sPOD : Honesty, Integrity and the Lack Thereof

[wayoflife]

Every now and then, I get people asking me for my opinion regarding sPOD and, while I would be the first to say that they may infact make a good product, I personally would never buy one. Why you might ask? Because things like honesty and integrity are things that are still important to me and they have none. Back when I still owned JK-Forum, I caught the owner of sPOD, John Angelastro, pimping his product undercover by pretending to be a regular member using the alias Rubirock and JK_Girl. The FACTS listed below are just a few of my favorite highlights that helped us to uncover his shady business tactics and, as you will see, many of the posts in question were made by Rubirock and JK_Girl who supposedly lived in Jackson Hole, WY. Of course, I say supposedly because a simple IP check proved that hers was an exact match with sPOD and he is located in Valencia, CA

FACT 1
The member Rubirock joined JK-Forum.com on 07-04-2007.
e-mail address: john@angelastro.com
Location: Not Specified
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

FACT 2
Between the dates 10-16-2007 and 12-31-2008, the following posts were made by the member Rubirock. As you will see, every single post he made was made specifically in regards to sPOD and while pretending to just be a regular member.

07-06-2007 10:10 PM - The member Rubirock made his very first post in a thread a member started regarding rocker switchs for flood lights and, it was simply to post up half a dozen images including one that was a promotial flyer for the sPOD:

another option

10-16-2007 07:51 PM - This was a response made in regards to questions being made about the sPOD:

The Source that sPOD sells comes with all the relays, fuses and circuit breaker with the kit.
You really should not run a load on the switches at all because of the risk of melting wires behind the dash.
Below is the JK Source set-up:

11-07-2007 08:42 PM - Responding to questions about the construction of the sPOD:

The black powder coat matches the interior trim. No plastic used.



The power ditribution unit mounts under the hood.

11-26-2007 05:18 PM - In response to a question that a member made about "cheaper alternatives to the sPOD out there" and it being "a bit much" for what they wanted, this is what Rubirock said - Please take note of the bolded text:

I am a Do-It-Yourself guy and I love fabbing up cool toys for my rig, so I started pricing out a "Do-It-Yourself" kit for me for a 6 circuit accessory switching system:

Painless Performance 6-Pack Relay Bank $241.95 (24 wires to hook up) plus many wires running to the battery and all over under my hood.
Cirkit Boss $89.95
West Marine Contura Rocker Switch, SPST Off/On $14.50 x 6 = $87.00
Miscellaneous connectors $15.00 (about 26 )
Wire $15.00 (I think I'm under on this estimate)
Wire wrapping like split-loom of about 15 feet $9.99
and so far I'm up to about $460.00 without shipping costs and time!
And then waiting for all the parts to be shipped to me. Then my driving to Radio Shack a few times ($3.22 a gallon of gas) for the connectors and wire.
I know a six circuit is a bit much, but I figured:
Air-compressor
Rear Light(s)
Rock-Lights
Offroad lights
Map lights
Under hood utility light(s)
And I know I will be adding something else down the road!

Then I saw this post and followed the link to sPOD and asked myself why the hell would I spend a good long weekend piece milling parts to build a system when this company put together a system that has just about all I needed!

I had e-mailed and asked this company if they build systems for other vehicles besides jeeps. He sent me this picture of a truck with one of their power distribution systems installed. As long as I can find a place within 36 - 70 inches of my battery and a spot to mount the bracket...it will work. (fun company to talk to)



And then I seen this post where one of the guys accessory electrics shorted out the main fuse box!
So I would say for under $500.00 bucks for a little safety goes a long way!


(Image above is of a burned and melted fuse box)

01-15-2008 07:22 PM - This post was made in response to someone commenting on other options you can do with an sPOD:

I think setting up a power receptacle (cigarette lighter type) is a great idea right off one of your sPOD's Source terminals that is controlled by a switch!
Damn....why didn't I think of that!!! Heck...you can throw a 30amp fuse in that circuit on the Source and use that receptacle for all sorts of temporary power that is switched and not tied into the OEM electrics.
Sweet!

