Help me figure out if I taken advantage of by a tuning shop.

Hi everyone.
Since I don't know much about how licencing works, I'd like to expose my rather unpleasant experience in order to figure out if the tuner I dealt with have been honest with me.
Last year I reach out to this tuner shop because my car, that got LS1 swapped wouldn't start at all (it had a stock 411 PCM that got flashed with a basic tune from another shop).
First thing the shop ask was to fork out a little less than 1k canadian dollars to start working on it, since I was rather desperate to see my car working I paid it.
It quickly became obvious that the reason my car wouldn't start was that the PCM itself was faulty, only sending ignition to a single spark (the only one I tested, I know I'm not that bright when it come to engine diagnostic).
To fix that I came back a couple days later with another PCM, and I got told that for this one too I would have to pay the same amount for him to start working on it.
So here I am, paying almost 2k just to have my car running.
Then the tuner took my car for a 30 minutes ride, changed fuel table a couple of time and said I was good to go for the break-in.
Fast forward this year, I reach out to the tuner for a follow up after I complete the break-in, and find out why the car wouldn't rev past 2500 rpm.
For weeks this shop would ghost me, saying they would call me back each time I'd call but never actually did.
Desperate again I decided to go to another shop, that not only figured out why the car would go up in rpm (knock sensor freaking out for no reason, retarding the engine to death) but also made me realize I didn't need to pay that much to have my PCM reflashed.
I know tuning isn't cheap, but in my case I got the feeling things when a bit too far.
Maybe someone here could help me understand if it was the case or not.
Thanks in advance.

What a shop charges is up to them, its up to you to do your due diligence to find a reputable shop that isn't going to rip you off. Unfortunately some shops are less scrupulous than others.

Sorry I realize now there is one important detail I left out : the amount I'm talking about is not what he was charging on a hourly basis (that came on top of aforementioned amount) but rather what HP Tuner was allegedly charging for allowing the flashing. Upon paying he said something like "yeah I know it's expensive but that what HP tuner is asking".

https://www.hptuners.com/products/#credits

Your GM Gen3 needs 2 credits.

Most larger shops that have been well established would likely already have the unlimited gen 3 car license so in reality it wouldn't cost them any credits to license your vehicle. If they are charging you 2 credits I would suspect they don't have much experience with those applications and are doing them piecemeal as they come in. Again, goes back to finding a good shop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill@HPTuners

Most larger shops that have been well established would likely already have the unlimited gen 3 car license so in reality it wouldn't cost them any credits to license your vehicle. If they are charging you 2 credits I would suspect they don't have much experience with those applications and are doing them piecemeal as they come in. Again, goes back to finding a good shop.

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This shop has quiet the reputation in my area and they seem to be doing just that, LS-based tuning. The owner even boasted they were official tuner for an European racing team running LS engine.
So it seems I got screwed even deeper that I would have imagined. What I find particularly mean is the fact they shift the blame on your company for their shady practices, painting you as the greedy ones.
Lesson learned I guess. That was a costly one.
With those practices no wonder people go the the aftermarket self-learning solutions instead.

Thanks the answers, not matter how hurtful they could be.

Peace.

The 411 takes 2 credits to license, so $100 US dollars. What I get from your story is that the first shop had to license two separate computers, then a second tuner had to license it, so total in licenses would have been $300. I don't believe you should have been charged and extra almost $1k Canadian for the second PCM as they did not get far with the first one.

A fair charge in my opinion would have been their original tuning quote for almost $1k Canadian plus the 2 credits for the new computer license, plus diagnostic and computer removal and replace. They did not do any tuning work on the first computer as it was defective so I don;t understand why they charged you a full tuning charge for the second one.

If licensing all those separately you'd have a few bills into it but i agree its unfortunate and seems a bit steep. I understand business and all but...its bad in some areas. Some will message me asking for help (I am a novice, no pro by any means) but i get people offering me money all the time for files I would send etc. I haven't had the heard to charge anyone as its a hobby of mine. Good that you got your car going though i know it can be frustrating! Maybe if i had hours into someone's tune but again, its a hobby. And kudos to all the guys on here that are honest and VERY helpful. Many have helped me learn.

In any event, you could buy HPT and have it regardless of who tunes it and save that money for the future. Sounds like may have more mods in the future? Plus take advantage of the good people on here that remote tune all the time.

Check out these folks: https://www.pcmofnc.com/
I'm not an expert with HP Tuners but these people have treated me right. They have mail order tuning and I've not had any issues with them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denpo

Hi everyone.
Since I don't know much about how licencing works, I'd like to expose my rather unpleasant experience in order to figure out if the tuner I dealt with have been honest with me.
Last year I reach out to this tuner shop because my car, that got LS1 swapped wouldn't start at all (it had a stock 411 PCM that got flashed with a basic tune from another shop).
First thing the shop ask was to fork out a little less than 1k canadian dollars to start working on it, since I was rather desperate to see my car working I paid it.
It quickly became obvious that the reason my car wouldn't start was that the PCM itself was faulty, only sending ignition to a single spark (the only one I tested, I know I'm not that bright when it come to engine diagnostic).
To fix that I came back a couple days later with another PCM, and I got told that for this one too I would have to pay the same amount for him to start working on it.
So here I am, paying almost 2k just to have my car running.
Then the tuner took my car for a 30 minutes ride, changed fuel table a couple of time and said I was good to go for the break-in.
Fast forward this year, I reach out to the tuner for a follow up after I complete the break-in, and find out why the car wouldn't rev past 2500 rpm.
For weeks this shop would ghost me, saying they would call me back each time I'd call but never actually did.
Desperate again I decided to go to another shop, that not only figured out why the car would go up in rpm (knock sensor freaking out for no reason, retarding the engine to death) but also made me realize I didn't need to pay that much to have my PCM reflashed.
I know tuning isn't cheap, but in my case I got the feeling things when a bit too far.
Maybe someone here could help me understand if it was the case or not.
Thanks in advance.

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in a nutshell they screwed you, what a pain 2k to the ground,sure you're not the first.......