KermaTDI Charlie Customer Service?

I've only dealt with Kerma once through Paul. He worked quickly to take care of my issue and even was on the phone with me late on a Saturday night! I was impressed that he'd still be focusing on business at such a time. Nothing but good things to say about how he handled my situation.

Truly sorry to hear of your illness, Paul. As well as Kerma's troubles. I won't pretend to know anything about the conflicts so no comment from me. I just hope you guys can turn things around in both business and your personal health.

People, I just pruned 19 posts. I already stated who is allowed to post in this thread. The next time I have to remove posts there will also be time-outs for those who don't think the rules apply to them or think these rules are unfair. (because that's the way it is, get over it)

BKmetz said:

There will be zero tolerance for anyone who tries to use the forums to kick the Kerma guys while they are down. Anyone who doesn't have any pending business dealings with KermaTDI, please grant them their space. They need it right now.

For members who do have pending issues with KermaTDI, post them in this thread. KermaTDI still has an obligation to deal in good faith with its customers. Due to the special circumstances surrounding KermaTDI, we are giving them their own thread to deal with the members. This makes it easier for the members, KermaTDI, and us to keep track of what going on.

Click to expand...

Charlie / Paul, I wish you the best in your recoveries.

kerma

I myself have been doing business with kerma for a while now. Paul and charlie both have done me well as well as my customers. I just want to point out as a business owner we all have lives, families and personal issues. This does affect or work form time to time but thats what makes us human. Give them a break. If the company or individual is willing to make up for what ever frustration a customer has give them a try. Ive seen my company grow in the last few years and had to deal with employes personal issues while having my own and customer issues. Its difficult to balence. As a customer myslef i have learned to not always demand everything immidatly. Sometimes parts take time because they are coming from other vendors. Just my 2 cents. I hope better health for everyone at kerma. Shaz

Be Strong My Friends

Charlie,
All I can say is you will always have a laid back place to decompress at my place in Santa Cruz should you EVER need it!

Paul,
You are in all of our thoughts. Be Strong!

Charlie came through and all is good.

Charlie and Paul have come through for me as well. But i thought it would be ungrateful of me to not publicly say thanks to you both. There has been many times that they have gone the extra mile for me, friends, and family.

Thank you and God speed.

I have been a customer of KermaTDI for about a year now. Paul was the first person i talked to and i consider him and the rest of Kerma TDI friends. i have not had one diffuculty ever and when a problem arose it was another vendor who was to blame. but kerma fixed the error and made things easy for me. I just found out today from paul about all this crap coming down on him and charlie, all i can say is what the heck people grow up and act like a human beings or at least like a responsible adults. STOP CRYING!!!!!! have some patience.

PAUL - get well i will handle the issues with Hoover and i will get with Jim and have him call you. Godspeed my friend.

Paul....... I'm so sorry about your cancer struggle. You were a great guy to deal with in my past experience. Just want you to know you got my sympathy and prayers. Keep faith man, hope you recover soon. Mark.

Kerma this is the riot act

First and foremost I would like to say that I hate to have to do this on a public chanel, however, I have exausted all other venues. I would like to ask that people keep this thread from becomming a flame thread.

I have purchased things from Kerma TDI in the past; $1991 to be exact. This year for some reason I have had trouble passing emissions. So I decided to downgrade my nozzles. I ordered some smaller nozzles and paid for overnight shipping. I waited almost a full week before calling them to ask where the nozzles were. I was told that someone was supposed to contact me because they were not in stock and it would be some time before they would be. I was never contacted. I asked to have my money refunded as I don't have the bank roll to allow $370 bucks to just float around. I was also given the number to their mecanic because he is located in the same state as myself and he may be able to fix my emissions problem. I called got a voicemail box and never recieved a return call. This has been the typical experiance when dealing with Kerma, I send emails and voice mails and never get any response. I waited several days and the money still had not been returned to my bank account. I called again and I was told that it would be looked into. As of today that money is still not in my account, no one has returned my calls or emails. I don't have the funds to get my car fixed because you are holding on to my cash. After this friday I will be paying a $25 per month late fine for late vehicle registration because I cannot afford to get my car fixed to pass emissions. Is it Kerma's fault I waited until the last month to get my car fixed? No, but with proper communications and prompt service I could have took other venues.

