Xcal 1 Going Offline Discussion

[genebaby]

Is there anyone from NZ that has had their tuning ability stolen by SCT? Doing some more research I discovered that in NZ there seems to be a regulatory body that actually will prosecute companies found to have broken the Fair Trading Act over there.

This is something Australia is looking into from a discussion paper I found, which led me to look for this regulatory body in NZ. Can someone from NZ make a complaint on our behalf from over there?

It can be difficult to get people who aren't into cars to understand the situation. The example of where you bought an internet enabled fridge and the company who made it were able to disable it's cooling abilities overnight and then demand that if you want to keep your foodstuff cold you would need to buy their new fridge.

Basic similarities to our case is there, ie we are told the box still works, you can flash the tunes stored in it to your car, but we can't actually do new tunes like we we could when we purchased. The fridge company can say that you can use the fridge to store your food, but you can't keep it cold like you could when purchased.

This is a way to hopefully make everyone understand what's been stolen. In our case, tuning ability (from a flash tuner no less) and it the fridge case, cooling ability. One day we had them, then we didn't.

Our situation with losing tuning ability is a little more diabolical than the fridge scenario as there is we are MUCH more limited in our choices of tuning, while you have a large variety of fridges so are easily able to change companies should you wish.

Anyway, here's the link: Enforcement of the Fair Trading Act | Commerce Commission

I hope/think this is the one mentioned in the discussion paper, can someone check it out please? Thanks.

[MRO]

I am not sure your fridge example works.

I liken it to buying a software package like Microsoft Excel. YOu can use it to produce your own spreadsheets until one day the retailer shuts down your software so you can keep using it but only to look at what you have created already but not to create any further spreadsheets. Ie - 95% useless. Still stores what you have done but no longer functional for the purpose you bought it and it was advertised as.

I wish you the best in your efforts - I have already forked out the $500 changeover after cash back just to increase my idle by 200rpm.

[ratter]

or the fridge will still continue to keep your food cold/fresh, you just can not add anymore food to it

[genebaby]

I thought about adding something to mention scenario's where people are confused about what supporting a "computer product" entails.

What you are thinking of doesn't happen. You can always use your old software as intended, on suitable pc's, which usually means from back in the day. No longer supporting something does not constitute making it useless for it's intended purpose, and thus worthless.

To reiterate, nobody shuts off software or products, it doesn't happen, it's illegal as you are taking away (stealing) something from someone who paid money for it. Old software becomes "abandon ware" and people are free to do what they want with it as it has no commercial value. No longer supporting the X1 would lead to scenarios like you can't tune an FG or FH, FK, or whatever, and no ZF support. This is totally understandable. Reading posts elsewhere about how it's ok to shut down the X1 as a trade off for the still unseen ZF tuning is quite nasty. Those with ZF's deciding that manual and 4spd owners are ok to be bent over is quite appalling. This is not everyone mind you but I saw it explained that way.

Looking back, when the X1 was first shut off and took everyone by surprise, a lot of tuners were holding stock which became useless overnight. The (unsupported by SCT, as they never agreed to this) statement that X1 was being switched back on forever allowed the remaining stock to be sold to unsuspecting people, and this is still occurring today of course via Ebay and the like.

[genebaby]

  On 19/10/2010 at 10:45 AM, ratter said:

or the fridge will still continue to keep your food cold/fresh, you just can not add anymore food to it

That's actually another way of looking at it. That works for me.

Of course the food stuck in the fridge will eventually go quite nasty where the tunes won't but I'm splitting hairs. The fridge is now useless either way. I know my X1 is to me as I've never used it other than to have the car re-tuned. I always run the performance tune, have never needed or desired to use any of the others.

[genebaby]

Nobody around from NZ? Righto then.

Bear with me, there is some stuff happening in the background, and I have another query of you fine folk.

Another reason SCT hate the X1 boxes they dumped on us in 2005 is that they were having a very hard time with warranty repairs. This is probably due to them being out of date already by the time we got them. Of course technology moves along and usually when something dies within warranty the company involved sucks it up and delivers the client the newer version once they stop making something. Ie, hard drives. If your new 2TB drive dies in 2 years 9 months, chances are they won't have any 2TB to replace it with. Will they cry? No, you'll get a 3 or 4TB unit as replacement. Happens all the time.

What I'm getting at is that with these units being sold again up until the second shut down in June, and I'm assuming these only have a 1 year warranty, then owners who purchased after June 2009 had their sales contract broken by the manufacturer who ended the life of the product prematurely. Does that sound about right?

People clearly bought these because the information was that tuning was back on for good, thus buying an X1 was perceived as a safe purchasing decision and it was cheaper to boot. So if you had a manual or 4A car, or didn't care about the remote possibility of ZF tuning, you bought the X1 as it fit your needs. For some of you the end came within the warranty period even.

Anybody here buy one after June 2009?

[nathen]

  On 14/10/2010 at 11:29 AM, genebaby said:

I have it in an email from the Forums, by the time I clicked the link the whole thread had gone. Most likely due to the veiled threats contained within the post.

He did not like me saying simple stuff like if the box can be had for $350 cost, why can't I buy one at $400, I'll take some of that action selling them for a lot more.

The info on cost price was in the thread from another source, gave me a right shock. He rang me twice at 10pm (harassment?), had to put my phone on silent, and now he is going to track me down and take legal action. That's excellent, we need legal action on this matter.

The story on that box being sold for $350 is a tuning shop told someone they could tune his car with the Xcal1 even though they knew they couldn't and tried to sting him for $795 when the time came to do it. This was not met with a happy response and after much too-ing and fro-ing with the distributor it was agreed he could have a box at cost. $350.

I am hoping to get some good advice on Monday, if there are some costs involved is anybody interested/willing in helping out? The more the merrier I'm sure.

Edit: What do you mean by I'll need a point of contact?

pm me mate im interested.I also have all the post from sct in regards to a 6 speed tune...that was promised months ago now

[Buf-Phoon]

it still remains 2 weeks

[nathen]

  On 15/10/2010 at 11:58 PM, genebaby said:

Wow, this box doesn't support ZF so we are going to kill it? Really? So the people with manuals, 4spds or for those that just don't care about doing anything to their ZF cause it is already good, what then?

That is just a line, nothing more. The real reasons, and I'm sure I read this somewhere as well, but it was told to me by a VERY reliable source, is that because the X1 box has security flaws some "people" have been able to use it in a way SCT did not intend. This isn't me or probably anyone on here, we just bought them for our one car.

Anyway, the way SCT decided to STOP "certain people" from doing what they were doing was to STOP EVERYONE from using this box. This is akin to MS deciding that because piracy in China is so bad that they will nullify everyone's current Windows licence around the world and the fix is to buy the latest Windows that they feel does not have the same flaws.

The thing to remember is that MS can't make you take that update if you know it's coming, but SCT put in a plan to have tuners register with them on a fairly frequent basis just to keep their tuning business going. This way you will get any update they want to give you wether you like it or not. This was obviously put into place to bring about the demise of the X1, which are still selling on Ebay as an awesome tuning tool mind you. It can also bring about the demise of the X2 and X3 in the future, should they feel like it.

So we all pay for the sins of a few. Who do you blame? Certainly the people doing the wrong thing have a part in this, but the heavy handed, blunt fisted way SCT have 'fixed" the hole makes them the most guilty in this scenario of taking something away from me that I used to have.

I can't beleive they posted on here finally after staying quiet for so long. Nothing to say about how they stole from us all like others have stolen from them? I and a lot of others want my tuning rights back please SCT.

That they are still for sale on Ebay to unsuspecting customers proves this has not been done correctly at all, it's dodgy to the max.

that's THE SAME SPIN HERROD GAVE ME IN 2 PHONE CALLS!!!!

A LOAD OF sh*t!!!!.

I have a ba 4 speed I dont need the xcal3.

I also believe the tuners had information 1 or 2 months before sct locked us out

[nathen]

  On 15/10/2010 at 5:56 AM, ratter said:

Please feel free to show me the link that anybody from Herrod Motorsport has said ZF tuning was 2 weeks away.

It may have been said by them, but I can't recall hearing any release date.

A previous distributor may have said it was 2 weeks away possibly 2 years ago and I know a lot of people keep refering back to that comment

the other forum!!! AND IT WAS CHARLIE FROM SCT !!!!!