Diesel Performance Industry Ethics Question

[Spindrift]

I'm not at all doubting what you're saying but what kind of research did you do that led you to believe this was a top notch company?

 

[bigrpowr]

That's neither okay or acceptable. The fact that people let it happen makes these companies think it's okay

its not okay with me.. ive been close to several melt downs, and have just about had it.

 

[bricewise]

Its a double edged sword that sucks. On one hand you can deal with a company that's slow as **** and whose customer service is terrible or you can go with Confederate and watch them rape your engine. ( I know a bit of exaggeration but hopefully you get my point)

I think this issue is also exaggerated in the 6.7 market as our choices are fairly limited.

 

[O2ShootTheJ]

I could deal with a slow company, as long as they communicate well and are honest with me. I would much rather hear that a part is 6 weeks out than hear it will be there by the end of the week 6 weeks in a row. I have been led on and lied to a number of times. I have had people hold my money hostage and (I assume) use it to run their business instead of returning it to me promptly like they were supposed to. I have been quoted one price and found another on my bank statement. I have received parts that looked like a 3 year old fabbed that immediately failed and caused the cab to have to come off again. I have had parts break and then find out the part has been pulled from the website because of failures, and end up with a $700 paperweight. I have heard of many others go through the same situations, and others who have gotten dealt far worse hands than I have with certain companies.

Honestly, this crap has a lot to do with the reason I sold my old truck. I was always wondering what part I put on would be breaking next. As lucrative as having a truck that makes some power, I've found that stock sucks way less than waiting on a tow truck.

 

[2006.1f250]

That's neither okay or acceptable. The fact that people let it happen makes these companies think it's okay

It's not like I said, please take 6 years to build my truck. :fustrate:

 

[TripleE44]

I could deal with a slow company, as long as they communicate well and are honest with me. I would much rather hear that a part is 6 weeks out than hear it will be there by the end of the week 6 weeks in a row. I have been led on and lied to a number of times. I have had people hold my money hostage and (I assume) use it to run their business instead of returning it to me promptly like they were supposed to. I have been quoted one price and found another on my bank statement. I have received parts that looked like a 3 year old fabbed that immediately failed and caused the cab to have to come off again. I have had parts break and then find out the part has been pulled from the website because of failures, and end up with a $700 paperweight. I have heard of many others go through the same situations, and others who have gotten dealt far worse hands than I have with certain companies.

Honestly, this crap has a lot to do with the reason I sold my old truck. I was always wondering what part I put on would be breaking next. As lucrative as having a truck that makes some power, I've found that stock sucks way less than waiting on a tow truck.

I agree with the honesty stuff. It's almost like they think we actually believe them after they've said the same thing over and over. I haven't been strung along by companies like you have, but even the dang dealer did it to me with my 08. It was going to be ready before christmas, then in 2-3 days over and over till I finally got it back late January.

I also think it sucks when people post this kind of stuff, and won't give up the name of the company. I get that you don't want them to get mad at you and purposely take longer or have someone somehow spin it around on you like what often happens. But on the other hand, they're the ones that have handled it poorly and that should be made public. I'd sure hate to lose my turbo on my way home, call the same company the OP called, and end up on the 9+ week ride he's been taken on.

 

[Spindrift]

In my searching for a kit I came across a company that appears to be a very high quality operation.

Because they have a nice web site? The best, and only way to limit the possibility of something like this happening is by joining a Forum like this and researching who is buying what, from whom. That's unfortunate but I consider this industry still in its infancy.

 

[Danny26]

I also think it sucks when people post this kind of stuff, and won't give up the name of the company. I get that you don't want them to get mad at you and purposely take longer or have someone somehow spin it around on you like what often happens. But on the other hand, they're the ones that have handled it poorly and that should be made public. I'd sure hate to lose my turbo on my way home, call the same company the OP called, and end up on the 9+ week ride he's been taken on.

Exactly, no point to the thread if the name of the company is not mentioned. And if this is the company I think it is, mentioning their name on here seems to be the only way some people get responses out of them. Or flying over there :doh:

 

[bricewise]

I think the OP might have seen what I've seen quite a bit happen on here when someone opens a post about an interaction with a sponsor on here.

9/10 times the OP gets blasted and its no fault of the sponsor.

 

[Danny26]

I think the OP might have seen what I've seen quite a bit happen on here when someone opens a post about an interaction with a sponsor on here.

9/10 times the OP gets blasted and its no fault of the sponsor.

True... unfortunately

 

[bigrpowr]

True... unfortunately

I don't see that happening. And I REALLY hope people aren't scared to put sponsors on blast. If it needs happening , it needs happening.

 

[BK39]

I think the OP might have seen what I've seen quite a bit happen on here when someone opens a post about an interaction with a sponsor on here.

9/10 times the OP gets blasted and its no fault of the sponsor.

True... unfortunately

I don't see that happening. And I REALLY hope people aren't scared to put sponsors on blast. If it needs happening , it needs happening.

