great MCB experience...bad ridetech experience...

[blakes72x]

this post is to state the problems i had with my ridetech product buying experience this post is about ridetech and not matts classic bowties through which i purchased my products through as everything shipped directly from ridetech to me.

so basically it goes as follow i placed my order with matts classic bowties on 3/22/2012 at about 5:20pm pst might i add they close at 5:00pm i just caught kim just leaving for the night and she still was able to take my order (great service). recieved my invoice the next day that stating my order was placed and everything was ready to go that i would be contacted as soon as ridetech shipped my items with the tracking numbers....5 days later i finally receive my tracking numbers my goal was to have everything together by the good guys del mar local show that was way out the window with the delivery date being scheduled for april 3rd which was fine I new it was a long shot but w/e.

so i finally receive my parts from ridetech on the 3rd and I open up everything might i also state that not a single one of my boxes was damaged in shipping. once i dug through the miles of shredded foam packing materials and inspected everything is when the problems started. one of my single adjustable front shocks wasn't adjustable...the adjuster was jammed and there was no way to even turn the knob. in addition to that they sent me old stock upper control arms (came in a air ride technologies box) the included ball joint fasteners won't even fit into the bracket so i had to drill them out (no big deal but still you send me items with included fasteners and the fasteners don't fit???) so next I go on to open up my rear airbar only to find i'm missing a few bolts and the lower billet shock mounts don't fit the mounting studs they sent me...you can get about 3 threads in and its stuck...

so I call ridetech and i get an RMA number for my shock and billet mounts and I was told they would turn the items around the day they receive them. with ridetech apparantly if they send you broken/deffective items you still have to pay to ship it back out of your pocket(remember these items weren't damaged in shipping) just to speed up the process I send the items next day air on the 4/7/2012 and in the box I included all my info (address, email, phone number, cell number, RMA number etc.). tracking numbers state they didn't accept the package 4/8/2012 when it arrived but they accepted the package on the 4/9/2012. so a few days go bye and still no items. the next week I was crazy busy at work (90 hour week) so it kinda slips my mind for about a week or so I try to call them but being that i'm west coast and they are east i miss them like 2 days in a row. so i finally got ahold of them today april 19th and they guy tells me they sent it out a week or so ago but they didn't know where to ship the item so they sent it back to matts classic bowties....funny my address and all my contact info was in the box and my return address was also on the box and i gave them my address and phone number atleast 4 times when i called and got my rma number. is that not what the rma number is for so you know who's part you have to fix and where to send it? so the guy tells me he is going to contact MCB and see if they can just ship it directly to me and he would let me know (still no call back from ridetech and that was over an hour ago) you think they would be working hard to get me my part after all these shenanigans...

so needless to say almost a month after i placed my order I still do not have all the parts i need to install my ridetech kit and i'm pretty frustrated on top of that all the guy tells me on the phone is sorry we didn't know



I have yet to install anything so who knows what problems I might run into once I start that process

all in all so far very disatisfied with ridetechs customer service and products (once I install everything I might change it to satisfied with products if they perform well and there are no more problems but my opinion on they're customer service will not change unless someone does some serious damage control over there)

as for matts classic bowties: I was seriously impressed that kim stopped everything as she was walking out the door to sit down and take my order and how they took care of everything from emails to tracking numbers etc. all info provided was grade A will definately order from them again very satisfied customer and on top of that their prices were great

[bret]

Well...let me find out the details on our end. This is the first that I have been directly involved in this transaction [not unusual, I typically do not get involved in returns on a daily basis]. Give me a few hours to respond.

[bret]

OK...here is what I have found out with a few minutes of investigation:

* Your original RMA was written on Tuesday 4.3.12. That is apparantly when you spoke with Jeremy about the problem with the adjuster knob and the billet mount threads.

* Your return package was received here on Monday 4.9.12. It was processed immediately and shipped back out the next day on 4.10.12 to Matt's. The only address we had on the RMA was for Matt's Classic Bowties. When RMA's are receieved, the boxes and packaging are typically discarded. Since there seemed to be no question about whose return this was and where it was to be reurned to, there was no reason to search through the packing material for additional information. As far as other names or information on the outside of the box, it is very common for boxes to be "recycled"...we've gotten returns back in Edelbrock, MSD, Hotchkis, DSE, and Sams Sex Shop boxes with addresses on them ranging from Illinois to Istanbul. That is why I have directed my guys to go by the information on the RMA instead of anything written on the box, or even IN the box. I know you have mentiond that you gave your personal shipping information to us at least 4 times, but that is information I am not finding.
Also, your indicated shipment dates of 4.7.12 for overnight delivery on 4.8.12 would indicate shipping out on a Saturday for a Sunday delivery. I'm not sure if UPS or Fedex will take a shipment on Saturday, but I am certain that they won't deliver on Sunday. That is likely why the shipment was received here on Monday the 9th.

* After shipping back out the next day on 4.10.12 the repaired items were received at Matt's on 4.16.12 at 11:30am by D. Crawford.

So much for the tangible facts, now I'll try to address some of the other items.

