine with me, because I didn't need the work done until summer, anyhow.

On April 23, 2001, I called to see if you had the parts necessary to do the work on my transaxle. You said that you would be able to perform the work. You also said that it would take about one week to ship my transaxle to you, about one week for you to perform the work, and one week for you to ship it back to me-for a total of three weeks.

I made arrangements with my local VW shop to remove the transaxle from my car so I could ship it to you. I called you on May 1, 2001 to inquire about the proper shipping method, and you kindly helped me. You said that you would call me after my transaxle had arrived and you had a chance to disassemble it and assess its health. I shipped my transaxle and Quaife differential to you on May 2, 2001. (Photocopy of shipping receipt available upon request).

Rather than calling me as you promised, you sent me a letter via UPS to let me know that you had received my transaxle and Quaife differential, but you hadn't heard from me. I thought that was a little odd, considering you said that you would call me when they arrived. Your letter asked me to call you so you could complete the work you started. (Photocopy of your letter available upon request.)

I called you on May 14, 2001 (the day I received your letter). You did not answer, so I left a voice mail message. You promptly called back and we discussed my transaxle. You said that it was in pretty good condition. We discussed a few options for the 6th speed gear and agreed on the .71 gear for my application, since I would be using it for highway cruising. You gave me a final quote of $1534.07 and said that my transaxle would be done by May 21, 2001. I gave you my credit card number and billing address, and you said you would call me before shipping my completed transaxle back.

Between May 21, 2001 and June 14, 2001, I tried to contact you by phone eleven times. You never returned my calls when I left a message, and sometimes I could not leave a message because your voice mail box was full. (Photocopies of my long distance phone bills available upon request.)

On June 7, 2001, I sent you an e-mail to let you know I had tried several times to contact you by phone. I recapped the work you promised to complete by May 21, 2001. I also informed you that my credit card bill was due soon, and I wanted some confirmation that the work would actually be done before paying it. I stated that if you did not contact me by June 15, 2001 (the date I planned to pay the bill), I would dispute the charge. I listed my work and home telephone numbers and the times you could reach me at each. (Electronic and printed copies of all e-mails mentioned available upon request.)

In the meantime, I received an e-mail from Mark Christiansen, the owner of the company who manufactures the parts for your Option 6-Speed kit. He informed me of the F.A.A. audit which shut down his production for a couple weeks, and that the delay was beyond your control. It would have been nice to hear this information from you-the man who has my transaxle, Quaife differential, and money.

On June 14, 2001, I e-mailed Mark to ask him to let you know that I was trying to contact you. He told me that you had been ill all week with food poisoning and were unable to check your messages. On June 15, 2001, you finally sent me an e-mail apologizing for the delay and telling me that you intended to complete my transaxle by June 22, 2001. With that confirmation, I paid my credit card bill in full. (Photocopy of credit card statements available upon request.) I asked you to let me know if anything prevented you from completing my transaxle by June 22nd, as you promised.

On June 22, 2001, I called you to check on the progress of my transaxle. You actually answered the phone, and you told me that you were in the process of working on it when I called. You told me that you would probably ship my transaxle back to me by June 25, 2001. I asked you to send me an e-mail with the tracking number once you shipped it. You said you would do that, thanked me for my patience, and promised to keep me "in the loop".

June 25th has passed, and I have not received an e-mail or a phone call from you. The week of shipping time has also passed, and my transaxle has not yet arrived.

I called you on July 9, 2001 and left a message asking you to contact me by July 13, 2001, or I would have to take action to reclaim my money and property. I also sent you an e-mail to this effect. The week passed with no response, and I even left a reminder voice mail early on the morning of July 13th. The day passed without a response from you-either by telephone or by e-mail.

This letter is the first action I'm taking. As I stated in the first paragraph, this letter ensures my right to legal action, should it become necessary. This letter also provides a history of my attempts to contact you and give you opportunities to resolve this situation. Finally, this letter represents my final attempt to contact you and allow you to set things right.

