My TERRIBLE experience with Sicom Germany

3 Months ago I decided to send my front brake discs to the german dealer of Sicom Europe, which is a company, that refurbishes CCM brake discs. The dealer is called Foxx Automotive Components UG.

I have saw several positive reviews for the Sicom work in the web, so I thought I should try them. First time I called Foxx Automotive was on July 20th . I have spoken with Mr. Wolfgang Dietz, who has very helpful on the phone and he explained, that there will be no problem to refurbish my discs and that I should send them to him (I am from Bulgaria). He also told me, that this will cost 900 Euro per disc and that if I am in a hurry, I can send him 1000 Euro deposit, so he can send me a pair of already refurbished discs as soon as he gets my money , so we souldn’t waste time until he waits for my old discs to arrive to him. I thought this is a great option, so I agreed. I have sent him the money for the refurbishment + the 1000 Euro deposit the same day, even before I have sent him my old discs, because obviously it was the summer and I wanted to drive my car as soon as possible again.

And then the first of MANY problems appeared. The bank transfer from one EU country to another EU country never takes more than 48 hours and keeping in mind, that I have sent him my deposit on Tuesday, I thought, that he will send me the new discs on Thursday with a “next day” DHL delivery and I will get them on Friday. I even called my bank on Wednesday and they confirmed, that the money have already arrived in Mr. Dietz’s account. However, he didn’t respond to my emails or on my phone calls. He responded only AFTER he received my old discs and only after that he has sent me the new set. So my 1000 Euro for the deposit were just an insurance for him , I guess. He also told me, that my discs are not good packaged, so one of them was damaged. This was probably true, I just didn’t know how rude they handle the packages in the posts, but anyway – I asked if it is too bad and he sent me this picture.



He said, that they should check them with the help of X-rays, to see if there is any internal damage to it.

Anyway, I decided not to pay attention to this, but to focus on the fact, that my new discs will arrive the next day. And they did (by the way – without ANY document for the money I paid, or anything). But when we tried to mount them on the car – surprise! They didn’t fit! They were probably for a 458, I’m not sure. I called Mr. Dietz again, of course he didn’t picked up his phone again (in the following weeks I found, that this is very usual for him), but he did respond to my email the next day. So I have paid 150 Euro to return these discs to Germany. Mr. Dietz said, that I shouldn’t worry, because they had at least 3 sets for 430 Scuderia, that are already refurbished and ready for dispatch. After receiving my discs he told me, that the mistake is definitely in Sicom, but it will be fixed. He told me, that he will call me in several days. But a week after that he didn’t picked up his phone and he hasn’t responded to any of my emails. Finally he responded, saying, that the factory has closed, so I should wait another week. I of course asked him what about the “ready” sets, that he told me about, which were “ready to be sent”. He told me, that it is not so easy and that he can do nothing until the factory is closed. I asked him why hasn’t he warned me about this closure before I have sent him the wrong discs back, but he couldn’t gave me a proper answer. I also asked him to return my old discs, but he said, that they were “locked in the factory”. I explained him, that my car stays on the lift in the workshop and they charge me every single day for that, but he told me to be patient.

After the week has gone, I called him again, of course he didn’t picked up his phone, but at least he returned the call the next day. He said, that the factory is still closed and this time he can not tell me when exactly will it open. He said, that the only thing he can do is to bought a set of used discs and send them to me. This took another week. I received these discs and fitted them to my car, so at least at this point I stopped paying to the workshop and I could drive my car again. But obviously I was where I started – with old discs on my car, with 2800 Euro out of my pocket (+ additional about 500 Euro for the return postage of the wrong discs and for the workshop bill) and with no proper answer when will I get what I paid for.

10 days after that he sent me an email, telling me, that the disc, that was damaged during shipping has a crack, so he will keep 500 Euro from my deposit. First of all I asked him does this mean, that the factory is opened again, because as he said – my discs were “locked” in the factory. He said no. I asked him how he has my old discs then and he could not gave me a proper answer. He sent me this picture.



I asked him why he needed an X-Ray to see such a big crack and why hasn’t he saw it in the first inspection – at the moment he has received the discs and opened the package. AGAIN – no proper answer!

I started to get really angry and I asked him when I will finally get what I paid for. Then he started to behave really rude, telling me, that I should not complain, because my car is drivable again and he has paid 3000 Euro for these discs because of me. I started to remind him, that this whole situation is because of his mistake, but he shouted at me, telling me to not interrupt him until he speaks.

At this point I called my lawyer and I started to think about starting legal actions about this company (a one man company – as I see it), because for 2 months I got nothing more, than unnecessary expenses and many, many nerves.

