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Clearing The Air: Corvette Mods Catalog Now On Top Flight Automotive
(What's below was already covered as a reply to Tusc's post about "Public Service Announcement: Beware Vendor Change", but we wanted to be sure everyone saw this message.)
Top Flight Automotive was founded in 1977 as Corvette America. We have been supplying the Corvette industry for nearly 50 years and are the Global leader and number one source for Corvette parts, interiors, and accessories and has earned its reputation for excellent service and quality parts. If you have bought Corvette parts from Central, Zip, RPI, Ecklers or even your local restoration shop, you were more than likely buying products manufactured by Corvette America.
Recently, we acquired the assets of Corvette Mods and, on January 4th, formally merged their product catalog onto our website. Corvette Mods offered a large selection of great products and there are literally thousands of customers who had a great purchasing experience. But there's no question the experience some customers had with Corvette Mods prior ownership led to understandable anger. Because of this, the entire Corvette Mods business is being integrated into our headquarters in Reedsville, Pennsylvania to improve customer service, in-stock inventory, and quality.
We have the largest C1 to C8 Corvette product portfolio on the planet, and we look forward to serving your needs in the years ahead.
My name is Mike, the Director of Sales at Top Flight Automotive. I've been with Corvette America/TFA since May of 1981. I want to thank you for your comment. One of the biggest reasons I personally supported our decision to acquire CorvetteMods was because they offered a ton of great products many of you want. With our acquisition, these products are now available from a trusted source that has been supplying the entire Corvette industry for nearly 5 decades. As a sales person at heart, all I can ask is give TFA a shot. I will tell all of you that the former owner of Mods has zero association with TFA. We've retained some key personnel from Mods that have vast product knowledge and have trained them to handle any issues that might come up the Corvette America/Top Flight way...you have a problem, you call us and we try and fix it quickly and professionally. Period.
I’ve been a Corvette America customer since it was mail order. Happy then, and happy with what I’ve done with Top Flight. That said, the proof will be in the pudding. I’ve often been interested in some of the products on the Corvette Mods site, but the innumerable horror stories have kept me away. Looking forward to seeing the results!
My name is Mike, the Director of Sales at Top Flight Automotive. I've been with Corvette America/TFA since May of 1981. I want to thank you for your comment. One of the biggest reasons I personally supported our decision to acquire CorvetteMods was because they offered a ton of great products many of you want. With our acquisition, these products are now available from a trusted source that has been supplying the entire Corvette industry for nearly 5 decades. As a sales person at heart, all I can ask is give TFA a shot. I will tell all of you that the former owner of Mods has zero association with TFA. We've retained some key personnel from Mods that have vast product knowledge and have trained them to handle any issues that might come up the Corvette America/Top Flight way...you have a problem, you call us and we try and fix it quickly and professionally. Period.
For the sake of the Corvette community, I hope for the best with this merger. The part that worries me is keeping any of those people. Changing that horrible culture is a great undertaking on your part.
Time will tell.....
Glad to hear this. I stopped buying from Corvette Mods years ago after a bad transaction regarding a part that was damaged either before or during delivery. Too many other options and vendors to work with than to battle with one with poor customer support.
I have had good transactions with Corvette America over the years, now Top Flight Automotive. The latest being my new seat skins and seat foam for my 2004 C5 convertible sports seats. Primary decision to go with Top Flight was that I wanted to mimic the original GM Mod Red seat option and because Top Flight is one of the very few vendors who can legally use the GM Corvette logo and lettering.
My name is Mike, the Director of Sales at Top Flight Automotive. I've been with Corvette America/TFA since May of 1981. I want to thank you for your comment......I will tell all of you that the former owner of Mods has zero association with TFA....you have a problem, you call us and we try and fix it quickly and professionally. Period.
Thanks Mike. You have said the right things and I wish you all well.
Corvette Mods has zero brand equity in the community. You may want to consider retiring the name.
A head's up to Top Flight: There's another thread going in the "transactions" forum that you may be interested in reading... Concerns your acquisition of CM...
Hey, Mike. I knew CA many years ago with my first Corvette in 2000 and was not aware of the transition to TF as a title or business in the meantime.
