Man, sorry to hear your problem but I have to agree with APR. they clearly tried to find a installer fault. There was none, period. Your ecu would of shit on you regardless.
Just a case of really bad luck, nothing more.
Your best bet would of been to ask APR to give a written report of what they found wrong and forwarded that to VW customer care.
Since you chose to be angry/upset with APR after all they have done for you, you are now left with nothing.
Oh, and saying you want your money back because you can't/won't use their license again after using and enjoying it for a year? Wow!
That's kinda like purchasing a license for Office Pro and only using it every day on a laptop and a year later your laptop dies. Now you want Microsoft to refund your money because your no longer using it. Ya get what I'm saying?
Sorry, not trying to be an ass but really?
I hear what you're saying, I really do... I'm going to re-write the same thing I wrote on Vortex a couple days ago, as it still applies:
Maybe you're right... and I'm half inclined to agree with you. Although I'll start out by saying this:
I've been modifying cars for over a decade, some more extensively than others (see sig for a list of most of my previous vehicles). During that time I've also been apart of numerous automotive forums. Search for my screen name and you'll see that I'm a member of dozens of car forums and have likely posted over 10,000+ posts over the last decade & started hundreds of threads. I've had numerous costly issues arise as a result of extensive modification and various forms of auto racing. Search those threads and you'll see that not once have I ever asked a vendor, tuner, mechanic or manufacturer for a cent. Not once. I've always figured that if I broke it, I bought it. No need to take my word for it, the results of a Google search for my screen name can be found easily. Hell, Turbo99jetta is an old friend and co-worker of mine who has known me for years. Feel free to ask him if he's ever heard of me asking anyone for a refund or any type of compensation...
Now, with all of that said I'll tell you why I'm a little burned about this entire situation as well as why I've asked APR for assistance with this issue. Prior to getting the car tuned, I called Brian, who is the owner of Avalon Motorsports here in Denver. He invited me to come take a look at their shop and sit down to discuss tuning the car; and so I did. I remember bringing my son (he was 3 years old at the time) with me and my son playing with the toy cars that sit on the shelf in Brian's office. I told Brian about my main concern: any potential reliability issues that might have arisen. Do you know what I was told? I was told that they had flashed numerous cars and that these cars don't have any reliability issues with a simple stage 1 tune. He then proceeded to tell me that if any freak occurrence issues did arise that they (Avalon Motorsports) had a good working relationship with Emich VW (large, local dealer) and that Emich was a tune-friendly dealer who would take care of my car... None of that conversation is fabricated in any way, shape or form. I was assured that there was no real risk and when I questioned that, I was then assured that if anything came up that their partnership with Emich would see to it that my car was taken care of....
Fast forward sometime, an issue arises... I have the car towed to the dealer I was told was "tuner friendly" and that Avalon had a "good working relationship" with and I call Avalon to inform them of the issue.... and well, the rest has been documented in this thread. I was given false assurances in order for someone to sell a product... but hey, that's my own fault, I'll admit that. I should have searched a little harder for ECU issues and other people's results after having the issues. Lesson learned.
Now as far as "money being tight" goes, well, I'll let you tell me what you might have done... Imagine for a second that you had a significant other that had been concealing a personal health issue for months to spare you the grief it might put you through.... someone you loved and shared your life with. Now, imagine she has a doctor's appointment that she goes to and when she comes home, she tells you that her physician believes she might have a potentially terminal medical condition... and that the two of you are now looking at potentially costly medical testing and treatment... on top of that, between you, you also have 2 small children to care for and you work as a civil servant for your local community (read: not wealthy)... and then within the same WEEK of getting some of the worst news you've ever received in your life, your stupid car breaks down while you're trying to figure out how to raise cash for more important things in life, like the health of your loved one....
So, what do you do? After being misled by your tuner, do you not at least attempt to seek any assistance they might offer in recompense? What do you do when they point you in the direction of the larger "corporate tuner"? At the same time, do you think you might try to sell off things that you don't really "need"? Like, I don't know, a set of wheels/tires that you might sell for less than half of what you paid for with only 6k miles on them? Check:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-quot-amp-225-40-18-Hankook-Ventus-R-S3-tires
How about your paid off motorcycle? Do you tell an interested friend or two that they can have it for a song before you post it on Craigslist? Check. When said friend asks you to give him a couple weeks to get the cash before you post it online, do you give him a bit of time? Check.
Do you volunteer for as much over-time as you can get at work? Check. Sell your weight bench and a few of your tools to your brother? Check.
Trust me when I say that when it rains, it truly pours.
But, if I've learned one thing in my decade+ of posting on online car forums, I know this is the IntArwEbs and nothing I say on here will be viewed as valid by some people (generally a select minority). I'm sure some people will simply state the old mantras "you gotta pay to play" and "at your own risk". Granted, there's some truth to both of those statements... but in my current situation, I don't feel bad about at least asking. Not in the least.
Think what you like, but in my opinion, life isn't always so simple or black and white.
In the meantime, I'll be patiently awaiting the not-so-helpful "it's still your fault" and "if you didn't want problems you should have left it alone" flames that I'm sure will come.
