Do not ever EVER forget to unpair your Tazer, you WILL pay

[jeepdriver99]

well, clearly there's a lot of folks defending Zauto's policy. That's cool. But they won't see another dime from me. Yes, I can spare much more than $50, but apparently I have different lines in the sand than most of you do. Based on the responses here, I'd say that ZAuto did a good job of determining what customers would tolerate if they made such a mistake - kudos to them. I just don't happen to be one of them that will put up with being bent over. It's all about choices, I guess. I made mine. In the end, this post should serve as a warning to others.

I feel for ya kogar. And I understand your point.

I would probably think of it a little different. If was impressed with the Tazer and wanted to keep it, I'd pay the $50 since the mistake was mine. I'd be ticked but it beats spending hundreds more for a different programmer.

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[MarkY3130]

I found somewhere where a person went through different T&C's for various programmers and listed out the 'unlock fees.' The information is from April of 2017 but is still relevant.

From their website:

Every tuner manufacturer makes their tuners lock to your car or truck in order to prevent you from being able to use one tuner on many vehicles; it's their way of making sure they get paid for every vehicle out there with their tuning on it. Basically, when you program your vehicle the tuner will read your VIN number and store that number inside of it. As long as that vehicle has the performance tuning on it, the programmer will only work on that vehicle; if you try to program another vehicle you will get some sort of error message and programming will not be possible. Once a tuner is used to install performance tuning on a vehicle, that tuner becomes 'VIN locked' or 'married' to that vehicle. However, once the original vehicle is returned to factory settings using the tuner, the programmer “unlocks” or “unmarries” itself from the original vehicle and now becomes ready to be used on another vehicle and will function exactly the same as a brand new tuner.

• Hypertech Power Programmer – Hypertech no longer supports these and will not unlock them.
• Hypertech Max Energy – Hypertech will unlock these for a $200 fee.
• Diablosport Predator (versions 1.xx & 2.xx) – These are the original Predators and there really aren’t a lot of them around. Some that come to mind that we see in these old versions are U7198, U7192, U7193, U7195, U7185, and U7180. Of course, these also come in the newer versions as well, it just depends on when yours was manufactured. In order to have these unlocked, Diablosport requires you to mail these in for a $100 hardware upgrade fee to be changed over to the new version and they will charge a $50 unlock fee on top of that. In addition, you’re going to need to cover two way shipping charges and you’re going to need to wait 6-8 weeks. So in total, you’ll be looking at around $180.
• Diablosport Predator (versions 8rxx, 9rxx) – These are the newer version Predators and Diablosport can unlock these over the phone for a $129 fee. You need to have the Predator powered up, they’ll have you go into a secret menu that displays a keycode. Using that keycode, they will provide you with a password which is a specific key sequence to gain entrance to the Expert Menu. Once in there, you select “Expert Registry Reset” and the programmer will unlock itself.
• Diablosport inTune – Similar to the newer version Predators, Diablosport will unlock these over the phone, except that the fee is increased to $159.
• Diablosport Trinity – These are unlocked the same way as the newer Predators and the inTune, over the phone. However, the fee on these jumps up to $179.
• Superchips Flashpaq and Superchips Cortex – These can be unlocked using Superchips Spark or Superchips Ignition software for a fee of $100. Simply follow the update process and once complete you will see a screen with the option to purchase a VIN Unlock. Fill in your payment information and complete the order. Then close the program, unplug the programmer, open the update program back up, and reconnect the programmer. The program will go through a quick unlocking process.

https://powerfulguitar.netlify.app/crack/superchips-vin-locked-hack-free-software-and-shareware.html

Appears $50 is below market.

 

[werewolf4805]

Cobb charges $150 plus shipping to unlock an Accessport. Not that it lessens your sting but I do agree with Z Auto. They spent the money to research and develop, they have to protect their product.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

I found somewhere where a person went through different T&C's for various programmers and listed out the 'unlock fees.' The information is from April of 2017 but is still relevant.

