I ordered a 6-point cage in the beginning of February from Heigo in Germany. Promised delivery time was 6-8 weeks. Mid March they said that it will be ready Mid April. Mid April arrived and I got no answer to my inquiries over e-mail, so on 20th of April I called them. "Ze cage vill be redy for shipping in zwo veeks." That is the first week of May, 12 weeks after the order!!
The delivery with a truck will take at least a week and the car should have been ready on the 15th of May, because our club has a two day track event (totally a 5 day trip, missus would have come along) in the neighbouring country. I had paid the event, ferries, hotels, track fees etc.
On Monday morning 14th of May I called them again and asked where's my cage. "It iz now in powderkoating." was the answer. So the claim on 20th of April that I was told it would be ready for shipping in two weeks now turned out to be an outright lie! I asked again when it would be ready for shipping and the anwer was that they will call me later (or send an e-mail). No reply ever come.
On Tuesday the 15th of May the company I bought the cage from (actually acted as an arranger) sent this message to Heigo:


Heigo Autotechnik GmbH
Ringstr. 5
97 270 Kist
Germany
Ref. 09.02.2012
AUFTRGS-NR xxxx KUNDEN-NR xxxx


Dear Sir,
I ordered a

-516.050-1 Porsche 996 inkl. Querstrebe Armaturenbrett inkl. Flankenschutz inkl. Tunnelstützen inkl. Diagonale mit Gabelkopfbef.
-600.034 Pulverbeschichtung Käfig in RAL-Farben
-600.036 Gurtrohr demontierbar
-ZGEL ONS/DMSB Zertifikat mit Lochstempel und Unterschrift

with order number 09.02.2012 / AUFTRGS-NR xxxx KUNDEN-NR xxxx
My order was confirmed on 09.02.2012.
It was agreed that the product be delivered in 6 to 8 weeks, however I and thus my customer have not received the product up to this date.
I therefore request that you ship the product latest on the 18th of May 2012 with a proof of shipment, either a tracking number or a copy of shipping documents.

Should you fail to deliver the product by that date I will exercise my right to cancel the agreement and will demand the full reimbursement of the purchase price of xxxx,xx eur to the following account....

As you already have guessed, no answer has arrived...
On 22nd of May I called them and asked why I or the company that delivered my order had not got any info about whereabouts of my cage I was told that "It vill be shipped tomorrow". And documents will be e-mailed to me.
As you already have guessed, no e-mail has arrived... This weekend I will again miss another track event because of their questionable business ethics.

So, if you don't want to be treated like dirt, do not buy anything from Heigo. Neither directly nor via their dealers...at least FVD and Cargraphic in Europe.

 

I assume you used a credit card? Just charge it back. If you sent cash that may be a big Problem.

 

Unfortunately it was paid by bank transfer...

Below are the comments what I've gathered during the weekend. Poor communications and very long delivery times seem to be modus operandi for Heigo. I would have liked to know this before I ordered mine, but no-one has made the issue public. I can assure that I did some googling in various forums but found nothing. Some have wondered why I've come public with this, but the reason is above. To let know potential byuers what they are going to face if they order their cage directly from Heigo.
The cage will eventually arrive, but do neither expect that within promised delivery time nor any information from the company.


"I waited for mine over 3 months" -Customer in Finland

"I growed up 10kilometers from the heigo "headquarter" and bought a cage for my first car there. It was also a drama, althought i did the whole communication face-to-face... " -Customer in Germany

"Ah.. don't get me started with Heigo's communication skills via Cargraphic or directly.. My cage (a custom front section) is arriving mid next week . FWIW I ordered it 9 weeks ago" -Customer in USA

"it is not a secret, that heigo needs a lot of time for producing and delivery. I waited nearly 7 months on my cage for a porsche 964.
the answer that I get was: if you dislike our deliverytime, we understand your cancelling."
-Customer in Germany

To be honest one positive comment has also arrived:

"I actually bought a Heigo cage from FVD some 8 months ago and got it within 4 weeks."
-Customer in USA

 

The saga continues, today the company who arranged the order recieved this message:

Hello,

can we send the cage to ***** ****** or to ****** Racing?

Best regards
Gudrun Heilmann

So on last Tuesday (a week ago) I was lied to again, Frau Heilmann told me then that it will be shipped the next day. And the shipping address is written to order and agreed on the phone last week.

BTW, One Canadian customer wrote:
I ordered a roll bar from Heigo in the fall of 2011, took close to 14 weeks to arrive. Email communication was good, shipping was fast once the piece was made. I dealt directly with Heigo, not FVD. I was warned by others their timeliness was poor, and even poorer once the motorsport season starts in Germany.

 

Why go that far away for something you can buy or get built right in the USA?

There are enough good custom shops in this country that if you dream it someone can build it.

 

Did it occur to you that he might not be living in North America?

 

I did wonder if that was his case, but his english is fairly good, syntax and sentence structure is better then many of the EHmericans that post on here.

Either way there are numerous good shops all over europe too, but all to often you never know the good from the bad till you have direct experience with them.

 

Pete - sorry to hear about your troubles. Thanks for posting up and warning others.

bob

 

Yeah, that's very unfortunate. A lot of these business charges an exorbitant amount of money and then fail to deliver their promises. It's far too common for aftermarket automotive parts, but it doesn't make it right though.

 

Probably any number of good fabricators in any country or large city. I would want to supervise the application If I were doing it. If I can't see them, I don't trust them with my money.

 

I just got a call from transport company. 51kgs of something (like a cage) will be delivered tomorrow.
Also my new seats will be delivered tomorrow afternoon.
I'll post pics when I return from summer cottage...vacation...

 

Wow. Thanks for posting.

I don't get why they're not more on top of things. Not only are they German, but also OEM for some Porsche cages.

 

shame that you have had such a bad experience.

I had Heigo make me custom cage for my 997, which is a combination between the DAS (front feet) and OEM cage, except reduced height as I have a sunroof.

I dealt with Heigo directly, with Gunter. They made it and freighted to Dubai according to agreed timelines. Good quality, great fit and no rattles or squeaks.

FYI: take a look at any spy shots of Porsche prototypes and you will always spot the heigo cages. Good enough for Porsche, good enough for me.

PM me and I will give you Gunter's direct details

 

my bet is Finland

 

Pics with cage installed here:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ml#post3573672