Midnight08

Again, I'll say thanks for the replies.

I called Brandon yesterday, and we were able to take the time to get on the same page. At this point, at don't have a problem with Maryland Speed. Our initial communication was via chat, and we each made an assumption, but didn't state it for the other, so that lead to some confusion on my part. Once the reply came here (from Brandon), it provided some clarification and that was confirmed in our conversation yesterday. At the end of the day, he saw an opportunity to offer an additional discount that might earn my business - and it did, but the caveat is additional time, which isn't an issue, but it wasn't stated up front. Now I know and all is fine. He can certainly provide the parts I want quicker, but not at the same price point. Just some basic business economics.

Ultimately, this is a bit like Amazon. I am an Amazon Prime member. I love the convenience, selection, and speed I get most of my orders with them. That said, I'm NOT a shareholder, by choice. For all their years of doing things this way, and for all the areas they have expanded into, they have yet to turn a profit. The way they do business is great for customers and banks (that they borrow from), but it's not sustainable. And, perhaps at some point, the cost of the infrastructure they have built, and the loans made to cover it all will be paid off, and they will actually turn an actual profit. I hope so. The hard part is that it puts a real strain on just about everyone else trying to make a (sustainable) buck in retail, since we customers like our products inexpensive, with free shipping, and quickly (where possible) - regardless of it's impact on a business. And, shipping is never free. Having had my own business and buying and selling and shipping all kinds of things I'm well aware of that.

At the end of the day, I applaud what Maryland Speed is trying to do - work with customers to find a sustainable middle ground; one that works for customer and vendor. And I aim to support businesses like it and I encourage others to do the same.

Not So Fast

Nice reply, thumbs up to you
NSF

449er

Well, I guess that I have to throw my two cents in here... I ordered my Kooks Header/Xpipe combo on 11/25/16, to date nothing. To be fair here, I had them coat both parts & I understand that it will take longer. I have received no response from Maryland Speed about the status of my order to date, I have contacted them twice & Branden responded both times, the 1st time he said that they were pushing to get the parts out to the coater, that was 2 weeks ago. 2nd time, I was told that they "flagged" my order to go out the door to the coater by (this past Friday), still haven't heard whether this happened or not? I guess that I have to contact them again. Is the lowest price the best price? You decide. The biggest frustration that I have is not being contacted by M/S, I have to initiate every query

AORoads

Some very sharp and insightful comments above. I'll add mine because I've said it before, and the world of buying has changed.

The world of shopping and buying has changed, probably irrevocably. We no longer have smaller (and in some cases, even the larger ones) businesses down the street, and WITH inventory in the back room. In some cases, we no longer have small businesses at all on a traditional "main street" or shopping center---just chain stores, or soon-to-be chain stores. So generally if you buy online, you're buying from somewhere else in the country---or out of the country.

As Midnight said above, it is a very fine line to walk as an internet-only biz. As an owner, you have to decide how much and where you provide customer service, and where you don't. Those that do, sometimes succeed, but at a high price to them---more staff and cost to answer all the questions---even from those who will never buy from them! And those that don't have the staff to do the answering may suffer exactly what is happening now, and to other internet biz.

Times have changed in biz, and in shopping. If you want to supposedly have more control of your purchase, you will have to shop close to home so you can figuratively walk down the street and ask "John" where your parts are. Or, as one boss once said to me about my group moving out of HQ: "No, that's not going to happen. I want you on the same floor with me, down the hall so that you are within strangle distance." You want the biz "within strangle distance."

Batman75

I bought an axel back Corsa Sport from Maryland Speed. When I received the confirmation they said it would be shipped to me directly from Corsa. I contacted Corsa with my info, since I figured they would have the most accurate information, and they said it would be shipped as soon as they finished fabrication. They gave me a tentative date and it arrived very close to that date. I was very satisfied with Corsa and Maryland Speed. Maryland Speed also had by far the best price.

BAAD LS2

Ordered uncoated Kooks and catless mids on 11/28. 2 months later still don't have them. When I ordered, I was told 3-4 weeks. Its been 9 weeks and no word on if they have shipped yet.