From their website:

Every tuner manufacturer makes their tuners lock to your car or truck in order to prevent you from being able to use one tuner on many vehicles; it's their way of making sure they get paid for every vehicle out there with their tuning on it. Basically, when you program your vehicle the tuner will read your VIN number and store that number inside of it. As long as that vehicle has the performance tuning on it, the programmer will only work on that vehicle; if you try to program another vehicle you will get some sort of error message and programming will not be possible. Once a tuner is used to install performance tuning on a vehicle, that tuner becomes 'VIN locked' or 'married' to that vehicle. However, once the original vehicle is returned to factory settings using the tuner, the programmer “unlocks” or “unmarries” itself from the original vehicle and now becomes ready to be used on another vehicle and will function exactly the same as a brand new tuner.

• Hypertech Power Programmer – Hypertech no longer supports these and will not unlock them.
• Hypertech Max Energy – Hypertech will unlock these for a $200 fee.
• Diablosport Predator (versions 1.xx & 2.xx) – These are the original Predators and there really aren’t a lot of them around. Some that come to mind that we see in these old versions are U7198, U7192, U7193, U7195, U7185, and U7180. Of course, these also come in the newer versions as well, it just depends on when yours was manufactured. In order to have these unlocked, Diablosport requires you to mail these in for a $100 hardware upgrade fee to be changed over to the new version and they will charge a $50 unlock fee on top of that. In addition, you’re going to need to cover two way shipping charges and you’re going to need to wait 6-8 weeks. So in total, you’ll be looking at around $180.
• Diablosport Predator (versions 8rxx, 9rxx) – These are the newer version Predators and Diablosport can unlock these over the phone for a $129 fee. You need to have the Predator powered up, they’ll have you go into a secret menu that displays a keycode. Using that keycode, they will provide you with a password which is a specific key sequence to gain entrance to the Expert Menu. Once in there, you select “Expert Registry Reset” and the programmer will unlock itself.
• Diablosport inTune – Similar to the newer version Predators, Diablosport will unlock these over the phone, except that the fee is increased to $159.
• Diablosport Trinity – These are unlocked the same way as the newer Predators and the inTune, over the phone. However, the fee on these jumps up to $179.
• Superchips Flashpaq and Superchips Cortex – These can be unlocked using Superchips Spark or Superchips Ignition software for a fee of $100. Simply follow the update process and once complete you will see a screen with the option to purchase a VIN Unlock. Fill in your payment information and complete the order. Then close the program, unplug the programmer, open the update program back up, and reconnect the programmer. The program will go through a quick unlocking process.

https://powerfulguitar.netlify.app/crack/superchips-vin-locked-hack-free-software-and-shareware.html

Appears $50 is below market.

EVERY company charges a fee for this, some more than others. Perhaps OP didn’t read up before purchasing his Tazer and understand the way it works, or maybe he was aware and thought his situation was somehow worthy of special consideration. Either way, he’s feeling some kind of way about it and is pissed enough that he’s not going to pay the $50 and has a worthless Tazer to show them a Z Automotive how he feels about it.

Hey, @kogar I’ll give you $50 for it since you’re done with it and with them. That way you can at least recoup some of your sunk costs. Let me know.

 

[YippieKiYayMrFalcon]

I mean, the dealer handed you the tazer, and it didn't cross your mind? That and Tazer states this cost up front. Sorry dude, I think this one is on you. I'm actually surprised it's only $50. And yes, throwing away $50 sucks, but it's cheaper than any other programmer will cost anyway.

As others have said, my opinion is to learn from it and move on.

 

[Stickman3]

I wonder what kind of issues this causes for the next owner of the traded in Jeep?

LOts and lots of troubles...I just purchased my jeep...Had some issues took it to dealer and they ask me to come look what they found..A powertec harness..I say i have no idea what that is..apparently part of a flash cal, programmer i did not get with vehicle..Dealer wanted to void warranty and had to get a dealer rep to hack into the powertec because it was locked and they basically had to reprogram the whole computer again... just saying

 

[wibornz]

LOts and lots of troubles...I just purchased my jeep...Had some issues took it to dealer and they ask me to come look what they found..A powertec harness..I say i have no idea what that is..apparently part of a flash cal, programmer i did not get with vehicle..Dealer wanted to void warranty and had to get a dealer rep to hack into the powertec because it was locked and they basically had to reprogram the whole computer again... just saying

Well that is fucked up. Not that I plan on buying a different Jeep right know, but in the future, I will look before I buy.

