I sincerely hope that I am not the only one who is a little distrubed by this post.

Based on what I have read this appears to be a form of high tech blackmail. You give me free parts or I will ruin your reputation. TPiS may not have allways had the most solid customer service but that does not change the fact that in this case they appear to be right.

Best case: the intake was purchased 2 years ago

Worst case: bought second hand without the parts in question

Truth: we may never know

Either way: TPIS is not reponsible for providing parts

Bottom line: the company made right dispite the questionable circumstances

Regardless I doubt there are many forum members who will be willing/able to take a threatening call (yes it is a threat when you tell someone to give you something free or you will attempt to ruin them) without getting a little short in response. The way that TPiS was getting slammed publicly required a public response. If you are going to make a public accusation then you need to expect a public response. They where not the ones who decided to handle this in a public forum.

Some others appear to have had troubles with TPiS however I do not see how a bad set of heads or a cam that is out of spec is relivent to this topic. No one has been asking for advice on heads or cams.

When the time comes for LTs I will definately consider TPIS. Lets not forget they are also a supporting vendor, a little benefit of the doubt may be in order.

 

BrianS: Since it seems like your comments are directed at MY responses to this thread, I will direct this to you.

First and foremost, this and all Forums are places to share relevant experiences of a shared topic. Based on that fact, I don’t see 396 Roadster’s, or my comments as “high tech blackmail”! BTW, if you want to see some real undeserved bloodshed on the CVF, look at some of the threads of Grumpyvet & his redesigned StealthRam Plenum.

Anyway back to this thread; the real issue here isn’t if TPiS supplied the parts or not. It’s about a track record of bad customer support, lack of quality control, and a seemingly absent interest in customer satisfaction (insert repeat business here)!

“Bottom line: the company made right despite the questionable circumstances” - You mean BEFORE Terry (plastic1) gave 396 Roadster the proverbial finger over the phone, and told him to go ahead and post it? Or do you mean AFTER, Mr. Cottrell (Owner of TPiS) got wind that over 1000 Corvette owners read about it online?

“Some others appear to have had troubles with TPiS however I do not see how a bad set of heads or a cam that is out of spec is relevant to this topic. No one has been asking for advice on heads or cams.”

Did your actually read this thread, or just jump in the end? BTW, it was 2 sets of bad $1875 Heads, and I can’t even guess how many time I’ve read/heard about the Camshaft Quality Control issues. And did you catch that little part about how TPiS passed the Buck to AFR, when they should’ve corrected it. AFR not only handled it in a professional manner, one of the owners call my house repeatedly until he got a hold of me, to say sorry about this cluster-F with TPiS.

Hey, if you want to purchase stuff from TPiS, feel free! Get burned once, shame on them; get burned twice, shame on me! Oh, and BrianS, if all this negativity and disturbing discussion if just to much to bear, I’m sure you can catch some reruns of Barney on the Tube. It’s quite bland, & it's feel good stuff!:rolleyes:.

This will be the last posting on this tread from me, No-No-Ba-Bye!
:crazy:NanoBrain:crazy:

 

With so many posts already, I am not sure if this makes a difference, but I just wanted to go on record to say that I have always had a very positive experience with TPIS. I am sorry that "one of our boys" had a problem with them, but I have heard and read so many different details that it is hard to sort it all out. Therefore, let me tell of my own particular experience and leave it at that.

1. I have never had any problems with their parts, and I have invariably been quite happy with them.
2. They are typically quite willing to throw in "freebies" like gaskets, bolts, caps, T-shirts, etc. for anything more than a minor order.
3. I "harrass" them constantly on the phone, and they are always helpful. True - I have probably spent a few thousand dollars with them over the last two years, but sometimes I don't identify myself when I start asking.
4. I think their reps are the best I have dealt with.

There - my two cents worth. I hope others have a better experience with them. :thumbs:

 

I dont know 396 Roadster and have not done any business with TPIS, I know they make good parts but a little high for me.

But I have to say that I would be upset at TPIS and Terry if this had happend to me.

I dont care if there part is 2-3 year old or if I had got it from them or not, or if the part was in the kit or not.

Terry is saying that 396 Roadster is just doing this to get free parts but it does not look like 396 wanted a free part when he called them first time

he went out and got the part, but it was not until he found out that they did not fit that he called them back and wanted them to work with him.

