Please learn from my mistakes

[Crackback]

SPRING VALLEY CUSTOM CARTS: Buyer Beware

First thing that I’ll say is get comfy, this is a detailed timeline of one mans $7000 mistake. I was in the market for a “new” g29 build After selling my g8. I’ve done prior business with Plowman’s, buying a performance kit for my old g8. And I knew don was a stand up guy and a straight shooter after I made the trip to flint on a Sunday for Don to work out some kinks on my old cart. He found the problem immediately, nothing with his kit, just my old cart. But Don fixed it none the less. Supplied his expertise, labor and a few parts, ON HIS OFF DAY. And wouldn’t take a dime I tried to offer him for it! After talking with Don and Dan at Plowman’s pricing a new build, I came across spring valley custom carts selling a very nice looking custom lime green g29 on Craigslist. It was a Sunday, so I didn’t think I’d get a response. To my surprise Dale, (owner) of SVCC was very eager to respond with multiple texts and phone calls that very day. He seemed full of energy and had an answer for everything. Unfortunately, that cart was sold. So I immediately began throwing ideas at him, so he could quote me on a new build. I then compared his prices with Plowman’s, and as we could all assume, Plowman was about $1000 higher. I knew Don built a great cart, but couldn’t figure out how it would cost $1000 more!! Plus, I really liked the idea of SVCC being only a 4 hour round trip from home compared to 8 plus hours back and forth to Flint Michigan! On top of that, Dale told me that he’d probably be able to “squeeze “ my cart onto one of his delivery trucks when he sends it down to Chicago to pick up an order from one of his vendors. That would cut my drive time down to only about 1 hour! So, I told Dale I’d go with him. I thought I was on top at that time and had made a great decision to save money and still get a custom Yamaha G29 with a Havoc body built with a warranty from a custom “performance “ cart builder. Looking back, this was the biggest mistake I can ever remember making, and me being “cheap” really ended up hitting me where it hurts. While picking out all of the accessories for my cart, everything seemed like a well oiled machine dealing with Dale. That is, until he received my $1500 deposit through PayPal. After originally telling me 7 to 10 days for the build , and a completion date of ‪June 27 to June 29‬, the cart wasn’t ready until July 8th due to many many reasons / excuses. When I would question all of the delays, Dale had a reason for everything and then told me that “we are actually way ahead of schedule because we are usually 4 to 5 weeks out on builds most of the summer”! That’s when I began to see the way his story changed every time I talked with him. Even though he was still posting on his Facebook page that he was 7 to 10 days out for a new build. I was hoping to get the cart door the weekend before the 4th of July, but Dale said that ‪Friday, June 29th‬, that the cart was nearly completed but he couldn’t get the carb to “tune” properly. So, he acted like he was doing me a favor by holding onto the cart while he orders a new carb for it to insure a quality build. I believe he was just buying himself another week to continue duct taping the cart together. I was on the phone with calls and texts all day the following Friday and Saturday, July 6th and 7th with Dale answering many questions while he was still doing a lot of work to a cart that he told me was going to be a “ tune and go” a week prior, because we were only supposed to be waiting for the carb to arrive. I couldn’t believe it! Nothing was adding up. Saying one thing, then almost immediately contradicting himself. He already had my deposit, so I just had to grin and bear it and hope for the best. When the cart was ready for pickup, I repeatedly asked about the delivery we had talked about. Naturally the idea of the cart being brought to Chicago to help me out never happened. After initially driving to pick up the cart, I really liked the appearance of the cart and how aggressive it looked. Until I took it for a test ride. Dale told me he had the governor set down to 16.5 mph to legally sell it To me. Although it only ran about 13/14 when I took it out. He claimed I could easily tighten up the governor nut and get into the mid 20’s. He told me with the “proper clutching” I would reach 26mph. I asked him how a Plowman cart can do 30+ mph and Dale said he deals in “real numbers” and will build a cart that “won’t blow up”. He kept telling me to “trust him” on the VIOLENT” clutch/belt engagement. The cart would literally lift the front tires off the ground upon takeoff. He tells me that’s “ normal” and it will be “grabby” at first. But everything will “settle and break in”. The belts, rollers, weights and clutches need to break in he said, they are all “ designed by Gboost to work directly with the clutch upgrades”. I bought the cart on a Sunday and in Monday I was on the phone with Gboost because I thought something didn’t seem right. The cart was WAAAAY too jumpy, Would backfire every time I’d decelerate, and had zero top speed even after tightening the 10 mm nut. Gboost told me they had no order history for the cart and couldn’t tell me what dale had done to it. I wasn’t a very happy customer after paying nearly $7000 for a custom cart that would go only slightly faster than a golf course cart. At that point, the cool little LED blue indicator light for the switch in the Madjax lights went very dim. Dale said they’ve been having that problem a lot lately and would put a call into Madjax about it. Then I began taking a better look into some other things on the cart and noticed a large hole in the wheel well, the incorrect fuel pump hanging onto the mounting bracket by only 1 bolt, and the carb that Dale had to order to “make things right” turned out to be a $16 Amazon knockoff cheapo. What builder would mount the canopy to the uprights using only a self tapping sheet metal screw? Oh, never mind I know who. It creaked and squeaked like nobody’s business. Off to the hardware store to spend some of my time and money wrenching on someone else’s poor craftsmanship to mount the canopy properly WITHOUT ALL OF THE SQUEAKING! Once again I questioned Dale on all of these topics and he had various reasons and excuses for everything as usual. I found it odd how none of these things were addressed during his “reconditioning process”.
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Funny how a hole like this is missed, and the wrong fuel pump is ignored. Must be a very thorough process! I texted Dale and told him I just wanted him to make the cart right. Told him I didn’t want to have to go on BGW and give him a poor review. All I got was crickets on the other end.

