So it's been about 4 months since I purchased the MTH Stage 1 Tuning Kit for my Cooper and this is my story...

I've been drooling over the idea to make my Cooper into a torquey little monster for over a year now.

This was my set up prior to the MTH mods:

K&N Typhoon Short Ram Intake
M7 58mm Throttle Body V.2
Denso Iridium IK20 Spark Plugs
Magnecor KV85 Competition (8.5mm) Ignition Cables

Bonus time came along and oh boy was I excited! Bought the kit from MTH-USA on April 28th. 2 weeks past and didn't receive anything or heard anything from MTH-USA. So I messaged Patrick (MTH-USA dude) but didn't hear back from him until a week later. Told me it was shipped from Germany and should be there shortly. Received the MONO-USB Cable but still no High Performance Manifold. Finally at the beginning of June I received the Manifold. In my mind I thought, "Holy crap that took forever!"

Didn't have a chance to take a holiday and fit the Manifold until the last week of June. Very satisfied with the gains and it sounds awesome!!! So I sent my files to Patrick on July 4th, no reply after 3 days so I messaged him. Said he didn't hear back from Germany yet and said he would get back to me. After three weeks nothing! After many emails and calls, I came to conclusion that Patrick seemed to have disappeared. What the heck do I do now?

Luckily I found Don on this forum. He tried to help me out and took over as middle man (THANK YOU!) but after another 2 weeks MTH failed to respond to my request for the product I paid for. Don advised that I should try to get my money back from MTH-USA or try to get in contact with MTH myself.

In frustration, I sent them a fax:

URGENT! PLEASE REPLY!

Hi Darren,

Don Hollingshead from Precision Mini gave me your contact. I purchased your MINI Stage 1 Tuning Kit through one of your dealers MTH-USA (Patrick Forristal) on April 28th, 2006. I received the High-Performance Manifold from you but yet to receive the tuner file. Your dealer seemed to have disappeared and left without giving me what I paid for. Don has tried to help me out these past two weeks but has not received any reply from you.

Please excuse my tone, in nature I am not a mean spirited person, but I am very upset and rather disappointed at the service provided by your company. I demand this matter to be resolved immediately latest Friday, I've been waiting long enough! Again I apologize for expressing my anger but if you were in my shoes, you would feel the same way. I've attached reciepts from MTH-USA and Paypal for proof of purchase. Please call me once you've received this fax.

Hoping that would spark a sense of urgency. Didn't get any calls so I phoned Germany the next day and talked to the MTH boss Darren. Said he was sorry and told me the computers were down and he was away for a few days, I thought it was strange because Don said he received files for other customers but not mine and the fact that I've been waiting for well over a month for my file. Darren promised me my file would be done by Friday.

Friday came along, check my emails... nadda, zip, zero, nil. Called Darren and as I expect, it wasn't done and that they are working on it. Told me he would call me back in a half hour to tell me when it will be done. No call. RAAAAHHHH!!!! Un-f*#%ing-believable!

So if I could do it again will I go with MTH? Well I think they really have to improve on shipping (took a month for the manifold to get here) and keeping tabs on they're partners (MTH-USA) because a disappearing partner like that really hurts they're image. And most importantly, keeping in contact with customers and keeping promises (no call back, did not deliver on promised date) Only good thing is Don's efforts in helping me.

I would review the actual product but I haven't recieved it yet so I don't even know if it's worth the wait.

But if there was another tuning company that offered the same performance with way better customer service, I would go with them instead.

I'm not a irate customer, I'm actually a pretty easy going guy, but for the amount of money I paid, I honestly have to say that the MTH experience has been dissappointing so far.

I'll keep everyone updated if I received the file at all. If I don't, any suggestions on what should I do? Did I just get jacked?

In regards,

Randy

 

Thanks for your post Randy. I've been thinking about the MTH Tuner file, but have been holding off because so many people seem to have problems getting what they ordered in a timely fashion. It seems that most people are happy once they get what they paid for, but not being a patient person, I'll be going with another product. Good luck and thanks again for posting your experience with MTH.

 

Actually i ordered my file and received it within 3 days...Butttt. I am still waiting to find out which file it is since i was supposed to receive one for race gas and another for 93 octane. Dont get me wrong whichever file i have the car runs 100% better with it....but i need spefic informaiton which i have not received as yet, plus i am still waiting for the other file.

