Personally, it really distresses the heck out of me when a customer has a problem with a vendor and goes straight to the forum to begin bashing before going to the owner of the shop and discussing the problem first. :mad It's not right nor is it fair to anyone on the forum to stir the pot before giving a vendor the chance to remedy a perceived problem. :mad
I'll give ya'll the last word, am I wrong?

 

I probably shouldn't do this but....... I didn't get the impression from the post by gsgreenwood that he was bashing. Just sounded like he was relating a bad experience. I for one, like to hear the good and the bad and then make my own decisions. I can understand both sides.


[Modified by Als98C5, 2:42 PM 5/17/2002]

 

I agree. Seems like there has been alot of this lately.

 

Although I think we should here the results of all experiences good or bad, I agree that the tuner/vendor should have a chance to remedy the situation before their reputation is tarnished.

In Speed Demon's case, I think he may have benefited from all of this. I personally learned that he has had a ton of customers that were happily satisfied and also I found out that Chris is a very honest and kind guy. He is defiently a tuner I would go to in the future

 

You are absolutely right Steve. Makes me wonder if something else is going
on that we don't know about. Too many if's not to wonder.

 

What you thinkin Ken? Conspiracy theory perhaps :lol:
Matthew

 

:cheers:

 

Quote
the tuner/vendor should have a chance to remedy the situation before their reputation is tarnished.

TOTALLY CORRECT

 

I take it you are not the unhappy customer!

 

That's the problem with free speech! LOL

Actually, though I agree that people should not bash companies without good reason - I don't have any problems at all with finding out what shops do what with their customers. I, and many other board members, are not simple enough to take that at face value as meaning that any one shop is a rotten apple because of one incident. But it helps to have a running record.

If no one bitched on-line about Hennessey Motor Sport at the VCA website then a LOT more people would have been burned. As it is, people still sent business to the company. So overall I like hearing the good/bad of a shop.

And you have to consider, how many guys here will ever actually do business with many of these places?

 

seems bad now, but the shop will do a better job because of it.

 

Having owned several companies in the service industry, I know you cant please everyone !!! As for dealing with Chris I personally have had nothing but great service and will continue to be a loyal customer of Speed Demon.

Just my .02

 

 

Look, from what I understand, Speed Demon tried to rip the guy off by claiming his car had problem when it didn't. Presuming this is an accurate recollection of what actually happened, how can Speed Demon remedy the situation?!?!?! Tell the guy, "Hey, I'm sorry for trying to rip you off." Whatever. I have no personal experience with Speed Demon, but I probably won't ever now, after hearing this guy's story. Did Speed Demon ever respond to the guy's allegations? :confused:

 

Quikag:

See the other post -- it's up to three pages worth.

It's getting to be a soap opera and really stupid -- as Bill S. wrote -- "Much ado about nothing."

 

I'd like to hear both sides.

What good is a forum?

The truth always comes out. Don't be affraid.

Excellent tuners will make mistakes, it's how they handle it. Just because they are great tuners, doesn't mean they can ignore that one customer with a problem.

Posting bad experiences will keep tuners on their toes.

If a customer is outright lying, once the smoke clears, the truth will come out. The tuner will gain even more credibility. At least the tuner is forced to continually re-evaluate its customer service and quality.

If we were to encourage not posting bad experiences, then create a forum with "happy" stories only.

Just because someone gets along with a tuner, or has a good relationship and received great service, it doesn't mean that everyone received the same treatment or level of service.

Put yourself in the other guy's shoes. Are you folks telling us that you never received bad service or poor quality work? How would you want to be treated by a vendor?

It's a business, and it better have thick skin to deal with customer complaints...ligitimate or not. It's how they deal with it, not who's right or wrong.

I run a business, and my philosophy is, the customer is always right!

Don't kill a potential golden goose by trying to save a penny.

 

Da Kind:

If you read the other thread, I think you'll see that the gent may have over reacted by posting in the first place. Like you said, the customer is always right, but in some cases the customer won't let you let him be right, no matter what.

