[lolo-comp]

I know, that's a rough title to a thread, but in my lifetime I have never had to deal with the ignorance, lies and straight up incompetence from any company in any industry. I'll try and keep it brief..

Saw that Dinan had an X pipe product they introduced for X3 AND X4 models. I was interested in having slightly more sound from my exhaust and after watching the great video from Jeebus, I figured I would try it out.

I have an installation date on Wednesday 10/20 for a bunch of stuff, so I called Dinan directly on Friday 10/15 and paid for expedited shipping. Needed to have it by Tuesday for the Wednesday install, so I paid for 2 day UPS. It was 9am Friday morning, I was told it would 100% ship out today. Kal was my salesman, nice guy, but he was incorrect as It didnt ship.

Called on Saturday spoke with Griffin. If you happen to call Dinan for anything and get Griffin as your rep HANG UP and call back and pray for someone else to handle your call. I asked for tracking number. It needed to ship Saturday in order to arrive for Tuesday. I told him again that if I can't have it by Tuesday I can't use it. I have to have it for install on Wednesday AM. I was assured it shipped and the tracking would populate later. I told Griffin "if you cant ship it out today cancel the order, I can't use it". It never did ship or populate.

Monday comes, I get Griffin again. Can someone please put a ice pick in my ear hole? More lies. More nonsense. He says he is going to call UPS and get the delivery switched from 2 day to next day. NO CHARGE, we messed up and will take care of it. He will call me by days end.. Never called, never got the shipping expedited either. I check online tracking.. guess what? IT DID SHIP, but it shipped 2 day not next day and they dropped it off at 1:59 in the afternoon. WTF? I have been calling every morning at 8am and they couldn't figure out proper shipping for 4 days?

The end of the story is close, I promise

Today I call up and explain that its not arriving today, that Griffin once again did not change the shipping to overnight. I dont want this part. I cant use this part. I am not paying for this part. You misrepresented the shipping 4 times to me. Please send me an RMA and return label and refund my money.. Well, we can issue an RMA but, you have to pay for the return shipping? HUH?

Why the F do I have to pay for anything? I told you not to ship it on Friday or Saturday and again on Monday if I couldn't have it by Tuesday! You shipped it in the afternoon on Monday with no way to get it by Tuesday and completely disregarded my instructions and requirements.

End of the story is this negative review and an AMEX dispute that will ultimately end with a resolution in my favor and Dinan picking up the return shipping. Unfortunately, the bozo's over there are just to backwards ass and stupid to do the right thing or to do anything right from start to finish.

See the attached screenshot.
Ordered on Friday 15th, no label generated or shipped.
Label generated on Saturday 16th but never shipped.
Item finally ships on Monday 18th, but at 1:59 in afternoon with 2 day not next day and no chance for delivery on Tuesday.

If you have to order a Dinan product dont go through Dinan directly, use a third party website. Not only will they not charge you sales tax (Dinan does) but they will be attentive to your order and shoot straight with you.


Sweet Home Alabama.

[allinon72]

Unfortunate to hear - seems that Dinan is struggling in a lot of areas. Their presence in this forum seems to suggest they are trying to turn some things around.

[thestimp]

That sucks its only like a couple hours drive too. Wonder what their issue is..

[Bimmersandmopars]

This thread is a hit piece with alot of emotion in it unfortunately.

Don't blame Dinan for your rushing of parts.

Not being rude but I ordered the 22 X3MC Midpipe delete the first day they posted here on the forum. Arrived not even a week later.

I modify everything I own and couldn't imaging scheduling without the parts I need.

[Derek.H]

Originally Posted by Bimmersandmopars

This thread is a hit piece with alot of emotion in it unfortunately.

Don't blame Dinan for your rushing of parts.

Not being rude but I ordered the 22 X3MC Midpipe delete the first day they posted here on the forum. Arrived not even a week later.

I modify everything I own and couldn't imaging scheduling without the parts I need.

I would be mad too if they I had to call in 4 times and they still manage not to get the order right.

[lolo-comp]

As it is, I felt my post was a bit too long. If I got into all of the details about this then no one would bother reading it as it would be 3 pages long.

