Setting the record straight
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From: You wish
Setting the record straight
Over the last couple years I've done my best to ignore the active efforts of 1 or 2 forum members here to defame me and my business. One in particular, a poster by the name of DeadZero, has been particularly vehement in his criticisms.
Before I go any further, my apologies to cthree and others for needing to post this here. However, given that the active effort to malign me has taken place here, I feel it is fair to respond in kind.
I'm a firm believer in free speech and people are entitled to their opinion, but what they are not entitled to is to lie in an effort to hurt me or my business. DeadZero has done just that.
For years, I could not figure out who he was, because I didn't have his name listed on my dyno files. Just recently though, I figured out who he was (or which car was his), and I can now call him out. The following information has been compiled from both my notes on the car and on notes from Project Import (we both keep substantial info on each car that comes in).
DeadZero, real name Chris P (I won't reveal his last name at this time), had a used Comptech supercharger kit installed on his car several years ago by a company named Project Import. In addition the car had an AEM EMS, low compression headgasket and a Synapse blow-off valve. After installation, the car was brought to us by Project Import for tuning. Chris did not come to the shop with the car.
Once on the dyno the car proved exteremely inconsistent. Power would vary from run to run and the boost, which should have been over 10 psi, wouldn't even hit 8. After spending about 45 minutes on the car and looking for problems that would explain the issue, we called Project Import and let them know that something was wrong with the car and they needed to fix it before we could complete the tune. We gave them the dyno graphs we had produced up that point (which is where Chris got his power number that he has published, and how we ID'd the car) to aid them in the troubleshooting. We told them the car was safe to drive around in as far as we could tell, but to take it easy and keep the rpms down until the problem was resolved.
Project Import came to pick up the car and during the return trip to their shop, the blowoff valve fell off. According to Project Import, and apparently a number of posters here, the Synapse valve does have some mounting issues and there have been multiple similar occurrences. They did a quick fix on the blowoff valve, contacted the customer and let him know the issues, that they could be permanently fixed and then the car taken back for final tuning. Chris, the owner, decided at that time to take his car and leave.
Now, Chris may choose to dispute part of this story as it relates to Project Import, but what can not be disputed was that due to mechanical issues, his tune was never completed at Church Automotive Testing. Thus, any criticisms he may have of our work based upon the tune on his car are unfounded. To use someone's restaurant analogy, it would be like demanding your souffle before it was done cooking because you were in a rush to leave and then complaining it was underdone.
I wish I could leave it at that, but Chris has also seen fit to baldly lie about me and my business, both on posts and in PMs to other members. In particular, he has spread outright lies about Church Automotive Testing as regards our honoring our committment to customers to support their tunes as long as they own their cars. We do not demand a receipt from a customer if they have come back with a complaint or concern about their car. We generally check to confirm they have been on the dyno, and then assist them in whatever way we can. Sometimes we'll even help address issues that have nothing to do with the tune, all at no charge. In other instances, we'll put cars back on the dyno for free to verify the car is still running as it should. In two cases, where a customer has later gone to another shop, we've even put their car back on the dyno to give them a comparison - at no charge (strangely, you never hear from those guys about what happens when we put them back on the dyno). Simply put, we tune over 1500 cars each year, sometimes there are issues, but we back our customers on their tuning, and often much more even if it isn't our responsibility in the first place. Sometimes we'll even take a look at cars we didn't tune and address a small problem at no charge (did that just yesterday for a GM customer). We do so because we feel those people will probably come back as paying customers some day.
Chris has also seen fit to express on several occassions his belief that "Church owns the moderators" on this board, so that's why he's communicating his lies in PMs instead of in threads. Of course, as anyone looking at my post history can tell, I have rarely posted here for the last few years and I am not a paying member nor a sponsor.
In summary, I do not seek to limit anyone's ability to express dislike of me. However, I will not stand for flat out lies. For Chris, I have the PMs that were mentioned (from the receipients of said PMs). I have your post history. You should carefully consider the truthfulness of your statements in the future. A final word of friendly advice - hate and vitriol never makes you happy in the end.
