OCarbon - FAILURE to deliver

[Other_Erik]

Maybe I just had my hopes too high for OCarbon. I ordered standard CF Interior set from them on June 11th, and as of November 1st, am still 4 pieces short. In the intervening time, I've contacted them no less than 10 times asking for status, updates, etc... Matt (the owner) has typically responded pretty quickly, but seems to have stopped that entirely. Now, I'm out $925 and still don't have a complete CF Interior almost 5 months later.

To add a little insult to injury, they ran a special starting July 7th that included the C5 set for $115 off regular price.

All in all, very unhappy with the situation. I understand it's a craftsy kind of thing they're doing, but there's no reason for this to take almost half a year. I ordered through them because I'd heard they can get sets out "typically in 3-4 weeks".

[MaxRS6]

Jeez- Obviously sh$t poor service and communication.

[Zmey]

That blows, its one of the things on my list.

[lswing]

Sucks...looks like a nice product, but somebody's hobby instead of a real company it seems. Hope you eventually get it all. You got some pieces right, good quality?

[Other_Erik]

Sucks...looks like a nice product, but somebody's hobby instead of a real company it seems. Hope you eventually get it all. You got some pieces right, good quality?

No complaints about the product itself, other than taking better than 3 months to get 8 out of 12 pieces, and 4 pieces still MIA. They look great and fit perfect.

[ben916]

Cross post on Audizine as that is where a majority of the aftermarket Audi OCarbon fan boys are at... Nothing like bad press to kill a business

[DiscoPotato]

Odd, I rarely hear of problems from them.

[audiprotn]

Cross post on Audizine as that is where a majority of the aftermarket Audi OCarbon fan boys are at... Nothing like bad press to kill a business
This!!!
Heard only good things about them, but definitely should complain

[kmartens]

damn sorry to hear this Erik, wanted this to be one of my "winter" projects but definitely will be holding off on this now until they can catch up with their production. At least product is quality and its not all for nothing

[mbagge01]

I was looking at getting some interior trim and came across some that came out of a RHD vehicle. Would the pieces still fit properly in a LHD vehicle.

[N_Stamp]

Ocarbon takes forever but he does do good work, he took about 6 months on my B5 S4. It looked and fit awesome when all was done.

[Other_Erik]

Funny enough, about 7 hours after I posted this, I got an email from the owner saying they'd gotten the remaining pieces into fabrication, and would get me the first off the line. Either way, 5 months is a pretty ridiculous timeframe to ask someone to wait for a product they've paid for, even custom work when it's pieces so small. We shall see exactly how long it'll take to get my parts :|

[N_Stamp]

What I have gathered from other members of previous forums before I purchased from the guy..... The guy has MAJOR OCD and if his work doesn't meet his standards it gets re done until its perfect in his book. To me that's worth the wait but boy does it suck playing the waiting game!!!

[bmlee007]

^^^ is why I have a complete extra set to send out. That way I'm not cruising with empty panels until mine comes back. I plan to send mine out this winter as well.

[Other_Erik]

Updated: Received 2 of the 4 remaining parts, and a shipping label created for the last two parts. I've got 9 of the 10 parts received installed so far. Anyone have a breakout diagram to show what disassembly needs to happen to get the piece in underneath the armrest?

Still to be delivered: Shifter Surround and Hazard switch surround

[nene]

Piece underneath the armrest comes out easy. The edge facing the front of the car, just pull out and up towards ceiling. It pops out .
You can hurt your fingers easily, thus be careful.
I've had to remove it once I lost something in that opening where the manual brake handle is.

[4everRS]

For the piece around the base of the armrest, you'll need to pull out the rear vents. Then you'll have access to the 10mm bolts that hold down the armrest assembly.

[Other_Erik]

For the piece around the base of the armrest, you'll need to pull out the rear vents. Then you'll have access to the 10mm bolts that hold down the armrest assembly.

This is what I was looking for.

Thanks again, 4everRS - you always seem to be able to answer whatever question I have about the piecing together of my vehicle :)

O_E

[N_Stamp]

Happy things finally came in!

[Other_Erik]

Last two pieces will be delivered Monday according to FedEx, any pointers on getting the shifter surround out? Have had enough frustration just getting these trims, would like to avoid more irritation...