Derek: I called far more than 4 times to correct the shipping errors. Depending on who answered the call I got a different answer, but none of them were accurate.

Bimmersandmopars: If I pay for a rush service its because I need it expedited. If I didnt care how long it took to arrive then the shipping would be free and I wouldn't be pissed off. They didn't 2 day ship for free. They charged me for the part, the sales tax and the rush service and promised me it would go out on Friday. I don't know how you could possibly side with Dinan, but if you are promised something, charged for it and then lied to about it.. well, you are more compassionate than I am.

Keep in mind this isn't a case where UPS lost the package or it got delayed for weather.. They didnt ship an expedited package on time and the package didnt get scanned in to UPS until Monday, 3 days after they charged the Credit Card.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by Bimmersandmopars

This thread is a hit piece with alot of emotion in it unfortunately.

Don't blame Dinan for your rushing of parts.

Not being rude but I ordered the 22 X3MC Midpipe delete the first day they posted here on the forum. Arrived not even a week later.

I modify everything I own and couldn't imaging scheduling without the parts I need.

Kinda hard to defend Dinan if expedited shipping is paid for and there's a 2 day delay between label creation and when it gets into the shippers hands.

[bSwiazzy]

Originally Posted by lolo-comp

I know, that's a rough title to a thread, but in my lifetime I have never had to deal with the ignorance, lies and straight up incompetence from any company in any industry. I'll try and keep it brief..

Saw that Dinan had an X pipe product they introduced for X3 AND X4 models. I was interested in having slightly more sound from my exhaust and after watching the great video from Jeebus, I figured I would try it out.

I have an installation date on Wednesday 10/20 for a bunch of stuff, so I called Dinan directly on Friday 10/15 and paid for expedited shipping. Needed to have it by Tuesday for the Wednesday install, so I paid for 2 day UPS. It was 9am Friday morning, I was told it would 100% ship out today. Kal was my salesman, nice guy, but he was incorrect as It didnt ship.

Called on Saturday spoke with Griffin. If you happen to call Dinan for anything and get Griffin as your rep HANG UP and call back and pray for someone else to handle your call. I asked for tracking number. It needed to ship Saturday in order to arrive for Tuesday. I told him again that if I can't have it by Tuesday I can't use it. I have to have it for install on Wednesday AM. I was assured it shipped and the tracking would populate later. I told Griffin "if you cant ship it out today cancel the order, I can't use it". It never did ship or populate.

Monday comes, I get Griffin again. Can someone please put a ice pick in my ear hole? More lies. More nonsense. He says he is going to call UPS and get the delivery switched from 2 day to next day. NO CHARGE, we messed up and will take care of it. He will call me by days end.. Never called, never got the shipping expedited either. I check online tracking.. guess what? IT DID SHIP, but it shipped 2 day not next day and they dropped it off at 1:59 in the afternoon. WTF? I have been calling every morning at 8am and they couldn't figure out proper shipping for 4 days?

The end of the story is close, I promise

Today I call up and explain that its not arriving today, that Griffin once again did not change the shipping to overnight. I dont want this part. I cant use this part. I am not paying for this part. You misrepresented the shipping 4 times to me. Please send me an RMA and return label and refund my money.. Well, we can issue an RMA but, you have to pay for the return shipping? HUH?

Why the F do I have to pay for anything? I told you not to ship it on Friday or Saturday and again on Monday if I couldn't have it by Tuesday! You shipped it in the afternoon on Monday with no way to get it by Tuesday and completely disregarded my instructions and requirements.

End of the story is this negative review and an AMEX dispute that will ultimately end with a resolution in my favor and Dinan picking up the return shipping. Unfortunately, the bozo's over there are just to backwards ass and stupid to do the right thing or to do anything right from start to finish.

See the attached screenshot.
Ordered on Friday 15th, no label generated or shipped.
Label generated on Saturday 16th but never shipped.
Item finally ships on Monday 18th, but at 1:59 in afternoon with 2 day not next day and no chance for delivery on Tuesday.

If you have to order a Dinan product dont go through Dinan directly, use a third party website. Not only will they not charge you sales tax (Dinan does) but they will be attentive to your order and shoot straight with you.