In todays economy many businesses try and live up to the stake holder model. Where the Business, the customer, the suppliers, and everyone else involved with the business is placed on an equal valued playing field. We all need each other here. So it is important that when you set up a phone number and a website you provide them with something. Weather it be a service or a product or both. This is a small community here you can only burn so many fingers before there are none left to feed you money. When I bought my Qloader I was told that I got 2 custom tunes with it, after I recieved the first one I was never able to get ahold of anyone to get my second. I purchased that thing over a year agao, and have sent periodic emails since then! Communication people, if you can't get a grip on it close your website and let someone who can take over.

This is the bottom line, that money (the $372.11 that I paid) will be in my account by 12 midnight tomorrow night or I will be contacting my bank, and VISA to file a fraud claim.

I think right now it doesnt matter who you are getting a hold of over there it will be difficult.

hpglow said:

I send emails and voice mails and never get any response.

Click to expand...

I don't recognize your screen name/handle. Could you please e-mail or pm me with your personal info? and I'll get this fixed

First and foremost, I want to say that I have never once had a problem with KermaTDI. I have bought quite a few parts from them and have never had an issue at all with any of it. I had a question about installing the skid plate I ordered, and Paul answered the phone and immediately knew it was me (Caller ID) but even went as far to ask how I liked my new skid plate. It's pretty impressive when you can do as much business as these two do and still remember someone's particular order.

Both Charlie and Paul have a lot on their plate right now, but I have never had better customer service from anyone. If something is wrong, they will go much further than they have to to make it right again. Paul didn't need to overnight a bolt that came out of the packaging for the skid plate when UPS destroyed the box, but he did. He could have easily put it on a back burner so to speak, or just sent it whenever he got around to it, but he didn't do that.

Charlie has been awesome for technical support on the tunes and also helping me way after hours through PM on this forum walking me through the steps for my q-loader again after I reformatted my hard drive. This is only a few examples of my dealings with KermaTDI, but I have had nothing but good experiences so far.

To Charlie: I'm glad to hear that you are doing better now. I think you need to take a vacation, though. My dad has owned his own business for about 8 years, and still needs a vacation every now and then.

To Paul: I'm very sorry to hear about your cancer. I have had 4 family members die of cancer, and although I haven't experienced it first hand, I know that this must be a hard time for you and your family. You are in my prayers for a safe and speedy recovery.

To everyone else: I'm sure Charlie and Paul are doing their very best to make things right by everyone, but perhaps we should hold off on bugging them until everything falls into place. It's not good to be overstressed then have more stress compiled on top of it. How would any of you feel in the same situation?

-Brian

Another Great Experience with KERMA TDI

I just wanted to say THANKS to all the folks at KermaTDI, they all went out of their way to get my order shipped out in a timely manner and offered prompt and helpful customer support any time that I called. I have no hesitation dealing with them in the future and will continue to give them my business and refer my friends.

Best of luck to both of you guys, running a business is almost as much stress management as logistics management, trust me. Thanks Charlie for being up front and direct, your honesty is much appreciated. And thanks Paul, best wishes for a speedy recovery. You really didn't have to answer the phone every time I called... I look forward to continuing doing business with you!

Roller

ok, guys, here's the latest wonderful news:

Anuthee got hit by a car last night while riding his bike. He'll be ok, but out of commission for a while with some broken bones. Paul's voice is failing from the radiation treatments so his usefulness on the phone will be very limited (at best) for a while. I keep after him to just leave the business alone for a while and concentrate on getting better, but the stubborn bastard won't hear any of it. I think it's that stubborn-ness that will ultimately pull him through. We'll know the ultimate result/prognosis from the collective treatments in about 6-8 weeks, but unfortunately, this means he will probably have to miss TDIfest.
So, that pretty much means - if you call I will be the one answering the phone, with Jason helping some in the afternoon. I will do my best to continue turning out the tunes for our new customers in less than a day or so, but retunes for new equipment, etc may have to take a back seat and take a bit longer than usual, because of the new demands on my time.
I appreciate your patience while we work through this unprecedented set of circumstances.

