Im sick and tired of how reduculously overpriced and pathetically cheap these products are.

I'm hearing complaints all the time and when people post up how shitty these products are, then Palo themselves tries to defend themseves only to find that they are being flamed way to hard so they stop replying.

Most products made by Palo Uber is not only a replica/rebadge, but the ones that might be original like their hoodscoop and wheel studs, fall apart and people find that they are cheaply made.

Please if your going to charge such a rediculous price, at least have a decent customer service. I feel bad for these people getting ripped off (which your customers are) and then have nowhere to turn to.

Honestly you guys better straighten up because I believe that there are still loyal customers that buy from you and Im sure you dont want to lose them too. Here are a couple of things you might be able to do.
- Explain to us how your wheels are different from sportmax in style and construction (they look exaclty the same, both are forged, and both weigh the same) Make us understand that your wheels are worth what you charge. Of course wheels arent the only thing that is replicated.
- Have customer service to backup your "Top of the Line" product
- Constant R&D. If your product breaks and a customer complains, fix it. Dont just send the same thing again. Because we all know its going to break again.

 

I hope you shared your opinion with the Palo Uber folks as well and not just with us.

Everybody is entitled to have and share an opinion. God I love this country!!

 

but, but they have hundreds of satisfied customers who are doctors ,lawyers and fluffers

 

calling number 4.............LOL

Ahhh the wonders of modern advertising.

 

Ha, I don't feel sorry for them at ALL. THEY chose to buy the products, hence THEY get to deal with themselves being ripped off and abused. If no one buys products from a company, won't that company be doomed to fail? I say quit buying and let them fail...the MINI world doesn't need PU to strive, for it has M7, ALTA, Helix, and many more LOYAL product basis'.

-Cody

 

The only thing, and I mean only thing, I have seen that they make that is unique is their light bar. I will admit i like the design and the price is fair. Other than that I haven't seen anything they make that I like personally.

 

And some lamborghini dealer....

 

in before the lock!

lol

ps. i agree Palo Uber is crrrrrap!

 

Just out of curiosity, what products of theirs do you have that you have had issues with?
I hear a great deal of complaints and usually from people that don't even have their products themselves.
I must say that I have had great response from them. I speak to them regularly on the phone, I recently switched from the M7 extreme scoop to their CF Scoop and feel that the smooth air flow as apposed to the tumbled air that the M7 Scoop feeds in to the Intercooler has made some difference.
I have their antenna and have had no issues with it at all, they have also sent a few with every order I place with them.
I have their tuner lugs that they hooked me up with for no cost!
And I am still going through some R&D issues with them on a regular basis in regards to the fitment of their new CF Extension wing, They have sent me two different wings already without hesitation, both have not fit my 05 OEM wing since it has a slight warp so I am awaiting delivery of their new wings being made out of a CF Flex Mold, these wings will have just enough give in them to allow any OEM wing imperfections to not interupt the bond.

I know that they rebadge some of their rims, but these days who dosent, like any brand you are paying for the Name.

If you have issues with them you should voice your issues to them directly.
Im sick and tired of hearing people bash PU when they don't even have their products.

 

I think you should have those checked....from what I hear they're probably rusted.

CF Flex mold eh? I'm pretty sure there were links floating around here somewhere that were selling those on ebay for $5+$20 shipping. All you need to do is measure the wing and tell them the length when you purchase it. I'm sorry you spent $400 on a no-name label, when you could've saved $375 on a different no-name label.

You are WRONG however in saying that many companies rebadge. Companies that do rebadge have licensed the product from the original manufacturer in order to add their name to specific products, i.e. Spoon. Many companies make replica/knockoffs of other products which don't live up to the standards of the originals (Quality and weight). However, the companies that make these knockoffs at least give credit where credit is due...to the original manufacturer. Even knockoff rims have "BBS Style" or "<Major brand> style". PU, however, doesn't even acknowledge other brand's product similarities. They claim they filed a lawsuit? You've got to be kidding me. There is no way in hell Palo Uber will be able to sue a company that's had the same product for longer and been around longer than PU has.