 

[Goin2drt]

Protecting a business model is about protecting against fraud and abuse of a product, service, or feature. I'm doing none of those. This is just punishing a customer for a simple, and extremely rare, mistake. You're welcome to disagree with me, but as somebody who has run (and sold off) a successful business, that's NOT how you maintain customer satisfaction.

Couldn’t agree with you more and bad business decision by Tazer. It is a one off and most important you have all the documentation so it is nothing like what people are saying about sharing or stealing or making up a sob story. The guy was all the documents. Give him the stupid code and move on. There aren’t that many people calling to do the same that would have all the documentation showing he traded in the Jeep with names, vin numbers etc. They aren’t gaining anything other than gouging another $50 for an already overpriced accessory.

 

[kogar]

For those that care, there's a happy ending to this story, kind of. I managed to talk to my dealer friend who sold my EcoDiesel Rubi - he tracked my old jeep and got permission for me to visit the lot it was on and unmarry the wrangler. We got in just under the wire, because they were about to start the resale detailing on it, after which crawling in and futzing with connections under the dash would have been a no-no. I was able to unmarry the Tazer JL unit and now have a perfectly usable Tazer that is ready for another jeep.

Just... not mine.

While I understand the points some people have made, Zauto did a horrible disservice to me by not even bothering to take an understanding approach to the predicament I was in. Screw 'em. I'm selling it and they've permanently lost a customer (plus the word of mouth that I will have no hesitation giving to others).

I'm done with this thread now

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

So you went back and did what you screwed up and should have done in the first place and it all worked out well. Hooray! I’m glad it worked out like it should. I love a happy ending.

 

[Dkretden]

If I lose the keys to my car: “$500, please”
If I lose the keys to my house: “new lock, $50 please”
If I loose my drivers license: “$xx, please”
If I lose my wheel lock key: $30, please”
I want to change my pre-COVID airline flight: “$75, please”

shame on Tazer for asking for $50. I mean, nobody else does, right?

OP: you made a mistake. $50 is not a big deal. Actually, I am surprised Tazer just didn’t require you to get a new one. $50 seems fine and reasonable to me.

 

[Hootbro]

ZAutomotive will not miss your business.

 

[rlong69]

I can never get back the time I just lost reading this nonsense. Wow.

 

[mgroeger]

Great example of not "doing the right thing" for a customer from the ZAutomotive people.

I was phoned by a dealer that a custom EcoDiesel JL came in and he was calling down the list of people that said they wanted one. Basically, it was "Do you want it or do I call the next person?" Hell yes I wanted it. Wasn't really ready, because I was pretty happy with my '18 JL, but I always wanted an EcoDiesel. So, down to the dealer I go...test drove it, loved it, agreed to start the sales process. Oh, what miserable fun that is...haggle on trade-in, haggle on price, haggle on financing. It's exhausting. But we came to an agreement and ink was signed. Then they started pulling off my mods from my '18 to put on my new '20. Awesome.

They hand me my little Tazer JL and a few other small pieces pulled form the interior and I drive my shiny new Jeep home.

Aw, crud, forgot to "unpair" the Tazer. No worries, sent a note to Zautomotive support outlining the situation.

"No problem," they say, "just send $50 and we will send you an unmarry key."

I blink twice while reading the email from "Samantha," puzzled that the company I handed $350 to would see this as an opportunity to extort more money. I explain the situation again, indicating that this isn't a transfer to a different owner, and offer to show the paperwork that I, the Tazer owner, traded in my 18 JL for a '20.

"It's your fault you forgot to unpair, so now pay us $50,"

Let me tell you, I'm 100% certain that $50 is going to somebody else. I'm done with them. I don't care how "good" this product has been for the last two years. They're not getting another damn dime from me. I'll even hand money to a flippin Jeep dealer to reprogram for my 35s.

/RantOver

Funny... just email exchanged with Samantha this AM over a different topic and she didn't really seem to be "in the know" over there. Ask for Ian and see if you can get some help from him. One thing that REALLY sucks about them is they will not do phone calls, don't even have a phone number, it's all via email. Try to get a hold of Ian.

 

[kogar]

ZAutomotive will not miss your business.

Are you officially speaking for Zauto, or just generally being a jerk? I had a legitimate complaint.

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