As we all know, the Atom community is quite small and I feel compelled to make sure everyone is aware of how unscrupulous Hamid at Skunkwurx is with his business practices. I'll refrain from discussing it further publicly, but happy to discuss what transpired in my case via PM. Suffice to say, think long and hard before purchasing anything from Skunkwurx. I had to dispute a $2,000 charge and sit on pins and needles for 2 months until the credit card company completed its investigation and found 100% in my favor. No different than with any vendor, I strongly suggest you do your research on:
1. Whether or not what he sells is of high quality/well engineered (it is not)
2. Do your research on how responsive he is, not just to pre-sales questions, but most importantly general post-sales "when things go wrong" responsiveness (not at all)
3. Do your research on the various names of his company/entities in the UK (not pretty), customer complaints (not pretty), and online posts where customers have had to publicly air grievances because they can't get any response/resolution from Skunkwurx. (Hamid regularly and publicly attacks those people on public forums, which is a massive red flag for any business). One random disgruntled customer I can chalk up to bad luck, but if you dig deep enough, you will find MANY (I know of 2 other customers that were in the middle of similar credit card disputes with Skunkwurx/Hamid at the same time as me). If there are any customer service issues of any kind, he will go radio silent on you, force you to go through your credit card company to get any resolution, and manipulate the facts as much as possible to try to leave you holding the bag.
4. Be aware that the Ariel.Club forum and Facebook groups are censored heavily by the moderators. Any negative posts about Skunkwurx are immediately deleted, ie the absence of negative posts about Skunkwurx does not mean that they must be well-respected/have a good reputation.
I have purchased hundreds of car parts over the years from dozens of vendors large and small. I have NEVER in my life had to dispute a charge, let alone one as large as $2,000, nor have I ever felt compelled to make negative posts about a vendor. I hope the simple fact that I am posting about this publicly gives you some idea of how important I think it is for the Atom community to be aware of what you are getting into with Skunkwurx. I went through a ridiculous amount of stress and time spent dealing with my Skunkwurx situation and would hate for anybody else to have to go through anything similar.
I hope the Atom community takes my experience to heart and doesn't make the same (potentially VERY expensive) mistake that I did. Feel free to reach out via PM with any questions.
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