Complaint Review: Powerdyne - Chatsworth California

Please read my letter to the CEO of Powerdyne:

Dear Mr Beuzieron,

I want to begin by apologizing for having to write this email to you, however I feel it is neccessary. From what I have been told by Mike H. at the Zicron Corp. is that Zicron purchased the licensing from Powerdyne and is marketing the belt driven superchargers. Mike H explained to me that Zicron does not accept liability for units sold prior to Zicron purchasing Powerdyne. The dilema that I am faced with is that I purchased a Powerdyne supercharger in August of 2006 with no knowledge that the company was being sold and knowing that at the time of purchase the supercharger had a 3 year warranty. Unfortunately, the supercharger I purchased broke with limited use since the vehicle it was installed on is a recreational vehicle, weekend use only. At the begining of April 2007 I contacted Powerdyne via the contact information on their website. I was able to speak with a tech support representative of Powerdyne by the name of Larry. I explained my situation and was instructed to send the unit in for a warranty repair. Since I live local I informed Larry that I would personally drive the unit to Powerdyne for the needed repair. Within 2 days of contacting Powerdyne I dropped my supercharger off with Larry at the Powerdyne facility located in Chatsworth, Ca, the same address listed on their website. Larry and I spoke about the unit for a few minutes and he was able to explain that if it was a basic repair such as a belt or bearing that the unit would be ready to be picked up within 1-2 days. I was extremely pleased knowing that I would get my supercharger back so soon, especially after hearing numerous stories of how bad the customer service was with Powerdyne. Larry explained to me that the former owners had several quality control issues and that the unit was actually well designed. So, with peace of mind, I thanked Larry for his help and left my contact information with him.

Approximately three days went by and Larry had not contacted me yet. So, knowing that he had said that it should be 1-2 days for the repair to be completed I decided to give Powerdyne a call. I was unable to speak with Larry directly so I left a voice message for him with my contact information again. I waited until the following week before I tried to call Larry back and when I did I got his voice mail again. So, at that point I decided to try Mike H. in sales to see if my unit had been repaired yet. When I spoke with Mike H. I explained the whole story again to him so that he could better understand my situation. He seemed surprised that Larry had not called me back so he asked if I could forward my contact information to him via email in which I did that day. Mike H. assured me that he would look into the situation and contact me personally. So, I waited for an additional 2-3 days and still was not contacted by Mike H. nor larry from Powerdyne regarding my supercharger. I was begining to become frustrated with the situation because intially everything seemed to be very professional and customer service freindly when I dropped my supercharger off for a warranty repair. But, the minute I walked away the service and communication was non-existant. I decided to give Powerdyne 1 more call in an attempt to find out the current status of my repair. With no surprise I once again got Larry and Mike H's voice mail. I believe I left messages on both voice mails with contact information again. Approximately 2-3 days went by and I still did not know what was going on.

Given all the issues with lack of communication from Larry and Mike H. I decided to just drive back to Powerdyne to speak with either representive personally. When I arrived I pushed the button on the front door and asked to speak with Larry from Powerdyne. When I was buzzed in I waited in the Lobby for a few minutes and was then approached by Larry. Larry seemed a little surprised to see me back again and was quick to say that their was a bad bearing in the unit. He explained that the bearings were ordered and that this was the only thing holding up my repair. I told Larry that I was unable to reach him and he recommended that I leave a voice mail so that he could call me back. After I told Larry that I did so and that he did not call me back he stood there with no expression on his face. I could only assume that he forgot I lived local and that it was easy for me to stop by. Larry informed me that the bearing had not arrived yet and was expected either that day, Thursday, or by the latest the following day. So, once again I waited and waited, but still no call!

The following week I was contacted by Mike H. via my cell phone at which time he explained that Powerdyne was not going to honor the warranty on my supercharger. He went on to explain that Zicron purchased the licensing for Powerdyne, but was not assuming liability for any units sold prior to the purchasing of the company. I was extremely upset with what Mike H. had to say especially after contacting Powerdyne from their website and going through 2+ weeks of issues. I never thought for a minute that Powerdyne would not cover my warranty repair! After expressing my concerns and frustration to Mike H. he said that he would by able to reduce the costs of the repair from $600 to $200, the cost of the parts only. I was still very upset and frustrated that I had to pay anything at all since the unit was so new and given all the misleading information along with empty promises by Larry and Mike H. He then told me that he would go back to Powerdyne and/or the main people from Zicron to try to honor my repair 100%. He told me that he would give me a call back shortly that day, but did not.

The next day came and I called Mike H. back to find out what was going on with my supercharger. He told me that "they" wouldn't go for it and that I would have to pay $200 to have my unit repaired. Needless to say I was shocked by the outcome of this issue and decided to pick my unit back up from Powerdyne/Zicron Corp that day. Mike H. said to me that he was on the consumer side, but could not do anything about it. So, since I was in the area I decided to drop by Muscle Motors, the place where I orignially purchased the Powerdyne supercharger from. I spoke with Jack, one of the owners, about my situation and he seemed to know what was going on already. Jack told me that Mike H. was in the shop earlier that day trying to get Muscle Motors to purchase 10 units/superchargers from then and in return they would take care of my repair. Jack was blown away by the idea that Mike H was presenting him with and told him that they, Powerdyne/Zicron Corp, should take care of their customers especially if they are trying to rebuild their reputaion in the business. Mike H. told Jack that unless they purchase 10 units from them that he could not and would not do the repair on my supercharger.

It is hard for me to image a company who is trying to improve the Powerdyne reputaion and grow the business for future sales would have this approach when it comes to customer service. Again, I understand that Zicron purchased Powerdyne and is continuing to market/sale the Powerdyne products via their website and dealers. It's troubling to know that Powerdyne/Zicron Corp is still advertising the Powerdyne belt driven superchargers with a three year warranty, especially since they would not repair my 8 month old unit with very low miles on it. Customer service is a culture that is instilled within all successful companys. It not only takes a great deal of continuous effort to maintain, but needs the buy in and ownership of all employees. It also must depend on repeat customers and word of mouth for future growth/success. Without the right culture, the right people, and positive customer experiences a company(s) can not truly be successful. I would encourage you and all that read this letter to keep in mind that this was a customer, whether you owned Powerdyne during the time of my purchase or not, and has had a very bad experience with both Powerdyne and the Zicron Corp. I can only hope that future potenial customers understand and realize what I personally went through before making a decision to give their hard earned money to you!

Joseph

Palmdale, California
U.S.A.