RE: Anything You Might Say
This is an interesting subject. In business, you have two options:
1)to do business with
2)NOT to do business with
I dont know about you folks, but I have discovered the whole concept of "Customer Service" has gone way downhill in the last 10 years. In turn, this has changed what has become expected by customers of the business.
What used to be known as the "motto" of most businesses was "the customer is always right." That is now as ancient history.
I have never done business with the vendor that is the topic of this thread. I cannot give you my opinion of the company, or its owner(s).
But I have heard arguements from both sides of this discussion, and before I would ever consider doing "online" business with ANY vendor/supplier/business, I would have to realize the most commonly over-looked practice, which is: Buyer beware.
There are several reasons why buyers need to watch their own back.
1) product quality
2) where is it coming from
3)who is inspecting these products?
4)who's name is on these products?
5)am I getting what I am paying for(name/size/model)?
The list goes on.
As an example, I recently purchased a Addco rear sway bar for my Mark VIII. I ordered it from a company other than the vendor we are referring to. The "seller" of the part, does NOT stock the part, manufacter the part, or even ever see the part. It is a "farmed out", or "sub-contracted", or "drop-shipped" part. What would I do if the part turned out to be defective? or if it was the wrong size? What if it broke on the road, flew off my car, and punctured one of my tires, sending me into an uncontrollable spin, and forcing me into a cement wall, totalling my car? Would I go after the vendor I purchased the part from, or the manufacturer?
I suppose I could call the place I bought it from, and ask them to reimburse me for the loss of my vehicle while it was in the shop, the added insurance premiums from my high-dollar claim, not to mention the amount of money I would lose since my insurance company would never pay me the amount of money my car is worth plus mods/add-ons, etc.
My whole point is: when you go to make a purchase for your car, or anything for that matter, you have to first choose to do business with a company you think you can trust. You ask around. Once you decide who you are going to hand your money over to, you pretty much have to trust that they are going to provide you with a quality part/job in exchange for the price they are asking.
But if anything should go wrong, that company should stand behind their work. If you find that there is no warranty, or they wont stand behind their work, perhaps you should have known that before ever doing business with them. This is refered to as "doing your homework". Businesses rely alot on their reputation.
In the case of "what if my swaybar broke while...", think about it. Who would you expect to compensate you for your damages? The company you bought the part from, or the company that actually built the bar?
I am amazed at how so many people can do business with a vendor, but as soon as something goes wrong, the first thing they want to do is blame the company who's name is on the invoice.
Lets face it folks. There is an order of "blame", and we all know, it starts with us. If I bought a Addco bar, and it turned out to be junk, I would have to say it was my fault for buying a Addco bar.
If you buy a transmission from someone, I would assume you went with that vendor because they had a good reputation for quality parts, at the right price. If you simply made the purchase because you "heard" that vendor sold quality products, but didnt bother to ask who was building them, then you would have to blame yourself.
Now, on the flip-side(since I know there are alot of hands up right now), if I bought a Addco bar, as advertised, and what I ended up with was a cheap sway bar, made by some half-wit company, painted to look like a Addco bar in every way, that was nothing close to what I ordered, then of course, I could go straight to the seller and ask them why I was sent the wrong part. If the seller explained to me that they did in fact tell Addco to send me the correct bar, and then they found out that I wasnt getting what I paid for, I would expect the seller to rectify the situation the very best way they could.
Ok, enough dribble. I think that these websites are truely exempt from any form of lawsuit. Message boards cannot be held responsible for what its members write. The most they can do is monitor it, and delete/modify/edit anything they see as "not fitting".
But lets face it. The vendor we are talking about has more to lose than any of the poor guys who ended up with the wrong part. he not only has to try to rectify that situation, but he has to try to regain the trust of many of his past, and future customers.
This is a true example of "one bad apple". He had a good thing going. He just made a bad decision with his choice of who to do business with. I think he needs to tell his lawyers to concentrate on the tranny builder, not the angry customers.
This isnt the first time a vendor is suffering from the free-communication of online web-forums. lets face it-when you get screwed, you want payback. The fastest gratification is "getting them back", and what better way to do that, than hit them right in the pocket-book, like they did to you.
But when all is said and done...the only one to blame...is the customer. They took the initial risk. There are hundreds of thousands of transmission builders around.
One more example: you took your car to the Lincoln dealer for a tranny service, that advertised a 25-point inspection, new filter, new Mercon V, and a tranny cooler install for $279.00. Then the tech screwed it up, didnt install a cooler, installed the wrong filter, and used Mercon 3. Who would you go after, the President of Ford Motor Company? Did the service manager tell the tech to cheat? How about the owner of the dealership? Maybe he told the service writer to tell the tech to cheat...
...who really KNOWS what happened. All I know is...things will never be the same. Once a business gets a bad rep. in a certain community, it is almost impossible to repair.
You all have to believe what you want to believe. No matter what happens from here, we can only hold ourselves responsible for the outcome.