02-14-2008 06:03 PM - In response to a thread asking about places to install switches:

Here is another place:

06-18-2008 03:58 PM - In response on how to cut down on wiring:

No matter how you look at it...lot's of wire will be involved.
Unless you went with this set-up:


Six circuits on the accessory side:


8AWG leads to the battery with a circuit breaker:


Six switches above the windshield:

06-29-2008 07:01 PM - Trying to convince a member that the sPOD is a better solution than one that was being offered by a sponsor of this forum:

I know you spoke of the existing lower dash, but above the rear view mirror gives you a little more room.
The only thing is that the sPOD is a complete switching and power distribution system.

07-13-2008 09:25 PM - Trying to convince people that the cost of an sPOD is worth it:

Just attach the E-Locker terminals to an sPOD. It comes with six relays, switches, fuses and all that you do is connect your accessories on the terminals provided for the positive and the negative and just flip the switch..that's it!
Then you won't have to worry about putting switches in your dash and running more wires through your firewall. The sPOD is $$$ but it will save you time and money later on.

07-18-2008 06:44 PM - Post made showing messy wiring and how the sPOD will clean it up:

Since you already have everything wired up, just keep it clean and add more circuit protection and upgrade the wire gauges as required.
Below is a cool link that helps explain the sPOD

[url]http://www.stu-offroad.com/electrical/spod.htm
Only two 8AWG wires go to the battery from the sPOD with a circuit breaker for protection.
It helps clean up wiring quite a bit:

Cleans up this with relays.

Below is the Source from spod on a Toyota:

FACT 3
The member JK_Girl joined JK-Forum.com on 08-25-2008
e-mail address: jangelstar@yahoo.com
Location: Jackson Hole, WO
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

FACT 4
Now, this is where things got a little strange and, what ultimately helped us to catch sPOD in the act of undercover pimping for well over year.

08-27-2008 06:08 PM - On a thread that a member made to showing off his home made alternative to the sPOD, this new member JK_Girl made her very first post which can be seen below:

Is this something I can build myself? I want to do things on my own (being a woman), but I also want a safe electrical system. Would it be worth it to me to save $150. dollars and do it the way you did.
Or would I be better off just buying the complete sPOD thing. I don't have any electrical skills...so let me know what you think. I also don't want my dealership to see something that does not look factory when I bring it in for service.

08-27-2008 09:39 PM - Within a few hours of JK_Girl making her very first post, this is what Rubirock responded with on the exact same thread with the following before DELETING it at 9:46 PM:

I guess I will need to do my homework before I start anything.
I googled off-road lights & electrical things and found this:
http://www.stu-offroad.com/electrical/spod.html

This site gave me some good insight to setting up accessories and wiring.
I will read more and then do a price breakdown to see which way to go.

08-27-2008 09:48 PM - 2 Minutes after Rubirock deleted his post, JK_Girl posted up the exact same thing that Rubirock made a few minutes before:

I guess I will need to do my homework before I start anything.
I googled off-road lights & electrical things and found this:
http://www.stu-offroad.com/electrical/spod.html

This site gave me some good insight to setting up accessories and wiring.
I will read more and then do a price breakdown to see which way to go.

09-03-2008 09:04 PM - In a thread where a member asked what vendors sell the sPOD, JK_Girl made the following her 3rd post:

I ordered my sPOD tonight. John said it should ship by Tuesday. Can't wait to get it. Just bought some rock lights, windshield lights from Lightforce and a new CB.

09-10-2008 07:25 PM - This was a post JK_Girl made in regards to a thread concerning sPOD installation:

Mine was delivered today also. I’ve been reading how easy the install is and I’m ready to try it myself. I am having fun just checking out the quality of the sPOD & Source components. The wiring harnesses looks heavy duty and I don’t have to try to wrap my wires to make them look nice.

09-10-2008 07:29 PM - Response made on the same thread 4 minutes later:

When I ordered mine I talked to John and he explaned that they are custom. Some machine that specifically wraps the harnesses. Possibly used for aerospace.