0MarylandSpeed

I will add some more detail here for the heck of it.

Shipping Time-

Everyone uses Amazon now, and expects stuff on their door step in two days. This works great for general commodities. Hell, my dog food gets delivered every 3 weeks from Amazon so I don't have to go to Petco.

Aftermarket car parts were never like this however. You can't go most places locally and buy a Corsa exhaust, or some fancy headers. I started this 14 years ago when the online stuff was starting, and really you had two options to buy parts.

The first way was to go to your local speed shop. They carried no stock, so you thumbed through catalogs, picked out your parts, paid for them, and they ordered them. They would call you weeks later and say the parts were in.

The other way is you filled out the order form in your Summit catalog, mailed in a check, and waited weeks again.

I would day for the first 5-10 years we were in business, people would wait weeks and never complained. This is for two reasons. First they expected it (and backorders were worse then). Second, to ask about your order required going home and firing up a computer in most cases.

The rapid adoption of smart phones, and buying every day things online from places like Amazon has changed things rapidly. People have gotten so used to ordering things online, and now expect that same service with after market car parts. I have people who place orders, and in two days have over 100 logins checking order status. Problem is, a lot of this aftermarket stuff was never widely available fast or locally. You can't buy a Corsa exhaust locally, why would you expect to order it online and have it in two days?

Social media also plays a role. Now the second you are unhappy about anything you can tell a crap ton of people with no real recourse. You can say what you want, damage a persons business..and no one moderates it.

Customer Service-

This is one of my favorite ones. You hear people when they get mad at a company make a statement like "They have terrible customer service!".

What you are really saying here is "I did not get my way". I know in my business, I personally see and make sure all the tickets are closed every day. I answer a good bit of the customer service phone calls and sit with in ear shot over everyone else who does. I want to talk to people, and do all the time. So when someone I have personally talked to, and had several friendly conversations with is like "They have terrible customer service!"....it's very frustrating. I have been here to provide you service plenty. We are just waiting on a backordered part..and when you ordered it says the wait was estimated.

One place we can be better is proactiveness. Reaching out to people before they ask where their stuff is. The problem we have is the business is very seasonal, and the stuff we sell takes a bit of training to support. It takes me six months to get someone functional, so we can't just hire someone for two months at a time when it is busy.

Also, no matter what people "say" customers generally want the best price and that requires running lean.


And that brings me to Amazon.....

Here are some facts about Amazon-

• The irony here is if you want to talk no customer service..why not look at Amazon. Try calling them to ask what size headers you should buy.?They have no presale customer service. Post sale customer support, they rely on the order being perfect and delivered on time and hope you dont have to call them. If you have to contact them after an order delivered, it is a disaster. They have non US based support if you can call them, and their answer is normally...here is all your money back..go away. No phone support with the install there.
• As a company, they either don't make money, or they make very little money. No small business can do that.
• They do not comply with manufacturer pricing policies. This is the biggest issue. The big fad now is for manufacturers to Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policies, which set a minimum price dealers can list, or sell stuff for. I hate them with a passion. To enforce these policies, the manufacturer distributes a "DO NOT SELL" List to their wholesalers. Then any dealer on the do not sell list should not be able to buy the product from the manufacturer or the wholesaler until they come off of it. The big ugly hole here is that they can't enforce it on Amazon. The first issue is Amazon is so huge that it is almost impossible to get someone who handles that stuff. Second, they have a ton of "marketplace sellers" who sell under fake names. So the manufacturer puts out a do not sell list with a bunch of Amazon marketplace sellers, but no one knows who they really are because they sell under fake names. We have one brand of handheld tuners..that if I sniff at listing a dollar under MAP they will shut me down. Yet the same Amazon market place sellers have been on their DO NOT SELL list for a year, and still are selling under MAP because no one knows who they are.
• When it comes to car parts (or anything really), Amazon has no peer. Meaning, if Amazon stopped selling car parts tomorrow, there is no other retailer out there that would be able to get away with routinely selling under MAP, providing no customer service, and living purely on large inventory and free two day shipping.

