United Plating in CA - **DO NOT USE**

I'm posting this in hopes of saving anyone the grief I had to go through.

I'm not going to make it a "drama post", just the facts. I tried to research this company before I attempted to do business with them and found nothing online, either good or bad, so I figured I would go with them based on their friendly demeanor ... BIG MISTAKE.

I purchased a bumper from United Plating at the Daytona Beach Rod Run last November. Juan, the owner, was very nice and the price & quality were good. I asked if his company chromed other parts and was told that they do. He said he travels all over the country to swap meets and car shows selling chromed parts and taking orders. I took a card from him with this info on it:

United Plating
626-363-5145
email : unitedplating@gmail.com
Juan De La Cruz T.

17128 Colima Road, Suite 410
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

I called the number on the card on February 2nd and spoke to David. He was very polite and said that Juan was delivering parts to a show in Georgia and that he could come by my house to give me a quote and pick up the parts on February 6th.

I told a friend what was going on and he said he would bring several parts over also. Together we had 41 parts to be chromed and 5 parts to be nickle plated. (including big ticket items such as bumpers, taillight housing, grills, valve covers, etc... basically no small deal at all!) Juan looked at all the parts and quoted us a price with a guaranteed delivery date of March 23rd.

On March 13th I called to confirm the delivery date as I had received NO communication from the company. I left a message as no one answered the phone.

Before I go any further, I must explain that ALL messages I left were very nice in tone and wording as I was worried about getting my parts back. I never placed blame and always tried to direct my messages as "my message may have been misplaced" or "possibly someone forgot to call me back". Everyone has heard horror stories of thieves associated with out-of-state work, but surely this couldn't happen to me, and they seemed so nice...

I called everyday then on the 17th David answered the phone and said the parts were not going to be delivered and they would deliver them the in about 3 weeks. Ok, I can deal with that, but I have a show I have to go to. So, I ask if my windshield posts are finished, he says yes. Can you ship them to me? Sure he says (but in a very crappy way). I said I have to get them by April 16th. And he was nasty with me again then hung up. Not good... and they never arrived.

Basically it comes down to over 42 messages later, missing 3 big shows, 3 nasty responses when I actually do get David on the phone, and all I have is a partial shipment of driver quality chrome.

Diggin deep into the situation I find out that Davids last name is Tremino. I Google this info and immediately come up with fraud and scam alerts. Also, many other posts on Nova, Chevelle and truck forums saying to stay away from Juan Tremino and David Tremino. Also, neither man has anything in his name! No car, no house, no cell phone, nothing! They are pros at this and know that a customer can not come after them or sue them if they have nothing in their names.

Here is a link to one of the ripoff reports filed :
http://www.ripoffreport.com/auto-parts/juan-j-tremino/juan-j-tremino-chromeinfo1-chr-ba2b3.htm

Here is a link to only one of the forum threads that I found : http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42175


It seems they have had at least 3 other business names over the last 4 years dealing with chroming and this is the typical deal with them. They are real nice until they get your parts and/or money, then lie to you, treat you like crap and talk down to you constantly with plenty of cussing included.

I found the fictitious address listed on their business card is actually a UPS store in Hacienda Heights, CA... not a chrome shop and that several other people have tried to go get their parts and could not find the physical address of the chrome shop nor get their parts back as David Tremino simply WILL NOT call anyone back nor refund any money.

Basically I just started leaving messages begging to have my parts shipped back to me, finished or not. The replacement prices of hard-to-find parts versus the possibility of never seeing them again had me scared, to say the least.

So, after 4 months, over 50 calls and A LOT of stress some parts came back to me just in copper (but bubbling up), some came back exactly as it had left (no work done at all), and other parts came back broken (potmetal), and others are chromed (driver quality) and my wallet is quite a bit thinner too.

Sorry for the long post, but I KNOW if I had read this 4 months ago there is NO WAY I would have risked my parts and money with them!!!

With all that said, I hope I steered someone clear of these con artists.

Can anyone tell me the name of a REPUTABLE chrome shop near Florida? It's going to be difficult sending my parts to some place that is not within driving distance.

Annnnd... please read my signature line... I need to find some parts now that have returned to me broken beyond repair.

Thanks and good luck guys!

 

FUNNY THING..i just finish talking to them about chroming my bumpers for my shoebox..they seem like really nice people..i might still deal with since they are local but with some caution..

 

"might still deal with them because they're local" ?????


Curious to know why you think they are "local" to you ... apparently their address has been misrepresented on their business card.

Wow ... you ask for opinions, you hear they are shit to deal with and you still might use them (?????) Why did you even bother asking about them? (I can't help but wonder if you even read the other post and the links within that post).

 

Seriously?? After this post, you still want to deal with them? Wow!

 

sucks to hear this. makes me wonder if the bumper you bought in daytona was actually someone elses that they "ended up with". i use a shop thats close by and theyve been there about 25 years. the quality has changed over the years due only to EPA rules. good luck with getting all your parts and then chroming them.

 

"I found the fictitious address listed on their business card is actually a UPS store in Hacienda Heights, CA"


Someone that knows what they look like could send something (dog turd in a box) to that UPS store and then follow them to a real address and go from there...

 

Tell them you'll drop the bumpers off at their chrome shop and find out where it is.....they probably have LOTS of stuff for sale, huh?

