ZN Performance - Stay Away
 

When I bought my BRZ Limited back in March, there were a few items I knew I wanted for it right away. One thing being the STi gurney flap for the rear spoiler. After doing some shopping, I found it listed by a company called ZN Performance for a nice price. It came out to be $121 shipped.

A few days after placing my order, I emailed them asking about tracking info. He responded by saying it was special order from Japan and would take about 4 weeks. I was a little bummed because the site said nothing about it being special order, but I was alright with it because I've ordered things from Japan before and understand the time table.

4 weeks later, I call him to check on the order. He checks on his computer only to find out MY ORDER HAD NEVER BEEN PLACED BY HIS DISTRIBUTOR. I wasn't too excited to find this out. I asked him why he never checked up on my order to begin with, but all he would do is blame his guy he orders from. I'm told it'll be another 4 weeks, but he'll ship it for free. I also ask him to keep me in the loop on things. If he knew something, I'd like to know it too. He attached me to his email ordering my gurney flap from Vivid Motorsports.

I started shopping again at that point, but with free shipping, I couldn't beat the price. 3 weeks after him re-placing my order, I called him again. This time he tells me that he can't sell it to me at that price because his price went up. I'm livid. He tells me he was going to check another vendor and call me back. He never called me back.

I tried calling him back a couple weeks later and this is when he started not answering the phone. I left voicemails during his business hours that were never returned. I then tried emailing him with two possible routes for resolution: sell me the item at the price I had already paid, or return my money. After a week of him not responding to my email, I decided to file a PayPal claim against him. Although I stated my case, PayPal wouldn't do anything because it had been past 40-whatever days since my transaction.

I reached out to him via his Facebook page, and ultimately left a very poor review of my experience in dealing with him. He still didn't contact me.

I finally got a hold of him by calling from a different area code. Once I had him on the phone, he proceeded to get all upset with me. He finally offered to refund my money BY CHECK IN THE MAIL. I asked why he couldn't refund through PayPal and he said because he doesn't have PayPal anymore. Sketchy.

After our phone call, he responded to my Facebook review and basically called me a liar. He claimed that he told me he was ordering my item even though he was taking a hit on price and that he told me before about his PayPal issues. Total BS.

I've seen on his Facebook that he plans to sell a twin-turbo kit for our cars and it has me concerned for his potential customers. If he can't communicate and serve a customer with a $121 order, how can he take care of someone spending thousands?

I'm currently waiting for my check to come in the mail, but in the mean time, I've found my gurney flap for cheaper. In the end I'm not out any money (assuming the check comes in and clears) only time and frustration. I'll never order from him again and I urge everyone else to stay away as well.

"If your only choice is to order from ZN Performance, convince yourself you don't really need that part. It's not worth the hassle." -Me

Really bro? You really think that check is going to show up?

If it does, do we want to place wagers on whether it clears or not?

I'm offshore at the moment, so my only option is to wait. If it doesn't come in/clear, I'll have to start all this over again. I found out today that the owner of the twin turbo car he's building is being ignored by him too.

Funny the website still accepts Paypal....

Also in his Facebook message he claims that he switched PP accounts, which is why he can't refund me that way. We'll see about the check.

He is loading up the bullshit. He is probably severely in debt and has been operating in debt for awhile at this point waiting for that next big $5k customer to come along so he can pay for previous customer's parts. The best you can do is keep pestering him and hope you get your money back, but you need to start accepting the fact that you probably won't be getting it back and take it as a lesson learned to buy from reputable vendors.

After the fact and looking, he had good reviews. I've never had an issue ordering from different vendors, but I guess I finally got bit. It's only $121 and I've already written it off if I never see it again. I will, however, continue to pester and bother him.

The point of this was to warn other members of our community, and potential customers of his, that his business practices aren't up to par.

So contact Yelp, BBB, and his state's Attorney General's office and make sure that his next prospective client sees negative revews.

If there is ever ANY doubt about a PayPal transaction, RAISE A DISPUTE IMMEDIATELY

This is the easiest way to get resolution from the seller and to protect you. This is the entire reason for using PayPal, as they (sometimes unfairly) protect the buyer. Even if the seller has promised resolution, OPEN THE CLAIM.


Edit for clarification: This benefits you in that 1) it increases the timeframe that you have to get your money back via PayPal and 2) Forces the seller to answer you, otherwise they cannot withdraw the money

I pursued that avenue, but because it was passed x-amount of days since the transaction, they wouldn't investigate my claim.

I'm offshore right now, but if I get home and find no check in the mail, or a bad check, I'll be contacting people in his city.

You open it before the time frame expires - this creates a buffer that allows you to escalate if you end up in this situation again or close it if you receive action. It also helps PayPal become more receptive when you say "well, I opened a case but you guys forced me to close it when the seller responded that they shipped my item. But it's been 4 weeks now and I still haven't received anything."


Also, use your credit card, not your bank account.

It was just circumstantial to this type of thing taking time to get here from Japan, so there wasn't a need to file a claim sooner. And yeah, credit card on PP is the way I'll go for now on.