09-10-2008 07:47 PM - Response made on the same thread 18 minutes later:

I was able to save $50 by buying the lights without their Harnesses. All that is required is 2 wires running from the lights to the Source

09-10-2008 07:53 PM - Response made on the same thread 6 minutes later regarding problems you might see with the sPOD:

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I haven't seen or heard anything about that happening. I'll have to do some more research. I plan on installing mine today

09-13-2008 05:07 PM - Response made in regards to sPOD questions:

John also said he has a an adapter for the ARB air compressor to use the sPOD switches

09-17-2008 04:01 PM - Responed on a post a member made regarding the installation of his sPOD:

Just installed mine on Saturday. Took about an hour. Can't get over how easy it was. The instructions were very easy to follow. I don't do much on my own but by the time my help got there I was already done.

Thanks again to John and the team at sPOD for building such an awesome product and offering such excellent customer service. Quality all the way.

10-05-2008 12:20 PM - Response made on a thread regarding sPOD on 2009 JK's:

I recently purchased and installed the sPOD and Source in my 2009. Piece of cake. Just followed the instructions that were supplied. You remove the footmans loop to install the bracket and then it goes right back on.

10-05-2008 04:56 PM - His last response on same thread:

I've seen people use it when we are out wheelin' and they lay the windshield down. They use the loop for a strap to secure the windshield and prevent it from bouncing up and down.

[wayoflife]

FACT 5
After following a lead that Rubirock might in fact be sPOD, we found that both he and JK_Girl shared the exact same 76.169.179.237 IP address. In spite of the fact that JK_Girl listed Jackson Hole, WY as her location, an IP check showed that 76.169.179.237 comes from Valencia, CA.

FACT 6
The owner of sPOD is John Angelastro and his wife's name is Cinde. As you can see below, both Rubirock's email address of john@angelastro.com and JK_Girl's email address are very similar: jangelstar@yahoo.com

FACT 7
Based on the information above, we decided to suspend both Rubirock's and JK_Girl's accounts until we could do more research and, sure enough, as soon as we did, a guy by the name of sPOD-guy signed up to become a member. Please note that this was 10-05-2008, the same date that JK_Girl made his final post.
e-mail address: john@4x4spod.com
Location: Castaic, Ca.
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

FACT 8
Soon after John signed up as sPOD guy, we suspended that account as well and that's when I got the following email from him:

-----Original Message-----
From: John Angelastro
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 4:32 PM
To: webmaster@jk-forum
Subject: Supporting memberr of JK-Forum

Eddie
I would like for you to send me a bill for the first quarter to become
a sponsoring member of JK-Forum.

Below is our billing address:

Precision Designs
sPOD
John Angelastro
27804 Zion Ct.
Castaic, Ca. 91355
john@4x4spod.com

You will receive the payment from:
PayPal
sales@4x4spod.com

FACT 9
Doing a Facebook search of jangelstar@yahoo.com, we found that it takes you directly to Cinde Angelastro's page as you can see below:

FACT 10
Doing a Facebook search of sPOD guy, we have found it to show that he is married to Cinde Angelastro.

The information provided above are FACTS. As you can clearly see, sPOD had signed up on JK-Forum using more than one user name, to systematically pimp their product and, while pretending to be just a regular member. Again, I fully understand that things like honesty and integrity don't mean a whole lot to many today but, they do mean a lot to me. I should also add that if he just owned up to what he did and made a simple apology for his actions, all this could have been water under the bridge.

[wayoflife]

A member of the forum sent a PM to me with an apparent response that sPOD had been posting up on the internet and, while this may go against my better judgement, I felt that the LIES that he is continuing to perpetuate, needed to be addressed. The following is a breakdown of the sPOD post along with FACTS to counter them:

What sPOD said

First off in defense of my wife and myself, you will never find one slandering post anywhere about Eddie, his wife or JK-Forum from me or her.

I used to be a member of JK-Forum since 2007 as Rubirock. I have used Rubirock as my handle name for years on a couple of other forums.