At this point, one of the following actions on your part will correct this situation to my satisfaction (in order of most desirable to least desirable):

1. Completion of the work you promised by Friday, July, 27, 2001, with an e-mail or phone call to provide me with the tracking number of my transaxle being shipped back to me. I would also like a written warranty of some kind on the work performed.

2. Reversal of the charge to my credit card (initiated by you, rather than the result of a dispute from me) by Friday, July 27, 2001. You may not re-charge the amount until you have actually completed the work you agreed to and my transaxle is in a box and ready to ship back to me. You will provide an accurate, honest estimate of when you expect to complete the work, and you will call or e-mail me immediately if that date changes. You will also call or e-mail me with a tracking number for my transaxle being shipped back to me by the date you promise. Again, I would also like a written warranty of some kind on the work performed.

3. Reversal of the full charge to my credit card, and charge me only for the labor and parts actually incurred to date. You will then return my transaxle and Quaife differential in their current state so I can take them to a reputable shop to complete the work.

I am sending a copy of this letter to Adam Moore, Boyd Drew, and Greg Freeman. They are three more of your customers in a situation similar to my own. They have sent you their transaxles and paid in full for services you have not yet rendered. I am also sending a copy of this letter to Autopia, Inc.-this is the shop that has been inconvenienced by my car taking up valuable space for nearly two months beyond your original estimate.

If you do not satisfactorily resolve my complaint by Friday, July 27, 2001, I will send a copy of this letter to my credit card company and dispute the charge of $1534.07. I will also send a copy of this letter to the Oregon Attorney General's office, along with my complaint regarding your fraudulent business practices.

Please respond to me as soon as you possibly can and prove yourself to be a reputable businessman.

My home phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx. I can be reached at this number between 6PM and 7AM weekdays and throughout the weekend. My work phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx, extension xxxx. I can be reached at this number between 8AM and 5PM weekdays. You can leave a message at both numbers. My home e-mail address is xxx@xxx.com and my work e-mail address is xxx@xxx.com.

Thank you,


Michael Carlson
cc:    Adam Moore
        Boyd Drew
       Greg Freeman
       Autopia, Inc.

Now I just have to wait until July 27, 2001 and see what happens.  I'm done leaving unanswered voice mails and I'm done sending unanswered e-mails.  I believe I've put forth sufficient effort to communicate with Vince.  Now it's his turn.

7/16/01 - I put my weekend's worth of data compilation to use and whipped up this web site.

7/16/01 - I sent an e-mail to the Scirocco mailing list to provide an update on the lack of progress and to post the URL for this web page.

7/17/01 - I received an e-mail from Mark Christiansen in response to my post to the Scirocco mailing list.  He said that he hadn't heard from Vince since he delivered the castings to him a month ago--not even a complaint about the supposedly incorrect end caps.  He also said that he has not yet been paid for this last batch of parts he made for Vince, and was dismayed that a month has past since he delivered the parts and nobody has received their transaxles yet.  Mark also offered to help speed things up if there was any way he could.  I responded to Mark and told him I'd keep him abreast of the situation.

7/17/01 - Scirocco lister Jasin e-mailed me to let me know that he has a buddy willing to join in a class-action lawsuit.  He said his friend was also up for some "street justice" if I wanted to handle it that way.  I declined the "street justice" angle, and asked Jasin to have his friend e-mail me.

7/17/01 - In response to Jasin's e-mail, Scirocco lister Dan Daley sent the following informative e-mail to the list (posted here with Dan's permission):

<< If you are doing a class action lawsuit I have a buddy here who wants in on it.
 He is also up for some street justice too if you want to handle it that way.
>>

Ya know-- I understand the feeling...

I waited four months for Vince to finish my 2.0 block last year. I wasn't expecting the long wait- but in his defense, he DID do it right...