Post legitimate bad experiences, sure, but in the case cited, the gent seems to be stiring things up for no reason. He could have simply called the other shop and it woud have been taken care of. Instead, he's churning an issue out of nothing.

 

Haven't visited the thread since it got so big, but the customer had a problem and put it on the forum. Probably should have called Chris first, but he didn't. However, the response from SD was quite impressive and I thought the better of them for it. In the end, I don't think any damage was done. I for one do not believe anything I read until I hear both sides. Someone complained about another vendor recently, and then come to find out he bought the vendor's parts used and expected the vendor to take care of the product. If he had bought the product new, he would have known about the potential problem to start with.

 

I just have to respond:
After reading all the posts and trying to remember them all, I'm don't know
where Gary (gsgreenwood) went wrong by all these negative responses. :confused:

What is the "forum" for? It is set up and maintained to discuss, share and relay information on a mutual subject: CORVETTES. I have seen too many times this past year that when a member discusses something or has a story to tell, almost immediately he/she gets thirty posts questioning the validity of the incidents. Yet these people have no intimate knowledge of the situation other than, "I've had no problem with this vendor."

That's irrelevant.

Gary presented his initial post factually and perhaps could have re-worded some comments, but for the most part he was informing us of his experience and urging the rest of us to look at things more carefully and of the lesson he learned.

Yet some of this group who continually bash "dealers" for shoddy workmanship or for being too complacent with us "Vette" owners are very quick to defend a "tuner." Let's face it, there are good guys and bad guys and they're not always one way or the other.

But I have to admit and I don't believe "Chris" denied a misdiagnosis, that he (Chris) is ultimately responsible for his business. He's the guy who has to present correct information to the customer and it's his responsibility, period.
Whether or not he's busy and cannot turn all the wrenches himself is not or should not be a concern of the customer.
I'm sure Gary paid the bill for the work that was done...It wasn't free. And Gary wasn't under any obligation to "talk it over with Chris and work it all out."

Gary didn't like what he heard and with good reason...It wasn't right. Yet to hear some responses, Gary should have taken Chris' word "Carte Blanche."
"Gary should learn more about engines and his car" was one respondent.
:bs:


Gary went to HOS and felt comfortable with the answers and rewarded them with the job plus the extras. Who here would have done differently?

Chris almost took Gary down the wrong path, though not with malicious intent, but the wrong path nonetheless. Isolated incident for sure.
He$$, if someone gave me this diagnosis, I walk away. I'm not going to stand there trying to convince them they're wrong. Has anyone been successful going into a business and getting their way? Rarely I bet.

Gary did the right thing and got a second opinion. He had the car fixed and then he reported the findings. He didn't bash Speed Demon first. And later, when he did, for the most part it was informative and not vindictive. As previously stated, he could have worded it differently.
And only after being lambasted for attacking one of the "Vendor Elite" by the "Forum Elite," did he put up the defense.

Then after a long while Chris finally chimed in with the "Why didn't you give me a chance to work it out first?" nonesense. What? It's a business, not a relationship! You don't do it right, you don't get the work.
I wonder:
If Chris did do the work and opened the engine, would he have amended his findings? I hope he would have, but I don't know. Would the tech have blindly followed a work order? I don't know. Would Chris have supervised his
tech(s) to ensure proper work? I don't know.

See, the point is, Gary didn't know and neither did anyone else on the forum.
So those of you who are so generous with other peoples' car, money and effort, take your shot.

And a lot of the "Gary Bashers" seem to and I do emphasize "SEEM" to be business owners. There's always an excuse for missed opportunities. Well, Kenneth Lay of Enron claimed not know what was going on either and blamed the employees underneath. Well the buck stops at the top.
Furthermore, when a problem arises, the only way to improve is to address it
before it hits the streets.

I'm sure Chris and Speed Demon are tops in what and how they do it, but "Gary" needs to be concerned only with "Gary."

:seeya ...GeorgeC

 

See? There's the problem.....you're assuming that Speed Demon actually DID try to rip the guy off. You're taking the customers word for it when in fact you do not know what the circumstances really were.