Firefly exhaust beware

[Andrewyoung78]

This is to warn everyone who are shopping for after market side exhaust for their cobra. Firefly send me two sets of sidepipes which the first set had cracked welds all over after less then 100 miles, second set which supposed to be the correct and revised set had weld thru out the exterior finish and was told by the seller that it was unacceptable in his own words after seeing the photos I've sent him.

Now firefly dropped the ball and said they will no longer warranty the second set. Bottom line is that I wished I'd never picked up the phone and ordered the poorly made sidepipes from firefly. FYI, The owner/product was a dissapointment and I will just count it at my lost and put the whole bad experience behind me and move on with life.

Enough said.

[poisonsnake]

Wow....This sounds like a very unfortunate event. I'm very surprised to hear this as many Firefly customers rave about their high quality headers and side pipes, myself included. This also sounds very uncharacteristic of Firefly's handling of the warranty as I know personally that Ron stands behind his products and personally demands the highest degree of perfection. So with this in mind, could there be more to the story? There are always two sides and maybe the malasada has a hole in it?

[jeffgrice]

Originally Posted by Andrewyoung78

This is to warn everyone who are shopping for after market side exhaust for their cobra. Firefly send me two sets of sidepipes which the first set had cracked welds all over after less then 100 miles, second set which supposed to be the correct and revised set had weld thru out the exterior finish and was told by the seller that it was unacceptable in his own words after seeing the photos I've sent him.

Now firefly dropped the ball and said they will no longer warranty the second set. Bottom line is that I wished I'd never picked up the phone and ordered the poorly made sidepipes from firefly. FYI, The owner/product was a dissapointment and I will just count it at my lost and put the whole bad experience behind me and move on with life.

Enough said.

Enough said? Well maybe by YOU.

There is undoubtedly critical details not fully shared and far more to this story than you have chosen to disclose!

Firefly has produced OVER 500 sets of pipes to VERY HAPPY CUSTOMERS.

NOW THIS IS ENOUGH SAID!

Jeff

[Cobrajames]

I am not sure what all happened with andrewyoung78 and his pipes from Firefly, but I can say that the stainless pipes I purchased from Ron almost two years ago have been excellent and his communication was excellent. They are a little pricey, but the build quality of my pipes and the brackets are better than any others I have seen. There could very well be better ones out there, but mine from Firefly are top notch. Couldn't be happier.
There are photos of mine in one of my albums for anyone to see.
James

[Andrewyoung78]

Like I said I will put all this behind me. Those 2 sets of firefly went in the trash bin last week. I am discussed looking having it on my car so once in for all trash it and move on. I've lost $3,300 but I too learned about vendor and their lack of warranty.

[jeffgrice]

Originally Posted by andrewyoung78

like i said i will put all this behind me. Those 2 sets of firefly went in the trash bin last week. I am discussed looking having it on my car so once in for all trash it and move on. I've lost $3,300 but i too learned about vendor and their lack of warranty.

two pipes for the price of one plus paid shipping does not sound like lack of warranty!!!

[CHANMADD]

If the parts are bad and you have to ship ten times to get it right ....because of your fault ...that's what it takes......A stand against one customer can wreck you......

[Maricopa]

Firefly has produced OVER 500 sets of pipes to VERY HAPPY CUSTOMERS.

And yet it only takes one screwing over to ruin a reputation.

two pipes for the price of one plus paid shipping does not sound like lack of warranty!!!

How does getting two sets of faulty pipes equal a warranty?

Seems like pictures would be helpful here.

[cycleguy55]

There's something about all this that leaves me thinking we're not hearing the entire story. Firefly has produced something on the order of 500 sets of pipes, and then ships not one, but two sets of defective pipes to andrewyoung78? Human nature would lead me to believe Firefly would pay special and particular attention to the replacement set after problems with the first set, and yet the second set was so bad as to be nothing but fodder for a junk yard?