 

I have actually done what 123 says in the above post. Sent a heavy box (old head bolts) to the scammers "suite number" and then made a couple of tuna sandwiches, grabbed some potato chips and diet coke....and "staked out" the place. You have to know what they look like and it helps to have a good set of binoculars to make sure they're access the box number they claim as their suite. Then I just followed him back to his manufactured home and climbed out of my car as he was climbing out of his. I'm not the biggest guy in the world, but I have some skills, and I talk an even better game...he went into the house and retrieved the money I had paid him six months prior at a swap meet.

 

yea i know...it sounds very stupid..the only reason i might still deal with them is because they have a set of bumpers that are already chrome and for a fair price..

 

theres a shop in Monrovia Ca on Myrtle ave (Adrians?) that does the same thing.. i got my bumpers from them the same way... exchanged mine for a set already done. Same goes for my grill. they are at the Pomona swapmeet all the time.. ive been happy with them.. also had some bumpers done at Superior Plating in Pomona $250 each, turned out great.. good luck..

 

.... wonder who really owns those bumpers though

 

nailheadroadster you might want to try Chromepplaterjosh here on the HAMB - he's in Indiana but everything I hear about him is good and he is very knowledgeable.

 

where in my post did i ask for opinions or asked about them??

 

right on borntoloze.....
ever wonder WHY they go clear to Florida from LA to sell their stuff?....pissed every one off in their own town they stole from,I suppose...

 

I have an idea.
call the cops,explain them the situation.
tell the scammers to bring the bumpers to a certain location(not your house),tell the scammers you will bring the money and the other bumpers for trade and when they show up,take the bumpers and have the cops arrest them.print some of these threads tho.
That way you get free bumpers ad you help the community.

 

im suppose to take a trip down to their "shop" during the week..will see what happens..

 

RG49MERC .... you are confusing me too. You first claim you might have them chrome YOUR bumpers ... now you say THEY have some already chromed ...


Hey, it's your money, you (apparently) read the other post ... do what you gotta do.


You are correct though, you did not ask for opinions. There is another post on here right now asking for opinions on this shop and I assumed it was you that was doing the asking. Sorry, got a bit confused.

 

sorry for making it confusing..yes i was talking to them about chroming MY bumpers but they said they already have a set that are chrome and will take mine as cores..thats the only reason i was thinking of dealing with them..

 

ill X2 with badluck. superior is around the corner and they do most of the chrome in the area. (even the small middlemen will use superior for their stuff)

 

Well... I gotta say, I didn't expect this thread to go this way. Weird take on the situation there RG49MERC, I hope those bumpers look great on your car.

 

This is the HAMB, you're gonna get both wether you like it or not.

 

If someone steals another guys parts then insults him when confronted they are a fucking scumbag.

If someone gives money to a fucking scumbag and may knowingly end up with stolen parts then they are a fucking scumbag.

DON'T BE A FUCKING SCUMBAG!

There are plenty of platers with good reputations nation wide that do everything in house (in America!) and do a great job. If it takes longer to save the money to have it done at one of these shops so be it, at least you will have that much more pride in your ride.
Just bite the bullet and spend a little more money to have your work done by someone that isn't a fucking scumbag!

 

WARNING! This sounds like another "shop" run by a scamming a-hole that a buddy of mine found. The guy came to his house with two early Chevy II bumpers to trade. Deal went well and he turned me on to him. Long story short, I was very lucky. It took me 6 months and too many calls to count to finally get my stuff back. PO box address in Hacienda heights. Do not do business with a shop you cant see. Ask me how I know! Too many reputable shops out there to do business with. Their price was even more than El Monte Plating would have charged. El Monte Plating for instance has been there a very long time, have a good rep, a shop you can walk into, and an actual phone #. Great Guys to deal with.
I googled the name of the PO box business AFTER THE FACT and found all kinds of scorned customers from the HAMB and many car clubs.

 

The "ALREADY CHROMED" bumpers probably belong to some other poor guy who got ripped off by these "nice" guys. If any one continues to deal with these fraud artists, you're just perpetuating their "legit business" ability to continue to rip off honest people! Go out and support a real chrome shop with a real owner, real staff, real overhead, real chrome with real dollars for a "real price". Never mind that you are getting a "REAL DEAL!"

 

Well put!!!

 

I think I know who your talking about, they go by different names and are always at the local Pomona swap meet, they have a bad reputation. After seeing the scumbags and there beat up "chop troke" they were driving in person it doesn't really surprise me. I just can't believe they can still get away with this..

 

So Bumper Boyz have a new business name?

 

yeah, me too, i would think theres plenty of guys that would get after them w/ dogs and fat chains, never mind sueing them.

 

I am curious if this is the same as "JT's Classic Chrome"? Juan was the guy's name I dealt with 10 years ago - took about 3x longer than promised and the parts I got back were not the same parts I gave to him. All the same - the parts were well done and the price was reasonable.

We gave him the parts at the Portland Swap Meet and picked them up from him in a parking lot out of the back of his car 6 months later.

My luck with Superior Chrome Plating in Houston was worse - destroyed 3 1940 chevy pickup grilles and crowns by packing them in un-reinforced cardboard boxes - after I had shipped them in a purpose built crate that I requested that they use to ship the finished grilles back to me in . . . and charged me for the privilege. They arrived at my home crushed flat.

Is www.justchromeit.com the same outfit?

 

I want to thank 123 so I didn't have to type that . and now hitman posts my second thought on these guys sounds like bumper boyz.