FACT
The member Rubirock joined JK-Forum.com on 07-04-2007 and did so in spite of the fact that our rules clearly specified that manufacturers and vendors were NOT allowed to participate on the forum, unless they were a sponsor. Our rules were outlined at the time of registration and are something that EVERONE is required to agree to in order for them to become a member. While Rubirock may have been a handle he's used on other forums, it wasn't one that we were aware of. If we did know about it, I can assure you that we would have suspended his account the minute he signed up.

What sPOD said

When I joined JK-Forum, I have made a few posts but not many and never once posted about the sPOD. I may have chimed in to help someone out with an electrical question, but never exploiting the sPOD.

FACT
This is LIE! As you can see above, every single post that sPOD made over the course of a year using the moniker Rubirock, was in fact in regards to their product. To make things worse, he even went so far as to sign-up as another user called JK_Girl, supposedly from Jackson Hole, WO and to make even more posts with the specific intent of pimping the sPOD.

What sPOD said

I have seen probably at least a dozen if not more write-ups about the sPOD by my customers. This was something they do on their own! All my customers will vouch for that. sPOD has hundreds of write-ups.. just check any forum. In 2008 around the end of June, I was invited to the JK install party (by Eddie and Jennifer AKA Toad) at ORE to assist others in installing accessories such as bumpers, drives shafts, rocksliders, and many others accessories.

FACT
This is a partial LIE as I didn't even know who the sPOD guy was at the time and would NEVER have invited him to the event in question even if I did. I did find out after the fact that a now banned member did invite sPOD even though she should have known better. This was an event that Off Road Evolution was hosting and NO other vendor or manufacturer was supposed to be allowed to attend EVEN IF they were a sponsor.

What s POD said

Eddie specifically asked me not to mention sPOD because I was not a sponsoring vendor. This was perfectly OK with me. I wore no hats, shirts with logos nor did I even drive my Jeep over there. I worked all day there including wrenching with Eddie under a few rigs installing drive shafts, bumpers, racks etc, etc. I did not speak of or even divulge my name to anyone associating myself to sPOD. This was very clear to Eddie.

FACT
Again, I didn't even know who the sPOD guy was until the event and really, only after Mel from Off Road Evolution started to give me grief about him being there. In an effort to calm things down and not cause anymore drama than was necessary, yes, I do recall asking sPOD to not make any mention of who he was. Of course, had I known he'd been pimping undercover on JK-Forum for almost a year, I would have demanded that he leave immediately.

What sPOD said

At the end of the day, I had asked Eddie how I could become a sponsoring vendor and he gave me his personal e-mail and phone number. I sent him my contact info and asked for pricing. He responded a week later and asked me to create a new handle as sPOD. I created sPOD-Guy and then sent another e-mail asking him where to send the money to. I had a check ready.

FACT
This is a LIE! I would NEVER ask a manufacturer to "create a new handle" on the forum UNLESS payment for sponsorship had been confirmed. And, as I have already proven in the post above, I only received an email from sPOD stating that he was ready to sign-up AFTER his other Rubirock and JK_Girl accounts were suspended! That was back on October 5, 2008 - four months after the event in question.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Angelastro
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 4:32 PM
To: webmaster@jk-forum
Subject: Supporting memberr of JK-Forum

Eddie
I would like for you to send me a bill for the first quarter to become
a sponsoring member of JK-Forum.

Below is our billing address:

Precision Designs
sPOD
John Angelastro
27804 Zion Ct.
Castaic, Ca. 91355
john@4x4spod.com

You will receive the payment from:
PayPal
sales@4x4spod.com

What sPOD said

In the mean time (about another week and a half) many of my customers were still making posts about our products (including about three neighbors that own Jk's in my zip code). One customer sent me several e-mails asking several technical questions before he purchased the system. He received his system and installed it and did a write-up on it. In one of his responses regarding the CAN-Bus systems to another member, he copied and pasted my explanations to him including my typical signature into the post. I think Eddie thought it was me faking a user.

FACT
As I have already proven, the following 3 accounts ALL belong to sPOD.