That's where it is hard for a company like us. In order to sell stuff, I have be cheaper than Amazon to even be at the table (but in many cases I can't without getting in trouble). I have to ship just as fast, or faster. And better yet, I have to provide pre and post sales support (one of my biggest expenses), where they don't have to at all.



Now I am not asking for sympathy or a sale I don't deserve. But I am saying that a business like many of the vendors here run cannot exist if Amazon is the standard bearer.

0MarylandSpeed

Again, we oversold a few parts over the holidays and things got backed up. This is a very small part of our overall orders here. I fall on the sword for that. That said, these are good deals, and anyone who needs an update is welcome to call and ask for me personally. We will be over the hump very soon, and it won't happen again.

0MarylandSpeed

Perfect example of what I mean.

Just chatted with a customer on the website.

Started a chat and asked if he was interested in the parts he was looking at.

He replied he was, but could not afford them.

So I offered him a discount, so he could, and he readily agreed to buy. They I told him the part was on backorder for two weeks because the manufacturer was waiting on a specific component. Then he came back and said he would not buy because he needed them for a car get together he is having next week?...................

Don-Vette

Maryland Speed, is top notch!! great prices and service. I been buying from them for years.

bhoch

Yep. I have purchased through them for my C6 and would again. Always very good talking with them with any questions as well.

Batman75

As I said in my previous comment, Maryland Speed was excellent. They offered me an additional discount over the phone and the no tax or shipping charge made it even better. I checked the price if I had ordered my Corsa Sport exhaust from Corsa and it would have been much more expensive. When Corsa gave me a tentative date the exhaust would be shipped, I asked if there was any way It could be sooner? They said no because they start fabrication at the time of the order. Again, Maryland Speed is the best!

cv67

MS yrs ago when I had a biz the squeaky ones (cheapzzez)were the ONLY ones to give issues, complain ask for discounts, something. Every time.
After too many issues upon giving a quote only to hear "can I have a discount" (thinking for WHAT) turned them away. Does it hurt for them to inquire no but seems last 10-15 yrs the world has turned into a "flea market" where people think the price really isnt the price;even seen it at the grocery store!

Doubt this helps, know internet only svc is a little different just sayin.

damascus1986

I had the same experience with my halltech beehive^^ saved 25 dollars but took forever. They always answered but it was always next week it will ship. took like 6 or 7 weeks to get my intake had to re schedule with my tuner. i will order somewhere else for my future parts.

Midnight08

Since I started this thread, I have received my order. In essence it shipped almost exactly one month after I placed the order. This timeline worked for me, though I didn't know how the long the wait would be.

I swapped some emails with them about the unclear language they would use, week by week. It was my opinion that they have no control over when they will ship, if they offer an additional discount. That can work for customers, but in this day and age, most of us would like a more concrete handle on when stuff will ship and they seem unable to provide this.

Whether I buy from them again, really will depend on the item. That said, I don't see needing much more for my C6 at this point. Bottom line, if you want one of the lowest prices that may be available, it will cost you some time flexibility, as clearly on some items, they don't keep them in stock. I would work via chat, or phone if you have a desired timeline, so you get a chance to be clear on your time line and price, so you know up front if the discounted price/longer timeline will work for you.

Good luck!

Hischar

I ordered a Nick Williams 102 throttle body from them on 23 June and its been processing since that day, it's now & July and it has yet to ship, that's two whole weeks.

I'm just wondering what the issue is; do they not stock the items they sell? The item never said it was on backorder so I'm kind of confused here. Everywhere else I order from the item ships in a couple days tops.

449er

Maryland Speed is very competitive on pricing, no doubt about that. The downside is that ( at least with headers & exhaust ) they wait until they have enough orders to get a discount from the manufacturer which was a 2 1/2 month wait on my order. Do you want the best price or the fastest turnaround?

Hischar

I'm all for the best price. But they should make it very well known that depending on the item, the wait time could be very long.

tri08sbc

Ordered my Kook's S/S headers and catted X pipe with ceramic coating in March. Still waiting....

Turbo6TA

You ordered a set of headers 4 months ago, and still nothing!

So, what is there excuse for this one?

Unbelievable!