Also known as "why you might not want to deal with AIM"

Like many car builders interested in air suspension we see American magazines with air suspension kits advertised at very low prices. This happened last year when we had the misfortune to see an advert for a company based in Mesa, Arizona, in the USA. We had already seen and met this company at the SEMA shows in Las Vegas. This company trades under a number of different names including:-

www.chassistech.com
www.airbagit.com
www.truckin.com
www.truckinsuspension.com
www.airridepro.com
AIMIND
 

to name but the few I can remember at the moment. All potential customers should be aware of the difficulties that we have had in dealing with this company over the past year, and it would be my personal advice that they just are not worth the bother. There are plenty of other air suspension companies our there, many from the US, and most with better customer service and better quality parts.

It is my personal experience that:-

• Around 25% of all electrical items are faulty. Given the amount of electrical parts in each kit this is huge.

• All items are very poorly made.

• Items are poorly designed - for instance air lines seal on the threads and not on the seat as standard engineering practice dictates.

• We assume that most items are sourced from China, as they seem to have absolutely no quality control system of any type.

• THERE IS NO WARRANTY WITH ANY ITEM YOU BUY!!!!!!!!!! Check this out on their own website.

• If you receive faulty items you will be charged for replacements!

• You also have to pay to send items back to the US before they will issue a credit note.

• Hell will freeze over before they issue a refund on anything.

• Front struts are a real problem and several are almost certainly dangerous - we have seen several break - the results are damage to the car, bodywork, and potentially a serious accident.

• Lines always leak - they are very poor quality push in fittings, which rarely seal.

• One compressor which is the cheapest piece of junk you ever did see broke a main shaft in two - only a few weeks after being installed.

• Do not get me started on the 24 function remotes! This could easily be the best accessory to have been invented for the modern air suspension system - but they don't work. Well the 12 we had didn't. 3 in first shipment, then another 3 then another 6 - not a single one worked!

• Their dedicated kits for specific cars, are nothing of the sort - you get the basic components most of which do not fit for every car.

• Air bags that are supposed to bolt straight on normally catch on strut towers, and you WILL have to cut and weld these to avoid wearing through the airbags on a monthly basis.

• Some vehicles which have front air struts actually end up higher - not lower.

• Most bags have no way of being fitted - leaving you to fabricate your own brackets.

• Welding is ALWAYS needed.

• Development is a word not in their dictionary. Copy is however.

• Development of new kits does not seem to involve any fitting to cars - they simply buy new dampers (shock absorbers) and fit airbags to them! This does not identify how low or high the car will be nor if they clear any components. This is not development in any reasonable persons mind - this is guesswork.

• Customer service is also a word which does not seem to translate.

• We know that many of these kits never get fitted - if they did then I am sure the complaints and horror stories on the internet would be far higher - and there are already many our there. A great many people see the junk they are delivered and give up at that stage - refunds just don't seem to happen.

• We ordered 6 separate kits for different vehicles. NONE of these kits was delivered without faults, errors, or failures in service. Not a single one.

• The owner of the company one Joe Morrow has a very strange attitude to customer service, which seems to involve rudeness and aggression, but no real action.

• We even have an email from some time back complaining that his own products made in taiwan were junk. We agree.

• They refuse to issue invoices for any items!

If you think that our problems (with 6 separate kits - they never got a single kit correct) are isolated then just type into a search engine "problems with airbagit.com" or any variation based on the companies above and you will see other horror stories. We found 922 on 3 search engines!

The comments above are my own based on a very frustrating 12 months that has brought nothing but misery when dealing with these people. None of the issues raised with this company has been dealt with to any degree of satisfaction.

My personal advise is not to use this company at all. If you do then at least use a credit card (not debit card, and not wire transfer) as that way the credit card may help you get your money back when your faulty junk arrives - check terms with your credit card company first though.

Air suspension is a major safety issue. If anything fails, at best you will end up broken down on the side of the road, at worst you might end upsidedown in a ditch!

Oh and don't forget the government here likes 22% of the full price including shipping in VAT & Import Duty, so this has to be added on to each shipment.

If you have had similar problems with any of these companies then our legal department would love to hear from you at legal@jetforcemanagement.co.uk with your story. We are particularly interested in the 24 function remotes.