I visited Vince at VL last week, and he was doing ALL he could to get six trannies assembled, so he could send them off to the people who had been waiting FAR too long for their prepaid parts.

I've been to cheerier funerals.

I really don't know what Vince's personal life is like. I couldn't make an appointment to meet him at VL because his phone message service wasn't taking any calls. When I arrived at his shop, Vince was outside, holding his
youngest boy, and three other young Lociciero boys were playing in the vicinity.

Vince was babysitting, AND trying to get six trannys assembled ASAP for six very irate customers...

Vince knows he f*cked up. He doesn't point any fingers of blame at anyone other than himself. If the Option-6 dies as a result of his inability to bring his customers on-board as to the real cause of the delays-- that is a real shame. What VL truly needs, is a larger retailer to buy up an inventory of these trannies-- and sell them OFF THE SHELF to prospective buyers.  Jeff Moss (Velocity) does this with Orrell, and even though those heads are top dollar (over 2k), they are some of the highest quality work available.

Vince does good work. Period.

The Option-6 is a beautifully engineered 6 speed.  I have a gut feeling that there may not be a lot more of these made, in light of the events of the last eight months. If you have one coming, hold on-- even though you may not realize it-- you are one of the "lucky" ones... The rest of us may never get to buy one.

Which is a shame.

I have money for ONE tranny-- Jasin, if your friend is so (understandably) disgusted with the wait that I may be able to buy his spot in line, please email me off list.

"Street Justice" is not the answer this time, my friend.......

Danny
81 Caddy

And, just for the record, here was my response to Dan's e-mail:

> I waited four months for Vince to finish my 2.0 block last year. I wasn't
> expecting the long wait- but in his defense, he DID do it right...


The fact that I keep hearing that Vince does good work is what's been holding me at bay this long.  If I had also heard that he does crummy work, I would've taken legal action long ago.  His reputation may be quite tarnished at the moment, but at least he used to have a good reputation for great work.

> I visited Vince at VL last week, and he was doing ALL he could to get six
> trannies assembled, so he could send them off to the people who had been
> waiting FAR too long for their prepaid parts.
>
> I've been to cheerier funerals.


I'm sorry to hear he's having such a nasty time about it.  No, really--I am.  I don't want this to be terrible experience for him, and I don't want to make the situation so bad that he does bad work.  All I ever wanted was honest, timely *communication* from him.  Everything I've learned about various delays came from everyone *except* Vince.  He's inadvertantly leaving all his customers in the dark, and that only leaves us to assume the worst.

> I really don't know what Vince's personal life is like. I couldn't make an
> appointment to meet him at VL because his phone message service wasn't taking


Most likely filled with angry messages from customers who haven't heard from Vince since they paid him several months ago.

> any calls. When I arrived at his shop, Vince was outside, holding his
> youngest boy, and three other young Lociciero boys were playing in the
> vicinity.
>
> Vince was babysitting, AND trying to get six trannys assembled ASAP for six
> very irate customers...


I will be the first to admit that's pretty tough.  I knew going into this that Vince is a one-man show.  I'm a reasonable man, and I can accept that stuff happens and slows things down.  If he'd simply call or e-mail me to let me know what's going on, I'd wait for several months based upon his reputation for doing good work and the Option-6 Speed being a quality kit.

In fact, I've sent him at least one e-mail and left him at least one voice mail asking him to simply tell me how long it will actually take--whether it be a week, a month, or a year, so I can plan accordingly.  (If it's going to be a couple more months, so be it--I'll get a spare tranny for my Scirocco while I wait indefinitely.)  On the two occasions that I did manage to contact him, he gave me new completion dates--both of which he missed without so much as leaving me a message why.

> Vince knows he f*cked up. He doesn't point any fingers of blame at anyone

That's good to know, but I have yet to hear it from him.  Again, his lack of communication is what's really blown this out of proportion.

