Friday, September 29, 2006
Customer service my ass
Everyone knows that customer service is a thing of the past. Most modern businesses treat you like an inconvenience, rather than the reason for their existence and nowhere is this more evident than the aftermarket auto industry.
Scooby is back, but she's not nearly as bad as she once was. It's time to take the next step, as the engine, turbo, transmission, etc are all tired after 2 years and ~25k miles of hard running. My new target is 500bhp+ on pump gas, which is very reasonable, given what people have been able to do with the 2.5L platform. With that goal in mind, I have started contacting various suppliers and manufacturers about transmissions, drive shafts, shortblocks, heads, longblocks, etc. None of these options are cheap and I am not planning to half-ass anything with this build, but it is amazing how erratic some of these shops are with their handling of email. Some take days, some never reply and one other stop replying when I asked them how much it would cost shipped, meaning right around the time I would hand over the money.
And the money we are talking about isn't cheap. You could buy a reasonably nice car for what I am looking to spend on this upgrade. In many ways, I AM buying a new car, as the transmission, rear end assembly, driveshaft, motor, turbo, wastegate, injectors, intercooler and ECU would ALL be new pieces!! This stuff is NOT cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but I have no real problem with it because I want the car done right.
Only one guy at Mastro, who I have known for years, replied my requests for information and he could not help me directly. I was looking at a longblock that runs in the $9k+ range!! On top of all that, I was talking about having them install the new drivetrain, which would be a $700-800 job in labor alone! How much do you have to want to spend before someone will give a damn about your busines?!? Needless to say, I am looking at other longblock options and trying to figure out where else I might be able to take the car for install work.
IA Performance in Arizona seemed responsive enough, giving me prompt, informative replies and selling me on $1600 worth of additional hardware I had thought about, but wasn't yet sure I would be purchasing. At this point, I'm sold and want the transmission, the rear assembly, everything, so I ask how much it will cost shipped. Their response? Silence. It has been 3 days and I have heard nothing. How the fuck does that make any sense at all??
The engine builder I am thinking about dealing with took 3 days to respond, but their response was lengthy and clear. They have a stellar reputation and are known to be extremely busy, so I am giving them a pass, for the time being. If I get the impression that my money isn't good enough for them, I will continue looking around.
I am sick and tired of substandard service. Finding a decent business to deal with in just about any field is a test of will and perseverence! How much do you have to want to spend before someone will act like they want your business??? I guess these companies must all have so much money laying around, one more customer is not worth their trouble. It's unbelievable and that is the end of this rant...
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My step-brother is a mechanic in St. Pete and builds/drives race cars on the side. Maybe he could recommend a friend to do the kind of work you're looking for. Or maybe he could even do it? I'm not even going to pretend I know anything about cars or what different types of skills mechanics possess. :) Let me know.