On the bright side, these challenges have more or less forced some changes in the way we do things that will greatly enhance logistics and hopefully eliminate the shipping delays we've experienced lately. Without going into specifics just yet, we also have we have some VERY interesting developments coming to fruition with turbos and other products, making this a very exciting time for me, personally, as a dyed in the wool TDI enthusiast. Also, look for the article in the coming issue of Eurotuner...

KERMA,
I have tried to e-mail and now I will try here. Can you update me on my order status #7383.

Thank you,
tedali2004@hotmail.com

I would like to second all the thanks mentioned previously. Charlie & crew have helped me on countless occasions when I had issues with my car. Charlie went out of his way when I had a problem and worked on his back late into the night in HIS garage to fix a problem. THAT is going above and beyond regular customer service.

Charlie lives for TDIs. Working on TDIs is therapy to him. It is this passion for our cars that will take our technology to the next level.

Thanks again for the hard work. I look forward to that issue of Eurotuner...

Kerma's responce to my post is missing. ??? There were two phone numbers that could have been useful to customer service.

Pulled this out of my email:

Give the warehouse a call at 970-390-3371 and ask Jason or Paul at 407-782-3700 but Paul's throat might be sore from radiation, so please take that into consideration before calling

What a nice thing for them to do for Paul.

Best of Luck Paul!

this is the bit that is most important for we TDIClubbers to know.

they (the local Vail friendss & Family) are setting up a fund for his continuing support. here are the details in case anyone would like to donate.

To make a donation prior to or after the event, send a check payable to The Vail Valley Charitable Foundation, P.O. Box 1275, Avon, CO 81620, with a note of support for Paul Maloney. Credit card donations can be made at 970-845-6339, or info@vvcf.org.

Click to expand...

Well, just came here to see what might be up and found this thread...

Thanks for taking the time to update us Charlie. I truely hope things go well for you all. TDIs and many drivers happily buzzing down the road today because of you guys.

I left a couple short messages the last couple days about my turbo replacement. I be flexable on what I get so if you have anything in stock or comes in soon that matchs or beats the 1852v that is sitting on my bench I'll be happy to work something out. I have the programmer so a new tune for a different turbo would be no problem for me.

For those beating on these guys over a week or two delay give them some room to move. I contacted Paul in December for a replacement and ended up parking my car in Feb because the turbo just wouldn't go any more. I have been mostly happy to wait because I know what I get will be a great product. In hind site I would have been money ahead to get a used vnt15 until I got my replacement but you know what they say about hindsite. Bottem line, sometime crap happens to other people and when it does sometimes it affects you and me but to a much lesser extent!

Best wishs to the Kerma gang both in health and prosperity,
Carl

The best thing we can all do is continue business as usual. Order parts from them and let them fill the orders as they can. I know that I have faith in kerma to make it right, on that basis I ordered a turbo from him over the weekend. My prayers are with you as you work thru this painfull process. There is hope so keep the faith.

Gordy

Just wanted to say I had a very satisfactory experience with Kerma this week. I ordered the "doggie" collar from them and it shipped very quickly.

Thanks guys.

OMG Paul, this is you?



I posted up near the start of this thread that I don't know you. That is not correct. That cover of Powder was pinned up in my room for about 2 years in the late 80's. Not that I've ever met you, but what a small world!!!

I'm sending a couple of bucks for the "shin-dig". I hope if goes well and is a success. What a cool community this tdi forum is!