I'm not expecting Firefly to defend themselves in a public forum like this one, that being something best done either 1:1 or in a court room, but there has certainly been no evidence (e.g. photos) provided here as objective evidence of flawed materials or workmanship. Legitimate complaint, buyer's remorse, or an unreasonable customer - who knows? Regardless, this situation does seem unusual, given the many satisfied customers who seem quite satisfied with Firefly's side pipes.

While many ascribe to the theory of "there's two sides to every story", I usually go with "there's three sides to every story - Party A, Party B, and the truth". All we've heard so far is a complaint from Party A, with nothing to back it up.

Just my $0.02.

[Ron Roberts]

To: All

Yes I know about the Andrew Young post and thanks to all who sent/called over the weekend to inform me of his notes of his actions.

First, I would like to apologize for taking up your time reading this dribble. For those interested:

This the history of what happened,

We at Firefly Performance Products do have a weld failure one a set of side pipes and when notified by Andrew set failing sent him a replacement pipe set and he was to return the broken set so we could do destructive testing on why the weld failed. This test is one of our ways to keep the quality standard we share with all of our customers. Firefly responded in good faith by sending a second set to Andrew Young prior to receipt of the original set, he did not like the replacement due to the appearance of the welds around the beginning and rear on the mufflers. After speaking with him, we found out that he wanted the fillet at both ends knocked down like the first set which is why the we feel the welds failed in the first place. It was at this time, he was told the reinforcement was necessary but it he wanted to send the sets back he could and we would refund him after receipt of the sets less any charges for damage to them by him, heat discoloration due to the seasoning of the material was to be expected, scratches and any other physical damage would be his to bear.

We again, explained for us to do a deeper dive into the weld failure we would need to have the first set for a destruction analysis and Andrew agreed to send the first set back. We even sent a check in good faith for the shipment back and his time. Knowing that Andrew, due to his not cooperating and failure to do what he agrees to, was not to be trusted. He even cashed the funds paid to him for return the broken set, instead he pocketed the funds.

The final result was, He just kept both sets hostage, one set is/was still on his car, another set is still in his position and by the way he pocketed the funds for shipment back for his refund.

He then, threatened us with a bad review. At that time it was apparent we was dealing with a customer that would never be satisfied and reminded him, he had option of returning all sets since he was sent the funds to cover. And yes his warranty is voided due to his actions or lack thereof.

By the way, we will also share this customer with most of the other vendors that are involved in our passion, so they can make a prudent decision on if they really or want need to sell to him.

A good thing did come from this and from now forward a polished reinforcement weld where the failure occurred on which will improve the product.

We at Firefly do stand behind our product, best wishes,

Ron

[jeffgrice]

Originally Posted by Ron Roberts

To: All

Yes I know about the Andrew Young post and thanks to all who sent/called over the weekend to inform me of his notes of his actions.

First, I would like to apologize for taking up your time reading this dribble. For those interested:

This the history of what happened,

We at Firefly Performance Products do have a weld failure one a set of side pipes and when notified by Andrew set failing sent him a replacement pipe set and he was to return the broken set so we could do destructive testing on why the weld failed. This test is one of our ways to keep the quality standard we share with all of our customers. Firefly responded in good faith by sending a second set to Andrew Young prior to receipt of the original set, he did not like the replacement due to the appearance of the welds around the beginning and rear on the mufflers. After speaking with him, we found out that he wanted the fillet at both ends knocked down like the first set which is why the we feel the welds failed in the first place. It was at this time, he was told the reinforcement was necessary but it he wanted to send the sets back he could and we would refund him after receipt of the sets less any charges for damage to them by him, heat discoloration due to the seasoning of the material was to be expected, scratches and any other physical damage would be his to bear.

We again, explained for us to do a deeper dive into the weld failure we would need to have the first set for a destruction analysis and Andrew agreed to send the first set back. We even sent a check in good faith for the shipment back and his time. Knowing that Andrew, due to his not cooperating and failure to do what he agrees to, was not to be trusted. He even cashed the funds paid to him for return the broken set, instead he pocketed the funds.