> other than himself. If the Option-6 dies as a result of his inability to
> bring his customers on-board as to the real cause of the delays-- that is a
> real shame.


I agree wholeheartedly.

> What VL truly needs, is a larger retailer to buy up an inventory
> of these trannies-- and sell them OFF THE SHELF to prospective buyers. Jeff
> Moss (Velocity) does this with Orrell, and even though those heads are top
> dollar (over 2k), they are some of the highest quality work available.


That would be fine with me, but you'd have to get Vince on board for that to happen.   I know Mark Christiansen has considered doing something to help "take over" the Option-6 Speed project.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure he and Vince are on speaking terms anymore.  That's not really any of my business, anyways...

> Vince does good work. Period.

That's what I've heard, and I hope to be saying the very same thing myself at some point in the future.

> The Option-6 is a beautifully engineered 6 speed.   I have a gut feeling that

I've heard that, too.  Again, that's one of the reasons I've waited this long.

> there may not be a lot more of these made, in light of the events of the last
> eight months. If you have one coming, hold on-- even though you may not
> realize it-- you are one of the "lucky" ones... The rest of us may never get
> to buy one.
>
> Which is a shame.


Again, I totally agree.  Vince's kit is the most reasonably-priced 6-speed option available to us, and I truly would like to see him be successful with it.  It's clear to me that he either needs some help to keep up with the demand, or work out some kind of system that he only takes X number of orders a month, and he doesn't take any more orders until those are complete.

Mike Carlson
'84 Scirocco Wolfsburg Edition (tranny-less since May)
'95 GTI VR6
http://members.home.net/mikes.vws

7/17/01 - I forwarded these e-mails on to Adam, Boyd, and Greg.

7/20/01 - I expect my letter to Vince has arrived by now.  Still no response from him, though.  In the meantime, I've added a new page to display all the good and bad comments I've received from other people about their experiences with V.L. Enterprises.

7/26/01 - 6:12PM - Called Vince and left a voice mail reminding him of the deadline (7/27) put forth in the letter I mailed to him, and encouraged him to contact me.

7/29/01 - No response from Vince.  Not one e-mail.  Not one phone call.   Not one voice mail at work, nor any messages on my answering machine at home.   Not a letter.  Not a package.  I've just checked the balance on my credit card, and he has not reversed any charges.  As far as I can tell, Vince has made absolutely no effort to contact me.

Regretfully, I will now draft a letter to my credit card company to dispute the charge.  After that, I'll go to the Oregon Attorney General's Office website to print out their consumer complaint form.   I will include a photocopy of the letter I mailed to Vince with both items.  This is an awful shame.

7/30/01 - I mailed the letter to my credit card company to dispute the charge.  I included a copy of the letter I mailed to Vince.  As soon as that's all squared away, I'll mail my complaint to the Oregon Attorney General.

8/1/01 - I got an e-mail from Boyd.  It looks like he's priced out round trip tickets for a flight to Oregon--hopefully his visit will be a fruitful one.  Stay tuned for further updates...

8/15/01 - I got a letter from my credit card company today (dated 8/9/01) informing me that they were investigating my charge dispute.  There was also a message for me from them, and I'll call back tomorrow to answer some questions and provide more information.   It's about time this ball got rolling...

8/16/01 - I called and spoke with someone in the resolutions department of my credit card company today and gave her some more info.  She told me that they've given Vince until next Tuesday (the 21st) to respond to the dispute.  If he doesn't respond, they'll take the appropriate action to get my money back.  Stay tuned...

8/23/01 - I got an e-mail from Boyd alerting me to the "Vince's 6 Speed is done?" thread on the VW Vortex.   There's a lot of speculation about Mark Christiansen/EMSport taking over the Option 6 operation, as well as a rumor that Vince is in jail.  (!)  I left Mark a voice mail and sent him an e-mail asking him to confirm or deny all these rumors.