Thanks for reading.
Shawn Church
Before I go any further, my apologies to cthree and others for needing to post this here. However, given that the active effort to malign me has taken place here, I feel it is fair to respond in kind.
I'm a firm believer in free speech and people are entitled to their opinion, but what they are not entitled to is to lie in an effort to hurt me or my business. DeadZero has done just that.
For years, I could not figure out who he was, because I didn't have his name listed on my dyno files. Just recently though, I figured out who he was (or which car was his), and I can now call him out. The following information has been compiled from both my notes on the car and on notes from Project Import (we both keep substantial info on each car that comes in).
DeadZero, real name Chris P (I won't reveal his last name at this time), had a used Comptech supercharger kit installed on his car several years ago by a company named Project Import. In addition the car had an AEM EMS, low compression headgasket and a Synapse blow-off valve. After installation, the car was brought to us by Project Import for tuning. Chris did not come to the shop with the car.
Once on the dyno the car proved exteremely inconsistent. Power would vary from run to run and the boost, which should have been over 10 psi, wouldn't even hit 8. After spending about 45 minutes on the car and looking for problems that would explain the issue, we called Project Import and let them know that something was wrong with the car and they needed to fix it before we could complete the tune. We gave them the dyno graphs we had produced up that point (which is where Chris got his power number that he has published, and how we ID'd the car) to aid them in the troubleshooting. We told them the car was safe to drive around in as far as we could tell, but to take it easy and keep the rpms down until the problem was resolved.
Project Import came to pick up the car and during the return trip to their shop, the blowoff valve fell off. According to Project Import, and apparently a number of posters here, the Synapse valve does have some mounting issues and there have been multiple similar occurrences. They did a quick fix on the blowoff valve, contacted the customer and let him know the issues, that they could be permanently fixed and then the car taken back for final tuning. Chris, the owner, decided at that time to take his car and leave.
Now, Chris may choose to dispute part of this story as it relates to Project Import, but what can not be disputed was that due to mechanical issues, his tune was never completed at Church Automotive Testing. Thus, any criticisms he may have of our work based upon the tune on his car are unfounded. To use someone's restaurant analogy, it would be like demanding your souffle before it was done cooking because you were in a rush to leave and then complaining it was underdone.
I wish I could leave it at that, but Chris has also seen fit to baldly lie about me and my business, both on posts and in PMs to other members. In particular, he has spread outright lies about Church Automotive Testing as regards our honoring our committment to customers to support their tunes as long as they own their cars. We do not demand a receipt from a customer if they have come back with a complaint or concern about their car. We generally check to confirm they have been on the dyno, and then assist them in whatever way we can. Sometimes we'll even help address issues that have nothing to do with the tune, all at no charge. In other instances, we'll put cars back on the dyno for free to verify the car is still running as it should. In two cases, where a customer has later gone to another shop, we've even put their car back on the dyno to give them a comparison - at no charge (strangely, you never hear from those guys about what happens when we put them back on the dyno). Simply put, we tune over 1500 cars each year, sometimes there are issues, but we back our customers on their tuning, and often much more even if it isn't our responsibility in the first place. Sometimes we'll even take a look at cars we didn't tune and address a small problem at no charge (did that just yesterday for a GM customer). We do so because we feel those people will probably come back as paying customers some day.
Chris has also seen fit to express on several occassions his belief that "Church owns the moderators" on this board, so that's why he's communicating his lies in PMs instead of in threads. Of course, as anyone looking at my post history can tell, I have rarely posted here for the last few years and I am not a paying member nor a sponsor.
In summary, I do not seek to limit anyone's ability to express dislike of me. However, I will not stand for flat out lies. For Chris, I have the PMs that were mentioned (from the receipients of said PMs). I have your post history. You should carefully consider the truthfulness of your statements in the future. A final word of friendly advice - hate and vitriol never makes you happy in the end.
Thanks for reading.
Shawn Church
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