[beetlespin]

I would like to keep this short as legal action has been filed against the above. I don't know how these guys have been in the past, so I can't say they have always been a bad business, I can only warn you guys from my experience.

My lights were sent off July 5th 2009 and Nic @ Cincity received them July 12th. As of today, I have not seen my lights.

What to be aware of: (from my experience)

1. They have poor communication.

2. You have to pre-pay for the service and send them you lights. < understandable as this is their business.

3. Only accept money order or cash. (this might have changed, but as of now they don't accept payapl; thats what Nic told me)

4. Will not accept a third party protection company. ex) Escrow.com < Ebay uses this company. I even agreed to pay all the fees.

5. I can't comment on the turn around time as I have yet to receive my lights.

I can only say this has been my experience. I don't know how their business has been in the past. From what I can tell, they used to do good business and had excellent customer relations. I have emails upon emails requesting my lights and even asking for photos of the finished product. I keep getting excuses and lies, many of which I have caught Cincity lying.

My personal experience, these guys are THIEVES and LIERS. They had about $1800 in my lights. I had to contact my credit card company after they had my lights for 3 months to cancel the charge. I was refunded for the service, which was $725, but not my lights. Please, anyone deciding to use Cincity's services, ask a lot of questions especially about buyer protection.

If you would like to know more details of my experience, let me know and I will tell you all you need to know. Be careful of these guys, their work is excellent, but their business is questionable.

 

[jinxxycat]

I have heard many horror stories about these guys in the past. I'm so sorry you are dealing w/ this. :headshake:

 

[smoothz]

I never liked how they whored out their local site and then started spamming my email with invites to some weird online dating service. And this isn't the first time I've read about them giving their customers the runaround.

 

[stogey420time]

Yeah, I've read shady stories about them as well.
Smooth said it right - they'll ***** out their head light work on EVERY car forum there is.
Also, another shady act they do is they are willing to trade xbox 360, PS3 and Wii gaming console for their head light work WTF!?

GL with this ordeal.... I'm sure you're not the 1st.

 

[beetlespin]

I do everything I can to give people the benefit of the doubt. I guess my weaker point is wanting to believe that everyone is a good person. I was very polite to these guys never once using profanity to get my point across. It is a shame because their custom work is some of the best I have seen.

I probably will never see my headlights again. I did purchase a new pair of headlights with the intention of modifying the headlights myself, just like they do. The actual work with the side lights and front Audi LED mod and the "glow mod" (as they call it) is not that difficult, its just very time consuming. Not counting the time, but the parts to do the Audi LED mod, lights along the side, glow mod and demon eye are relatively cheap.

I have modified my headlights with the Audi LED mod, demon eye, and lights along the side. For both headlights the price was about $125 (this is counting the clear diffusers in the headlight) for parts.

How it is done is very easy, its just very time consuming. Anyone could really do this, but you need plenty of time and a good friend that will let you borrow their vehicle.

 

[nerb]

Man, this sucks. You have my condolences.

 

[idrm350]

Yeah, I joined there site over a year ago when they were whoring all over the internet. I never ended up getting any work done because their price were insanely high for something that was not that difficult. I ended up going with a combination of LightWerkz and my own labor instead. Cesar at Lightwerkz is very good in every way. He quoted me about four times lower than CinCity did. And at the time that CinCity quoted me, I was in regular contact with Nic and he told me that the price was a "hook-up price" for a regular forum member.

Unfortunately, your story is all too common. Occasionally (once a month or so), I go on their forums and look at the new posts. There are a lot of customers that have had their lights with them for months and months and they can't get any answers. Also, it seems that there has been some dissent within the company. The other main guy there (Ryan, I believe) is no longer with the company.

Good luck with everything. I wish these guys were shut down. The people that are sending in their lights are obviously enthusiasts that care a lot about their cars and these guys are jerking them around. I would be furious if I was you. In fact, I probably would have flown out there and retrieved my lights, or any set of complete lights that looked like mine.

 

[pvsgt47]

QUOTE (beetlespin @ Dec 14 2009, 10:02 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=587923

I would like to keep this short as legal action has been filed against the above. I don't know how these guys have been in the past, so I can't say they have always been a bad business, I can only warn you guys from my experience.

My lights were sent off July 5th 2009 and Nic @ Cincity received them July 12th. As of today, I have not seen my lights.

What to be aware of: (from my experience)

1. They have poor communication.

2. You have to pre-pay for the service and send them you lights. < understandable as this is their business.

3. Only accept money order or cash. (this might have changed, but as of now they don't accept payapl; thats what Nic told me)

4. Will not accept a third party protection company. ex) Escrow.com < Ebay uses this company. I even agreed to pay all the fees.