Sweet Home Alabama.

maybe r33_RGSport can have a fiix for you !

[LOW4LYF]

Difficult customer category...lol

[lolo-comp]

I actually purchased a couple of items from Ben at RG Sports last week and he is a true professional. Shipped on time, provided immediate tracking, items arrived quickly and as described and great pricing. I cannot recommend purchasing from RG Sport high enough. If he has anything I need I will purchase from him first. He has earned my money. A+ member and seller.

I’m not always a difficult customer

[jzmundy]

Originally Posted by lolo-comp

I actually purchased a couple of items from Ben at RG Sports last week and he is a true professional. Shipped on time, provided immediate tracking, items arrived quickly and as described and great pricing. I cannot recommend purchasing from RG Sport high enough. If he has anything I need I will purchase from him first. He has earned my money. A+ member and seller.

I’m not always a difficult customer

Ben is the F97/8 forum MVP, no doubt

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by lolo-comp

I actually purchased a couple of items from Ben at RG Sports last week and he is a true professional. Shipped on time, provided immediate tracking, items arrived quickly and as described and great pricing. I cannot recommend purchasing from RG Sport high enough. If he has anything I need I will purchase from him first. He has earned my money. A+ member and seller.

I’m not always a difficult customer

He does a great job & support for the community... absolutely agree.

[JKen_0115]

Originally Posted by lolo-comp

I actually purchased a couple of items from Ben at RG Sports last week and he is a true professional. Shipped on time, provided immediate tracking, items arrived quickly and as described and great pricing. I cannot recommend purchasing from RG Sport high enough. If he has anything I need I will purchase from him first. He has earned my money. A+ member and seller.

I’m not always a difficult customer

Ben is amazing! I just bought MSS spring from him and it arrived earlier than I expected.

[r33_RGSport]

Aww guys. Making me cry now.
Thank you for the kind words and support to keep me around to provide services to you guys.

[jwong1024]

As a consumer, i understand the OPs frustration. But having ordered many parts, ordering on a Friday typically means shipping on Monday as this company is located on east coast. Warehouse works on a certain process and sometimes does not align with the sales staff. OP was clear on intentions, if dinan was unable to deliver they should have been up front.

Good luck with your return process. OP should receive product, install it a later date than intended. Dinan should refund shipping cost only. My 2 cents

[r33_RGSport]

On the side note, as much as I wanted to defend Dinan, I can't at this point.

One forum member who purchased Dinan axle back from me is filing a dispute.
And I don't think I am going to be on a winning side.
He ordered it from me and waited for months, then when it is delivered, exhaust was damaged during shipment as you guys seen in the forum a month or two ago.
I don't know the whole details, but Dinan supposedly promising a replacement and work on it as fast as possible.
But, customer told me that no more communication from Dinan after the promise.
No RMA, no ETA on the replacement.

Other than this incident, I also had incident last year when I ordered 3 sets of Dinan muffler for F80 M3.
After waiting for months, all 3 arrived damaged due to improper way in packing.
And guess what, all the damages is right on the outlet pipe as what happened on the X3M/X4M system.
My thought when I saw what happened on X3M/X4M system, whoever hired to pack this muffler still have a job through out COVID.
Must be a good pay and secured job where he didn't get fired after 3 damaged exhausts.

Don't get me wrong, they have pretty good products. Not as good as 20 years ago, but still pretty good.
Just the organization is disorganized now.
Took me a while to get things going too with them. What they promised me at SEMA was not what the actuality when I call them a few days after SEMA.

[M3Pilot09]

Why do guys buy Dinan products it's not the same high quality stuff as When Steve Dinan owned the company.

I compare it to my friend who owned Rock & Republic, who made dope jeans in LA back in the day. VF Group bought his company and 10 years later it's garbage made in China and sold at Kohl's. Not the quality stuff made in LA and sold at Neiman Marcus. Same story with Dinan, if your going to buy an exhaust Akrapovic period!

[lolo-comp]

Just woke up to see my thread and lots of activity..

