After spending 7 hours driving over to Austin and back yesterday to pick up an Alta top-mount air-to-air intercooler from Terry Sayther (who is a hero 'cause he stayed late waiting for me while I was stuck in Austin traffic), I got up early and set about installing it. It wasn't cheap, but I was really looking forward to getting back some performance that was lost in the hot weather.

I was extremely careful with the install, paying particular care to not damage the intercooler boots and to install the clamps properly. Finished it up, fired it up... and the car ran like cr*p! Rough idle, no power, DSC light on and no power assist on the brakes... all adds up to a big vacuum leak to me!

I tore it back apart and inspected. No torn boots, no vacuum lines pulled loose, etc, etc. Put the stock intercooler back on as a test... everything was wonderful again!

So... could the new intercooler be the culprit? I closed up one end with plastic, and started to pour in some acetone to check for leaks. It didn't take long to find the problem... Alta had failed to weld one entire side of the collector "tank" at one end of the cooler!!! The acetone just poured out where the missing weld should be.

<vent> Although I have a bunch of other Alta stuff on my car that seems to work OK (pulley, intake, sway bar), I'm just astonished that they'd ship something like this. It was certainly never tested, much less even visually inspected! </vent>

Terry Sayther didn't have another intercooler, so I've got a call into Alta. We'll see what they do to make this right... but right now my car is in pieces on the driveway, and I'm leaving for a trip in two days on Thursday.

Arrrggghhh!!!

Dan

 

Dan, that's a bummer. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

I can tell you that I've had experience in manufacturing. While it was only four years, I did learn a few things about QA.

Most firms don't have enough resources to QA each and every product leaving their assembly line. They spot check 1 of out every 'n' assemblies, where 'n' is derived from calculations of historical data.

Where some companies lack in QA they can make up for in customer support. I hope ALTA treats you well and resolves the issue quickly. :smile:

 

man, that sucks.


I am waiting for the water spray kit from Unichip before I do anything
on my intercooler. Until then, you can drop some ice cubes in the
postal slot on the nose.

 

Hehe, yeah, that's the other thing... the spray kit was missing from mine too. Just as well, don't plan to do the spray thing anyway.

So far as the intercooler itself goes, Alta offered to A.) send me a replacement in a few weeks, B.) have me send it to them for repair (me paying freight one way to them) and get it back in a week or so, or C.) just take it to a local weld shop, and Alta would pay me $20 to have it welded.... although they were concerned it wouldn't be pressure tested in this case (like this one ever was anyway???), and there might be warranty issues down the road. Being the instant gratification type and since the car is already apart, I'm headed to the weld shop.

D.

 

if i was you dude, with the money you paid for that intercooler, you should just put your OEM i/c back on a send back that Alta unit and bit*& at them until they send you a new one at THEIR expense. either way be patient and get a whole new unit. my .02

 

A good customer service dept would pay for the frieght both ways and in some cases provide you with an account number for Fed-Ex or UPS. Their mess-up, they should cover the shipping costs, period.

 

Customer service, what customer service? They should be falling all over themselves to make this right for you. Terry Sayther should be making a call to them to confirm your purchase from him as a distributor.

I agree 100% with dominicminicoopers, " A good customer service dept would pay for the freight both ways and in some cases provide you with an account number for Fed-Ex or UPS. Their mess-up, they should cover the shipping costs, period."

I agree 100% with discodan, once you do anything to that defective part they are off the hook as you have now modified their product.

 

I cannot believe I am reading this! Alta made those offers?!

I sell high-end leather furniture. If I sold my client a $4,000.00 sofa, and the factory forgot to stitch a seam...it would IMMEDIATELY be picked up from the customer's home (not that I would have let it be delivered inthe first place), and a loaner sofa would be offered. The sofa would be expressed back to the factory, or a new sofa built at the customer's option. No questions asked. No hassles given. Many apologies expressed.

Alta (Perrin) makes some good products, but their poor customer service has plagued them for quite some time. (there are other posts re: poor service, and I have spoken to friends with similar exp.)

Alta should be embarassed to have let that IC get into your hands unfinished and untested. They should send a call tag for pick-up, and express you a replacement (or at least finish welding that one) as soon as they recieve the bad one.

 

Ah...I knew their customer service would come back to bite them AGAIN Does anyone recall my rant a few months ago about my TMIC's sprayer? They went back and forth with me and wouldn't budge when I asked for a replacement sprayer be sent first. They insisted that I send them the faulty one first....then they would send me a replacement....a part that was only a fraction of the cost of the TMIC I gave up and fixed the sprayer my self instead wasting anymore of my time.

I really do feel for you

 

My 2 cents -

I think that your Alta Dealer should be the one stepping in to resolve the issue for you - they certainly made their money reselling that product to you - they definitely have some skin in the game and should be helping you out here. I would agree that for what that thing costs, there is no excuse for a defective product being left in your hands to repair.

I would be on the phone to Terry Sayther and work with them to get it replaced or refunded immediately - especially after your 7 hour drive.

 

Oooooo. See if they will give you a refund and let you keep the defective Intercooler. Then go to a local shop and have them weld it together for you. Tell them that's what would make you happy!

 

Ah...I knew their customer service would come back to bite them AGAIN Does anyone recall my rant a few months ago about my TMIC's sprayer? They went back and forth with me and wouldn't budge when I asked for a replacement sprayer be sent first. They insisted that I send them the faulty one first....then they would send me a replacement....a part that was only a fraction of the cost of the TMIC I gave up and fixed the sprayer my self instead wasting anymore of my time.

I really do feel for you

 

I would send it back. Get the GSR Motorsport intercooler, which is a few hundred dollars cheaper and better performing. I wouldn't even deal with them on this issue. It seems other people in the past have had issues with Alta and it has taken a while to work out. This is the most expensive air-to-air intercooler on the market. If you have to wait more than one day for a resolution, I say just send it back and shop elsewhere.

 

I really though about getting theirs. Ironically, one reason I didn't was that I was concerned about how difficult it would be to get any customer service issues resolved with a company in the UK. The other is that I just wanted to get one installed before my trip, and Terry Sayther had the Alta in stock.

This deal has really been a slippery slope. I did get the weld done (for $106... last word from Alta earlier today was that they'd pay $20). And now it will probably work just fine, but I have an obviously repaired part after paying a premium price, with a questionable warranty, and have spent most of two days dealing with it.

I'm just feeling really ripped off at this point, and there are probably not many options after my admittedly poor decisions other than to just live with it. If Alta was my company, I'd send out a brand new replacement as soon as one is available, and take the old one back (which was a piece of junk as they shipped it originally, broken and without the hose kit), welded or not. I don't know about you guys... I'm not spending any more money with them.

Dan

 

He's right! Don't do anything but send that back! Esp for how much they charge for that thing.

I've always felt that Alta was at best only as good as the next guy's part yet more expensive. Now who knows if their parts are even average! First their exhaust had the problem with the uneven tips - only one side had airflow and therefore only one side got discolored. So they obviously never really tested their exhaust very well. Then their intake didn't fit right on many MINIs - there was definitely a quality control problem with that one. And now, a really expensive intercooler which they don't make very many of, and one of them is only half put together? And no one tested or even inspected it??? What a disgrace. I'm glad I don't have an Alta pulley...I wouldn't be able to sleep at night!

 

I can't believe it. How did Alta figure that $20 was going to cover the cost of a local shop welding it? I'd request that they roll up the twenty and kindly place it in their rearward body cavity, right alongside their customer (dis)service department!

 

o what horror I do see
for the alta pulley bought by me

ever since I read msfitoy's "ms"adventures about his ALTA TMIC I swore them off. too bad I'd already had the pulley installed by then...

Marty

 

I've got practically all their stuff on my Mini. Great product though pricy. I cringe however if I had to claim any warranty....kinda reminds me of the Mini car vs. Mini USA service

 

Well that pretty well decides it for me. It's a PROMINI pulley for my car. You listening Alta? You should be.

 

Who are you talkin to from Alta? I had a mishap with my shifter in that it took 2 extra weeks to ship, but Adam from Alta gave me great service and made sure the shifter was here on time. This included them paying for overnight shipping rather than the ground shipping I paid for.

 

I have a ton of their parts too and so far, I've been satisfied with their craftsmanship. Still, they have a long ways to go to convince me that there is a helpful face behind their company after my frustrating (and trivial) problem. Not trying to rehash my situation but it could've all been resolved if they had enough faith to send out THAT STUPID PART rather than argueing with a customer who just spend over a thousand hard earned dollars on their company

Their rational (which really got my goat) was that too many people didn't return the parts as promised....hmmmmnnnn...again, I wasn't asking them to send me a new intercooler, just the spray head. Hmmnnn...$20 part vs. $1000 intercooler. If I hadn't send back the sprayer as promised, hell...we'd be talking about how good ole MSFITOY (fifth gear member) couldn't be trusted for cr@p instead of Alta's policies. Go figure

 

I just wanted to interject a bit on this thread in our defense as well as defending our customer (GoodolDan) for his actions today as well.

First: This item (as it was explained to me) was a display item at Terry Sayther MINI Motive. They lost the hardware/sprayer/instructions for the item and ordered a replacement from us this morning 6/29/04. This will be sent tomorrow.

Second: We offered to repair the item in house for FREE with no expense to the customer. We offered 2nd Day Air shipping to help minimize the amount of downtime for Dan on this part. As he mentions he had a trip planned and did not want to wait for the part to be shipped and repaired here.

Three: We goofed. Point blank, no sugar coating. An employee (which was fired several weeks ago) was responsible for this mistake. Obivously, we can't do more to fix a problem than to eliminate the source. Done.

Four: We understand Dan's want to get going and want to get the repair done locally. In addition to the freight charges we offered to cover we also offered a more than reasonable amount to repair the part ($20). The time to repair the part (including pressure testing) should take an experienced welder less than 10 minutes. This does not require a fixture etc. to do. (I assume most all of us have seen any of the programs on the Discovery channel e.g. American Hot Rodder, American Chopper etc. You have seen this done!) The price he paid was not agreed to by us, but again I understand the "wants" and wanting to get going down the road. A quick phone call to a local aluminum boat repair facility in our area (aluminum welders) for this type of repair was no more than $75 an hour. (We do this in house but wanted to get another quote for an out-sourced process like this repair would be for Dan.) This should take a maximum of 20 minutes equalling an absolute max of $25.00. I can not imagine that this shop could even argue it took them in excess of 1 1/4 hours to do this repair!!!!! It is unfortunate that Dan was taken advantage of by a local repair facility. This should be a crime! He had no more information other than our $20 offer to go by. That should have thrown a huge red flag that something was wrong. (Again in his defense he mentioned to us that other local shops were in excess of $20. Thirty five I can see but $100+ is just nuts!)

Five: We will make mistakes. We are human as are all of you. We do however strive for the highest levels of customer service and will continue to do so. Any complaints should be addressed to us either prior to posting here or at the same time. It is foolish of the NAM community to think that we want to irritate you, send you inferior parts and generally make your life difficult. Our company can't and will not survive with out new as well as loyal customers. We want to make you happy. Give us the opportunity to when an honest mistake is made in packaging, finish, welding, judgement etc. Call us (me personally 503-643-4677 xt 203 or adam@altaminiperformance.com) we will get nearly all phone calls and e-mail returned within 24 hours (excludes weekends.)

Finally, with all concerns, tech questions, installation questions, we want all to understand is that we are here to help. As much as we all want to spend hours a day scanning and responding to these forums, we simply can't. That is not to say that NAM is unimportant as that is not the case. We understand that you are an important community and certainly not one we want to offend. That is why we say again and again, CALL OR E-MAIL US! WE WILL ANSWER AND HELP! I PROMISE! We thank you all for your patronage and look forward to your next purchase from us or from any of our distributors.

Thanks for listening!

Adam
ALTA Performance
503-643-4677 xt 203

 

Again, I appreciate your problem and concern with your sprayer nozzle. The last offer I was aware of to you to help your problem was this:

1) Allow us to charge you a nominal fee of $20 for the part.
2) Send you the part pre-paid along with return postage for the defective one.
3) Upon receipt of the defective sprayer an immediate credit to your account for the original $20 would be made.

This would have cost you nothing and the entire time you would of had at least one part in hand. We simply can not send replacement items out based on "trust". It is unfortunate but in this day and age no one can be trusted for anything. While the $20 part (even though it is much more expensive than that) seems trivial to you, it isn't trivial when looking at a bigger picture. None of us would expect to walk into a local auto parts store and ask them for an additional widget to replace the widget they sold me yesterday that is defective and have them do it. They too would say either bring it back or I will charge you for the replacement and credit you when you bring the defective one back. It is that simple. (Note: I have seen some defense of our position on this subject on other threads here and it was appreciated.)

As mentioned before to you via telephone and e-mail we are still happy to replace the sprayer even though you have made a repair to it. We want you to be happy with this and every other purchase. Again. let us know how to help you.

Adam
ALTA Performance

 

I believe you Adam. However I'm curious...was the person who implied that I couldn't be trusted to send back a $20 part also fired? Because if I were the president, I'd be pretty upset this whole pile of ***** hit the forum because of a $20 part.

Edit: I see your point but lets agree to disagree. From my perspective (a customer with cash), my problem was not about convinience but RESPECT. I repeat...I have already spent over a THOUSAND DOLLARS with your company and you want to charge me $20 so as to make sure that I can be trusted to return the part. Wouldn't you be insulted?

You're rational sounds good but short sighted. I'm no businessman, just a customer ...and I'm very good at that. With all due respect, you can't expect customers to think like a businessman. Just my 2 cent.

 

MSFITOY: As mentioned before. I (Adam) want to be notified when something like this happens. As you can appreciate I can't look over every employee's shoulder 8 hours a day. I do agree that when the ish hits the fan it is ultimately my responsibility to take care of the problem. I will. I do agree with our warranty head and his offer to you on this part, and that is why the offer still stands to replace it for you. You should not have to make any repair to an ALTA product yourself. That is what you pay for and get with our warranty. But, you must allow us the opportunity to verify, replace, or repair the defective item. You allow MINI USA to make a repair to your car before heading out to fix it yourself. Simply allow us to do the same thing. Understandibly the $20 nominal fee is a bone of contention and I can appreciate some of your position. As a business owner and a customer ( I will rant about the lemon law in Oregon and its application to BMW's some place else), I may have a different view than yourself. If I can help you on this situation (as I have seen in many a forum how much it has irritated you) please let me know.

Thanks again!

Adam
ALTA Performance
www.altaminiperformance.com
adam@altaminiperformance.com
503-643-4677 xt 203