Due to differences with my financial backer,
I am no longer involved with WS motorcars.

I still have my dignity and will stand by my principles

I plan to relax for the weekend and then persue my options next week!

 

WHAT THE F$$#!!!! Does this mean that WS is GONE?

 

WTF is going on in Annapolis... ??

Rumors in Annapolis was that Harry was leaving the area but I thought that WS was still in good hands ...
Do we have to give up our MINIs? James is already thinking BMW...

Will this affect our 4th of July plans as well????

 

Sorry to hear that Ben. I'm sure you'll land on a better opportunity somewhere else! Good luck!

 

I talked to Sam and he said that so far, everything is good @ WS Motorcars, just Ben is gone.

 

this means that the person who wanted club involvement is gone.

Sammy and Harry are good guys, but under the current mgmt their time is numbered. Samson just completed a turbo job on a Miata that took him 2 weeks to do because he did it right! The number crunchers look at it as a loss because we charged 12 hours for the turbo job, but it took 80 hours of shop time to complete. These guys are doing a great job, but the money guys would say that we lost huge money on that job.

Wagnbat had his car raised so it could be shipped to Guam he was not happy because the car was at full suspension height (on coilovers) We reset his suspension the next business day at no additional cost because he had safety issues driving at that height, which took 6 shop hours and I gave him a Z4 BMW to drive for the afternoon.

This goodwill was my decision and I feel that these goodwill decisions will start to disapear.

I should start my own shop next time without financial partners.

Thanks guys,
Ben
I'll be back with my own cooper S

 

 

No rumour spreading here, just the facts as I know them.

When I went to WS, I asked that my car be returned to stock height, and asked how expeditiously it could be done due to my shipping the vehicle to Guam within a week. My car couldn't get a standard jack under the sides as low as it was. WS said they would measure the height on their 05 MCS and match the height.

Long story short, when I picked up the car, there was about 4 inches of clearence. It was up WAAAY too high (in my opinion), was not stock like I had asked, the rear dampening was gone, and every bit of verticle movement in the rear produced a noise, which was where I was concerned with safety.

Ben knew I asked for stock height from the git-go. Why it wasnt done, I don't know. But when I took delivery, I said so long as it's driveable, it was fine. On the drive home, it became apparent that there were indeed safety issues. Ben took the car back and fixed it... Taking longer than expected to track down the issues.

Now, I sincerely appreciate WS taking the time to fix it... Especially working on products on which they are not wholly familiar and do not sell themselves. If it had been done right the first time, would there have been issues? I can't say for certain, but I do know that in the end two things happened. For one, my original requests were met, despite taking two days to do it. And two, I tied up Samson for two days doing it, when the Miata was sitting there needing attention.

I think Ben did me right, and as I originally posted, I felt a bit bad holding up your tech for a second day, and not having to pay for it... But on the flip side, I only felt a *bit* guilty, because the car was not right nor how I asked for it.

I don't know about the Miata, or other issues related to such except that I may have taken your tech off it for a day. But I hope that WS realizes my situation, and that it was not necessarily mechanical error or waste, but most likely miscommunication somewhere... But that is going to happen with any startup, and it seems wrong to me for two good things (WS and Ben) to seperate this early in the game, rather than hash out and address the issues.

My car is coming to Guam. The inspectors had no problems with the height. After all was done, WS did everything they said they would, and for the price originally quoted. Mistakes happen. I don't fault WS for them, nor do I think anyone else should. But mistakes do need to be addressed, and in my humble opinion, Ben was making sure of just that.

A good business thrives with good customer service. It's what keeps people coming back, no? Again, Ben did just that. And had I not shipped off to Guam, I would be coming back to WS again and again for just that, good customer service.

 

Glad it all worked out for you Wagnbat and could not agree more about good customer service. Our same service manager and techs remain as does goodwill to do things right for the customer.

There seemed to be a bit of confusion as to others posts regarding the state of WS Motorcars and the previous post was to correct any of the confusion or rumors about staff leaving, etc., we like Ben. He is no longer with the company, however our commitment to good customer service remains.

Hope you have a blast in Guam with the Mini.

 

Please WSMC, I'm begging you...stay open. I'm very sorry Ben's gone, but we need a reliable MINI shop in the area.

Ben, don't you dissapear either...regardless of what happened, I hope you'll still consider DCMM members as your friends.

 

OK this has gone on long enough. Ben, I'm terribly sorry you've had a falling out with WS Motorcars, and I'm not taking sides here, but surely you can agree that continuing to post as a WS Motorcars representative in this matter is not appropriate, since you are no longer one.

Please use the Contact Us form to submit your preferred alternate usernames, so we can rename you as a regular NAM member (Note: plain "Ben" is already taken). Please also list an alternate email address, since the one we have on file is a WS Motorcars address anyway.

In the meantime, I'm closing this thread. I may reopen it after the rename is complete.

 

Ben's account has been updated accordingly, so I am reopening this thread.

 

just fyi homes, i don't know what u do 'exactly' but Brian Harris MINI in Baton Rouge, LA needs a new SA...

 

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@ TATE? Unfortunately, if you don't bring a reliable mechanic along, you will not meet my GyPsy anytime soon... but keep us posted !!

 

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Most interesting...

 

thank gawd. it'd be good to see you again, kiddo wherever you pop up...

 

I figure I will keep a low profile for a while

I am taking time to enjoy life for a while before taking anything
seriously!
I need to take time to get my trust back in fellow humankind,
in a situation like this it takes quite a bit to realize who your real friends are.

 

Never mix love affairs and/or money with friends.. most of the times the outcome is not pretty !!! Good luck to you !

 

Been there, and......still hurt.