My Nightmare with Steeda--Super Long Story!

[Jim Vaccaro]

I know how things should be in a perfect world but $#!t happens.
I get the feeling from reading this post that after getting introdused to Steeda for respect of who introdused you..You could of also handled things a bit better.We live and learn.

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by Jim Vaccaro
I
I get the feeling from reading this post that after getting introdused to Steeda for respect of who introdused you..You could of also handled things a bit better.We live and learn.

Like wise!

 

[Jim Vaccaro]

Originally posted by Killer Cobra
Like wise!

Yes, and Likewise

 

[03cobratech]

I'm an automotive technician at a dealership, and the most important point that should be brought up is that their technician is obviously incompetent. If he didnt know how to set the TPS properly he shouldnt be R&Ring throttle bodys period... If he does have the knowledge than he is just too lazy to do it correctly. I can't comment on who was more of an a$$hole to who, but i can say that I wouldnt trust steeds so called "techs" to work on my car or anyone's car that I know... Thats the most important thing to be learned here. The fact that they didnt agree to calling the manufacturer of the throttle body is another thing that pisses me off. What kind of place is this?? Regardless of the salesmans "feelings" being hurt business is business. If this guy can't deal with customers who are picky and anal about customer service, than he needs to find a new line of work.. The fact that he bought parts from someone else doesnt qualify as a reason for poor customer service in my book. Fact is he paid big money for an install that was claimed to get done RIGHT the first time. Instead he had the work done by someone who was either not qualified to do the simple install or just didnt care..

Dave

 

[03cobratech]

On another note, the fact that steeda gave him the car with a 1800rpm idle without simply admitting they dont know how to do it correctly, is rediculous. If i would have picked up that car, I would have either wanted the car fixed correctly or gotten my money back for the labor.. Once again, i'm a technician at a dealership and if I claim to be able to perform an operation on a car either I do it correctly or I dont get paid.. Which I wouldnt complain about, I wont charge a customer if I can't do what i promised...

Later
Dave

 

[NosLaser]

Whoa 03cobratech. There was no bad customer service being implemented on Eric's part. What the tech did/didn't do is something else entirely. I have known Eric for 15 years. I think I can vouch for him better than anyone but his parents, and I too was privvy to this ordeal. Before this gets further out of hand, I think Steve should deal with it as he sees fit and not perpetuate it on an internet forum to a bunch of people who have nothing more than speculation to draw conclusions from. Let it die as it has no place here or on any other public forum for that matter. I've read through replys from people who couldn't be more way off the mark. This is what happens when a story gets relayed, and 325223 different people tell it. It ends up twisted in 325223 different ways which is what is happening here. Enough is enough. Let it die already, and Steve, deal with it on your own so this doesn't get further out of hand.

Regards,

 

[Poison_S]

Late to the post, but I wanted to reply.

I have purchased numerous suspension components from Steeda mainly because of preceived knowledge of the mustang via their informative website and the good overall feedback I have heard from this and other websites.

However, from my experience, their customer services does leave much to be desired.

When you call Steeda sales, the salesmen answering the phones are quite friendly as long as you don't spend too much of their $time$ asking questions and don't have any problems/complaints.

When I had a product warranty issue with a bump steer kit, I experienced the poor customer service described in this thread. Steeda would not take the part back because they stopped carrying it and now have a better one. They could sell the new one to me or I could contact the manufacturer directly. After much effort on my part and talking to a supervisor, I was able to get them to take the part back as long as I bought another kit and assumed the risk that the original manufacturer may deny product warranty.

End result, about three months later, I saw a credit on my credit card for the warrantied part. However, it was not a pleasant experience and I will think twice about ordering more parts from them.

It is a difficult task to find such a business that is end-to-end complete with handling customers before and after the sale.

Steeda is not the only one I have experienced poor customer service. I had a similar experience with Saleen that involved their chromed 18" wheel and tire packages. End result of that was that I was ignored and SOL. I touched up the areas on the wheels that began to peel, but was unable to get Saleen to do anything about it.

I would like to hear from these aftermarket tuners and specialty manufacturers as to why the feel they must take this approach with customers that spend $1000's of their hard-earned dollars with them?

 

[NosLaser]

No, the idle was at 1100 when he got it, and idled down to 800 once the car was warm. It wasn't until after he picked up the car that the idle acted up. Make sure your info is correct before posting your opinion.

Regards,

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by 03cobratech
On another note, the fact that steeda gave him the car with a 1800rpm idle without simply admitting they dont know how to do it correctly, is rediculous.

When Eric gave the car to me it was sittling at 1100 then dropped to 800. But later that day on my way home from work it went up to 1800. This is another reason why I don't understand why they just couldn't have looked at it. I'm so tired of fighting with companies. First Ford, now Steeda...It never ends unless you just do EVERYTHING yourself.