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So, I continued to drive the cart hoping it would “Settle and break in.” The only thing that was breaking was the cart though! While taking my three kids on one of our family neighborhood joyrides in our golf cart friendly town, the cart slowed to a near stop while shaking violently. I was scared for my kids because we were driving on a ‪35 mph public street‬ ( legally). Now, I was just trying to limp my new money pit back home without anyone getting hurt. That’s where I found this.

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The rear clutch had fallen off the transaxle! The bolt had walked almost completely off. I was furious and ready to return the cart and wanted 100% refund! Dale said he would charge me a 10% restocking fee which I thought was crazy considering some of the problems I had after short time. So, Dale and I began to trouble began to troubleshoot the cart over the phone. Turns out HE added that spacer pictured in the photo and it wasn’t needed! Which now didn’t allow the clutch mounting bolt to torque properly and allowed it to nearly fall off while driving with my family! So once again, I had to fix something on a “Custom” cart I paid money for. So, I bit the bullet and swallowed my pride. I called Plowman to find out the proper way to reinstall this bastardized clutch. Naturally, Don had some fun at my expense, but being the man he is and having a prior relationship with him, he guided me through remounting that clutch, which required more out of pocket money for me, buying a torque wrench and Loctite. I continued to drive the cart and hoped it would break in. I took my 13 year-old daughter (too young to legally drive the cart in town) out for ice cream on the cart. On the way home, on a neighborhood street, in front of my BUDDIES HOUSE, the LED light bar falls off the mounting bracket on the passenger side of the roof! I was in disbelief and beyond pissed. Not to mention, embarrassed as anyone could imagine. The part that really bothered me was having my underage daughter slowly drive the cart home on village streets while I hung off the cart holding the light bar that was still 1/2 way mounted and wired! Back to the hardware store to do Dale’s job again! I figured as long as I was there, I’d pick up a stainless washer to put on the windshield mounting grommet that apparently Dale didn’t think was necessary. Whaddya know?! I tried to back of the acorn nut to put the washer on, and it was beyond crazy tight but it needed a washer, so I tried to get the nut off. SNAP GOES THE BOLT! Back to the hardware store for matching nuts and bolts all the way around the windshield. Again, when I tell this to Dale, he says “ Yeah, some bolts will vibrate loose and need tightened ( light bar) and we can’t control people working on the carts themselves and snapping bolts! Like it was my fault he half a$$ed the build and over torqued tiny bolts and skipped washers! I had hoped that after a few days we were maybe getting out of the woods. Wasn’t happening.
Continue reading