5. I can't comment on the turn around time as I have yet to receive my lights.

I can only say this has been my experience. I don't know how their business has been in the past. From what I can tell, they used to do good business and had excellent customer relations. I have emails upon emails requesting my lights and even asking for photos of the finished product. I keep getting excuses and lies, many of which I have caught Cincity lying.

My personal experience, these guys are THIEVES and LIERS. They had about $1800 in my lights. I had to contact my credit card company after they had my lights for 3 months to cancel the charge. I was refunded for the service, which was $725, but not my lights. Please, anyone deciding to use Cincity's services, ask a lot of questions especially about buyer protection.

If you would like to know more details of my experience, let me know and I will tell you all you need to know. Be careful of these guys, their work is excellent, but their business is questionable.

To protect your money in future I recommend you follow my simple terms. I never do business with any person/company that can not:
1. Take a credit card for my protection.
2. Takes my money up front. What kind of business can not float me until they perform the work? In this case there is no need for them to outlay a ton of money such as in a home remodel, therefore no reason to have MY money until they perform their services.

Good luck getting your lights back.

 

[nerb]

QUOTE (pvsgt47 @ Dec 15 2009, 09:55 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=587957

To protect your money in future I recommend you follow my simple terms. I never do business with any person/company that can not:
1. Take a credit card for my protection.
2. Takes my money up front. What kind of business can not float me until they perform the work? In this case there is no need for them to outlay a ton of money such as in a home remodel, therefore no reason to have MY money until they perform their services.

Good luck getting your lights back.

Well, as a business owner, it certainly makes sense to why someone would want money prior to performing some service. For example, if I send decals to person X prior to them sending me money, then I can only hope that they may be ethically (and legally) responsible enough to send me the money. If not, then it'd be a big "hoopla" if I wanted to get lawyers and all that jazz involved--which I wouldn't, unless it was a HUGE order. So, when I do internet business, I have the person send me the money via paypal first, then I send them their product. Even eBay works on this simple principle.

BUT, there is kind of an exception. Perhaps if person X was getting their car worked on, rather it be motor or a new paint job. In this situation, I think that services should certainly be rendered fairly and properly before the first dime was shelled out. This is different on several levels: first, its face to face business, so there is no chance of NOT being able to contact the person (probably). Secondly, if they do a poor job, or try a fast one and do NOTHING at all, then unsatisfactory can dictate your right to refusal (not saying it'll be a good case when before the judge, if it goes that far, but there is a difference in not being satisfied with a part ordered off the internet than a paintjob--paintjob is personal work performed for a specific person in a particular fashion, with certain understood expectations between both parties. Thus, the result should be regarded satisfactory or unsatisfactory by one of both parties invloved).

Sucks that business isn't easier, especially on the recieving end. I just got ripped off for some big $$$ a couple months ago. Still haven't got it back. Just plain ol sucks.

 

[steve350z]

when they first started, they did good work. my experience was great and nothing like what has become of them now. hope it all works our for the best.

 

[beetlespin]

Wow, I didn't know that they "whored" their business to other forums. Sad really. I am glad Steve350Z that you were able to have services rendered. Cincity has done excellent work in the past and now, who knows. As Kyle from South Park says "I've learned something today"

Always consult you guys on anything I purchase, a product or service!

I have found out over the years that I have been a member on this forum, there has not been many questions I have had to ask where someone has not already voiced their opinion or reviewed the product or service.

:cheers:

 

[beetlespin]

Guess what, I had a pair of lights come from Cincity Designs today totally unexpected. I knew not to expect anything special and I was not disappointed. Can you believe what these guys did?

They sent me a pair of salvaged 2004 HID type lights. One light had a tab broken off and the other had scrapes and scratches on the lens. To top things off, my 10k HID were not included, my LED high been was not included, and my LED running lights were not included.

I don't know if this is spite, but I am going to sell these things on Ebay and see what I can get.

 

[fstrnhm]

Wow, I guess at this point they cannot really sink much lower. Totally shady, and glad this was posted to notify all of us who could have fallen potentially into their trap.

Michael: I am curious to see how your headlights turned out, you have any pics you could post? I saw the custom work Brent did to his (and I think it looks pretty awesome) but I wasn't sure if the work you did to yours is different.

 

[idrm350]

QUOTE (beetlespin @ Jan 6 2010, 11:20 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=589496

Guess what, I had a pair of lights come from Cincity Designs today totally unexpected. I knew not to expect anything special and I was not disappointed. Can you believe what these guys did?

They sent me a pair of salvaged 2004 HID type lights. One light had a tab broken off and the other had scrapes and scratches on the lens. To top things off, my 10k HID were not included, my LED high been was not included, and my LED running lights were not included.

I don't know if this is spite, but I am going to sell these things on Ebay and see what I can get.

Wow. Can you file a complaint with the FTC or the BBB? They probably aren't a member of BBB but I would look into that. You never know who you can trust these days. They look legit, their website is just as nice as any other business but behind that is a couple idiots in a shed in North Dakota.