 

[Pyro]

Originally posted by NosLaser
Whoa 03cobratech. There was no bad customer service being implemented on Eric's part. What the tech did/didn't do is something else entirely. I have known Eric for 15 years. I think I can vouch for him better than anyone but his parents, and I too was privvy to this ordeal. Before this gets further out of hand, I think Steve should deal with it as he sees fit and not perpetuate it on an internet forum to a bunch of people who have nothing more than speculation to draw conclusions from. Let it die as it has no place here or on any other public forum for that matter. I've read through replys from people who couldn't be more way off the mark. This is what happens when a story gets relayed, and 325223 different people tell it. It ends up twisted in 325223 different ways which is what is happening here. Enough is enough. Let it die already, and Steve, deal with it on your own so this doesn't get further out of hand.

Regards,

IMO, this is Steves perogative and if Steeda or Eric didn't want it to get this far, then it should have been handled differently. Forums like this is simply a tool to express ones opinion. If I recall, we all have freedom of speech to voice our opinions. Now, if Steeda wants to avoid bad publicity like this, then they better watch their P's and Q's. We may not have all the info but that's just too bad. I just hope retailers know that we, as consumers, have more power then before the existance of the internet. Life isn't fair. Steve may have gotten screwed so now Steeda may have gotten screwed with bad publicity. Who's the loser in the long run? Steeda IMO.

 

[Killer Cobra]

When they wrote this
"Steve,
Since we (Steeda) apparently do not have the ability to perform modifications and enhancements to your vehicle to your standards, we feel it is in our best interests to dissolve our relationship and business dealings with you. There are several other Mustang shops in the area that may suit your needs.
Steeda Autosports"

to me, it became personal. I was dealing with Eric and Eric alone and he went and sent this to me on Steeda behalf. So now I will make it my mission to let everyone know how I was treated by a Huge Well Know Company. It's not fair to us as consumers being thrown around all the time. They made no attempt to fix my issues. Even Ford went out of their way to satisfy my needs. Now I will deal with Steeda the only way I know how. By writing letters to his bosses, HR, managers and the owner until my side is heard and delt with properly. Maybe I came across strong but that doesn't warrant being told to take my business elsewhere! That's completely unacceptable to me. They didn't EVEN TRY ONCE to make things right. And being the fact I was sent there by so called friends and was thrown around just made it 10 times worse.

 

[03cobraminn]

I couldnt agree more with 03 cobratech , why take the job , if you cant istall it properly? I bet they cashed his check properly. Bottom line that any good buisness man knows that a customer is ALWAYS right. I tried purchasing a cat back from steeda , they would always tell me to call tomorow and we will have them in. This went on for a while , I bought a borla from someone else. My point is dont lie or mislead.

 

[NosLaser]

By that same token I could go start an thread in the off topic forum about how I purchased a used part from a member named Pyro and he completely screwed me over, sent me a broken part, and then came in the middle of the night and lit my car on fire because I have free speech to do so. Now, you and I would both know that story would be a complete farce, but some readers would question your credibility because they have no way of knowing the entire truth. Same principle applies here, and that is the only point I am making, and is why I think this should be between Steve and Steeda.

Regards,

 

[Killer Cobra]

Originally posted by NosLaser
Same principle applies here, and that is the only point I am making, and is why I think this should be between Steve and Steeda.

It was just between Eric and I. Since Steeda told me to find another place to go it became personal. I've sent several emails to Steeda with no replies. This leads me to believe I'm on my own. There for, I will let everyone know how a big company like "Steeda" handles things. I have no other way to deal with Steeda except let people know my side of the story. I won't let this die as Eric friends would like me to do since I'm forever banned from purchasing parts. I don't think this was handled properly by the sales manager there. If they did this to me you can bet there's a crap load more customers that got the same email or told over the phone this. It's JUST AMAZING!!!Maybe the issue is beyond Eric. Maybe this needs to be addressed at the managers level. What ever it takes!

 

[103]

Man, he wants moral support here. You can't just go up again something like Steeda without the perceived support from things like mbs. Look, I dunno why there is even an argument. Steeda has always been rude and full of themselves. I agree with 03cobratech--if they could even set the TPS properly (has almost nothing to do with wether or not they sell the frigging tb), then he should not be working on cars at all! I'm with ya, Steve!

 

[03cobratech]

Noslaser, I understand what your saying and I'm sure your friend Eric isnt a bad guy. I think the technician is mostly at fault. As far as the salesman goes, you just have to be careful of what you say to a customer.. In my opinion regardless of what transpired before hand he never should have denied the right to bring his car back and have the tech call Doug and find out if he installed it properly.. Take Doug for example he makes the throttlebody and when a customer reports a problem with it he will jump on it and try to help out as much as possible, because he knows one unhappy customer can take away plenty of his business. Even though steeda didnt sell him the part, their labor should be regarded just as important as the parts they manufacter/sell... Please remember that the same guy that steeda refused to deal with is the same guy that Doug went out of his way to help... So even if the customer was a total a$$hole steeda had a duty to fix his car correctly.. If the customer is totally hostile and threatening that is one thing, but I do not believe that was the case. I think he was just pissed that after spending alot of money is car was not worked on correctly... Angry customers is a normal part of the retail business, its the companys job to try and make the customer happy again.. Because in all actuality steeda caused this customer to be unhappy and he was right to feel that way...

Later
Dave