8/24/01 - I haven't heard back from my credit card company yet.  I probably won't get a letter until next Tuesday or so.  However, I did get the following info:

8/24/01 - VW Vortexer Shawnoen posted the following message to the "Vince's 6 Speed is done?" thread on the VW Vortex:

Mike: From your webpage....

"6/7/01 - I received an e-mail from a Scirocco lister named Jasin telling me of a friend of his who sent his transaxle to Vince a couple months ago for some work and has not been given a reply when it would be done. His friend calls five times a day and has sent numerous e-mails with no answer."

AND....

"7/17/01 - Scirocco lister Jasin e-mailed me to let me know that he has a buddy willing to join in a class-action lawsuit. He said his friend was also up for some "street justice" if I wanted to handle it that way. I declined the "street justice" angle, and asked Jasin to have his friend e-mail me."

Jasin is one of my friends.....he lives about 6 blocks from here.....The"friend" we both have is Steve F......As I stated in the above post....our friend got his tranny parts back last week....Here is the e-mail I got from him on 8/8/2001:


>I got a box full of 6 speed parts from MISTER. VINCE LOCICERIO.........
>AKA:VL enterprises.....
>Guess he didn't like me calling his mommy.....
>
>later
>Steve
>(.71 6th bitch)

There's hope for my tranny yet...

8/28/01 - Woohoo!  I just checked my credit card balance, and the amount indicates I got my refund!  Once the official letter arrives (hopefully by next week), I can mail my official complaint to the Oregon Attorney General. 

I will probably use the money to acquire a new transaxle for my Scirocco, since I'm not likely to see her original tranny anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Mark Christiansen has not yet responded to my voice mail/e-mail asking about the rumors on the Vortex...

8/4/01 - What a day!  This afternoon, I called up Kraftswerk and spoke with Julie.  She was very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.  I ordered a refurbished 4k tranny to replace the one I sent to Vince over 3 months ago.

About an hour later, Vince called me.  (!)

He said my tranny was 1-2 hours away from completion, but he wanted to know whether or not I wanted him to finish the work or just send my stuff back.  I asked him to go ahead and complete the work.  I've waited this long and put forth an effort, so I want my payoff.  He said he'd do it, and that he'd call me in a couple hours when it was complete--he had to machine a part or two.

I then cancelled my order from Kraftswerk.  <fingers crossed>

A couple hours later, Vince called me and said it was done, just as he had promised.   I gave him the shipping address and said he'd e-mail the tracking numbers to me tomorrow.  Woohoo!

Vince was very apologetic and forthcoming.  The impression I got was that he had some bad crap going on in his life, but he's turned the corner and working to make things right.  I didn't ask for particulars, because it's really none of my business.   He's not out of the hole yet, but I'm rooting for him.

He said that he realizes that he messed up 6 or so deals, and he may lose his business over it, but he's going to do what it takes to take care of it.  I told him that I sincerely hope he does not lose his business, because he offers a unique product that a lot of people want--and I mean it, too.

He went on to apologize for the lack of communication and the hassle that everyone's gone through.  He said that he holds no malice or anger for those of us who took action as a result of this mess.  He's an adult, and he understands that you gotta do what you gotta do.  I think that's a very good sign.  I believe that he's being honest and making a true effort to correct his mistakes.

In fact, he e-mailed me the tracking number this evening!    1Z 0A2 59F 03 4197 7652

This is a very good sign, and I hope Vince manages to keep the Option-6 alive for all VW enthusiasts.

9/6/01 - IT'S HERE!  AT LAST!  Delivered at 1:19PM.  :D

9/7/01 - I stopped by Autopia on my way out of town for a weekend road trip to look at my new Option-6 tranny.  It looks great!  Looks like Vince did an outstanding job rebuilding it.  The tranny casing has been re-painted black and the Option-6 end cone is a nice brushed aluminum color.  Can't wait to get it installed!

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