Is Hennessey a scam??

[oesman]

I hear what you're saying...but they're presenting specific acusations as "fact." If any of that is untrue and they've published it, there could be trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Hennessey.

We wouldn't have news if they had to prove everything was true or face a libel suit. This is not how libel works. News writers aren't supposed to make up their own stories, they have sources which could be interviews or things they're witnessing and reporting. They aren't police or consumer protection agencies so proving the truth typically isn't their job. Their job is reporting the news. For instance perp walks are a perfect example, the perp could turn out to be innocent, can he sue the news for defamation for reporting his arrest and charges? Not really, because the news is just reporting what police/witnesses/victims/etc... said.

The article seems to be based on interviews with ex employees and customers. Unless Jalopnik made it all up there's really no liability for them. Consumers are interested in shops that are alleged to be doing a bad job or ripping people off. The topic is of public interest so it's generally fair game. There are some limitations to what is public interest. Hulk Hogan successfully sued Gawker for publishing his sex tape. There's really no news/public interest value to a Hulk Hogan sex tape. People have sex and Gawkers crazy behavior like saying they'd publish kiddy porn as news if they could, didn't help their case. Ultimately it's not like Hulk Hogan's behavior was news worthy, it's not like he's a highly conservative anti-gay politician who got caught sucking dick at an airport. There was simply no valid public interest in such a news story, which as far as I could tell amounted to people wanting to see his junk.

It's important to realize not everything on the news is 100% true. Reporters and news companies want stories that attract viewers so things are framed and editorialized a certain way. For instance they could have found some satisfied customers to interview to balance the story out, but they didn't because it wouldn't be as interesting. I've never met someone who didn't feel like their story was at least a little misrepresented by the news.

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[oesman]

I feel bad for those that went to HPE wanting to have their dream car built, only to be deceived and lied to along with the employees that just wanted to build awesome cars.

There is one important thing I learned in the car scene and something I try to teach others; Tuning shops are in it for themselves and as a rule and you're funding their hobby. All bullshit aside, tuning shop owners and long term staff want to build their own cars, go racing, go to SEMA, etc... Their interest is in cars, not making the best most successful business, which is a big difference.

This has gone on for ages, Enzo Ferrari once said: "I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars." There was also some other quote which I can't find now where he explained his customers are rich idiots buying his junk so that he can fund his racing. Obviously Ferrari today is a very different company.

Ultimately car tuning is a niche market, it's a mom and pop industry. No one is really commoditizing the tuning business, there are no real empire builders out there yet. This is why there are a million different shops to go to and everyone says they're they best and they have that one guy that knows what he's doing. This can be a great thing, mom and pop businesses can pay really good attention to specific customers, they can go above and beyond and produce truly great custom work. It can also mean you get shit and have no recourse because they're judgement proof.

So what do you do? Find someone local you can trust, try em out on a smaller project and micromanage big projects afterward. My buddy is building a totally custom Jeep (chopped up frame and everything) right now and he's way over $50K into it. I keep telling him go to the shop every week and stay on top of the guy. He didn't go for months, then he goes over there and what does he find? No new work done, shop owner spent all his time working on his King Of The Hammers rig instead. Now that he's going every week, work is getting done. Furthermore the shop is actually good, they're doing a great job, the LS3 is in, custom headers are done, things are getting close to finished now. But he wasted 1/2 a year nonetheless.

 

[Badcompany]

I actually bought a hpe 750. Had a great experience with the salesman, made a couple deals with him...he got fired. Not sure why. I flew from Michigan to Texas with my 12 yr old son, found out the car was missing parts including carbon fiber and exhaust..was thoroughly promised they would be shipped and I'd be taken care of. That was a year ago, they've since told me to consult with their legal team. Nearly every sentence in the article rings completely true to the experience I had with Hennessey. The only reason I bought the package was for the carbon fiber...which I never received. Lol, oh well...I know better now

 

[Shark77]

I actually bought a hpe 750. Had a great experience with the salesman, made a couple deals with him...he got fired. Not sure why. I flew from Michigan to Texas with my 12 yr old son, found out the car was missing parts including carbon fiber and exhaust..was thoroughly promised they would be shipped and I'd be taken care of. That was a year ago, they've since told me to consult with their legal team. Nearly every sentence in the article rings completely true to the experience I had with Hennessey. The only reason I bought the package was for the carbon fiber...which I never received. Lol, oh well...I know better now

That sucks... They're still advertising it with the carbon fiber. It'd probably be worth the time/money to have a lawyer contact them for you because they certainly aren't holding up the warranty either.

 

[Badcompany]

That sucks... They're still advertising it with the carbon fiber. It'd probably be worth the time/money to have a lawyer contact them for you because they certainly aren't holding up the warranty either.

Yup, the legal portion is in the works

 

[v8440]

Frankly, I'm surprised he (Hennessey) hasn't crossed the wrong one and had a gun barrel stuck in his face. There's a local guy around here that was pulling similar stuff on a much smaller scale. One day a bunch of homeboys in a suburban rolled up to his shop. One of them was a guy he'd ripped off and jerked around. They didn't shoot him or anything, because he's still in business. But whatever they did, he quit shucking and jiving and made things right. You just never know, and I wouldn't want to be in the position of speaking into a 12 gauge microphone to explain why I had been ripping someone off.

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