Jwong: Yes, Dinan is located on the East Coast but so am I. I am in the NY area so both the shipper and recipient were on east coast. I could have even sent it ground for free and gotten it in time, but I wanted to make 100% sure it would be here so I paid extra to make sure it did. As far as coordinating with the warehouse, that's not my problem. If I am told that it will ship out same day (Order was placed at 9am) and I pay for expedited shipping then nothing else is my concern...its on Dinan to do what they said they would do and what I paid them extra TO do.

M3Pilot: Yes, Dinan is not the same company as it was when Steve Dinan owned the company. I hear that on every car forum on the internet. However, I only purchased an X pipe. Not too much by way of custom fabrication or testing..its two pieces of pipe welded in the middle. All it needs to do is fit properly, the design is as simple as it gets. Designed to eliminate the resonator and connect to the rest of the system. I dont think anyone else even makes this part for X4's so, its Dinan or nothing.

As far as complete exhausts that can be purchased from other companies, well I wouldn't be considering Dinan for something like that. Akra, Kline.. I mean there are dozens of companies that are well established with fantastic products and track records, so thats where I would be looking if I wanted something like that.

As a follow up, I contacted my local UPS rep who told me they are going to try and pull the pipe and let me go and pick it up from the main hub. I am in CT and the hub is in NY, but I am going to make the 30 mile drive each way in 8am NY traffic to try and get the pipe and make my install appt at 10am. If I can then the pipe will get installed and reviewed and if not then its going back to Dinan and we can continue the AMEX dispute until I get a full refund.

If y'all knew me you would know I am a principle oriented guy and will fight to the end to make sure I am not wronged, even if the shipping is $20, I will spend 3 hours of my life submitting emails, making calls and providing supporting evidence. Not the smartest or most economical way to spend my time, but as I said it comes down to principle and whats right so I am that one guy who's wheel gets greased

[lolo-comp]

Ok, so here is the end to the story..

The X pipe arrived at the UPS hub 30 miles away from me and I was able to go and pick it up at 8am this morning at the hub. Had I waited for it to be delivered I would have been unable to install it and miss the slot at the speed shop.

So, now for the mini review... Its about 10% louder than the factory X4M Competition exhaust. I think for the Jeebus video review, he didnt have a Comp exhaust and his volume was greater than 10%.

Coming from an RG sport mid pipe, there is no comparison in sound. The RG Midpipe is 100% louder than the factory Competition exhaust and the Dinan X pipe is 10% louder. For that reason, if you want loud then there is no substitute, the RG Sport mid pipe is significantly louder than the X pipe by 10! If you want minimally louder then perhaps the X pipe is for you.

I have it installed and I am not removing it now. For the price of admission for the Dinan part, on a competition exhaust I would recommend NOT buying it. The cost of the part compared to what you gain in volume just isnt worth it. Its almost like stock with minimal sound change or increase.

I cannot speak for the NON comp exhausts, which may gain much more volume from the X pipe than I did. Maybe Jeebus will chime in..

Here are some pics of the install, as I stated I spent so much time and money on all of this that I am just going to keep it installed and call it a day with regard to the sound.. Also, this is how I received the box. Luckily nothing damaged in transit..

[jzmundy]

Appreciate the review and glad you were able to get it installed as planned.

Regarding your comment on the sound, is it a blanket 10% increase in volume at idle AND under load/on throttle? Do you notice a change in tone at all?

[lolo-comp]

It is a blanket 10% increase in volume, negligible increase in tone. Cold start, WOT (wide open throttle), idle..its all just a touch louder. Again, in all honesty if you have a factory competition exhaust I wouldn't pay $500 for the minimal increase in sound.

This may be a great solution for non comp exhausts, so I am waiting to hear from Jeebus, but if I started this in a parking lot with members of this forum sitting around, you would all think it was factory stock with nothing changed. It is negligible and I am not being a disgruntled customer.

If it was night and day I promise you I would say so. Anyone local wants to hear it just PM me. Its honestly a touch more than factory which makes sense because the only thing removed is the resonator. ALL of the catalytic converters and length/diameter of tubing is still stock.

