It’s unfortunate that I have to write this posting but like most of us, I swear by the facts posted on this site. It has kept me informed on such a wide array of topics and the fact is… it helps to “stand on tall shoulders” so that one doesn’t have to “live and learn.” Instead you can learn from others and not have to go down the same road.

Prior to placing my Spectre Werks rear fascia order for my C5 corvette, I called my body shop for input on the cost associated with labor and paint time and was told that they’ve had several issues with their products. Regarding the rear fascias. They’ve had:
• Issues with them not fitting correctly (even though they are supposedly pre-fitted before shipping)
• Problem with the molding
• And several issues of damage occurring due to:
1. poor handling by the shipping company
2. lack of proper packing materials by Spectre Werks

So being the project manager that I am… I setup a conference call with the owner Jeff and one of the owners of the body shop (Chris Watts) to express my concerns over product quality and was assured the previous problems Chris has had with the bumper not fitting without significant rework would be addressed with the actual manufacturer. I had Jeff’s sincerest promise that should I order one that I would not have those issues. Such rework increases the cost I’d have to pay the body shop to fit it.

The fact of the matter is… I did purchase the rear fascia (it is bad axx bumper and unfortunately they’re the only ones who make it. I don’t like the Tiger Shark fascias) from Spectre Werks on April 28th knowing full well that it would take 2 weeks to receive the order. At that time Jeff informed me that the manufacturer has reworked the design and the new fascias should fit much better from this point forward. Even knowing that I allowed myself 1 extra week for goof up sake before bringing my C5 to the body shop (I have an insurance claim and the work they’re doing is separate from the bumper but in order to complete the paint job, the rear fascia must be onsite). I have a car show Memorial Day weekend and it’s a must I have my car by May 27th. Seemingly 1 month is enough lead time…

In any case, with the 3 days for delivery I expected my bumper to be at the body shop (Richey Collision in Houston, TX- both owners (Karen and Chris Watts) have corvettes and they specialize in such vehicles) by May 13th. I in fact called Sara at Spectre Werks to verify my bumper was delivered to their facilities the week of the 13th and that fact was confirmed. So I drove my car from Austin (I live there) to Houston on May 14th and brought it to the body shop on the 16th where I was informed the bumper had not arrived. I immediately called Sara at Spectre Werks and was informed they sent MY BUMPER to another customer because Roadway Express (www.roadway.com) had damaged another customer’s fascia and since they ordered theirs before me they felt it necessary to send them mine. I was upset of course since my car is at the shop ready to be worked on and now I’ll have to wait until another fascia comes in. I was told that they would have one for me on Wednesday the 18th and would ship it EXPRESS (2 day) so I’d have it by Friday the 20th. I tried to understand and given I had allowed myself 1 week “screw-up time” I thanked them for paying the express shipping. Well I receive a call from my body shop on Tuesday May 17th saying that roadway attempted to deliver a damaged bumper to them and they had refused delivery. They opened the box because the outside of the box suggested poor handling. Not only did the bumper look like it had been sent directly from the shop that molded it (no sanding or any pre-fit) but was cracked in so many places that it made them believe Spectre Werks had the other customer’s damaged bumper drop shipped to them instead of back to Spectre Werks. It was that bad. I called Sara about that situation and she had no explanation for how or why it was delivered to Richey. She instead told me that they would be picking up my fascia the next day, inspecting it, fitting it and then shipping it out that day for a Friday May 20th express delivery. Well at this point my fudge week is wasted. In the words of Jack Nicholson, “Nothing like no choice to make you feel at home”. I accepted their profuse apologies and waited until Friday. Friday rolls around and no fascia! I call Sara and she tells that while she did go and get the bumper from the manufacturer on Wednesday they had not shipped it. I should have suspected something was up when they didn’t call me back on Wednesday with a tracking number. I talk to the owner Jeff. All he can do is apologize but refuses to next day air my fascia. Says it’s too costly and that it would eat too much into his profits. Very nicely mind you he says the best he can do is 2 day express it to me (I paid about $120.00 for the standard 3 day shipping and Jeff would pay the additional 100-200 bucks for express). Again, I have no choice but to accept this arrangement.

Monday May 23, I call Spectre Werks to get the tracking number for Friday’s shipment. Guess what, IT DIDN’T SHIP. Again with more apologies but assured once again it would ship that day. Well at least this time they did call me back with a tracking number. It left Monday and I was told verbally from Sara at Spectre Werks that it was express 2-day shipped and would arrive at Richey Wednesday late in the day. I’m NOT happy. Again no choice. Mean while I’m paying the credit card interest on this thing and I don’t even have it delivered yet.

So I call today. The fascia will be delivered THURSDAY not Wednesday! Now I’m HOT!! I don’t want to say they lied to me about the 2-day express delivery but the fact was confirmed by Roadway that all they paid for is Standard 3-day guarantee service (which is what I paid for... so what exactly did they pay? I'm guessing not much or nothing given its the same 3-day service)! So now, my body shop will have all of a day and a half to get my repairs done. I conference in Roadway and Sara and rehash this entire history. I’m not happy at all with Spectre Werk’s customer service. And the fact is… if my bumper comes in cracked I’ll miss my car show and will have to go through all of this again. Spectre Werks apologizes and says we can still NOT pay for next day shipment even though they are the complete cause of all the delays. I proceed to give them action items to fix their broken processes.
1. Given these fascias are in such great demand… stock more “in-house”
2. Pack their fascias better (Richey told me that they hadn’t even used bubble wrap in some previous shipments)
3. Find a difference shipper. Roadway has had a history with damaging their products and it only makes Spectre Werks look bad. I addressed this fact with the owner Jeff and he says they have a “good arrangement” with Roadway and will keep them for that reason. Apparently they pay them back quickly on claims but here’s a concept…. HOW ABOUT NOT CAUSING THE PROBLEM TO BEING WITH?