I think we forget how easy it is for us to get parts in the states, we dont have to have it shiped a long way and we dont have to pay inport tax and sales tax, I have lived in Iceland ( that is why my english is so bad...lol ) and if you order a $15 part from the states it will cost you about $45 when you get it there.

It does not look like 396 Roadster is upset because the part was not in the kit, I think he is more upset that he just waisted $45 on a part that he cant use because they told him the wrong part number I think everybody on here would get upset if that heppend to them.

So Im glad that 396 Roadster and Myron Cottrell were able to work this out, I think that Terry should have done that when they talked.

Jay

 

No, you did not purchase anything from us. This is another lie.

Bottom line you did not purchase from us, you bought a second hand intake, and expected us to send out free parts for the parts you did not get with your second hand purchase. It has just been proven, and who suffers, I guess we do.

And you did not buy a 500-519 1206 Intake from us either, another lie. The only item on file was FREE intake bolts for a Mini-Ram back in 07/2000. And you said on the phone you purchased it from a Modern Motorsports, more lies.

Futhermore you harassed us about it, and threatend us. This is considered unexceptable behavior. And you have lied to everyone here on this forum to try to hurt us.


Being in this business, you can tell when a guy is lying, and just trying to get free parts. When someone like “this” calls 2 times harassing us about it, threatening to “bring our company company down”, it makes it hard to give him free parts. Especially when we have no sale from him, or one of our retailers. And we know what is going on! We new it was a second hand purchase.

It’s as if he did not want to give us his money. Chris honestly thought the Accell fittings would work for him, so he looked up a part number, for him, from a competitor, and gave him a competitor’s part number, to make it easier for him to buy somewhere else. Even though we had the parts, he just didn’t want to pay “us” for them. It’s too bad that did not work out for him, Sorry 396 Roadster. Chris did try, and made the effort. We would never intentionally give out a wrong part number to anyone.

Well, I am done now, I should not of even posted in the first place. I felt threatened, and felt I had to voice my side of the story. Now I have cost the company both time, and future customers. I actually thought it would help to prove I was in the right. Guess not. And the “anybody got a cigar” quote was only directed at the “Bill Clinton Cover Up” theory, from other posts. I will admit I was happy to see the truth come out. He did not buy it from us, he bought it second hand over three years ago.

The intake in question was actually purchased 07/98 by Mike in Boston. And if it had been Mike calling, we would have taken care of him. 396 Roadster started this thread with a lie, and is now back paddling, and still lying. And he knows it!

396 Roadster will have his fittings, and MAT relocation kit very soon, and will be driving a Mini-Ram powered Corvette soon. I am assuming it’s a 396ci Mini-Ram setup, if so you will have a very fast car, have fun, and be safe.


:auto:

 

Terry (plastic1), glad to see you have changed your attitude a bit, Myron must have given you a crash course in respect. I hope you've learn't something from all this and don't ever treat another customer in such a poor way.


How was I trying to just get the fittings for free if I paid for the wrong ones locally? I was only trying to save some time and not waste money on shipping. Why does Chris not know what part #'s are correct? Isn't he the manager? Giving me the wrong part # is totally unexceptable!


Your bad attitude is what caused this thread ... you didn't care when you told me to go ahead and post the situation ... and now you suddenly do ... why???


Please don't make it sound like TPIS is coming up with the short end of the stick. I paid FULL PRICE for the MAT relocation kit and all the shipping, I'm getting 2 fittings included that were missing in the first place. You should have done that on the first or second time I called instead.

 

Hey Terry (plastic1), can you give me a good deal on a TPIS ZZ9 Cam? :jester

 

You never bought a thing from us. (do I have to say it again!) Or a local vendor. The first time was free intake bolts for a second hand intake. Which you purchased without the fittings. How is that our fault?

Of course I cared, if you posted on the forum, but I was not going to be threatend and send you free parts becasue of a threat. That's blackmail.

How were parts missing if you did not buy them in the first place?

The guy you bought the intake from even said he sold it to youo without the fittings, how can you deny this?

It's lie after lie, and it's been that way since we sent the first free bolts out back in July of 2000. And I do not expect you to admit it, because you are probably starting to beleive your own lies at this point.

I am done, point has been proven. It is a second hand intake, and it was you harassing us that started all of this.