[Dinan_Engineering]

There is no denying that the X-pipe did not ship on Friday which was everyones (internally and externally) expectation. Still have no idea why it wasn't processed/picked that same day at the warehouse. The ball was dropped there. End. Everything after that point was just trying to play catch up, chase down and hopefully correct that error. Refunding the expedited shipping if we were unable to get it changed to a Tuesday delivery was never challenged.

Before I begin on this specific instace however some underlying notes need to be presented.

Dinan Exhaust products do not ship out of Opelika, AL (Dinan HQ) like all other products do. While R&D occurs here as well as the manufacture of base components of system parts (muffler cans, hardware kits, tips), bent pipe (as is the case here) and final welding occurs at an exhaust master facility in Bowling Green, KY. This location handles all exhaust components for ALL the Holley Brands. Across the street is the main warehouse for exhaust goods as well as the primary warehouse for ALL the Holley domestic brands and where exhaust goods are shipped from. This has been the case for the past 6 months or so. Has its limitations for sure but ultimately allows scalable savings to us and the consumer. This is the main reason you have seen recent Dinan exhaust good prices be more agressive then in years past. Economies of scale and leveraging volume FTW. This arrangement has its limitations however. Teaching expectations on packaging has been a challenge (Domestic expectations and Euro expectations are apparently worlds apart) and has been the primary thorn in our side but I think we have finally nipped that in the bud. For the subject at hand though the other limitation is that the sales/tech team can not simply walk down to shipping to make something happen. They either make a change in the system and it goes through its normal process (next business day to get reflected everywhere in most cases) or they can call/email various contacts at the warehouse a few states away to try and get something expedited. The latter still requires someone on the other end to respond/pickup however.

The timeline from an internal perspective:

Friday- Ordered at 9:30AM. Put in the system with the expectation it would be pulled and shipped by EOD. That didn't happen for reasons unknown.

Saturday - Calls/emails were made. As noted prior this still requires some feedback and those attempts were for naught as all of our supplied contacts at the warehouse were not present that Saturday we have come to find out. Is this the consumers problem? No - that is our issue, albeit an unexpected one due to someone calling out - but it doesn't change the fact that the tech sales had no possibility to rectify/change the problem that day without some alternative interaction from the warehouse which was not available, or even known to be an issue, until after the fact.

Sunday - Everything closed.

Monday/Tuesday - This is where it all comes together. We learn that the contacts were not there on Saturday so nothing was seen until Monday but the original order had been naturally processed on Saturday (given, still a day late) and loaded onto a trailer that night. UPS leaves multiple trailers on the dock there to be loaded and just picks the loads up when needed. As such, nothing is scanned by UPS until the trailer makes it to its closest distribution house (Origin Scan on tracking). While I have no way to confirm this to be the case, the warehouse says that trailer left on Saturday night so the package would have been sitting in the trailer somewhere on Sunday and into Monday morning before being processed at the Louisville hub a few hours away. Changing shipment method when en route is basically impossible so at that juncture it was clear it would not get to the consumer on Tuesday. OP stated he did not want it and was filing a claim/chargeback with AMEX. As a result of that conversation we went ahead and requested with UPS the package be sent back so the customer would not need to deal with return labels, RMA's and all that jazz. OP promptly requests UPS to hold the package at the hub for pickup instead.

Wednesday - OP picks up the package and has installed. AMEX claim/chargeback still pending (to my knowlege).

Its a shame it has unfolded the way it has but alas, stuff happens. Were we at fault for not fulfilling the 2 day shipment request? Absolutely. No one is denying that. However, all we can do is do our best to correct mistakes/make right as best as we are able and to improve upon processes so hopefully some of the same pitfalls don't occur again. In this particular case it was 2 things (not picked on friday and not having a contact on Saturday) that cascaded into what you have read here in this thread. There are conversations taking place trying to ascertain why it was not picked that same day internally so if a specific cause can be determined that process will be altered/fixed.

Ultimately I hope the OP enjoys the X-pipe after its been driven on for a bit and the nuances can be appreciated. Is it ever going to be like a full mid-pipe in terms of volume? No. There is no question the X-pipe will be quieter as catalytic convertors are still in place with the Dinan option which is where the majority of that volume difference would occur. The X versus H pipe though does have different sound properties so will have some varying sound changes there. Different strokes for different folks and all that.