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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
RoadMaster Exhausts - Exceptionally Poor Workmanship and Pathetic Business Ethic
- Thread starter KPM3_30
- Start date
I have been meaning to post this thread for some time. As some of the members may recall, I had a Down Pipe and Straight Pipe exhaust fitted on the 320d at RoadMaster after reading a few reviews on the forum. The purpose of this post is to warn fellow forumites should they be considering using this service provider in the future. This 'business' is trading on the original RoadMaster/Doug Wallace reputation with none of the work ethic, this is misleading.
[RANT]
I contacted Calvin in June 2019 to complete the aforementioned work on the car, I made an appointment to get the work done and on the morning it was supposed to be done, Calvin calls me with an excuse as to why he can't do it on that day. We discussed options and he quoted me a final price to complete the DP, Exhaust and the morrit mod (which he never heard of prior to me mentioning it). Rescheduled the appointment another 2 times, due to his unavailability/excuses, at this point I should've just moved on to another service provider, but hindsight is always 20/20..
When I finally got to his 'shop', we discussed the system and Calvin convinced me to go for a straight pipe and said if we need to add a silencer, we can do so at a later stage and the cost would be R500 to add one in. After we had agreed a price a few weeks prior, he decided that the initial quote was incorrect and cited a 'family emergency' for "his head not being right" when giving me the quote, as the morrit mod was "significantly more work". I agreed to pay the increased cost given the perceived reputation but was left sorely disappointed. His 'morrit mod' was an embarrassing attempt, that never fulfilled the intended purpose and his customer service is beyond dismal. When I contacted him 2 weeks later to have the morrit mod rectified and silencer fitted, his cost shot up to R1800, from his initial quote of R500. When questioned, his attitude was pathetic and his words were, "I work on Aston Martins, I'm not really worried about a silencer change on a BMW" - This left a very sour taste in my mouth and I decided to live with the exhaust for a while longer.
Fast forward 6 months later and my DP had started leaking, I am not the first. RoadMaster DP's have failed on at least 4 other BMW's I am aware of within the fanatics circle. I contacted Calvin to have him look at the car, since it was his mess up. He took no ownership of this and kept making false promises, to the point where the excuses started becoming ludicrous. I did try to call from a different number for 'new work' as a test, interestingly, Calvin was magically available and all his excuses non-existent, despite telling me BS a few moments before.. Make of that, what you will. Finally he said he doesn't care about fixing it and I lost all interest going down this route. It's been well over a year now and still no invoice has been provided for work done, despite numerous follow ups and broken promises.. I am not the only one..
On advice from the KZN fanatics, I contacted Andre's Custom Exhaust and was pleasantly surprised. Andre fitted me in on a morning's notice and offered solid advice. This is a business worth supporting. Andre is a fantastic guy, that prides customer service ahead of anything else. I would definitely recommend him for any exhaust work needed in Durban.
[/RANT]
TL
R - The quality of RoadMaster work is pathetic and his business ethic is abysmal.. Support Andre's Custom Exhaust (ACE) instead, you will be thankful you did.
[RANT]
I contacted Calvin in June 2019 to complete the aforementioned work on the car, I made an appointment to get the work done and on the morning it was supposed to be done, Calvin calls me with an excuse as to why he can't do it on that day. We discussed options and he quoted me a final price to complete the DP, Exhaust and the morrit mod (which he never heard of prior to me mentioning it). Rescheduled the appointment another 2 times, due to his unavailability/excuses, at this point I should've just moved on to another service provider, but hindsight is always 20/20..