I personally don't own a PU product, and I probably never will. It's the companies image that is bad. Sure every company has some good and bad PR, but the fact that 90% of the personal experiences that I read mention in some way how the product was crap AND the Customer Service was TERRIBLE. When the bad PR is outweighing the good PR then you know that the company has a very bad image for "talking the talk" and not delivering. They claim they have "exclusive products designed by Palo Uber and manafactured by <insert random area here>". When you can in fact find these very products made by "bigger" companies through a simple google search that were pre-existant to the release date of PU's product. Rebdaging and reselling is fine, that's what Spoon did with Desmond rims (They were licensed), but claiming that it's your own product manufactured specifically by you for mini coopers is just absurd. Palo Uber claims to sell parts specifically for the mini cooper, but even the rims they sell require hub mounting rings. That's the biggest load of BS ever, not to mention the wheels also have 2 sets of holes instead of one for the mini...

You may be one of the few that haven't had any problems with PU, and I'm happy for you because you've been able to experience the better 1/4 of PU. However, I'm sure you know by now how many people have had bad experiences with PU, and I'm sure you know when they post pictures of it there is absolutely no way that it's been fabricated. So how you can continue to defend a company like PU is beyond me. At the moment me reading your post sounds more like you trying to defend your purchase because you've already spent the money and don't want to experience the bad customer service that others have experienced. So while you still contact their customer service, you let them deal with the little issues that you know they can handle.

 

Sorry buddy the lugs are fine!

 

I have searched Ebay through and through for Cooper parts and have never come across a seller with such items, Can you provide a link to back up your belief?
This is what I'm talking about where they are being bashed with no hard proof, I have products of theirs to back up all my claims!
I wonder how they are getting so much bad press then, Hmmm
Also, Since I talk with them frequently, They hooked me up with a great price on the wing, I can't complain.

About the Rims, I don't have them so I will not try and argue this one to the death. I have spoke with them about this and they do come clean about Re-Badging some of their rims, Also the two different sets of holes are for the changed bult patterns on more recent mini's I believe. And the spacers along with their Tuner Lugs are to ensure a better fitment!

Also, There are not many brands that can sell directly through a mini dealership, They sell PU Coopers ready to go out of the Hollywood Mini Show Room. I don't think they would carry a crap company.!

 

Could you please explain this further? What did you feel that made you decide it performs better? Thanks

 

I must say these are two different types of scoop.
The M7 has a smaller opening with a downward lip that funnels the air into the Intercooler, this downward lip causes the air to tumble instead of direclty flowing into the intercooler.
The Palo Uber Scoop has a much larger opening Without the downward lip, allowing it to feed Smooth un-tumbled air into the intercooler. This smoother flow allows more air to enter the intercooler.

I must say that I noticed a deeper engine sound and better engine response due to more air flow and cooler temps!

 

Thanks for the response

 

i'm sorry i don't mean to be a jerk but your argument is rediculous. You own an antenna (whoopty doo), some lugs, 2 broken wings, and a hoodscoop that apparently makes a huge difference because the air isn't tumbled, something i bet PU told you would happen and now you're trying to convince yourself IS happening to justify your purchase (and no, i dont have hard evidence of this, its just a theory, woops, i must be wrong ). THEN, you go on to say that you know they rebadge their rims which, sorry to say, is rediculous because companies who charge a premium for "nice" wheels, SHOULDN'T REBADGE THEIR PRODUCTS.

 

You're referring to M7's "Extreme" scoop...the one JS and I did for M7 called the "Ram Intake" looks like this DFIC version...both have greatly enlarged vertical apature...PU followed with their version afterwards essentially doing the same thing but with an awkward looking "hot rod" tube shape...

 

Gotta say, your car looks great.
I've been interested in the custom Brake Ducts you installed, Nice Job.
I was looking into their Ram Intake Scoop a while back as well!

 

You know maybe if you have followed the thread you would know that most of the negative feedback is due to the antenna and tuner lugs.

I mention the antenna because there was a great deal of unhappy customers who received antennas that began to rust.
The reason i mentioned the Lugs is because I have had no issues with them unlike others who received theirs from a bad batch, And people that had this issue were sent replacements.

About the scoop, Think what you want but I have noticed differences and there is clearly a visible difference in the opening and amont of air both scoops can allow to flow to the intercooler.

I also have their 15% pulley installed and working well, this is another item they gave me at a good price.

About the wing, it is a new product so like all new products that hit the market, the wing needs some more R&D due to the issue I am having with my OEM wing and a rigid CF extension. Hence the Changes they are making to producing a Flex mold wing in order to eliminate this issue in the future.

I'm happy to help them out with these issues and am glad that they are hooking me up with their products at a good price due to the helpful feedback.