O_E

[Other_Erik]

So, all in all, here's the breakdown of how this all went down. The long gaps in dates, there was at least one email from me every 2 weeks requesting status, and usually a reply back within 24 hours...

June 11th, 2013: Ordered full interior set, paid in full including core deposit $925
July 1st, 2013: oCarbon runs a special 15% off all interior sets
July 5th 2013: I email oCarbon asking if the 15% off applies to my order from 3 weeks earlier. Never got a response on this (surprise)
July 30th 2013: I ask again on email whether the 15% off applied to my order, lo and behold, I get an email back (teasing me!) that there were 3 sets of C5 carbon interiors finished and ready to ship - no mention that they were for other customers.
October 5th 2013: After multiple emails requesting status, parts start coming in. Everything looks great, but I'm perturbed how long it took to get them
December 2nd 2013: Final parts come in
December 15th 2013: All parts installed, old interior parts packed up
December 20th 2013: Box sent to oCarbon, old interior set gone
December 30th 2013: UPS delivers old interior set
January 24th 2014: I get back from a couple weeks overseas, still no core deposit refund. After multiple calls (oCarbon has never once answered the phone when I called, why bother having a number?), and an email, I check with my credit card company - no guarantees a chargeback will work this late in the game
February 15th 2014:, I get the response "We didn't receive anything". F*$&, time to call UPS. UPS verifies receipt, package was signed for on delivery (with name)
February 24th 2014: After prodding a couple times, I finally get the response "We'll look for it and check with our driver" from oCarbon
March 18th 2014: Final day to open a claim with UPS - claim opened.
March 19th 2014: oCarbon decides to eat the loss of the box and refunds my core deposit (I assume they just wanted to stop hearing from me) Excuse - Probably got lost when they moved shop

So yes, I have been made whole on this transaction. And yes, I love the way the CF looks in the beast. But this shouldn't have taken 6 months to get all the parts, and getting the core deposit back took another almost 3 months. I can't recommend this shop unless you don't mind getting jerked around and waiting half a year for your refreshed interior, and even then only because they're the only shop I could find offering the parts for sale.

TL;DR: This was almost as bad as going to the DMV after having a no-painkiller root canal on the day you get a letter from the IRS saying "You're being audited!"

[MaxRS6]

Wowza- It is amazing they r still in business with practices like the above. Good of you to post the warning for those in the market.

[Other_Erik]

Wowza- It is amazing they r still in business with practices like the above. Good of you to post the warning for those in the market.

I'm sure I'll hear back about it, and am probably burning a bridge with the vendor, but I feel like the community deserves the warning before they go and do something crazy like expecting a top-tier vendor (the only one with an offering, anyway) to offer top-tier support.

I'll reiterate - they did make it right. It just took longer than I think is warranted. I would've just sourced used CF from eBay if I'd known this all would've taken this long, but I wanted everything to look perfect.

[bmlee007]

Bummer that you had such a bad experience, as mine was the complete opposite. I shipped my core out in mid-January, then went out of the country for 5 weeks. I got a progress report every week. He even started over once with new material because he didn't like the outcome on the first pass. I told him to take time, there was no rush. Two weeks after I got back, the delivery came and I installed them that weekend. To rub the salt in a little further, I waited until the Holiday Sale to order, so I even got a 15% discount! Now I'm working up a set of shift paddles to get sent out to match.

[Other_Erik]

Bummer that you had such a bad experience, as mine was the complete opposite. I shipped my core out in mid-January, then went out of the country for 5 weeks. I got a progress report every week. He even started over once with new material because he didn't like the outcome on the first pass. I told him to take time, there was no rush. Two weeks after I got back, the delivery came and I installed them that weekend. To rub the salt in a little further, I waited until the Holiday Sale to order, so I even got a 15% discount! Now I'm working up a set of shift paddles to get sent out to match.

Believe it or not, I am glad to hear that they've done process improvement to get stuff out the door in a more timely manner. Small business on the rise is the american dream, and not enough people are living that dream...

I crossposted this thread to audizine, and I bet now I come off looking like a chump because I turned it into a bitchfest/pity-party. Whatever, my conscience is clear.

O_E