Unfortunately this story has a bad ending. It appears that Dan at Stebro may well be a thief. There are three parts to this story. Part 1 - the stainless hi-flow muffler. It arrived quickly and fits the application. The build quality is so-so but hey, it is less than half the price of a Tubi. Unfortunately it is WAY too loud for daily use without the tip inserts which were supposed to come with it but have never arrived. As it is now seven months since I ordered them and Dan has stopped answering my phone/email queries, I can only surmise they never will. Too damn bad because the tip insert option would likely make it all worthwhile. Part2. the tip inserts. Never came with the muffler, have never been delivered since. Dan has told me on at least three occasions that they would be shipped by such and such a date which of course they never were. I am sure he was just stringing me along until Visa figured it was too late to dispute the original purchase. The lack of inserts make the muffler useless for daily use and a waste of my hard earned money. The muffler would be great for track day but a bit of a pain to have to install it for that then swap it out again. I find myself with pretty bad tinnitis after about 40 minutes of driving. If I drive with noise cancellation headphones all is well, but of course that is a bit dangerous in Houston traffic. It does cut down on tail-gaters as the car is so loud I can see them covering their ears in my rear-view mirror In the end I took it off and reinstalled my stock muffler. The Stebro unit sits on the parts shelf until the day I either finally get the tip inserts or manage to have some manufactured for it by someone else. Part3 - the stainless hi-flow cat. It tooks months to arrive and when it did it was very shoddy build quality and contained a stock, not a hi-flow core. I shipped it back to him for refund, which I have never received. Looks like he has stolen the $650 from me on that score. I even shipped it back on my own dime so I am out even more. I purchased a FabSpeed hi-flow stainless cat. Fantastic build quality, much cheaper than Stebro, arrived in a couple of days and did contain a hi-flow core. It has now been over a month since his last email which was not much of an email. It was a partial sentence claiming that he was going to have sorted out the cat refund by Mar 17th. Still no refund in sight and though I have sent at least 3 emails since, no response from Dan. My recommendation: Stay far far FAR away from Stebro for anything to do with Ferrari, actually for anything period. I have given up on him, written off the $650.00 and tip inserts, am publicizing this on Fchat and will put in a complain with his local BBB, then will move on with my life. He is not worth the stress on my blood pressure that it would take to make him pony up to his responsibilities. I do get up to Ontario now and again. Next time up there I will cruise over to his shop and see him in person. That should be interesting. Perhaps I better bring an OPP rep with me when I do. Paul
Paul, I am truly sorry to hear of this.....thank you for sharing this, hopefully, this will save some others this type of headache.
Paul, Just happened to notice this thread on Fchats home page immediately after your response, I don't follow Canada's threads. Typically you have 2 statement periods (60 days) to dispute a charge when it first shows up on your statement. You tried your best to work w/the company & were patient (& I'm figuring considerate) through the whole process & a lot of time passed trying to work w/them. I'd call the bank & explain the whole story (being lead on,...waiting...waiting...waiting), one part delivered, waiting for the other, etc.. I'd hope they would take that into consideration. It used to be yrs. ago (15+) that you could just call the bank, verbally explain your situation, you'd receive an immediate credit to your account & it would be finalized pending their investigation. Anymore, you have to submit the dispute in writing & it subsequently goes through arbitration after their investigation. Through a very detailed explanation/timeline in writing, they might make an exception. You're not the 1st one that has had problems w/Stebro & don't know anything about class action lawsuits/# of people necessary to lodge such an action, unfortunately most atty's. will tell you it's not worth any one's time for such a small amount if you're going at it alone. If class action is an option, start a new thread in the General Discussion section to get your group together, it should get more exposure there. B.
Gentlemen, I am one of many defrauded Stebro customers. Unfortunately I paid Dan Petschenig by check and he only sent part of the system. The parts he send did not fit and had the wrong flanges. Dan has not responded to phone messages, emails or letters. Is there a Canadian small claims court and can I sue Dan via the mail or do I have to do this in person in Canada? The missing parts are worth US$500 and the parts and labor to correct the sent parts will probably be about US$1000 (Im still waiting for the final bill from the installer), so it is questionable whether this is worth taking to an attorney. (Unless someone knows of a simpatico Tifosi/attorney in Ottawa?) What to do?
Hey Gary, I presume that this person is in Ottawa? If so, I have a family member that is an attourney for the crown (government). Send me a PM and we'll continue through email. I will at least be able to find out what the process would be...or if it's worth going after... Regards, Mario
Ontario has a small claims court system. It worked quite well for us a few years ago dealing with a fraudulent window replacement company. No lawyer required although we did appear in person. http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/ Gerrit
Thank you for the effort and info, guys. I live in Oregon, and if one must appear in person for Ottawa's small claims court, Dan at Stebro believes he can get away with theft. No other creative ideas out there?
You can always file a complaint with the BBB. Currently Stebro has a rating of "F" http://www.bbb.org/ottawa/business-reviews/auto-parts-and-supplies-new/stebro-psd-ltd-in-nepean-on-19698 DF
Gary, i've merged your two threads. It's best to have one with all the facts. You're last one had some good input. Best of luck to you in this case. Cheers.
Thanks for merging. There are numerous threads about Stebro's dishonesty on FChat. What's important is that everyone keeps Stebro in the headlines for unsuspecting prospective customers who Google "Stebro". Until Mr. Petschenig makes good on his obligations, he should feel confident that I (and many other FChat members) will hound him until his company's demise.