 

Hey Terry (plastic1), can you give me a good deal on a TPIS ZZ9 Cam?

Sure, i'll give you free shipping, and cam lube. I will even cam doctor it and send the report with the cam.

Terry


[Modified by plastic1, 5:45 PM 6/12/2003]

 

Terry, the intake I bought from Mike in Boston was a 500-505 that was modified and set up for steel braided lines and had AN fittings welded to the rails. You wouldn't need these fittings if you went that route! I have Brodix Track 1 heads, so how could I use a 500-505 with a 1206 gasket? I realize you TPIS guys are NOT good with part #'s, but that would be a 500-519.


You should be more concerned about your inappropriate behavior and Chris's lack of product knowledge!


Why don't you comment on those issues???


[Modified by 396 Roadster, 5:18 PM 6/12/2003]

 

As long as Chris remembers that the OTC fittings doesnt fit, Im can accept that a mistake was made. I'm not 100% sold on the tone in some of your posts, but I'll see how I'm treated on low $$$ parts first and make my own conclusions from there.

How about I pay for the shipping and you can toss in the cam for start? :jester

Can't afford to ignore a caution flag, but Im done here as well.

:auto:

 

I agree with the TPIS, you did not buy the intake from them or any of there vendors. They owe you nothing!

 

:iagree: Furthermore, I think from your threatening attitude towards TPIS as evidenced by the details of this unjustified post of yours, you’ve managed to accomplish the exact opposite of what you wanted. The only creditability that was damaged here was yours.

I certainly intend to keep doing business with TPIS.


[Modified by 1MoorTym, 10:23 PM 6/12/2003]

 

:iagree:

 

Was the invoice ever posted? :chevy

 

Not on this thread, and I haven't seen it anywhere else. But that stuff aside, it seems as though everyone here except for Terry and 396 have heard all they need to hear, I know I have, and it seems now like it's just a p!$$ing contest between the two. Can I be the first to request that you guys take your argument offline? All you're doing now is taking up bandwidth and hurting BOTH of your respective credibilities.

 

Just read this whole thread... and not sure on what the whole truth is, but doesn't really matter, such a small item.... not enough to get worked up over I guess. But in any regards, I hope both of you work it out.

Terry,

On a seperate subject, I'm sure I speak for many and that is while you're here on the forum, stick around and contribute on occasion if you have the time. This forum is an incredible resource and potential customer base.
There are so many people new to racing and have performance related questions that need to be answered not just by hobby racers like myself, but also Tuners who do it for a living. Do a search on the keyword "Miniram" or "MR" or "Miniram vs Superram" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

For example, It is widely thought that the Miniram is more of a dedicated race intake and feel the MR will cost them too much torque under 4500 rpm, thus they chose the LPE Superram.... is this true, I dunno, but would love to hear the comments of TPIS and any customer result examples.

Also will the 700-701 solid roller cam work well with a 383 & Superram manifold in your opinion ? You have a couple of motors on this forum that cam is working well with... but they're 406/Superram combinations.

One more question.... Are you guys working on anything new for the L98 or LT-1 or are you pretty much in the LS-1 mode nowadays?

Hope you stick around.

Cheers,
Beach Bum

 

Now Ive read the whole thread again, I'm disappointed in TPiS' attitude on the forum, but I dont know whether any of you is telling the truth completely, I also dont think 396 wanted the fitting for free. I see that they told him the wrong P/N, and they should know better.

I must concur with BB also, I would prefer it if TPiS actually answered forum questions, because then maybe theyd get alot more business and would be able to respond to our criticisms of the MR/cams and other things that might come up. I know that ive recommended LPE stuff over them for some time now, because Ive never heard one real complaint about LPE or their Accel products.

 

Is somebody keeping score here? I'm putting my vote in for "YES" for TPIS. I have spent lots of money there and am very happy. And, I have a miniram and lots of torque.

 

For what it's worth I have had good dealings with Terry/TPIS. Terry walked me through a few sticking points when I was putting in my TPIS long tubes.

I have also purchased a few smaller item MAT relocation kit.....those type of things.

Can't realy say if Terry had an attitude on the phone....it's one of those "he said-she said" deals.

But if I new someone was trying to blackmail me/my employer I'd cop an attitude too.


[Modified by chucks88, 1:20 AM 6/13/2003]