* Jammed rebound adjuster - Completely correct. Typically our shipping guys give the adjuster a quick turn as a final QC check to make sure it turns as it should. We missed this one. My apologies...it should have been caught.

* billet mount threads - Correct again. There was a small burr on the internal threads that prevented the stud from easily threading into the mount. Again...it should not have happended and I offer my apologies for that.

* Ball joint hole pattern mismatch - This is a problem that is shared by many suspension manufacturers who use various brands of ball joints, and has been discussed a fair amount on this forum. This problem seems to be an inconsistant bolt pattern in the ball joint itself. It's not a lot...usually just takes running a drill through the holes to clean them up...but is irritating just the same.

* air ride Technologies Box - I guess anything is possible, but we have not used those boxes in 4 years. I suppose it is possible that they found an old stack of those boxes in some corner and put them to use. At any rate you do not have "old" control arms. We run through control arms like water here...yours were likely a stick of raw steel tubing not more than 30 days ago.

* Prepayment on returns - The only way that I have come up with in the last 17 years to insure that we get any defective or replacement parts returned to us is to charge the customers credit card for the items sent out and then credit him when the old parts are returned to us. If the components are defective when we get them back we pay for regular return ground shipping. If you are a dealer, [as this transaction appeared to be] it is normal for the dealer to pay for their shipping and we'll pay for the return shipping to them.
It is very important for us to get potentially defective parts returned to us. If there is a design or a manufacturing problem, we need to know about asap in order to get it corrected. The only way I know how to do this is to examine the part personally.

All I can ask for at this point is guidance from you on how to make your experience better. If it is reasonable, I will make it happen. In the meantime please accept my apologies for your troubles and, as a hotrodder, my sympathies for your irritation.

[MCB Matt]

Blake,
I too am very sorry about the fustrations that you have run into. This is something that is not normal by any means with ridetech. I have been a dealer for them for a while now and have never had this issue happen. To make matters worse the package did arrive here, In between it being delivered and before a new tag was put on it, fedex picked it up thinking it was going out with our daily shipments. So to fix the issue ridetech has stepped up to the plate, they are sending out the replacment parts OVERNIGHT saturday delivery. In my 11 years of business I dont think I have ever had a supplier step up to the plate as ride tech has done. So clear out any of your weekend plans and lets get this car done!
Kim
MCB

[blakes72x]

thanks for your timely response bret it is greatly appreciated

when i called and got my RMA # from jeremy i told him about the control arms and he said that was an old design flaw that you guys changed about a year back or something that is how i came to the conclusion of old stock just by what your rep told me also he is the one i gave my info to atleast 4 times even my original order number off of the invoice provided with the boxes by your company he took everything down before he would give me the rma # so i'm not sure how you can't find it or how that happened being as i the customer contacted him directly about a defective part not sure why he would ignore that fact and still direct for it to be sent back to the dealer (matts) but w/e this type of thing happens and i understand

what really irritates me is how dumbfounded your rep sounded when i called them asking very politely what the status of my rma number he basically passed the buck and told me they screwed up and sent it to MCB but i would have to contact MCB and figure it out with them like it wasn't your guys problem at that point. if it was my business i would have had that guy pick up the phone that instant with me on hold call MCB and figure out the best plan of action and immediately let me know what you were going to do to fix it....which he did not

honestly before i started this transaction i did months of research between every available option for the suspension for my car, being 22 and not having alot of money to blow makes you take every purchase pretty seriously. every viable company and part was considered from ridetech, chassisworks, speedtech, dse, global west, cpp, etc. etc. and everytime i read a thread or watched a video there was someone there to back your company up and talk about how great your products are and how great your customer service is and all that good stuff so i figured hey if they had such a great experience i should go with them...wrong.....i have seen none of that your company is very highly regarded in the pro touring aftermarket and that is great for you but for those reasons i cannot see how all this slipped right past you guys and ended up on my door step in a box proudly labeled ridetech or should i say on MCB's doorstep

i appreciate you looking into everything personally that is the type of customer service that should be expected or a company with such a high reputation as yours. as for making things better heres an idea try fixing your RMA system its broken. make sure your reps ask for a return shipping address and confirm it with the customer dont just assume hey this was bought through a dealer lets ship it to them, maybe call the customer and let them know how the repair is going if its done or not, maybe email them when you ship the item off with a tracking number, all these things would be nice. maybe a small discount on future purchases if i decide to go with your company again I planned to buy alot more from your company but am kind of weary at this point.

kim called me this morning she said that you guys and mcb decided to split the shipping and overnight me the parts which is wonderful i greatly appreciate that i will finally have my items. she woke me up but i'm glad i woke up to that news and not something else lol. again thumbs up to MCB for the great service but why didn't a ridetech rep call and tell me this as it was their screw up?

[blakes72x]

so a big thanks goes out to ridetech and MCB for resolving these issues very fast...by fast i mean FAST all my missing parts were overnighted to me and i received them this morning in 100% working order. although i'm still a little disappointed in how things went prior to this ridetech definately did their best to make it right and i appreciate that. thanks again bret for taking a personal interest in this i appreciate it and many thanks to kim for working to get this all resolved

thanks alot guys