Hi Gary, I only said that we appeared in person, I didn't say that you have to appear in person. In our case we happened to live 2 miles from the court where the case was heard. It is quite possible that you can send a proxy. I really suggest that you read the info at the link I provided. Gerrit ex-11966
Hey Gary, Gerrit's link is very useful if you haven't looked at it. You can sue for up to $25k in small claims court so you certainly should be able to file for the full amount. Here is a link to the consumer protection office of Ontario... http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/default.aspx hope this helps...
Lots more time has gone by and here is what has transpired with poor old Dan at Stebro, at least as related to the scam he pulled on me: 1. I filed a BBB complaint with the Ottawa BBB. As soon as the BBB sent the complaint to Dan he replied to them with a bunch of taurus excretionis saying how I returned the cat for cosmetic reasons and that he would credit me whenever he sold the thing. I guess he put that piece of crap back in stock. At any rate I immediately replied to the BBB and explained that the cat he sent was NOT a high flow unit as advertised as it contained a stock core. It also did not have welded on bungs for the O2 sensor and temp sensor. In fact someone just cut threads in the stainless canister and hoped that the two threads they managed to create would be enough to secure the senders.....NOT!! For those two reason I returned the unit. He immediately said he would send me a refund. He finally DID send a check last October, but it was dated Nov 25th so I had to wait a month to deposit it. I sent him an e-mail and asked about that and he wrote back saying to deposit the check on Nov 25 as dated "for cash flow reasons". I deposited it on Dec 10 as I was out of town at my daughter's wedding on Nov 25. Big surprise, it bounced due to insufficient funds on Dec 14, costing me another $7 for my trouble. I updated the BBB complaint with this information and sent Dan another note. At this point all email to [email protected] or [email protected] is bouncing after about 4 days and multiple attempts at delivery. Also I see that www.stebro.com is now dead with a very odd notice saying that Stebro Stainless Performance is no longer allowed to use that domain. Could it be that Dan has finally fallen on his bankrupt sword???? 2. He stated on three different notes with the BBB that he would supply the missing tip inserts, and of course he never has. The man lies with the best of them and fully deserves his F rating, and a lot more. It is now the new year and Dan and Stebro have gone off the net. Through family, I have access to an ex-TO officer who currently works in the Ottawa area as a PI. I am going to have him investigate this guy. Should be interesting to see what he come up with. I'll post here when I get a report. I am having another family member take a drive over to Dan's shop address and tell me what, if anything, is physically there. They'll snap a cell phone pic and I'll post that as well. I did a web search on Dan and Stebro and quickly came up with horror story after horror story in not just the Ferrari world, but also the BMW and Lambo lists. Just a littany of fraud and deceit. There also seems to be someone still selling Stebro systems through ebay, but it is difficult to find out how their business is related to Dan. Lots of intrigue .... provides fun reading for all who have been robbed by this guy. I pulled an old Stebro stainless system out of my attic yesterday. It fits my Alfa Spider and now that she no longer needs to pass emissions I am going to reinstall it. I got that system back in the early 90's when Stebro was a real business with a real product. It is a great system and sounds sweet on that car. Life goes on............and it is good to keep this old Stebro thread churning every couple of months to lower the probability that a newbie should get robbed by this guy. Happy New Years all Paul
wow....... someone is still selling stebro products with the familiar stebro pics on ebay....wonder how they are related to dan and his business.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E31-8-Series-Performance-Exhaust-by-Stebro-/140575803391?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20baf887ff&vxp=mtr
yeah, and this was forwarded to me by a concerned party: http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-auto-parts-tires-other-parts-accessories-Porsche-912e-Stainless-Steel-Sport-Muffler-W0QQAdIdZ441113928 I love the lifetime warranty statement...hahahahahahahaha!!!
Made me look!! And, then snoop on their website. Seems they're still plugging away, making exhaust systems. D
For what it's worth, I have fallen for the same scam you have. I actually do have a 'system' for my 1977 308 GTB, it doesn't fit my car, of course, and the quality is horrible. As you have discovered, Stebro will gladly take your money, do nothing, and refuse to refund you. I am running an ebay ad and would love to have anyone considering Stebro for any exhaust to check it out and/or give me a shout. I would love to expand upon my experience. The only thing I have figured out to do is to run the ebay ad, contact the BBB, and I will be bringing the 'exhaust' to the FCA 50th this summer to be on display for all the Ferrari enthusiasts who attend. It'll be the one lying on the ground next to my car with full documentation regarding just what Stebro PSD provides! Is this legal? Hmmm. I own the exhaust, so I can say whatever I want about it, it's mine now. If you are thinking about going with Stebro, the only thing I can promise is this, you just might get an exhaust, it may work on your car, but you certainly will never see your money again.
I can't see it being illegal since it appears they are going out of business or have gone that way anyway. Can you post a link to the eBay ad?
The link is: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stebro-Exhaust-Audi-BMW-Ferrari-Mercedes-Corvette-Camaro-Mustang-Lambo-/200873370898?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ec4fc6512&vxp=mtr I'm not so sure they aren't just killing one company and creating another. I've seen that done before. I received an email from Dan a few weeks ago bragging about the new website. I commented to him I was impressed he could produce a new website, but not produce my exhaust and he provided the 'it's nearly complete' line.