SD_Plat
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2014
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Let me start by saying this isn’t a good news story filled with photos and dyno pulls – in fact, it’s the complete opposite at this point and, honestly, I wish I didn’t have to post this.
My truck has been with Livernois for over a year now (since September 2016) having a 6.6L with Whipple installed – a $40k bill so not insignificant. There have been a few minor nuances with this build as it’s the Superduty platform so I’m not saying that it wasn’t going to be a challenge. However, in the last three months the communication and project updates have deteriorated to the point of me banging my head against the wall every time I speak with the Livernois rep (Andy Ricketts).
This whole journey started with the incompetence and malicious behavior of Under Pressure Power and Performance who attempted to install a twin turbo system… instead, they blew up my truck not once but twice and charged me a great sum of money to do so. Suffice to say I wouldn’t recommend having them even inflate my tires in the future. I can’t really say more than that at this point.
Now, after whipple units on backorder and Livernois’ inability to deliver on a project schedule I’m faced with the challenge of bringing this to the public’s (Raptor forums) attention in hopes of someone helping me out. I’m on the West Coast of Canada so going for a drive and ‘stopping in’ at the shop isn’t really an option.
The last communication I had with Livernois was nothing but excuses and cryptic nomenclature. I requested a definitive timeline for completion and haven’t heard anything. That was over a week ago. I followed up with Tom Millen, co-owner and General Manager, on Thursday and still haven’t heard anything. To say I’m less than impressed would be an understatement.
My ask – is there anyone on here that is in the Detroit/Dearbourn Heights area that can swing by Livernois and determine what, exactly, is going on with my truck? I’m happy to cover fuel/time if that’s what it takes.
To have a $50k truck and $40K build wrapped up at a shop that is purported to be about customer service and getting things done but doing the contrary is slightly unnerving... especially when things have gone silent and we're over a year into this...
---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:25 PM ----------
For context, here's the email I sent to Tom Millen
Tom,
Long shot on it this email finds its way to your inbox...
If it does, I'm not expecting you to exhaustively parse through the following email chain (and multiple others) and glean every detail; I am, however, hoping for some level of resolution on the saga (journey?) that has been this truck build undertaken by your staff at Livernois. My 2013 Superduty landed in your shop in September of 2016 - over one year later and it's still not complete. Now, timing issues/delays are not 100% attributed to Livernois underperformance but, most recently, there has been a significant disconnect between project management (progress) and execution. Usually, on a $40k build there is some level of 'reasonable' engagement and overall customer assurance with respect to status, cost, challenges, priority, etc. That has not been the case on this, unfortunately.
Andy Ricketts has elected to assume a more abrasive attitude and is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. Most recently, I've been the victim of excuses and unreasonable defences on why various aspects of the build weren't working. I won't go into extensive detail but will say that I had very clear objectives going into this (which were made transparent) that have not been achieved. Do I understand there are issues that arise over a build of this level? absolutely. That said, when communication is "zero dark thirty" with no definitive project plan it makes it very difficult to support negative outlook. In my last email (sent October 15th) I asked Andy when the truck would be complete - no response or even attempt at an update.
So... I'm at a crossroads of what to do - you have my truck, $40K cash and I can't seem to get a straight answer on when it will be complete or even what is happening. I either accept this as standard practice and bury my head in the sand hoping for the best, continue to run my head against the wall in dealing with Andy, or find a good lawyer and spend money frivolously on a case that won't net me full recovery. None of those seem to be desirable options.
To end at the beginning, I sent my truck to your shop due to your reputation and expertise in this field (high performance Ford vehicles) along with the demonstrated knowledge on the 6.2L platform. I was assured that Livernois would be able to transfer those proficiencies to the Superduty (by Andy before we embarked on this build) and felt confident in shipping my truck to Livernois (I live on the West Coast of Canada). One year later, and that confidence is rapidly diminishing based on my experience.
As a co-owner of a very successful business, perhaps you can identify a more pragmatic approach to this situation.
My truck has been with Livernois for over a year now (since September 2016) having a 6.6L with Whipple installed – a $40k bill so not insignificant. There have been a few minor nuances with this build as it’s the Superduty platform so I’m not saying that it wasn’t going to be a challenge. However, in the last three months the communication and project updates have deteriorated to the point of me banging my head against the wall every time I speak with the Livernois rep (Andy Ricketts).
This whole journey started with the incompetence and malicious behavior of Under Pressure Power and Performance who attempted to install a twin turbo system… instead, they blew up my truck not once but twice and charged me a great sum of money to do so. Suffice to say I wouldn’t recommend having them even inflate my tires in the future. I can’t really say more than that at this point.
Now, after whipple units on backorder and Livernois’ inability to deliver on a project schedule I’m faced with the challenge of bringing this to the public’s (Raptor forums) attention in hopes of someone helping me out. I’m on the West Coast of Canada so going for a drive and ‘stopping in’ at the shop isn’t really an option.
The last communication I had with Livernois was nothing but excuses and cryptic nomenclature. I requested a definitive timeline for completion and haven’t heard anything. That was over a week ago. I followed up with Tom Millen, co-owner and General Manager, on Thursday and still haven’t heard anything. To say I’m less than impressed would be an understatement.
My ask – is there anyone on here that is in the Detroit/Dearbourn Heights area that can swing by Livernois and determine what, exactly, is going on with my truck? I’m happy to cover fuel/time if that’s what it takes.
To have a $50k truck and $40K build wrapped up at a shop that is purported to be about customer service and getting things done but doing the contrary is slightly unnerving... especially when things have gone silent and we're over a year into this...
---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:25 PM ----------
For context, here's the email I sent to Tom Millen
Tom,
Long shot on it this email finds its way to your inbox...
If it does, I'm not expecting you to exhaustively parse through the following email chain (and multiple others) and glean every detail; I am, however, hoping for some level of resolution on the saga (journey?) that has been this truck build undertaken by your staff at Livernois. My 2013 Superduty landed in your shop in September of 2016 - over one year later and it's still not complete. Now, timing issues/delays are not 100% attributed to Livernois underperformance but, most recently, there has been a significant disconnect between project management (progress) and execution. Usually, on a $40k build there is some level of 'reasonable' engagement and overall customer assurance with respect to status, cost, challenges, priority, etc. That has not been the case on this, unfortunately.
Andy Ricketts has elected to assume a more abrasive attitude and is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. Most recently, I've been the victim of excuses and unreasonable defences on why various aspects of the build weren't working. I won't go into extensive detail but will say that I had very clear objectives going into this (which were made transparent) that have not been achieved. Do I understand there are issues that arise over a build of this level? absolutely. That said, when communication is "zero dark thirty" with no definitive project plan it makes it very difficult to support negative outlook. In my last email (sent October 15th) I asked Andy when the truck would be complete - no response or even attempt at an update.
So... I'm at a crossroads of what to do - you have my truck, $40K cash and I can't seem to get a straight answer on when it will be complete or even what is happening. I either accept this as standard practice and bury my head in the sand hoping for the best, continue to run my head against the wall in dealing with Andy, or find a good lawyer and spend money frivolously on a case that won't net me full recovery. None of those seem to be desirable options.
To end at the beginning, I sent my truck to your shop due to your reputation and expertise in this field (high performance Ford vehicles) along with the demonstrated knowledge on the 6.2L platform. I was assured that Livernois would be able to transfer those proficiencies to the Superduty (by Andy before we embarked on this build) and felt confident in shipping my truck to Livernois (I live on the West Coast of Canada). One year later, and that confidence is rapidly diminishing based on my experience.
As a co-owner of a very successful business, perhaps you can identify a more pragmatic approach to this situation.