 

Update:

Okay so Darren called me after 3 1/2 hours. Wasn't very pleased at my post but hey I wouldn't be either if my company had a bad review posted. But I would rather him call me back mad then not call me back at all!

So the reason for the delay he explained was due to the after shocks of the restructuring of MTH and a recent server failure creating a large back log. He said he will try to push it through this weekend. That being said, made me feel better in they're efforts in resolving this issue.

No intention to bash MTH. Just expressing what I've been experiencing thus far. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

I find it pretty un-proffessional for him to even voice any sort of displeasure to you about your post on here. If they would like to avoid such things maybe damage avoidence is a better policy then damage control.

I just find it so odd that there are a good amount of complaints similar to yours (granted alot of those have to do with mth-usa and their non-relationship with mth). Granted you spoke to darren in person so he could be a little angry about the fact that you still posted. However, in my opinion since you gave them YOUR MONEY expecting a product and weren't even given specific/correct details from the beggining as to when their part of the bargain would filled, you had every right to do so.

Honestly this thread does more good then bad. I am a fairly nice guy, however once i get any whiff of me getting screwed I tend to blow my lid like no ones business. For example I would have sent the initial contact email, and as soon as the guy didn't give me concrete information and didn't call me back when he said he would have, I would have blown these guys out of the water. Seriously, I prob wouldn't have had a problem with $100 worth of phone bills so i could call them 3 times a day until i got my part. So realisticly I will factor this in when im purchasing an ecu upgrade. I'm the kind of guy that is money concious but I will spend a crapload more for customer service and piece of mind.

I do think that MTH has good intentions and espeically Don at precision mini. I can't say enough about what i have heard about his efforts to rectify certain MTH situations, But honestly all this that I hear makes me increadibly nervous about the MTH way of business.

erik
ps. Sorry to hear and thanks for sharing your experience

 

Randy, Don't worry about MTH being mad. They have a excellent product but customer service from MTH-USA is by far the worst I have seen! If MTH is ALWAYS backed logged why don't they do somthing about it? Seems like a cop out to me. Dont' get me wrong I love my MTH but their excuses are laim. I am extremely pleased to see Mr. Hollingshead from pecision mini step up to the plate. -- Johan

 

I have a similar story to this. I was duped by the MTH-USA name, thinking it was more than just another dealer.

I am still waiting for my issues to be resolved, but they are mostly centered around my MINI dealership, not MTH.

However - Buyer Beware! Get your MTH stuff through Don Hollingshead, NOT Patrick and MTH-USA. The difference. If you but from Patrick and have a question or problem, you are on your own. If you buy from Patrick and he leaves you out to dry - Don is the kind of guy who will help you out even though you were dumb enough (like me!) not to use him in the first place!

Someday I will tell everyone how great my tuner file is. Today is not that day...

 

I am aware of all of these problems. However, the problem is not with MTH but rather a company named MTH-USA.

As posted on my web site: "MTH-USA" in no way affiliated with the original German company MTH (Motorentechnik Hoelzl). Meaning: "MTH-USA" is a company who themselves reserved the mth-powerchip.com and mth-usa.com domains, and "adopted" the MTH logo/appearance. "MTH-USA" is a company dealing in MTH software; but is neither a MTH subsidiary or branch.

No other software product offers the level of tune for the price; none. So if you want the MTH software and excellent customer service I am here to serve your needs.

(For those waiting on files MTH did have a server problem this week that has now been fixed. Please be patient.)

 

Ranzo

Im getting less than stellar results from MTH also.

I have a MCSa and purchased the Tuner File from Volker last November. However it never was quite right and I was getting jerks and sub-second hesitation when the engine was at the shift point of it's RPMs (accelerating very gently) and was ready to shift up to the next higher gear.

I wrote Volker about it and they shipped me an updated Tuner File. However this failed to solve the problem.

I wrote back again and found that Volker was gone and Darren had taken his place. Darren wrote back and asked me to get the latest software from the dealer, and then ship that new file back to germany and they would try to apply their magic tweaks to that. I did this in June or so. This new version of stock software made my mini run much smoother. After a couple or three weeks of no response from MTH, I finally got an email from Darren saying that the new Dealer software was so good that they were afraid to tweak it because they didn't want to mess up a good thing.

I wrote back and asked if the dealer was now providing the MTH tuned software and I was now getting the 200 horsepower that the Tuner File is supposed to do. I also asked if this is so, what about the hundreds of dollars I paid for the MTH software and now was unable to use because the dealer was doing a better job.