I'm not sure if I'd say 9/10 times.......but it does happen every once in a while. But I think it's because it's a pretty tight group around here. And until you earn the right respect from the right ppl......you gotta be careful who(sponsors) you toss under the bus. Because yes, it will back fire on you, lol. :hammer:

 

[Powerstroked162]

I'm not sure if I'd say 9/10 times.......but it does happen every once in a while. But I think it's because it's a pretty tight group around here. And until you earn the right respect from the right ppl......you gotta be careful who(sponsors) you toss under the bus. Because yes, it will back fire on you, lol. :hammer:

I used to think that and I hear it a lot but I don't believe that's true. I think people get beat on when they don't come forward with the truth, or atleast all the truth. Especially when facing a company with a good established reputation. A consumer and a company has to be honest first, even if it doesn't look the best at the time. People will respect seeing that up front way more then they will having to sift through the rubble of a 45 page long callout/bash thread to decide on their own what really happened.

Having been a consumer and a business owner, I've been on both sides of the spectrum and I've had builds take years. My bad experiences shaped the way I handle customer orders. Honesty over greed. The money may come slower if you are upfront and honesty and you might not always make the sales, BUT you will have more steady income for a longer period of time than the guy who BS's 24/7 to make $20. That doesn't go to say that basic avoidable issues should be allowed if they are honest either. I think it's a happy medium and I also know that many times things beyond the control of shop owe era do occur.

.

 

[12stroker]

But if someone doesn't respond back within a week I am calling up my cc company and disputing charges. There is absolutely no reason to ignore a paid customer. If they don't want to keep you updated they don't want your money.

I would do what Jason said call up your cc company and dispute the charges.

That happened to me 2 years ago with some injectors called up the cc company disputed the charges and it took about 3 months to get my money back but I did.

 

[Erikclaw]

my guess, would be somebody thought the machine or fabricated parts would be ready in the time frame given. then , i assume some stuff has happened in that process causing the holdup. the un-responsiveness however is a different animal. no matter what, i always feel comfortable if the company stays in contact the whole time. i'd be pissed if they didnt return calls or emails.

No they are not the only shop that likes to ignore people. The money part is not cool, and I hate places that don't have the courtesy to let you know what is going on.

 

[bigrpowr]

[/COLOR]

No they are not the only shop that likes to ignore people. The money part is not cool, and I hate places that don't have the courtesy to let you know what is going on.

who is "they" ?

 

[HD F250]

I think the part of the business that I hate the most is the lack of communication on parts and builds. Also, it seems most companies want the customer to pay the majority, if not all, then don't deliver parts or builds on time. Purely from a business perspective, I would prefer to keep my money and let it draw interest instead of paying to run their business.

For the OP, dispute the charge when you lose your patience and move on.

For the shops doing it right, thanks for trying to keep our sport alive because it gets old quick when you constantly feel like your pissing in the wind.....

Guess what I am doing tomorrow? Working on my truck....:fustrate:

 

[bigrpowr]

I think the part of the business that I hate the most is the lack of communication on parts and builds. Also, it seems most companies want the customer to pay the majority, if not all, then don't deliver parts or builds on time. Purely from a business perspective, I would prefer to keep my money and let it draw interest instead of paying to run their business.

For the OP, dispute the charge when you lose your patience and move on.

For the shops doing it right, thanks for trying to keep our sport alive because it gets old quick when you constantly feel like your pissing in the wind.....

Guess what I am doing tomorrow? Working on my truck....:fustrate:

will you work on mine too ?

 

[Wayne]

If communication is poor, and they have fallen short on their obligations, then the most powerful message you can send to the company is threatening to dispute the card, then follow through disputing the transaction due to not providing product as described in a time frame described. If the situation is worse, then just do what you gotta do to get your money back, and send a clear message that your experience was unacceptable.

To any of you in this thread I've done business with while at Elite, I hope my honesty and clarity of your own situations, despite some times being the bearer of bad news was a satisfactory experience. If you had a bad experience with me personally, then I really am sorry. Send me a PM, and if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I will. I agree with most of you in that telling it like it is, even if it's bad news, ends up being the best solution.

The bottom line with fancy performance parts companies is that unless it's on the shelf, most high end companies need a fair amount of time to produce the parts. That's no excuse, but it's reality. As long as expectations are realistic and reasonable then I see all parties winning. This industry is ripe with opportunity for anyone who can communicate effectively, and provide quality products in a timely manner at a fair price. I suspect those that are operating ethically are seeing a lot of success. I suspect that there are also a fair amount of non-ethical shops doing just fine too because of supply and demand. It's easy to get away with crap when you're the only one providing a service or product as in the case of the op. I have no idea who your problem vendor is, nor do care to know at this point. In a perfect world, this mystery shop will step up their game before it comes to a call-out. If they continue to excuse themselves and ignore you, I hope you do us all a favor by taking the time to report them to the BBB, and give an honest review of your experience with them, so we can have that available when deciding where to buy our parts.

 

[Wayne]

will you work on mine too ?

A big part of me misses working on stuff like yours, Joes, Danny's, Donnie's, Erik's, etc. Installing top notch parts on clean, top notch trucks all day was a dream job in a lot of aspects. Hopefully sooner than later I get back into it on my terms. Now up in the oil field I gotta scrape 15# of dirt off of a transmission just to get to the bolt heads to work on it.:fustrate: