Lets see, a compressed air line, a pressure regulator, small storage vessel, plug for one end and a rubber adapter for the other, a couple of gauges and maybe 15 seconds of time and you can test each one before it goes in the box.

It might cost a few hundred dollars. But what the heck its only about $600k per year in sales (wholesale).

When my company used to sell tubing that went into the manufacturer of heat exchangers for the big 3 and many others we used to pressure test each coil...hundreds of tons of product each year.

 

I can't believe this thread... some of you guys are just being schmucks by repeating and re-iterating issues that Adam at Alta has already addressed. I think some of you are overreacting - especially those of you who have nothing to do with the whole situation (read: RLmini and dominicminicoopers). Both of you keep bringing up situations that Adam has already addressed.

As far as Alta and Terry Sayther go, i can be one person that proudly defends these two as having great products and support. I have spend over $1600 on Alta parts from Terry Sayther and everything's worked 100%. Absolutely no problems.

Keep in mind everyone..... for every loud person that is dissatisfied, there are 100 quietly satisfied people. And anyone in customer service will tell you- 100 satisfied people won't do anything for you, but one unhappy customer will tell everyone and ruin everything.

Its unfortunate what happened to GoodOlDan and MSFITTOY. I do think both their situations sucked. But in GoodOlDan's case i think he handled it improperly. As someone else stated, his wanting to have something fixed "right here right now" deal kinda killed any proper handling of this issue on Alta's part. Yes the part was defective at the start - this happens sometimes. You have to give the company a chance to make it right! You can't just blow them off and get it fixed yourself while venting all night long.

If i was both GoodOlDan and MSFITOY, i would take Alta up on their offer and send both these items back to get repaired/replaced.... both of you have ordered parts that are non-essential to the running of the car - GoodOlDan can put his stocker back on, and MSFITOY can just remove the sprayer - its not essential. Both of you should let Alta prove themselves and allow them a chance to make it right. That way, next time this comes up there isn't still bad feelings harbored.

What happened to you two is an injustice, but complaining constantly about it (even after Alta offered to fix it), to me sounds ridiculous.

Cheers
-ABT-

 

yes but look at the flipside.....

a disgruntled employee that was not functioning properly at Alta was realized as the source of this problem (intercooler being shipped incomplete). No amount of test equipment in the world would work if that guy was using it. In addition to testing, a happier employee environment would help. A company can't always be held responsible for erratic employees.

-------------------------------

I am surprised at all the flack that Alta is getting HERE for the customer service. Alta has already come in to this thread and commented several times, more than most vendors do (most are smart enough to never come here, as you guys pick apart every one). Adam explained his side of the story, Dan explained his, both have valid points. Alta offered what any reasonable company would offer.

Some of you have suggested things that Alta should have done - these things would put most companies out of business if they did those practices. Like JCampos, i've worked in customer service before. Its easy to get carried away with the "customer is always right" prophecy. Lets not forget that economics DO play an issue here - the company wants to make you happy, but not at a cost that would make them lose money. If they did this everytime, they would go out of business. Demanding free overnight shipping both ways is ridiculous, no matter what the cost of the part. Most companies have policies for this, and you have to consider these policies the same as contracts. When you purchase their product, you are agreeing to their contract. The fact that you did not make yourself aware of their policies before you bought their product is not their fault, and they should not be held liable. Yes you got a defective part, but every company in the world today has defective units - its human nature to not be perfect. So please be realistic, and if you are unlucky enough to get that one in a hundred/thousand/million defective part, don't act like they are all that way and that you deserve red-carpet overnight service.

We (as consumers) need to be a little more realistic with our demands and wishes, and we must strive to NOT be those "never satisfied" types. These are the most annoying customers, the kind that operators will really not want to help. You want to be firm but not ridiculous and annoying. Make them want to help you, not try their hardest to get you off the phone.

Finally, Adam made a great point about discussing things on the phone and via email. Even after this thread had started and he had said this, the slandering continues (even from parties that have nothing to do with this whole affair). Slandering a company with whom you have no experience is NOT constructive. If you have a personal issue with them you can attempt to fix it with them as the company offered. If not, then you may resort to posting on here.

Just think of it as yourself - you wouldn't want someone coming on here slandering you! Resort to private contact first, then consider this the next level. (the exception of course is of scams, defects, recalls, etc... this stuff you want to share with everyone as soon as possible). But details about a specific case after the vendor has come on here to privatize it is not fair...

thoughts?
-ABT-

 

here ya go...

http://www.grsmotorsport.co.uk/minicoopers.html

about $700 shipped for the i/c. and they provide some test data...check out mini2.com for the GRS motorsport intercooler thread.

Marty

 

I repeat: The major domestic auto companies have determined that their success is being undermind by being TOO GOOD AT RULES and PROCESSES but not enough AWARENESS placed towards the customer. Perception is everything in the consumer purchase decision today.

I have over 20 years of experience at two of the big three and they have finally realized why the Japanese (and even more worrysome, the Koreans because they've applied all the learned lessons in the past 20 years) are kicking our collective butts. It's because of this kind of attitude that customers leave... BECAUSE THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES. When that day comes for the Mini, no one will bother to complain. They will just leave, period. I'm trying to be helpful but you guys are just not getting it

BTW, it took me less than 10 minutes to fix the sprayer problem than the three days wasted emailing back and forth with zero effect. Alta wanted the part back to confirm fault in manufacturing. In the end, they didn't get the part back. So what was the point? They ended up with a dissatisfied customer, no defect to look over, and bad press. Tell me that was worth it. It didn't cost me anything other than a bad experience.

A twist to an old addage: Bad news travel half way around the world before the good get it's pants on. If I were a businessman, I'd pay more attention to solving bad press than saving the shipping charges. My 02.

 

Schmuck? I've been called worse. Notice how in none of my posts in this thread did I have to resort to personal attacks nor name calling to make a point. However, the first thing you add to this thread is name calling and personal attacks. You need to go back and re-read the site guidelines.Link here for your ease of access.

Actually I DO have something to do with the situation. So before you go spouting off ideas that you think are facts, you best get your story straight...

Interesting, not ONE person in this whole thread has said anything negative about Sayther. Heck, they sent their two boys half way across the country to attend AMVIV to show their wares. Both their boys were courteous and respectful. I've talked with both Debbie and with Terry and they are quality individuals. I'm sure they did everything within their power as a reseller.

 

Reasonable? I guess, over the last 18 years of working in customer service related positions, I have worked for companies that have a much higher standards for their customer service than what people would call normal. One company has been in business for 95 years, another for 130 years, and the other is a software company that's been in business for 14 years (quite a long time for a software company making software for Microsoft Operating Systems). If I was ever caught treating a customer in such a fashion I'd be fired on the spot. Enough said.

 

I'm with you

 

Schmuck

The only thing that really concerned me was that Alta did not at first offer to pay to have it shipped back to them which is in Good "Ol Dan's second post.

About nothing to do with it: He is a fellow member of the local club I am a member of. As fellow club members we not only help each other out with our cars but we also look out for each other. The guy drove seven hours, paid about a grand and then was under the impression that he would have to pay to send it to fixed.

 

I haven't read all of this thread due to it's length but:

I ordered a destructo pulley removal tool from MiniMania a while back and it certainly self-destructed. Due to my unfortunate planning this happened on a Saturday afternoon. Monday morning I called MiniMania and they overnighted a quality puller to me at their expense. I also purchased some brake pads at this time and they included them in the overnight package at no charge to me.

As a former retailer of premium automotive tools that professional mechanics pay a premium price for, I have to admit the manufacturers warranty policies are often s**t. Because I valued my customers patronage I often went far beyond the manufacturers policy to make a customer happy. Sometimes the steps necessary to keep him happy were somewhat beyond what I thought was reasonable. It often cost me considerable time, money, and effort to accomplish this, but I had a finite customer base. In the short run I felt an obligation when someone purchased a product from me that the product performed as advertised and that the customer was happy with his purchase. This cost me money. In the long run, word of mouth remained positive. "Yeah that_______ was a POS but Tommy took care of it." This made me alot more money than any single unreasonble transaction could possibly have cost me. Are the manufacturers and vendors today in it for the long or short haul?

Due to the obvious serious defect in the aftercooler, Alta should have overnighted it back and forth for repair as he asked in the first place. Was Alta obligated to do so? No. Did he have a right to expect them to do so? No. Would it have been the right thing to do and in the end made Alta money and saved them a lot of hassle/flaming? Duh.................................

 

That's what I meant to say....and that's what I've been trying to say....WTF, am I speaking chinese Oh....I am chinese

 

i apologize for using the work schmuck. I guess this was not called for. i did feel that some of the posts in this thread were certainly ridiculous, and i find that word the least offending of what could possibly be said. I did not refer to anyone specifically as a schmuck, just said that some of the people responding to this thread sounded like one. and if you don't laugh at reading that word, then i pray you have some more serious issues than being worried about being called a schmuck on the internet!

schmucks!

-ABT-

 

I see your point, but apples to oranges here. a puller tool costs a fraction of a new intercooler (again, liability issue - the IC was not purchased through Alta, but through a reseller - Adam clearly stated if he had purchased it from Alta directly, they COULD HAVE DONE THAT. The puller was purchased from the same people that gave you the new model shipped immediately.) To top that off, Alta didn't have any of these in stock at the time. There was no ability to ship a new one out immediately.

I agree with this statement. Probably the best one made yet in the thread. Alta was not obligated to do that, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt. On the other hand, one cannot flame Alta for not doing that....

-ABT-

 

LMAOROF

Sounds like a curse

 

ok, now you are officially KING of twisting people's words making them sound evil!

 

[QUOTE=ABTsportsline]I see your point, but apples to oranges here. a puller tool costs a fraction of a new intercooler (again, liability issue - the IC was not purchased through Alta, but through a reseller - Adam clearly stated if he had purchased it from Alta directly, they COULD HAVE DONE THAT. The puller was purchased from the same people that gave you the new model shipped immediately.) To top that off, Alta didn't have any of these in stock at the time. There was no ability to ship a new one out immediately.

Exactly. Pulley puller-$100-excellent customer service.
Intercooler-$1000-legally obligated customer service.
No they didn't have one in stock, so he asked to overnight it to them at his expense if they would repair it and overnight it back at their expense. They refused.

Depends. Do you expect the legal obligation response or the right response. In the future will this flaming and negative word-of-mouth, right or wrong, negatively affect Alta more than the cost of overnighting an aftercooler?

I would like to see more of the right things done. And I know that's a relative thing.

Wish I was more literate!and computer savvy!

 

that wasn't my point! excellect customer service is obligated for ANY transaction - i was referring to the item itself. a smaller, less expensive item (such as a sprayer nozzle ), should be sent without question. A larger, more expensive item (such as a larger intercooler), i would think would not be as likely to ship out overnight (on a customer's claim - especially from a reseller). You buy any commercial product, and you try to get it fixed by a manufacturer's warranty, they require you to send the item to them, and usually you pay shipping to them. I had to do this with my JVC camcorder, and another time with a SONY DVD player... both times i had to pay shipping to them, but they repaired the items and shipped them back. Both times it took over a month too, by the way.

Then again, maybe i'm wrong. But i think since Alta is such a small company, we can't compare them to a larger furniture store or auto manufacturer that we are comparing other customer service events to.

And to those of you comparing Alta to another MINI tuner's customer service, i am just as sure we can find disgruntled customers of that MINI tuner as we can happy customers of Alta. Every tuner has its slip-ups now and then. I had a bad experience with MINI Mania on a product i ordered from them that didn't work. After telling them it didn't work, they said i don't know how to install it and that i didn't know what i was doing (humorous, except that i didn't even try to install it - a MINI mechanic did! They never bothered to ask, and just assumed i tried to install it).

I was bitter, but realized this was this ONE guy i was talking too, and not MINI Mania as a whole. Several months later i ordered another part from them, had a different operator, and this guy was nice. Next part i ordered worked fine. As to what happened to the first part - well i later got it returned and dealt with. But it was a pain. I still had a great experience the second time and would recommend MINI Mania to anyone....

Bottom line is everyone has ups and downs with different companies. One transaction does not base an entire companies' philosophies or policies. You might have just caught a guy on a bad day too.

You ever broke up with a girlfriend, divorced a wife, etc. and gone to work with a smile on your face?

we are all entitled to bad days.

 

Thank you Tomslick!

You are absolutly right! You said perfectly what many of us where trying to say.

 

He was going to overnight the defective part to them. All they had to do was repair it and overnight it it back. They did'nt have to take his word for it.

I would expect such responses from Sony, JVC, or any other HUMOUNGUS corporation. I would like to see a little more personal attentiveness and consideration from a smaller outfit, especially when it comes to my little baby. (Yecch, does that sound awful or what?)

 

No they didnt... he said so himself. He said that not much was said on the matter. There was no REFUSING involved.

Do you know how much is would be to ship from Texas to Oregon and back with 2 overnight trips? Cant be much less that $250. Also, I am sure that if Alta had one in stock they would do what ANY decent company would do: ship out a new one immediately and charge the persons card. When the old/defective unit is received, they refund the charge.

I cant believe that people are getting on Alta's case for this. They did what any decent company would do and probably what many of you would do had you been in their shoes.

 

HAHAHAHAH, You must have never dealt with Sony customer service then. Its usually this:

You ship them the part at their cost. You pay the deductable for whatever your warranty crap is for whatever item they are looking at (usually between $25-$100 depending ont he price of the item). They send it back to you and say "sorry, you broke it" even if you didnt! End of story.

The last time my TV broke I was about to move. Rather than Sony picking up a shipping bill to my new place, I was expected to find a way to ship it.

 

jcampos
He said he offered to overnight it to them and they didn't want to pay return shipping. Oh, sorry, he didn't say they refused. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

That's what I meant by I would expect such stuff from Sony etc. Guess I pushed your buttons. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

 

This thread is never going to end! Everyone has a different opinion of what is considererd acceptable customer service. When someone is inconvienienced because of a problem with a product they will expect different levels of response from the supplier/manufacturer.

Here is an example I had where I felt the supplier went way beyond what I was expecting.

I purchased a B&M shifter from Foriegn Affairs and while following the installation instructions I broke the shift ball retainer. I couldn't just buy a shift ball retainer from MINI, they only supply the entire shift box assembly for $105. I broke the part as a result of B&M's installation instructions being wrong but Foriegn Affairs sent me Fexdex overnight the MINI shift box assembly all for free! The B&M shifter only cost me $120 but they sent me $105 part including shipping to resolve my issue for free. I was absolutely amazed and I've suggested Foriegn Affairs to anyone I can in the area. I don't know if it was all Foriegn Affairs or if B&M had something to do with this customer service experiece but in the end I was one happy customer.

That's what Alta has to look at because they can control how satisfied their customers are when something goes wrong. What's "Fair" isn't always what makes the customer happy and if Alta had reacted in a more than fair way this post could have been a positive experience for the customer and not a negative. Even with the problem Alta could have come out on top.


By the way, I really like Alta products. superior quality on everything I have purchased.:smile:

 

One difference I see:

* We return the item at our cost via the same speed that it was shipped to us at the customer's cost. So, overnight return shipping is paid for as long as the customer has shipped it to us overnight.

 

I can't believe this thread is still being hashed over.
PLEASE.