I have to say, I really like how Jim W from your IT department stepped forward on C5 Modified and I respect the professional address you have given us all here. His vouch for character and this action support one another and give a clear and positive glimpse into the TF team behind the name.
My spamming of the "alarm" everywhere online came from two things: a history of products which were not only poorly produced from CM but also dangerou where ballasts melted and risked fire, and my utter lack of awareness of the TF brand when CM sent the announcement e-mail.
Now I almost NEVER read ad mail. I don't know why I did. But the history with CM products and service has been so poor that when I read the news I feared they were rebranding their own line to fleece new owners.
It seems TF has some work to be done. Rectifying customer service is the easy part. Going through their product lines and assessing for baseline quality will take more work. Worthwhile now that your name is attached to their stock.
Might I suggest you begin with the HID ballasts. One went and I thought it was random. When the second went and I removed the four (high and low beams) I found a third had heat marks also. Factory 99 harness. Direct weatherpak plug in kit. No rocket science. And then they wouldn't honor any warranty but offered to send me more of the same pyrotechnic ballasts.... That was all I needed to know about them at that point. I've seen and compared other products of theirs and while sometimes the need is just a simple piece.... Theirs has always been lesser quality, less production effort, less accurate vs their claims.
So I am glad they are gone! And glad TW seems to have an intact compass enough that at least one employee stood forth and had enough faith in the company to risk social attack in order to say so. You guys are on the list. I might be playing CM Roulette ordering parts, but if y'all deal with us right then there is reduced risk on the customer end and we're all used to occasionally working on that.
For any future acquisitions, particularly any with very publicly discussed failings, it might be productive to get ahead of the news and send out a formal declaration explaining how things will go. If we all got a press release from TF saying what you have, then no one would bat an eye at such a thing. Allowing the newly acquired dept to handle their own messaging as they did was where lines crossed.
Come to think of it, I need to reach out to TPS about my headers as I have yet to receive the shipping form I'm expecting...
For the sake of the Corvette community, I hope for the best with this merger. The part that worries me is keeping any of those people. Changing that horrible culture is a great undertaking on your part.
Time will tell.....
Thank you for your comment. In regards to the CM former staff, I can tell you with certainty there are some very good people that worked there. You need to remember that these are working class people that needed to work to support their families. They were forced to do what the boss said or they were gone. When we came in and talked to them about how we operate at TFA they were excited to be part of a different business culture. They are all going to be great team members at TFA and I'm happy to have them. Mike-Director of Sales
Hey, Mike. I knew CA many years ago with my first Corvette in 2000 and was not aware of the transition to TF as a title or business in the meantime.
I have to say, I really like how Jim W from your IT department stepped forward on C5 Modified and I respect the professional address you have given us all here. His vouch for character and this action support one another and give a clear and positive glimpse into the TF team behind the name.
My spamming of the "alarm" everywhere online came from two things: a history of products which were not only poorly produced from CM but also dangerou where ballasts melted and risked fire, and my utter lack of awareness of the TF brand when CM sent the announcement e-mail.
Now I almost NEVER read ad mail. I don't know why I did. But the history with CM products and service has been so poor that when I read the news I feared they were rebranding their own line to fleece new owners.
It seems TF has some work to be done. Rectifying customer service is the easy part. Going through their product lines and assessing for baseline quality will take more work. Worthwhile now that your name is attached to their stock.
Might I suggest you begin with the HID ballasts. One went and I thought it was random. When the second went and I removed the four (high and low beams) I found a third had heat marks also. Factory 99 harness. Direct weatherpak plug in kit. No rocket science. And then they wouldn't honor any warranty but offered to send me more of the same pyrotechnic ballasts.... That was all I needed to know about them at that point. I've seen and compared other products of theirs and while sometimes the need is just a simple piece.... Theirs has always been lesser quality, less production effort, less accurate vs their claims.
So I am glad they are gone! And glad TW seems to have an intact compass enough that at least one employee stood forth and had enough faith in the company to risk social attack in order to say so. You guys are on the list. I might be playing CM Roulette ordering parts, but if y'all deal with us right then there is reduced risk on the customer end and we're all used to occasionally working on that.