 

I am one of those who has not taken the plunge and purchased PU products, and i will therefore refrain from commenting on their quality (though I do have to note I was amused by claims that their R56 will assist in increasing performance by providing "essential air").
However, in light of all the products that you're getting at a discount price (and I assume it was a significant discount if you bought the $800 PU pulley instead of paying $110 elsewhere), it seems that your own impressions of the product may be colored in their favor and not indicative of the value others get when they pay $400 for the spoiler add-on or $800 for a 15% pulley.

I'm sure some of the bashers would agree that PU products, if sold at comparable market prices to other products instead of inflated prices because they're designed by an artist and created solely for MINIs by European manufacturers, would be a valuable resource to purchasers.

Just a thought from an outside observer.

 

Their clain with the R56 is that they are making the non-functional scoop functional similar to what alta recently released for an aftermarket intake where they are allowing "essential Air" to cool the engine bay. This is just my take on it, I might be wrong since I haven't heard them mention it.

About the pulley, I got their plain aluminum 15% pulley, no reason to get the other. and they gave it to me at cost. Along with a Pulley tool. I'm still confused about this pricing battle, their scoops, wings, grills are comperable to those of M7 in cost and I hear a great deal of people that don't like their products either, Save that for another time though.

To each his own.

 

The bolt pattern on the MINI is 4x100mm, and always has been. Also, the hub diameter is the same as it's been since the MINI was introduced (56.1mm or 56.15mm - I can't remember off the top of my head).

The idea that making the wheel centerbore oversized and requiring the use of a spacer will "ensure a better fitment" is laughable, at best. People have been drilling holes in metal with a high degree of precision for quite some time now, so if their wheels were truly "MINI-specific", as they claim, they should have no problems designing them with a centerbore that will fit the MINI hub without a spacer (just like the factory MINI wheels).

I don't know how they convinced you that adding a spacer between the hub and the oversized centerbore on the wheel would give a better fit than using just using the correct-sized centerbore in the first place, but that doesn't even pass the laugh test.

 

This is true, to an extent. Even though their products are either 1) crap, or 2) rebadged at a ridiculous markup, most people have problems with the way they treat their unhappy customers. They fabricate lies in order to make their position look better and have even blamed one customer of somehow having a hand in Bryce's cancer! They will do anything within their power to shut their unhappy customers up.

False. They were upset because their antenna's were not actually anodized and started to change color. In fact I think at least one of them looked to be spray painted.

This is a huge oversimplification of a significant problem. The people who had this issue were sent replacements, thats right, but not before being outright lied to and told that it was the customer's fault that the lug nuts rusted. They also claimed that the lug nuts were part of a "bad batch" (perhaps the same bad batch as the antennas?) Then, when the replacements came, they rusted too! Then, on the second set of replacements, they weren't even locking lug nuts! And to top it all off, it turns out that even their lug nuts are rebadged and could be had for 10% of the price, as usual.

Thats good that they gave you a good price, have you seen what they normally charge for it?

Sounds like they released a product without properly testing it first. Its an extension to fit the stock wing and it needs further R&D to work correctly? If it doesn't fit then why on earth are they selling it?

And therein lies the problem, they're giving you large discounts in order for you to give them good press. Luckily theres enough people on this forum that will explain how the real Palo Uber is.

What you need to understand is that people are not so much upset that they're rebadging their products (without giving proper credit to the actual manufacturer) and selling them for 400% markups, its that they are one of the most unethical businesses that many people have ever had to deal with. The way they treat their customers is outright insulting and I honestly cannot see any reason why anyone would give them business.


P.S. Its kind of funny that you're using the same "these people haven't bought the products so they have no right to bash PU" argument that the actual company does. Whether or not we've bought the products is completely irrelevant to this discussion since their poor quality isn't part of the argument.

 

I was referring to Gorilla tools or Sportmax wheels resold at subsstantial markup, or these designed by PU:

http://1346843.estore.networksolutio...tail.bok?no=39

and sold for almost twice as much as these:

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NM.../InvDetail.cfm

Even their plain pulley is over 50% more than others (because it's aircraft aluminum?).
Not to mention their stickers at $45.

Again, I don't have a bone to pick with these guys -- never had any issues / dealings with them. But as an outsider who is shopping around for potential mods for my car, I can see why many would question the marketing/pricing. . . and I understand why you may feel their products are worth it if you're getting them at cost.

 

This is the sorta stuff that happens when a company's products are exclusively designed by someone that doesn't exist.