[Crackback]

The cart was still a dog. I decided to call Gboost again, this time asking them if they could at least tell me if I was running the correct belt, since last time they could tell me nothing about the internals of the clutches because he pieced it together instead of placing a direct order through them for a performance kit. I told them the clutches he set me up with, team primary and JW8 secondary, and asked if the belt he gave me was correct and designed by them to work together. Not only did they say that the clutches were mismatched and shouldn’t used together, but they also said they could, in no way give any belt recommendations whatsoever due to incorrect clutches! Gboost also said the harsh engagement was due to a worn out drive clutch bushing. Since it’s not rebuildable, it would require buying brand new primary clutch! I texted Dale a copy of this email from Gboost. I got crickets on the other end of the text. Until I sent a follow up text 18 hours later to which Dale responded with more babbling nonsense that I began to get used to.

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6 DAYS LATER!! He responds with some garbage I’m still struggling to understand. Saying that he placed a call to Yamaha USA ( whatever the he#%) that is. He wanted to confirm that “The clutches were installed on-course by their their techs or were OEM on that fleet of carts. ( Funny how that was August 1st and I’ve never heard back from Dale about Yamaha USA had to say!?) What a joke. One poor excuse after another. So I tried to look into it more myself. It looked as though Plowman runs a similar “Mismatched” clutch setup on some of his performance carts. So, I asked Dale if he could find out what belt Don ran so he could send it to me. Again, no word from Dale. Eventually, he responded saying he would send an extra stock belt to me or see how that fit. And if it helped, he’d order a Gboost one that matched those specs. Didn’t want to order a Plowman belt saying that Don just “Used rebranded sled belts that were really, really stiff" lol. I kept asking Dale if he had reached out to Ryan at Gboost about the belt that he claims they designed for this particular clutch setup. Knowing he was wrong and had no intentions of talking with Ryan, he just kept ignoring my texts. I then would ask if he’d heard back from Yamaha USA regarding the clutches. Once again, your could hear a pin drop. All the while, I feel he’s poking a bear with a stick. Posting images in on his Facebook page about his carts and he stands behind his work. The most important accessory you can have on your cart is the SVCC sticker!

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Made me vomit a little feeling as if he were laughing all the way to the bank at my expense! My wife and family were sick and tired of me constantly working on my “New” cart and buying parts to fix it! Constant calls and e-mails to Don Plowman and Gboost. Along with help from the BGW community (small block thank
You) I was done. I wanted out and I wanted my full refund. I was just within my 30-day-return window. I texted Dale and said if he felt the cart was worth the $7k I spent, then he would have no problem selling it himself after refunding the money to a very unsatisfied customer. After 8 hrs and 22 min of silence from Dale, I texted to ask him if the warranty would transfer to a new owner if I were to sell the cart to avoid taking the hit on the 10% restocking fee that he had told me about 2 weeks prior. To my surprise, inside of 1 min, (text will show) he responded back, on a ‪Sunday night at 8:27 pm‬, that the warranty would absolutely NOT carry over if I sold the cart. And if he even saw it listed for sale all warranty and customer support would be terminated!

Please continue reading

[Crackback]

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Interesting how he instantly put his foot down on that one after so many unreturned texts about actually fixing my darn cart!! Finally received the stock used Yamaha belt about a week later. Didn’t matter much what belt was going to be used after that. This is how the secondary clutch looks today.