I'm not sure that I would sell them until you are sure that you have no other option for recouping your money and/or lights.

Which lights did you send them? Bi-xenons or the older style like they sent you back?

PS. They managed to get that NSX of theirs on the new season of Bullrun so you can watch their dumb asses on Speed in February!

 

[beetlespin]

I did file with the BBB and went through those channels and they ruled in my favor, but that doesn't mean anything. They can't make cincity pay me for my lights. I contacted an attorney to file a small claims in the city of mandan. Going through this channel actually got some results from cincity.

I have exhausted all other avenues for getting my OEM 2004 xenon headlights back. I know I will never get these back. The only thing I did was buy a new pair of standard halogen headlights and start modding.

fstrnhm, I did finally decided to do the modification. I believe in the interior and exterior under visual and electronics, look for the thread retrofit stock 350Z projector and there detailed pictures of the steps I did to convert from the 04 headlights to a more "real" type projector headlights. The last two picture links show the finished product with the demon eye and audi LED effect.

As far as the "audi mod" and the "demon eye", I don't know what Brent did, but the actual difficulty (if you know your way around basic sordering) is fairly easy, but it is very time consuming.

All I did was drill 17 holes along the edge to fit a 3mm LED, wired them in 3 sets of 5 and you have your LEDs along the side. The bottom LEDs were actually easy, jut purchase a thin strip of side emitting LEDs (oznium.com is where I purchased mine, they have excellent customer service) and use a strong adhesive to keep the lights in place, along with standard 3m that is on the back of them. Remember, those that live in warmer climates, heat tends to make adhesive peal.

The demon eye was the easiest, all I did was purchase a strand of 1 watt LEDs, cut to about 6" and wrapped the inside of the light with the LED strand and you have the demon eye effect. I know now that the demon eye is not all that bright, using anything less than 5 watt LEDs for the demon eye will not be very visible. Or you could just buy LED bulb size that fits your car. ex replace h3 with h3 LED, replace H7 with H7 LED.

p.s. whoa, way off topic. the jist of this is to be careful when dealing with cincity designs. this might have been a "one time thing". if it has happened once, there is a chance it could happen again.

 

[idrm350]

I'm glad that you filed with the BBB. I know that they can't help you get your money back but hopefully, your complaint will put a mark on their record. Buyers that are uneasy about purchases can contact the BBB about CinCity and see your complaint and it may help someone out in the future. That's assuming that potential customers would think to check with the BBB first...

 

[steve350z]

wow, went from bad to worse. hope they get shut down

 

[6spd z33]

QUOTE (beetlespin @ Dec 15 2009, 02:37 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=587923

I would like to keep this short as legal action has been filed against the above. I don't know how these guys have been in the past, so I can't say they have always been a bad business, I can only warn you guys from my experience.

My lights were sent off July 5th 2009 and Nic @ Cincity received them July 12th. As of today, I have not seen my lights.

What to be aware of: (from my experience)

1. They have poor communication.

2. You have to pre-pay for the service and send them you lights. < understandable as this is their business.

3. Only accept money order or cash. (this might have changed, but as of now they don't accept payapl; thats what Nic told me)
4. Will not accept a third party protection company. ex) Escrow.com < Ebay uses this company. I even agreed to pay all the fees.

5. I can't comment on the turn around time as I have yet to receive my lights.

I can only say this has been my experience. I don't know how their business has been in the past. From what I can tell, they used to do good business and had excellent customer relations. I have emails upon emails requesting my lights and even asking for photos of the finished product. I keep getting excuses and lies, many of which I have caught Cincity lying.

My personal experience, these guys are THIEVES and LIERS. They had about $1800 in my lights. I had to contact my credit card company after they had my lights for 3 months to cancel the charge. I was refunded for the service, which was $725, but not my lights. Please, anyone deciding to use Cincity's services, ask a lot of questions especially about buyer protection.

If you would like to know more details of my experience, let me know and I will tell you all you need to know. Be careful of these guys, their work is excellent, but their business is questionable.

so do they only take cash and money orders.. or do they accept credit cards? i'm confused

 

[smoothz]

I just read on the other site that Nick from CinCity has the NSX on this seasons' Bullrun. I guess that means all the money from his customers went to customizing his personal toy. What a douche....

 

[idrm350]

QUOTE (SmoothZ @ Feb 17 2010, 09:11 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=592018

I just read on the other site that Nick from CinCity has the NSX on this seasons' Bullrun. I guess that means all the money from his customers went to customizing his personal toy. What a douche....

This is true. He bought the NSX all done up though. The only things that he has changed were the lights and the sweet stickers! Nonetheless, I'm sure he paid north of $40k for it. I was pretty active on their forums around the time that they bought that car. All of the 14 year old ricers on that site worship him because of that car.