This was over a week ago and I still have not heard back from them. I'm afraid they may be just ignoring me because they have nothing good to tell me, and they already have my money so why do anything?

If anyone else has any feedback or suggestions for where to go now, please advise.

Thanks

EZRider

 

If there was a backlog at MTH Germany, then why did I get my files (via Don at Precision MINI) in three days? MTH-USA is the problem here.

 

So How can we get updated software? Mine has expired and I would like to get new software.

 

You get it through me.

 

Update:

So Saturday morning came along and my cell phone rang. To my suprise, it was Darren. told me he sent the file.

I was so stoked! This morning (Sunday) I woke up and tried to upload it. But to my dismay I needed a key code to program the car. Minor detail, just requested for the code via email and waiting for reply.

 

The MTH header and software is on the top of my list for my upcoming Cooper mods. . . But for that much money I would want some organization, IMO. Stories like this don't drive people away, I think it's an opprotunity for people to see how things get handled under urgent circumstances. I think this could seal the deal with me if it comes out well! Keep us updated on what's happening and how she runs when it's uploaded!

 

I think that the biggest problem is that people are getting MTH-USA and MTH confused. MTH-USA is not the company but rather a vendor. Most of the complainst are actually directed towards MTH-USA not responding. Sadly people tie the names together. I used Precision Mini to get my MTH files and it only took three days for him to get them done. Don has tried to set people straight on this but nobody wants to listen. Volker (the guy used to work for MTH) used to post here to help people but when he left everyone went in to a frenzy. Volker is not MTH but was a large voice on this forum.

Bottom line, pick a vendor that is willing to help (Precision MINI is one) and everything will be ok. I can tell you that Don is a HUGE help and responds to e-mails quickly.

FYI, the MTH on my STOCK engine is awesome! I can feel the extra power in the lower RPMS, throttle response is better and smoother as well as DSC being less intrusive. Overall I am a very happy customer and will be working with Don in the near future to tune my car further.

 

Update:

Woke up at 6:38am to see if the code came. It did! Tried it out but it said the key code was incorrect.

Man the Mini Gods don't like me or something. So close but yet so far.

 

Hope you shot off an e-mail right away! We are still in the middle of our day and they might be able to help you ASAP.

 

Darren found the problem out right away, about 5 minutes. Basically due to the outage the code came out wrong. Sent me new files and a new code. Back with the review of the product.

 

Good deal! You 'll like it.

 

 

Uploaded!

Took the Mini to the back roads for a few minutes to test it out. Damn! Car runs a lot smoother, more power throughout the power band especially up top, accelerates like a ****! I am very happy with the product.

So happy ending! I guess I just didn't really have the best of luck going through this process.

If I were to do it all over again I would still pick MTH BUT instead of going through Patrick at MTH-USA, I would go with Don at Precision. Patrick has caused the most havik out of this situation. Adding to the computer outage in Germany, it made a bad situation worse.

My reaction (starting this thread) is just consumer behavior. I didn't get what I paid for so a freaked out. I'm sure if anyone waited as long as I have they would get a little antsy.

This thread was not intended to disrespect or talk smack about MTH. It's more feedback then anything and I believe that feedback is more constructive then distructive. I know not every business is perfect, but that just means there is always room for improvement.

Communication is the foundation to any relationship.

I know MTH can't call all they're customers around the world so why not just add a NEWS section on they're site to blog any updates or note any problems that might occur.

example:

XX/XX/XX

When choosing vendor please do not use MTH-USA. They are currently unresponsive.

OR

XX/XX/XX

Systems are down, will be back up shortly. Thank you for your patients!


M7 recently posted on the vendor announcements that they're phones are down for the day and gave an alternative number to call. I'm sure customers really appreciated that note when they couldn't get through.

Product is EXCELLENT. Room to improve in communication but that can be easily tweaked. I think if MTH just simply do that, they can prevent this from happening again.

Thank you to Darren and Don for they're efforts. I truly enjoy the end results.

 

I think you mean Darren and Don, right?

 

I think you mean Darren and Don, right?

 

Most all reported MTH problems are with MTH-USA customers. The problems are not with MTH or Precision-Mini. I have simply been helping these people out and I have posted numerous times about MTH-USA and how they are not linked with MTH-Germany or myself. This message needs to get out. If in North America, I am the main dealer.

 

Thanks Don you da man!!!!

Need MTH? Go to Precision!