The final result was, He just kept both sets hostage, one set is/was still on his car, another set is still in his position and by the way he pocketed the funds for shipment back for his refund.

He then, threatened us with a bad review. At that time it was apparent we was dealing with a customer that would never be satisfied and reminded him, he had option of returning all sets since he was sent the funds to cover. And yes his warranty is voided due to his actions or lack thereof.

By the way, we will also share this customer with most of the other vendors that are involved in our passion, so they can make a prudent decision on if they really or want need to sell to him.

A good thing did come from this and from now forward a polished reinforcement weld where the failure occurred on which will improve the product.

We at Firefly do stand behind our product, best wishes,

Ron

Now...that's ENOUGH SAID!

I would recommend the originator of this post, who proclaims he wants this behind him, delete this thread.

My $.03

[gary osborne]

Whoa……Obviously there are only two people who can speak the this specific issue (the buyer and the seller) but I have something to say about the seller.

I bought my pipes from Firefly very early on. They were absolutely gorgeous. After 8 years or running them (about 50K - 60K miles…yes I drive my car a lot) I had a problem with the pipes. Frankly, after 8 years of hard driving I figured I was OK with it. Nothing lasts forever. Ron, at Firefly, caught wind of the issue and contacted me directly. On the phone, Ron told me a brand new set of pipes was in transit to me and all he asked was that I return my old pipes in the same shipping container to Firefly.

I STILL cannot imagine a company warranting side pipes for 8 years and IF something goes wrong, replacing them 100%….no questions asked. Not only that, I did not seek Firefly out….they sought me out and insisted that I take the new pipes (I actually protested thinking I had gotten my use from them and I don’t want anything for nothing).

This “reported” scenario with Andrewyoung certainly sounds out of character for Firefly and after seeing Ron’s reply (which is totally in character with my personal experience) I have to believe that we have an unreasonable client at best and one with integrity issues at worse. I totally buy Ron’s explanation and once again it shows a company willing to go above and beyond to satisfy a customer. As to the general quality of Firefly, I don’t think there is any question there. They are the gold standard of pipes.

[madmaxx]

Gary wrote "they are the gold standard of side pipes", roflmao, all stainless pipes get a "gold" hue to them, LOL...

[BAsque1]

I need to put my .02 cents, I have dealt with Ron in the recent past, and must say that if there is someone whom is willing to stand by his work and help out the customer is Ron Roberts. He could have very well sold me a pair of sidepipes and headers that would have set me back $6K for they had to be made specially for my car. Notwithstanding, he took my headers and sidepipes and ceramic coated them, fix any and all flaws that the headers had and made my sidepipes as a one piece. The fir was impeccable and the sound of my sidepipes is now 300% better than before. Ron is a tryu lover of the sport and will go out of way to help you out. Ron I am behind you man!! Kepp up the good work, and hope that this finds you well.

[Jim Vander Wal]

I too have dealt with Ron for many years. I have what is probably the 3rd or 4th set of sidepipes, the 2-piece variety. Early on (2005) there was a problem from the original welder. Ron has corrected the problem and assisted at every step of the way.

Ron Roberts is an honorable man, one of integrity and a true aficionado of the Cobra and performance cars.

Firefly pipes are second to none in all aspects of the art, looks, finish, performance they have it all. And about price, you get what you pay for.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Young has had a problem, perhaps he should search in his mirror for the root cause.

Jim

[madmaxx]

wait a minute, if these pipes are so perfect why do i see owners brag about how they were repaired, reworked for free. the best warranty is the one you never need as there is never a failure. I tell you for the price they should be flawless. The problem may be the stainless and the heat but I don't hear of BDR side pipes cracking maybe they do.

[mikeinatlanta]

I don't know about Backdraft headers specifically, but thin tube header cracks are pretty common.