Subaru Forester Owners Forum banner

Japanparts.com (merged thread)

16K views 31 replies 23 participants last post by  turbojr74 
#1 ·
I was just wondering if anyone has bought any parts from www.JapanParts.com?
And if so how was the experience?

Thanks for any insight.
 
#32 ·
**BEWARE of JapanParts.com**

Buyer beware of JapanParts.com – these guys will rip you off and never look back. I’m not going to make this too long but have saved every email as to provide their responses if needed.

I was looking at ordering a Liberal front grille from them for my 2004 Forester back on April 11th of this year. I got in touch with a guy named Yuki who seemed very willing to help. We talked back and forth several times so I could make sure this is what I wanted.
On May 24th I ordered my Liberal front grille which came to just over $350 after the exchange rate and credit card charges.
On May 29th I was contacted to let me know that they had a carbon fiber version of this grille available to ship immediately. They built it up to be much more expensive than the standard fiberglass one I had ordered and they would offer it to me at the same price. The only catch was, and I quote “There is a slight scratch at the top edge, but it may not be noticeable”.
I told them that I needed to see pics of these scratches before I made my decision. They sent me the two pics below (marked grille1 and grille2). I followed up this email with a few questions concerning these light scratches.
1) I asked if these were indeed surface scratches and they were not deep scratches.
2) I then asked if they are deep, how deep they would say the scratches were.
The answer I received was that they were indeed only "surface scratches". So I replied and restated that with just those TWO surface scratches I would take this unit in place of the fiberglass one.
On June 5th they provided me a tracking number and it would be 10-15 days before it got to me.
I received the unit on June 17th and emailed them right away as the “surface scratches” were not surface at all. They were far from surface and finger nail deep and the unit was actually cracked (see cracked1-5 pics below). Another issue I saw was the way it mounted – only two bolts at the top by the radiator and that was it- however, that was an issue I would have dealt with for either the carbon or the fiberglass. That was a minor issue compared to the damage that was fully misrepresented to me.
After several emails back and forth about this –the last email I ever received from JapanParts, dated July 10th, Yuki stated that I agreed to take the damaged unit, never asked for more pics, and if I wanted a nice new one I would have waited for the fiberglass unit. The last question he asked me was what I wanted him to do in terms of customer service. I replied with the following and included the email conversations discussing the “scratches”:

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Joseph R
To: Japanparts Yuki <yuki@japanparts.com>
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: About the order #1369423804

Hello Yuki,

First and foremost, the #1 issue is with the claimed "surface scratches" that I was told these were, on June 2nd. I have copied the conversation below and highlighted so you can read it and understand I did ask for more information and was provided it with the claim they were only "surface scratches".

I followed that up with a return email stating if they are not "surface scratches" then how deep are they. This is indeed deeper than surface as it is actually cracked. This is what is totally unacceptable. The other items/points I'm making with this unit are just adding to my frustration of this entire transaction.

What I would like is a full refund and I will return this product to you or given a 50% refund so that I will use that money to attempt to fix this unit as it is an unexpected expense that I would have to deal with. If I was not sold this unit in such poor condition then we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.

Again, understand my other points on install and having this unit secured to the car are side points to spending nearly $400 on a piece that I truly feel isn't anywhere worth the price. As a company selling other products from different manufactures, I would think that you would prefer to only deal with companies that have a solid product. In turn this would ensure that your company name isn't dragged through the mud along with the manufactures.

I appreciate you prompt reply - if you have a manager that I can speak with on this subject than please forward my request for a refund as this is taking way too long to get resolved.
----- Forwarded Message -----


I believe once I had shown him it was their mistake, they stopped replying to this and any other attempts I made to contact them. I sent several more emails over the next month, tried going through their website, even sending emails directly to Liberal – all with no success. With no replies on email or to their website I have no recourse but to let you all know to beware and watch your money.

I’ve actually never written a warning of this magnitude, but because this is so egregious I feel this warning needs to be put out there for others. This company is a rip off and kept talking with me just long enough that I missed the window to file with my credit card – all because I feel it’s only right to give the company the benefit of the doubt to resolve the issue with the customer. I learned a lesson here that the moment you sniff any trouble with a vendor, open a complaint with your credit card company right away to start the paperwork even though you don’t have to act on it the moment something is resolved.
 

Attachments

You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top