When I finally got to his 'shop', we discussed the system and Calvin convinced me to go for a straight pipe and said if we need to add a silencer, we can do so at a later stage and the cost would be R500 to add one in. After we had agreed a price a few weeks prior, he decided that the initial quote was incorrect and cited a 'family emergency' for "his head not being right" when giving me the quote, as the morrit mod was "significantly more work". I agreed to pay the increased cost given the perceived reputation but was left sorely disappointed. His 'morrit mod' was an embarrassing attempt, that never fulfilled the intended purpose and his customer service is beyond dismal. When I contacted him 2 weeks later to have the morrit mod rectified and silencer fitted, his cost shot up to R1800, from his initial quote of R500. When questioned, his attitude was pathetic and his words were, "I work on Aston Martins, I'm not really worried about a silencer change on a BMW" - This left a very sour taste in my mouth and I decided to live with the exhaust for a while longer.
Fast forward 6 months later and my DP had started leaking, I am not the first. RoadMaster DP's have failed on at least 4 other BMW's I am aware of within the fanatics circle. I contacted Calvin to have him look at the car, since it was his mess up. He took no ownership of this and kept making false promises, to the point where the excuses started becoming ludicrous. I did try to call from a different number for 'new work' as a test, interestingly, Calvin was magically available and all his excuses non-existent, despite telling me BS a few moments before.. Make of that, what you will. Finally he said he doesn't care about fixing it and I lost all interest going down this route. It's been well over a year now and still no invoice has been provided for work done, despite numerous follow ups and broken promises.. I am not the only one..
On advice from the KZN fanatics, I contacted Andre's Custom Exhaust and was pleasantly surprised. Andre fitted me in on a morning's notice and offered solid advice. This is a business worth supporting. Andre is a fantastic guy, that prides customer service ahead of anything else. I would definitely recommend him for any exhaust work needed in Durban.
[/RANT]
TL
R - The quality of RoadMaster work is pathetic and his business ethic is abysmal.. Support Andre's Custom Exhaust (ACE) instead, you will be thankful you did. 
Camiel Singh
Member
The deterioration in the service from Roadmaster has been going downhill for a while.
In terms of service, I would say that ACE is probably the best in Durban at the moment. I have also heard many good things about Brad from Flowtech.
From reading your experience, I doubt Roadmaster will be in business much longer with that kind of attitude.
It's a shame, I have personally seen the good work he used to do.
In terms of service, I would say that ACE is probably the best in Durban at the moment. I have also heard many good things about Brad from Flowtech.
From reading your experience, I doubt Roadmaster will be in business much longer with that kind of attitude.
It's a shame, I have personally seen the good work he used to do.
CAMIEL1901 said:
I have to agree, the work he did a few years ago was much better, according to fanatics that used him then. Apparently he now has some addiction, or so I've heard, which has been cited as the reason for the decline in quality and attitude. Judging from his erratic behaviour, who knows.. I have no idea if this is true, nor do I care to find out.
I just know that I will never recommend RoadMaster to anyone and if this post saves just one person from dealing with his rubbish, then my job is done.
Glad you went to ACE. The owner at KZN Wheel alignment has Audi A3 3.2. Andre did that exhaust. Its as silent as a 1.3l on idle, rev it up and it's the cleanest sounding 3.2 I've heard so much so that I'm thinking of changing my VR6 from stock. I have only heard good thing about that exhaust shop.
BeemerFanatic
Events Organiser
After forum advice, I fitted my DP at ACE when I was in Durban like 3.5 years ago. Service, price, appointment and fittmentwas great. After 3 years was great. It did start leaking a few months ago but that was due to misaligned fitment when I put it back on last year or bumping the exhaust, both happened last year and I’m not sure which one caused the tig weld to come apart. Anyway got it welded and it’s still fine.
///M Individual
Well-known member
Damn sorry about your experience bud. That's terrible customer service.
I used Calvin for my downpipe in February 2019 after being referred by a forum member and received excellent service and workmanship. He even went so far as to accommodate me on a Sunday morning as I was working 6 days a week.
I used Calvin for my downpipe in February 2019 after being referred by a forum member and received excellent service and workmanship. He even went so far as to accommodate me on a Sunday morning as I was working 6 days a week.