For any future acquisitions, particularly any with very publicly discussed failings, it might be productive to get ahead of the news and send out a formal declaration explaining how things will go. If we all got a press release from TF saying what you have, then no one would bat an eye at such a thing. Allowing the newly acquired dept to handle their own messaging as they did was where lines crossed.
Come to think of it, I need to reach out to TPS about my headers as I have yet to receive the shipping form I'm expecting...
Thank you for your comment. I'll respond by telling you the TFA has a very good electrical engineer on staff. I will inform him of your concern and have him look into this. I'd also like to inform everyone that all of CM's manufacturing operations are in process of being moved into our factory in central PA. All processes will be documented, evaluated and changes/adjustments made as needed. IMO, we have amazing leadership at our factory and they can't wait to start this process.
Thank you for your comment. I'll respond by telling you the TFA has a very good electrical engineer on staff. I will inform him of your concern and have him look into this. I'd also like to inform everyone that all of CM's manufacturing operations are in process of being moved into our factory in central PA. All processes will be documented, evaluated and changes/adjustments made as needed. IMO, we have amazing leadership at our factory and they can't wait to start this process.
Mike, can you advise when the integration is complete with the manufacturing processes are moved in house at CA as well as the customer service/order depts?
Thanks....
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-
'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Best of luck integrating the items from Corvette Mods into your existing inventory. Hopefully your team will evaluate the items, ensure the quality is there and then stand behind the products with excellent customer service. As a business that has been in operation for decades, I’m sure you know how to run a company properly.
Your willingness to post threads like this shows to me a desire to get things back on track and provide quality products to Corvette enthusiasts.
Best of luck integrating the items from Corvette Mods into your existing inventory. Hopefully your team will evaluate the items, ensure the quality is there and then stand behind the products with excellent customer service. As a business that has been in operation for decades, I’m sure you know how to run a company properly.
Your willingness to post threads like this shows to me a desire to get things back on track and provide quality products to Corvette enthusiasts.
Mike, can you advise when the integration is complete with the manufacturing processes are moved in house at CA as well as the customer service/order depts?
Thanks....
Order department here at TFA is open as always. The TFA website has the vast majority of the SKU's loaded.
As far as manufacturing, we are well under way on getting much of that moved, raw materials are being received and some new equipment has arrived. As the largest Corvette manufacturer in the business, we feel confident production will be well under way before end of Q1.
As far as customer service, we are working through as much of that as possible daily. We're doing what we can to try and help customers get answers.
Haha, just be glad you're not Texas Speed right now. Sloppy is putting them through the ringer. A brand new cam had a lobe separate and someone suggested the converter had gone bad because the car had sat ..... and boy.... I would NOT want to be their online media guy right now wondering why TS is trending suddenly.
I’ve been a Corvette America customer since it was mail order. Happy then, and happy with what I’ve done with Top Flight. That said, the proof will be in the pudding. I’ve often been interested in some of the products on the Corvette Mods site, but the innumerable horror stories have kept me away. Looking forward to seeing the results!
Thank you for the support and your loyalty to Corvette America and Top Flight Automotive!
We understand your concern about Corvette Mods, which is why we are bringing that business into our operation here in Pennsylvania, with our team, our leadership, our manufacturing expertise and our quality control. We always stand by our quality and when rare mistakes occur, we own it and will make it right as we have for nearly 50 years. We greatly appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to earn your trust in the years to come.
Thanks Mike. You have said the right things and I wish you all well.
Corvette Mods has zero brand equity in the community. You may want to consider retiring the name.
That is the idea. Once we convert the entirety of operations and let their customers know Mods has been absorbed by Top Flight Automotive, the Mods name will be retired. Step one was the merge of their website, step two is the integration of its manufacturing operations, now in process. Thank you for the feedback and support! Much appreciated!
TFA thanks for the updates, and thanks for the years of supporting the car community, not just Corvettes. I always shop at your site and I loved walking your "Mall" set up at Corvettes at Carlisle. I may have even met you at the event, since I knew a few of the folks that worked their prior to your own name change from Corvette America to TFA.
01-06-2023, 05:12 PM
Clearing The Air: Corvette Mods Catalog Now On Top Flight Automotive