I’m sure it’s a price issue. Roadway probably gives them a good deal for shipping and I’m sure they’re making money on both the shipping and the parts they ship.

Spectre Werks is under the impression that they perform good customer service because of how quickly they were able to supply the previous customer with MY BUMPER, thus causing HIM less wait time. My push back was that if you cared at all about your customers… you’d have these things in heavy stock given the demand and (as crazy as this sounds) they should have made the customer with the damaged fascia (due to Roadway’s error) wait for a new one to be sent and not further delaying customers who have already waited OVER the 2 week lead time which was previous expressed. My point is simple here… The only person the customer with the damaged fascia could possibly be mad at is Roadway for the damage and not Spectre Werks (unless they knew that they have a history of poor packing). The way they handled it was to push all their customers back due to Roadway’s error.

The bottom line is I should have my fascia by Thursday morning and if it’s cracked I’ll inform all of you and send an email to the president of Roadway and follow-up with a call to both Roadway and Spectre Werks. Not that it’ll do any good. I figure the least I can do is to let you all know what to expect should you decide to order their product. It is a nice product but you better be sure to give them LOTS of lead time and not bring your car to the shop based on their PROMISE of delivery. I just wish someone else made a similar product (not Tiger Shark). Anyway, just FYI.

I’ll let you know more on Thursday.

 

Sorry to hear it. I'm with you, that's terrible customer service. Hope that you get the car done before your car show.

 

Man, I do feel sorry for you and all the hassle you have had to endure. You are much more patient than I am. I would have told them to keep the fascia and refund my money. Good luck getting this worked out and I hope you are able to make the show this coming weekend.

 

Nice write up. The fact that you were able to experess how you felt without slamming the vendor says alot about your character. I commend you for you patience and hope in the end you get what you were promised.


That being said I will be cautious about ordering timelines for the above mentioned vendor

 

I feel for you. I am angry about this and it isn't my car. I don't even know what I would have done by now after their countless mistakes.

Ut-Driven

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles getting this item and I hope that all works out in the end. Thanks for the heads up.

Darion

 

Not a vendor I'll spend any money with. Thanks for the info! Good luck, you have more patience than I have!

 

.. sorry for your problems, I have had similiar with other cars and mods.. but thanks for informing.

 

Thanks man... Patience isn't my strong suit but its something I'm aware I'm lacking so its always been a WIP (work in progress). Guess I'm getting better

 

Now I think I understand why Sarah never got back to me on the group purchase proposal. Initially she quoted me all the terms like it was no big deal, but after she said she had to route everything by the owner, I never got a phone call or e:mail. Grant it, each time I called back, it was too late and Sarah had left for the day and since I have a line on a damaged one that may work for me, I quit calling.

It's still a cool bumper!!!!

 

this is not the way a company should deal with a customer at all! im very suprised they are still in business as something tells me this isnt the first time they pulled a stunt like that

 

I'm not surprised at all man. I'm on a 1st name basis with those guys. But of course that hasn't helped me any. Glad you found another one.

 

They're still in business cause the have a very unique product and its in heavy demand. I wish I had the $ to open up a company that produced a similar product. I bet you you'd have no problems getting one from me. If I had their kind of demand, you'd bet I'd have about 50 in stock at all times.

Guess you get what you pay for...

 

 

It's not a done deal yet . . .

 

I wont go into a long story but I will just express my complete opposite experience with Specter Werkes. I ordered a set of C5R lights from Jeff and made an appointment for them to fit them, paint them and install them. I drove up to Michigan last Thursday and arrived there at about 1 in the afternoon. Jeff and the guys immediately began removing my stock assemblies and doing the fitment on the C5R assemblies. Due to the fact that it was a somewhat timely process and I had time to kill Jeff offered to let me use their delivery van so that I could go to a mall or something and kill some time. Upon finding out that the van was having some issues with the brakes Jeff then offered to rent a car for me. There was a good chance that this was going to turn into an overnight install so he wanted me to have a way to get around. Well, Jeff rented a car for me and then they all continued my light install. They got everything fitted and then began painting the lenses. At this time it was getting late so I got a hotel and called it a night while they continued their work. Jeff and the guys did all the work they could but had to wait until after dark to do the light alignment. Jeff actually came back to the shop in the middle of the night to do the light alignment which was amazing to me. After the crew came back in the morning they finished the install by installing the freshly painted lenses and finishing things up. My car was ready to roll by 9am and everything looks perfect.

I'm sorry your experience wasnt quite as pleasant but I just need to let everyone know that my experience was flawless. I really have to praise Jeff, Sarah and all the other guys for a job well done in my case.

 

I feel your pain. It appears that customer service and Spectre Works should not be used in the same sentence.

 

sorry to hear about your experience... i dont like to hear stories like this especially since they know their name will be mentioned on this forum...

 

I'm glad your exp was a good one. Although you didn't try to get a rear fascia. I hear just as many problems with their hoods too. But I can't speak for the hood as I never ordered one from them. But lots of horror stories with the fascias.

 

Nice Report on a Not so Nice experience! There are two deadly things in business, not enough and too much! Sounds like they have the latter on this product. There is nothing worse than having more than you can handle and handling it poorly. At least with the former you may not have enough business but you aren't alienating customers and turning off new ones. I wish you both luck. FLYZLOW