Riaad
Events Organiser
Tagged along with @"KPM_330" to visit Calvin to get a DP done, 6 months later the Welds failed at the turbo end. Decided to send a polite message as I was aware that he doesn't answer calls, and to my surprise I got a Voice Note shortly after, he advised that I can come through the next day (Friday afternoon) and that it will take a few mins to sort out. When we got there the excuses started :dunnoanymore: .
He gave a sad story that he was in hospital, the vehicle on the ramp has a dead battery (and he supposedly was doing a full system), and that he had 7 other vehicles to attend to.
He requested that I leave the vehicle with him and he will repair the DP over night and have the vehicle ready for me on Saturday. Not wanting to take a chance and drive the car with effectively no exhaust, I reluctantly agreed.
After numerous calls and messages on Saturday, I received a Voice Note around 9pm, the excuse was, that he ran out of Welding gas, and was only able to get a tank from some mate now and that the vehicle will be ready first thing on Sunday Morning.
At midday, there were no replies to my calls or messages, I decided to just rock up to his shop and see whats going on, as I entered the vicinity, he replied to state that the vehicle is ready for collection.
I inspected the welds, gave him a piece of my mind and left...
In Summary, I wont recommend Calvin (Roadmasters) to anyone, quality and after sales service is pathetic :bin:
He gave a sad story that he was in hospital, the vehicle on the ramp has a dead battery (and he supposedly was doing a full system), and that he had 7 other vehicles to attend to.
He requested that I leave the vehicle with him and he will repair the DP over night and have the vehicle ready for me on Saturday. Not wanting to take a chance and drive the car with effectively no exhaust, I reluctantly agreed.
After numerous calls and messages on Saturday, I received a Voice Note around 9pm, the excuse was, that he ran out of Welding gas, and was only able to get a tank from some mate now and that the vehicle will be ready first thing on Sunday Morning.
At midday, there were no replies to my calls or messages, I decided to just rock up to his shop and see whats going on, as I entered the vicinity, he replied to state that the vehicle is ready for collection.
I inspected the welds, gave him a piece of my mind and left...
In Summary, I wont recommend Calvin (Roadmasters) to anyone, quality and after sales service is pathetic :bin:
Unfortunately I never took pics of the his failed DP. The quality of the DP itself looks good, even if you see his work on Facebook.. Its the fact that it couldn't last 6 months before the connecting welds gave up.NBN said:
My biggest issue is the fact that his work comes with a "Lifetime Warranty" but doesn't even last 6 months, yet when you contact him and take him up on his 'warranty', suddenly he has a host of excuses as to why he can't attend to it.
Biggest scammer/schemer/chancer I've met when it comes to exhausts.
Riaad
Events Organiser
A picture of the failed DP and one when it was installed last JuneNBN said:
View attachment 7View attachment 8
Attachments
I have been supporting Andre from Ace for a long time, even before he was ACE (Andre's Custom Exhausts) i have always had service with a smile, accommodation on a moments notice or close enough when a ramp was ready and his prices were keen as well. Andre has also supported some of BMWFanatics events as a sponsor over the years and never turned down a sponsorship when asked to do so.
In terms of a quality products, He built for me a set of SS downpipes for my first N54 which ran for 2-3 years, i sold car and removed the pipes and transferred it to the next N54 which then ran for another 2-3 years thereafter. One set of DP's lasted all of 5+ years and at least 200k kms without the need for repairs.
He has even supplied the Dp and straight pipe on Danger Ranger and that thing sounds like a beast! will try and upload a pic shortly of that.
So yes Andre would be the reliable installer of aftermarket pipes in Durban for the car enthusiast.
In terms of a quality products, He built for me a set of SS downpipes for my first N54 which ran for 2-3 years, i sold car and removed the pipes and transferred it to the next N54 which then ran for another 2-3 years thereafter. One set of DP's lasted all of 5+ years and at least 200k kms without the need for repairs.
He has even supplied the Dp and straight pipe on Danger Ranger and that thing sounds like a beast! will try and upload a pic shortly of that.
So yes Andre would be the reliable installer of aftermarket pipes in Durban for the car enthusiast.