But then AJ from the british representer of Sicom has contacted me, after I expressed my negative opinion about this matter in a thread, the same thread, that I previously have recommended the Sicom service in.
So I decided to wait a little more. After more emails and much more waiting, I have finally received the refurbished dicsc on September 23th – 3 MONTHS AFTER I PAID FOR THEM!!!

Of course, there was no document included again (I think I know why, but anyway&#8230, so I told him to send me a proper document for the service he made and for the money I paid. By the way – he also returned me “my damaged disc”, which for sure was not mine. My disc was very abrasive (this was the reason for needing a refurbishment) and this one has a smooth surface and a big crack on it…



So now, after many unnecessary costs, wasted time and money, I finally have what I paid for. And actually the discs are OK and the actual refurbishment service is good, but this person and this company were honestly the worst, that I have ever dealed in my whole life. I can not believe how such a company can exist in Germany.

The reason, why I am writing all this is because I feel very offended mainly because of the behavior, that I got. This man, Mr. Wolfgang Dietz has left such bad feelings in me, that I will probably never even tell my friends, that Foxx Automotive even exists.

I will probably get my rear discs refurbished too and as I said, the Sicom work is OK, but this time I will use AJ from the UK.

And why I have written all this? Well, just because I think, that this whole matter should get to more people. Everyone can interpret it how he wishes and make his own judgement, of course.

 

This is why I am not saying anything about the factory and Sicom as a whole. I am only talking about the German representer of Sicom, which is Foxx Automotive.

In my case the bank transfer took exactly 24 hours and that was confirmed by my bank. I have sent money many, many times to many EU countries and the period was never more than 48 hours. However, he waited until he received my old discs, which traveled a little more than 1 week.

Yes, he got me a used set, which is now in his hands again and he can easily resell. Or refurbish and then resell (I think this is exactly his bussiness, if he really offers "ready to be sent" sets. So as I see it - he needs to buy used discs all the time anyway.

But anyway, if this deal is bad for him - I don't really care, because it was all because of his mistake, wrong judgement and bad behaviour. i have done everything as I should. But then again - the deal for sure was too bad for ME. This is why I have expressed my experiense here.

 

If you call a 3 MONTHS waiting impatient, that will be really strange. I was much more, than patient - week after week (until they became 12). I will remind you again, that mr. Dietz assured me, that I will get a refurbished set 2 days after he receives my money.

Also - I already explained, that I have nothing against the factory. My problem was with Foxx. However, because of this, I now have strange taste in my mouth everytime someone mentions Sicom. In other words - Foxx are making Sicom a really bad favour, in my eyes, at least.

About the holidays - if they were expected and the closure was expected, he would have WARNED me about that BEFORE he asked me to send the wrong set back. If this is something usual, he should at least tell me, that I shuold expect a delay. Nothing like this happened. In Bulgaria we don't close factories for a week or two just like that.

And the most interresting part of your post - how should I expect him to have something in stock? Simple - because he told me that. If I understand you correctly, I should have known, that he would lie to me from the beginning? Maybe it is OK and normal in Germany things and services to be slow or for people to lie to their customers, but if it is like that, I will call that nothing else, than bad customer service.

About the bank - YES, they confirmed, that the money are received, but even if they haven't - Mr. Dietz responded to my emails only after he received my old discs (and he has easily forgot about my 1000 Euro deposit). I have repeated that several times already. In his email with the DHL tracking info he also sent me pics with my old discs, showing me the little damage of one of them. I have tracked the number in the DHL website and it showed, that the package was collected from him the same day. And then again - this was 8 or 9 days after I have sent him the money.

I am sorry to hear for your experience with Lamborghini, but I don't see how this has anything to do with my problem with Foxx. Also - if you think, that this is normal and this is the way, people should do bussiness, that will be really sad.

 

I wonder what would happen if I waited fot the replacements to be in my hands before I take the car apart, keeping in mind, that he send me the replacements only after he received my old discs It would be one very long waiting.

And yes, I am probably younger than you - I am 32 years old.

 

The one, that you are talking about - yes. But the one, I have firstly described - I'm afraid not.

Anyway, it's good to keep this thread at the top, so many people can see it.


P.S. - Germany is a serious country - my family is deeply connected with it and I even lived there for couple of months and also bought my 430 Scuderia from there. And that is exactly I was amazed to see such a terrible service there.

 

If you deal with classic cars unfortunately you should deal with this also.

I have many bad experiense from many companies (we all have, I guess), but I have never written such a thread here before. But this was too bad to be true, which produced this thread, because people should know the facts.

In the mean time I have several examples for quality work and service from China. World is changing, I guess.

 

Are Foxx even an official reseller of the Sicom products? And are Sicom still working?

 

Well obviously your experiense just proves my point. What should I say... I just hope that more people will avoid this company, because it really shouldn't exist. The way they work and the way Wolfgang Dietz treats its customers is just unacceptable.