Take care,
-Chris

Ill give both Charlie and Paul a big thumbs up. I have dealt with Charlie for close to 7 years now. And have had the pleasure of having both he and Paul in my home in Montreal. Always had good experiences. Great guys! Bad experiences always always get blown out of proportion and the good goes un noticed.
I have had similar issues with suppliers / partners cheating me in this industry. Hence why I no longer do much anymore as trustworthy people seem to be hard to come by in the automotive tuning world.
Having lost my Father to cancer last fall I can relate to what Paul and his family are going through. Be strong Paul, my thoughts are with you

Sincerely,
Steve

I talked with Charlie on Friday about getting an 1856. I bought a 1852 turbo but unfortunately it was through someone that may or may not have given Kerma money for the sale. The turbo was bad from the first day but my ignorance left me thinking it was something else causing the problem. So while I could drive the car it never got over 15 lbs of boost. I spent the first few month breaking in the new create motor so that strung this out even more. After the break-in I got a different toon and hit 24 lbs of boost five or six times at most. Charlie did agree to get me a rebuilt 1856 at cost which would be an upgrade to my 1852 but wouldn't take payment until they had everything lined up. It would have been easy for him to take my money to help with their operating costs. Clearly they could use it based on everything that is going on. I don't know who is building their new turbos but I got a glowing reference from someone that does (an independant someone that I trust a lot and don't ask because I don't want to drag the that person into this mess... also don't ask who is doing the building because I don't know and think that should come from Kerma if they choose to tell.).

Well, that is my story. I know I provided no proof of anything. I guess take what you want and leave the rest. I probably will not have an 1856 for sometime to come based on storm that has come down on Kerma. Not sure if I can wait that long though.

I still wish them the best and really hope that they are able to get some turbos out from the new builder.

rez311... I read the linked tread. I hope you are able resolve that. If you sent money to Kerma they should stand behind the product regardless of what their supplier did to them. I don't recall the dates of all your posts but if Charlie told you no I hope it was before his post in this tread with details of all the crap the Kerma staff is going/went through.

i had a turbo recntly from them great price all went through smoothly . a little issue with a missing adapter but they sent it extremely quickly the next day .
i got a great deal and i always get a response to my e-mails even through the hard times theve had .
my vnt 17 is running well and nothing to complain about . although i do need my pp764s back as i would love to give my vnt 17 all the fuel it needs.
this is my fault by the way . i alreday had some pp764s from them to go on stock turbo but as charlie had advised that you really wont see a power gain unless you upgrade the turbo . so i thought i couldnt affor both injectors and turbo so i would send the injectors back and just use the turbo on my pp520s.
i still havent recieved a refund for them although jason e-mailed me to say he has them . but that is not a bad thing as i have had a bit of a wage boost and would like to put the pp764s in . so if jason or charlie are reading can i have the most travelled set of injectors back please

and keep up the good work you,ll soon turn it around

Personaly I think making anyone wait 8-10 months because of he said she said is crap. If you sold a product with your name on it through someone you worked with you need to stand behind it. That's what REAL men do. Pull your boot straps up and step up to the plate.

I've had about enough of you guys pussy footing around this whole fiasco. Get on with the suing and sort it out. Trying to get public opinion to figure it out in the forums is a load of BS. Let the court of law decide.

We are (suing and other legal things). Believe me there's a lot more going on along those lines behind the scenes than ever gets let out in public.
Suffice it to say, if the real story ever gets out, many people will be absolutely astonished. I can't say much because of the ongoing litigation. This means we have to take it in the shorts in the court of public opinion, short term. The real facts are overwhelmingly in our favor, to the extent that our opponents only hope of winning is by wearing us down with lies and using our own resources (stolen from us) against us, as everything moves through the glacially slow legal system.
For example: Some of our customers were gracious enough to offer to wait a few months for certain items while we sorted things out, then suddenly changed their mind based on lies from anonymous postings that were eagerly pointed out to them by certain competitors and or their mouthpieces.
Even "real men" have a limit to their resources and stamina. There's only so many times you can be stolen from lied to and and lied about before real harm is done, regardless of how much of a "real man" you are.
At more than one point I ended up broken, plain and simple. And I offered my apologies as appropriate. But how does the saying go: whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.