On October 24 I purchased a used 6.6L Duramax Diesel engine from gotengines.com a/k/a Southwest Engines a/k/a engineandtransmissionworld.com. When I purchased the engine I asked how long they have been in business in which he replied, 25 years. So here begins the worst experience with a company that has no regard for customer service and they dont have a clue as to the quality of the product they are sending.
When I found the site and got a quote for a used running engine, it popped up with a price for a Grade A Used Engine. Ok, Grade A to the normal honest person is an engine that when delivered should be able to be prepped and put in without a problem. Not with this company, it means taking advantage of people over the Internet, which is to take a customers money and provide them with Grade F products.
When the engine arrived, the mechanic at the repair shop started to work on the engine, he noticed what looked like an engine that was just rebuilt. They then called the company to verify if it was a used engine and not a rebuilt. They claimed it was a used running engine that was taken out of a vehicle and made a smart comment to the service advisor that they clean up the engines very well. The mechanic and advisor are highly skilled mechanics and know the difference between a used and rebuilt engine.
So they proceeded to "prep" the engine in order for it to put into my pickup. As the mechanic was changing the glow plugs, he started to take one out and on the second turn, the glow plug snapped off. He determined that someone had cross threaded the glow plug putting it in and in the process of tapping a new hole for a glow plug to properly fit in it, they ruined the engine head.
The shop called the company and told them what happened and the person at the company finally decided that they would send a replacement engine out. They wouldn't cover the expense of putting a new head to replace the defective one on this engine.
This was on November 2 that we were told that a replacement engine would be sent. We also stressed that the replacement engine would be a used engine and not rebuilt, and they said it would be a used engine. The company picked up the defective engine and it was sent back to the place of origin.
On November 7 I placed a call to the company and asked when to expect shipment of the replacement engine. The person said it would ship out soon.
I contacted the company again on November 13 again asked when the replacement engine would be sent. Again I was told it would be sent in a couple of days.
I contacted the company again on November 15 and asked again if the engine had shipped, if not when. He advised he would have the shipping department email me when it shipped.
After not hearing anything from the shipping department, I contacted them again on November 21 again to ask if the engine had been shipped or what was going on. The shipping department said the engine had shipped, but didn't have any tracking and was going to have to put a "trace" on it and would get back to me in 24 to 48 hours.
After waiting 2 business days and no update, I contacted the shipping department again and asked them for an update. Again I was told by the end of the day they would have information for me.
On November 21, I called the shipping department and left a message on their voice mail at about 9am CST. I called right back and talked to the person I had been dealing with this whole time and asked him about the engine, he told me that someone should be in shipping and transferred me to shipping. I talked to someone and asked about my engine and if it had been shipped. She told me that it would ship in a week or so and hadnt been shipped.
This had gone on long enough and at this point I didn't know if I would ever receive an engine or what kind of an engine I would receive this time. I told the shipping person not to ship any engine at this point and wanted to cancel the replacement engine. She advised me that she couldn't refund my order but put me through to someone that could. I received that persons voicemail and expressed that I was done getting the run around and wanted to cancel the replacement engine I was promised.
I then sent an email to Dale, the person I had been dealing with on the engine from the start about cancelling the replacement engine. About 20 minutes later, a tracking number was issued and an engine was about to be shipped. After a lot of emails back and forth, I was able to get the engine not to ship, but in that time, I had the shop order a used engine locally they had finally found so that I could get my pickup fixed.
The engine I first received was not a used running engine as advertised on their site, it was a rebuilt as the mechanic had claimed and after being told for over 2 weeks an engine was shipped, I couldn't take the chance of what kind of engine I would receive. They never once could give me an honest answer.
The customer service I received from this company was terrible and no one should ever go through this experience with such a company!
The original site I found was www.gotengines.com. Within that site if you read there is a place on there that if the engine is not up to snuff send it back and we will refund your money. When you search for a quote, it sends you an email with the quote and a number. Well the number when answered is greeted by Southwest Engines.
This company has a big problem and also has false advertising on their website as I was deducted 25% of purchase price for restocking a defective engine and charged $800 when there was free shipping and I was not charged on my invoice for shipping. This is the biggest fraud I have ever encountered with a company that supposedly has been in business for 27 years, my foot. The Better Business Bureau has them doing business since 2007 and cant get them to change their practices.
My next step is to also contact the Wisconsin Attorney General and visit with them about the company they have doing business in their state.
Please, dont place an order with these companies. I hope someone heeds this warning. Im still working on getting the rest of my money back.
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