My Nightmare with Steeda--Super Long Story!

[flyn high again]

Coleman,
Money talks. I also try to get to know and talk to the techs. It can't hurt and I'm a big mouth and love talking cars anyways. LOL.

Killer Cobra,
It's good to have you back. Your posts are interesting and fun to follow. :beer:

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by coleman
I hope this is a lesson we all can learn from. If you can do a MOD yourself, please do. Generally speaking, most techs spend too much time under too many hoods to do every job well. Things get by. I wish I had a lift & ample time to do all my mods myself. But if you can't, you'll have to take a little risk & build up a relationship with a mechanic (not a salesperson) -- this has always worked with me. Don't be afraid to tip them individually if they go beyond the call of duty. A few bucks can go quite a long ways with people.

When I was over at a local place (MMT) getting a dyno, I mentioned that I thought I might have an exhaust leak. Well, the mech went out of his way to take a car (w/o an engine) off a lift, re-arrange the other cars to make way for my car, lifted it up, found the BIG exhaust leak, spent a better part of an hour fixing it & didn't even charge me for it :thumbsup: ... that speaks volumes to me... :beer:

Only problem is they dont let customers in the back where the techs are. Eric took me back there a few times. He was super nice to me until I told him they didnt configure the TPS right and all went to shit!

 

[flyn high again]

Some shops won't believe that a customer knows what he's talking about. I had the same problem with Circuit City over my alarm install.

 

[lethal]

Originally posted by Killer Cobra
Only problem is they dont let customers in the back where the techs are. Eric took me back there a few times. He was super nice to me until I told him they didnt configure the TPS right and all went to shit!

Guess he didnt get that memo for the new cover sheets...... for the TPS report.

 

[coleman]

Originally posted by Killer Cobra
Only problem is they dont let customers in the back where the techs are. Eric took me back there a few times. He was super nice to me until I told him they didnt configure the TPS right and all went to shit!

i know they have to try to enforce that for insurance reasons, but i've never been thrown out ... and remember, you can always go somewhere else where you can chat with the tech while he's working on your car.

i can't tell you just how funny salespeople are ... ever go to a computer store & overhear the misguided information they hand out to the uninformed customers :lol1: ... it's better than the improv! i usually try to set the customer straight after the salesman leaves the area to track down his next victim.

i haven't had steeda do any work on my car yet (partially cuz i'm over here in texas), but from my perspective, once good shops start doing more of their sales by mail, internet, etc... the on-site customer service normally goes downhill ... YMMV

 

[toofast4u]

I always went to the back when they did work on my car and they didn't say a word. I just would stay outside of the garage.

 

[jmimac351]

Originally posted by lethal

Killer, if you paid anything by CC call your company and try to get a chargeback. These boneheads not only charged you to mess up your car, but now your going to have to spend your hard-earned money to fix it.

Yes, this is one very good example of why it's handy to have an American Express card.

Jim

 

[roushraven]

Don't really know what to offer you here "killer". :shrug:

I have dealt with Steeda since 1999 on a regular basis. Most of my aftermarket part purchases have come from them and they have bent over backwards to help me many times, even while I lived in England. I was one of the first Technology Transfer Tune customers and Dario Orlando himself tuned my car and oversaw the whole project to completion and followed up when I had driveability problems. When I came into town to take delivery of my car, he personally drove me to a beach front hotel and hooked me up with a Steeda Business account rate. So while you and apparently others may have valid issues; speaking for myself and many other personal friends, Steeda is great and their customer service is fantastic even when things didn't go right.

Good luck, there are other vendors out there.

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by coleman
i know they have to try to enforce that for insurance reasons, but i've never been thrown out ... and remember, you can always go somewhere else where you can chat with the tech while he's working on your car.

[/QUOTE

Steeda has several buildings on their lot. The tech have a separate warehouse in the back of the lot where customers cant get to. There's no way to get back there. You cant even see your car once they drive away with it. It was kind of amusing hanging around the sales guys waiting for my car to be completed. They all sit in a wide-open area and you can hear every conversation. There hasn't been one time that I didn’t hear one of them rip a customer apart or totally tell them complete billshit information about a part, but what was worse is they are super rude to customers over the phone. I think it’s a game they play with each other on who can be the biggest asshole of the group. They are all arrogant, cocky and now it alls! That crap has to stop. I have a feeling they all huddled together and created that email to send to me. I hope for their sake I’m wrong because I’m going to the top with this email and shits going to fly over there. (I hope)

 

[CobraBob]

Originally posted by Killer Cobra
There hasn't been one time that I didn’t hear one of them rip a customer apart or totally tell them complete billshit information about a part, but what was worse is they are super rude to customers over the phone. I think it’s a game they play with each other on who can be the biggest asshole of the group. They are all arrogant, cocky and now it alls! That crap has to stop. I have a feeling they all huddled together and created that email to send to me. [/B]

I think I'm starting to understand part of the problem. I know you're upset Killer, but you're starting to stretch this a bit beyond reality. To suggest that their sale people are "arrogant, cocky, know-it-alls" looking to screw over their customers is a bit over the edge in my opinion. If they were that bad they wouldn't be in business. And, I have talked to Eric and at least two other sales reps over a dozen times about parts, shipping questions, etc. I've never had a problem. Like I said earlier, I hope you get your real problems solved, but I also think the way you address your issues has a bearing on how folks on the other end respond. If you addressed your issues in a mature manner I doubt Eric would have said to please take your business elsewhere. Please don't take this as an attack because it isn't. I'm just trying to help you see the whole picture and how important you own part in it is. Good luck!