Rubirock
john@angelastro.com
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

JK_Girl
jangelstar@yahoo.com
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

sPOD-guy
john@4x4spod.com
IP Address: 76.169.179.237

Rubirock and JK_Girl both used their time on JK-Forum to systematically pimp the sPOD while pretending to be a regular member and, even went so far as to try and cover up mistakes such as deleting a post that was accidentally made using the Rubirock account, and then reposting it again, verbatim, with his other JK_Girl account. These were all premeditated and DELIBERATE ACTS OF DECEPTION!

What sPOD said

About a week later I tried to log on as sPOD-Guy and I was unable to. This was not possible because sPOD was then black listed forever!

FACT
This is a LIE! I have proven that s POD signed up as the sPOD-Guy on the same day that we suspended both Rubirock and JK_Girl's account and, that was back on 10-05-2008.

What sPOD said

I called several times to Eddie to see what had happened and to give me a chance to give him the names and phone numbers of my customers that made posts to the JK-Forum. I have never heard back from Eddie or anyone from JK-Forum.

FACT
I don't recall ever getting any calls or emails from sPOD regarding this matter and even if he had, it is clear that his only purpose would have been to to perpetuate more LIES instead of owning up to what he did. Unfortunately, after 4 years, he's still at it today.

What sPOD said

We are a very small company that have been into Jeeps for 33 years now and have participated hundreds of offroad events and runs (as a wheeler, not a business). Sorry for being so wordy about this, but I feel that since Eddie has not contacted me, this is my only defense. I have moved on and will continue to build the best products out there with customer support and quality not matched by anyone.
__________________
-John the sPOD guy

FACT
I have no reason to contact sPOD. I do not feel the need or desire to associate myself with any person or business that would stoop to the level that he has, just to make a buck. So that there's no confusion here, when we finally busted him and he finally tried to sign up as a sponsorship, I TURNED HIM AWAY as there are things that are more important to me than money.

Please note that I have no reason to make any of this up. Again, I realize that I may be old fashion here and that things like HONESTY and INTEGRITY aren't qualities that many care about today but, they are ones that I still care about.

[cozdude]

Wow thanks for posting this extremely detailed explanation about what happened Eddie. I find it a little funny how you caught him red handed and he still tried to find a way to turn it back on you and make you look like that bad guy. What an :ass hat: if I ever need the room for more switches I will take the time to build the DYI spod


Sent from my iPhone

[10frank9]

Thanks for posting this Eddie. I think this information really needs to be out there. People need to hear the facts and make their own opinion. You know me personally and know that honesty and integrity are values I hold dear.

I think some people like John Angelastro care more about money than maintaining a good reputation. Sad, but businesses like these won't earn my hard earned money.

[JAGS]

I can't add much but to say that as a business owner and professional myself, all I have is my name and reputation.

Integrity and honesty are cornerstones to life. I try to live by example for my kids and tell them to live by as well and choose to associate with those with similar ethics.

[Shadow's_Jeep]

Interesting read. He won't be getting any of my money.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using WAYALIFE mobile app

[pvanweelden]

Wow, I never knew they were ^ that shady, but I did know $455 was WAY too much money for what it was as a product. It is just switches, relays, and fuses. Yes they have a great switch panel and a circuit to turn off accessories, if the battery gets low, but otherwise you can do the same for a lot less money.

Sent from my SM-N900V using WAYALIFE mobile app

[wayoflife]

I think this information really needs to be out there. People need to hear the facts and make their own opinion.

To be fair, I used to have all this posted up on my old forum, back when I still owned it. Of course, the guys running the show now feel that it's bad for business and have since removed it.

[pvanweelden]

To be fair, I used to have all this posted up on my old forum, back when I still owned it. Of course, the guys running the show now feel that it's bad for business and have since removed it.

Lol, is spod a sponsor now of that forum?

Relays- $5 each- $30
Switches- $5 each - $30
Fuses- 50 Cents - $3

Getting f'ed over by a sh_tty company= priceless

Sorry for you guys who bought their product, please do your home work people

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