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Maybe all of those jarring, head snapping, wheely popping harsh engagements that Dale had said we’re “normal” finally took their toll on the clutches and basically snapped the secondary clutch in 1/2 and caused a crack in the primary clutch as well. ‪Thursday 9-13‬ I reached out to Dale with pics of the destroyed clutches and asked him what we needed to do. No answer. I followed with another text ‪Friday morning‬. He responds back 2 hours after my second text, ‪at 11:10‬ and as the texts show, he assumes that we will just get new clutches but says he should have an answer later that day. I text again ‪at 2:20‬. He responds 4 hours later saying “worst case scenario, I pull the clutches myself and return them to him with a ups “call tag” paid for by Dale. I said no problem, get me the call tag and I’ll remove the clutches and send them back to you ASAP. I was then told to “relax”, won’t know anything ‪until Monday‬ or Tuesday. I was nearing my boiling point with this clown! No word from Dale Monday, big surprise I know. He finally responds to my Monday text on Tuesday saying “Yamaha “ agreed to upgrade the belt and clutches to the new style, but won’t cover the labor. Asking if I was able to do the install myself. I said no problem, but will my labor void the warranty? He says yes, “that’s the only kicker “. I said fine. Send me the new clutches and belt and I’ll forget the future warranty issue. Dale says he’s still waiting to hear if they want the old clutches back for inspection and he would let me know. This was all ‪on Tuesday 9-18‬. I texted Dale Wednesday to see if he got an answer. No response. I then waited ‪till Friday‬, trying to figure out what could possibly be taking so long. Them get a typical Dale response of talking in jibberish and nonsense. Saying that “they” are still deciding which clutches to send me. The new style the old style. I said ok. I’ll just touch base every couple of days to see where we stand. Of course, no word from him. I texted him Tuesday 9-25. Crickets. Extend Wednesday 9-26. Crickets. Im beside myself with anger and frustration. My Thursday text I tell him how it’s now been TWO FRICKIN WEEKS and I still have zero direction on what to do to get this $7000 paperweight back on the road. I get a response! Hallelujah!!
He says they are sending new clutches Thursday/Friday. And asked if I could then remove the old clutches and place them in the box I receive and return them to him. Absolutely I will!! Then the rug gets pulled from beneath me one last time. Two hours after telling me that we are all set, he now tells me that I cannot do the work and I need to bring the cart back to him. I said but you just told me I can do the work myself and send you the old clutches. His double talk never stops. He says “to honor the warranty WE need to do the work, period. That’s spelled out specifically on our invoices and warranty.” Funny how he, the incompetent owner, had been stringing me along for the last 2 weeks telling me that I could do the work myself, only to put his foot down and enforce unwritten rules now! I don’t see these claims written anywhere on the paperwork I received from SVCC. Nor do I see it on his BS website or his Facebook page. But while looking for it, I did notice something that interested me. I see SVCC listed in multiple locations online as a travel agency!? But can’t find them listed under anything to do with building golf carts.

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INTERESTING
Dale Zaccard, owner of SVCC maybe found a loophole on how to sell carts while listed as a travel agency. Or possibly through a music business. (BrewCityMusic) is his handle on BGW. Lists himself as a sound engineer and entertainer. From my last few months, I can tell you this fake is far from entertaining. At least he doesn’t call himself a cart builder because he’s shown he can’t do that to save his life. He should properly stick to being a travel agent and a roadie. That way the BGW community cam avoid the endless, childish, blatant lies and shoddy amateur craftsmanship that this fraud provides to the unsuspecting public.
It’s all good though, I learned my lesson and I hope if any of you that stayed up late enough to read this long-winded novel learned yours as well. I got countless dirty looks and scowls from my forgiving wife over the last few months. But I decided to right my wrongs and do what I should have done from day 1. Pony up the cash and get the cart I had always wanted. I called Don Plowman again and told him I wanted him to build me a REAL CART. I told Don what I had fine through with SVCC and that I needed a good reliable cart to use with my wife and kids. Naturally I spent more money than I wanted to, but when I picked up the cart it was FLAWLESS. What I originally thought was overpriced, turned out to be well worth it in the end! Yes, I paid more for the Plowmans cart than I did for the SVCC. And I soon found out why. But you get what you pay for.


And here’s a list of what I think are the biggest differences between the two:

* A 2014 Plowman’s Havoc Cart that was a demo with little to no hours (5 years newer)
* A full Plowman’s performance kit that really rocks
* The Plowman cart looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor
* Th custom aluminum American made rear seat safety bar was beautiful and sturdy
* Plowman’s had the black body custom painted with multiple coats of high quality PPG paint ad topped with a PPG clear coat automotive finish
* Dons custom two-tone front and rear seats are as comfortable as a lay boy. The lockable dash from Plowman’s was surprisingly cool and MADE IN THE USA
* I couldn’t be happier with Don’s electric brake light switch for my street legal cart that is fully automatic with a timer, that is all mounted under floor pan, so they shut off on their own I didn’t even know they made such a thing. Very happy with that
* I was happy to see that Don forked over the money to have washers on all four windshield mounts
* He also had a OEM carburetor and G29 fuel pump! I was shocked to see they actually exist lol
* Don also convinced me to go with the 10” wheels even though I liked the flashy 12” or 14” ones. Boy was he right though. The comfort of the ride is unimaginable with all that rubber between you and the road or dirt. It glides over my curb as opposed to bouncing me and my passengers out of the cart!
* So the $1000.00 difference between the carts was a bargain!
VS
* The SVCC cart was caked in Wisconsin mud and turf on the undercarriage
* The SVCC cart may as well have been duct taped together with the plastic unpainted unfinished Madjax body that has scratches if you stare at it hard enough
* Dale’s exposed brake pad and wires are screwed to the brake pedal like a bad grade in school art project
* A cart that was a fleet cart that was thrown together with a bunch of china crap that was broke on a daily basis and would be out run by any child on a bike!
At this point I’m just glad I was able to keep my bride from leaving me, and to finally have the quality cart had wanted. Being a repeat customer, I was able to walk away with a few nice Plowman extras, including a patented drop-in utility box and overnight bag along with some tee shirts!


Don’t worry Dale, (brew city music) I want nothing more from you. Trust me, you’ve done more than enough! I’ll have Don fix the other cart to make it a quality ride once again. You just keep on telling lies and selling carts to the hard-working people that pay your bills. Sorry for the mile long post, I just had a lot to get off my chest. Hope that those of you that made it through this long read didn’t age the way I have these last few months.

Out of all of the cool options and upgrades to my Plowman's cart, there is one thing that means the most to me.

I know this sticker means Don has my back!

Be cautious and do your research on BGW. And BTW Dale, I’ve got some “real numbers “ for you. My plowman's cart will GPS at
29 mph already and will only get faster. I’ll be waiting by the phone to hear what Madjax has to say Dale. Or maybe I’ll be lucky enough to get a call from Yamaha USA! I hope you learn from my mistake.

[Crackback]

Coolest part of my cart is knowing Don has my back every step of the way

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[LukeL]

Really sorry to hear about your situation. Some people are just thieves. Not the right way to live, ripping people off like that. That is unbelievably poor work.

I’d definitely leave them a bad review on Google as well. Unfortunately I had to do the same for a cart company I had a bad experience with.


Club Car DS driver’s club #59

[Crackback]

You’re right. It’s a shame. I think that may be my next step. And also the BBB

[LukeL]

Originally Posted by Crackback

You’re right. It’s a shame. I think that may be my next step. And also the BBB

For sure


Club Car DS driver’s club #59

[raydhd]

Another comment here is there is a difference between a person that flips carts for a quick profit and someone who builds them for a living.

[mikeasis]

I hate to say it but you may have grounds for a law suit

[MNgolfcart]

I have been watching his facebook page for a little while now. I chuckle every time I see a post and feel for the customers buying these things. He had a post on Aug. 6th saying ; We stock a FULL LINE of Rear Seat Kits *ALL ON SALE STARTING AUGUST 15th* ... For occasional hauling of Beach Umbrellas, etc or exceptionally light-duty use on a tight budget we carry the RHOX RHINO line starting at under $200, For Daily, Heavy-Duty Use we Carry the GTW or MADJAX GENESIS Products starting at $275 installed, and for FULL LUXURY and SAFETY we carry the full DOUBLETAKE Line including the GUARDIAN SERIES with the largest Seating Area / Decking in the Industry, Full-Wrap Safety Railings, 100% Stainless Steel Hardware, and the most comfortable seats available - Stop in or call for details TODAY !!!!!

Being a Red Hawk/Rhox dealer my first instinct was to call my sales rep. and ask how the hell he was getting such a great price on seat kits. Their response was that he has NEVER placed an order with them and would be looking into this issue.

Now I didn't just call to complain about someone getting a good deal, but also I feel he is making these brands look bad by selling them so cheap and calling them "light use or tight budget". I understand everyone has theirs brands they like, but to say your a dealer and then say that doesn't make sense.