 

[coleman]

Killer Cobra :thumbsup: ... Steeda's just too big to worry about all their customers i guess... if they mess up a few, i guess they just don't care cuz they have plenty of other customers. like i said earlier, bigger = less customer care

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by CobraBob
I think I'm starting to understand part of the problem. I know you're upset Killer, but you're starting to stretch this a bit beyond reality. To suggest that their sale people are "arrogant, cocky, know-it-alls" looking to screw over their customers is a bit over the edge in my opinion.

Have you been in their sales area? Did I say every customer? This is the last time I will ever reply to one of your posts Bob because from my very first post on this forum you jumped on my back and it is clear this is going to be the norm from you with me. And good luck to you too. I've said this once before but Eric took this personal because he felt I back stabbed him so he went out of his way to have that email sent. I would post the emails Eric and I exchanged here but that would be uncalled for over the internet. I simply want people to know if you want good parts from steeda by all means call them, but be warned, if something goes wrong and it comes down to customer or steeda, be sure steeda will not pick you. I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how big you are, how good you are, if you leave your property with another it's going to get it back with something wrong. Maybe not every time but the majority of the time. IMO

 

[flyn high again]

KC, I was wondering if you have recent pics from before the Steeda work that show the body panels before the damage occurred. If you could pull some pics and show them to Steeda, it would help your case. Ahh, the digital camera age...helping us prove our points in pictures!

 

[jwfisher]

I've had zero problems with Steeda - and I've been working with them for 8 years now on several Cobras.

I agree with CobraBob. There's some unsaid things in the original post... customers are very often "arrogant, cocky, know-it-alls" too.

The skillset that customers most often need to develop is how to work with a vendor. Modifications are tricky stuff... mods very often don't work out right. Many mods are downright PITAs. Some mods don't work with other company's products... one thing you learn after years in this hobby is to look for matching parts that have been tested together. You have ot have a systematic approach. If you are going to go to one place, you should let them put their matching parts on - parts that were tested together, parts that they have experience with.

 

[roushraven]

The skillset that customers most often need to develop is how to work with a vendor. Modifications are tricky stuff... mods very often don't work out right. Many mods are downright PITAs. Some mods don't work with other company's products... one thing you learn after years in this hobby is to look for matching parts that have been tested together. You have ot have a systematic approach. If you are going to go to one place, you should let them put their matching parts on - parts that were tested together, parts that they have experience with.

Nicely put.

 

[toofast4u]

Originally posted by CobraBob
I think I'm starting to understand part of the problem. I know you're upset Killer, but you're starting to stretch this a bit beyond reality. To suggest that their sale people are "arrogant, cocky, know-it-alls" looking to screw over their customers is a bit over the edge in my opinion. If they were that bad they wouldn't be in business. And, I have talked to Eric and at least two other sales reps over a dozen times about parts, shipping questions, etc. I've never had a problem. Like I said earlier, I hope you get your real problems solved, but I also think the way you address your issues has a bearing on how folks on the other end respond. If you addressed your issues in a mature manner I doubt Eric would have said to please take your business elsewhere. Please don't take this as an attack because it isn't. I'm just trying to help you see the whole picture and how important you own part in it is. Good luck!

Bull Sh*t. I have dealt with them for over 5 years and have been to Steeda location several times myself. Have you? Everytime I leave I am pissed and swear I will never go again then a couple months go by and I go back for something else and remember why I stopped going before. Their sales guys are exactly how Killer Cobra is describing them. Read the post reguarding Steeda several months ago and you will see the same statements from myself and others as well. You are missing the main part of the problem. Steeda employees believe there own marketing and think they are god and that is how they act.

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by jwfisher
I've had zero problems with Steeda - and I've been working with them for 8 years now on several Cobras.

I.

The skillset that customers most often need to develop is how to work with a vendor. Modifications are tricky stuff... mods very often don't work out right. Many mods are downright PITAs. Some mods don't work with other company's products... one thing you learn after years in this hobby is to look for matching parts that have been tested together. You have ot have a systematic approach. If you are going to go to one place, you should let them put their matching parts on - parts that were tested together, parts that they have experience with.

Yeah. That's why I had to set the TPS myself because 92.4 was way off from Steeda's install. Like I said, I never had an issue and I had to bring my cobra back to have them tweak their exhaust install and when I asked to bring it back to tweak the billetflow TB I got the run around that the product was defective and nothing can be done. You can take that any way you like. I've sat in steeda's sales area for about 4 hours the last 2 weeks and heard stuff that was uncalled for from a big company. At that time I felt the same way. I said to myself "Man that customer must be an assh$#e for steeda's salesman to talk like that". Then a few days later I get the run around. Did I mention it was over $150 to have the TB installed? 4 bolts and a few sensors..No biggie. My cobra runs perfect now. There are numerous places to buy parts. It's their lose not mine.

 

[KOOY]

Originally posted by coleman
bigger = less customer care

 

[103]

Last time I checked, it is the customer that pays Steeda's bills. Steeda should grovel before the feet of any customer, not be cocky. (And they are cocky. Our club even has a tech that works for Steeda and most of us won't deal with them.)

 

[jonas]

steeda is very very well known for their cockyness.
I know they can get rude.Ive has salespeople from steeda blame a broken spring was caused by other non steeda suspension components and you shouldnt mix and match so yea their sales peeps are not just arogant but flat out stupid at times.

The only suspension stuff I get now has griggs or maximum motorsports on the box. When a company like griggs suggests maximum motorsport cc plates over their own you know they are so hardcore they want the best for you even if it isnt theirs.