I ordered black headlight and tail light rings from Mike at aesthetic creations back in April....was told 4-6 weeks....beginning of June I sent an email and was told 2-3 more weeks....didn't hear anything back so sent another email at the beginning of July asking for a refund....got a nasty, impatient customer response.....beginning of August sent another email and got a response of 2 more weeks, now it's early September and I have nothing....I must say this company is a joke to deal with....if you were not prepared for primetime then don't accept orders....I am frustrated and would advise against this weak operation.

 

Ya i waited all that time and my front emblem mold just feel off for no reason the first few days i had put it on .......... told him about it no response ........ totally NOT worth my $25 bucks and a 6 month wait ...



BTW i had to threaten them i would cancel my order then a week latter i finally got em ........

 

-.-- --- ..- .-. / .--. --- ... - / .. ... / ..- -. .-. . .- -.. .- -... .-.. . .-.-.- / .-.. . .- .-. -. / - --- / ..- ... . / .--. ..- -. -.-. - ..- .- - .. --- -. .-.-.-

 

he is a good guy, just in to deep?

 

twss

 

I've been tempted to order a lot of stuff from AC, but they're not getting any of my money after everything people post on here.

 

ive had nothing but great service with him. sent me 2 perfect decals and i messed them up trying to put them on and he sent me a free set right away no problems very nice guy to talk to as well. just him and his wife running this business and they have fabulous products im sure they are always backed up and busy thats too bad.

 

I've oprdered several products from them and they have been good quality. The real downer here is the wait time on the products. I would have already ordered several of the molded parts but I have other things that I want to do first [like a JCW Stage 1 tuning kit]. I'm sure the products are geat but the wait time is the deal breaker for me.

 

I ordered alot of molded parts in June and have seen nothing. I have e-mailed and got no response. Tried calling, no answer. I want my money back!

 

Punctuations are overrated...............

A~

 

This is becoming far too common. He used to step in every once in a while to talk to the community as a whole when one of these threads pops up, but that seemed to have stopped also. Too bad too, cause the stuff that does get shipped out, is usually decent quality.

 

I also regret ordering from them, I kinda wish I went with Vinyl Styles instead now despite the slightly higher price. At least they should be more honest about the wait times instead of their BS 6 week wait time.

 

I ordered from them back in May 2009 - now October 1st and still excuses and confused promises from them.
one week they tell me I'm third on the list two weeks later I'm up in the teens - this is a scam to take your money.
They're a Joke - do not buy from them - they are simply incompetent liars

 

 

Ah, this thread makes me sad. I too have had several good orders with Mike but I've seen a lot of complaints in the past year. I know he is swamped and probably in a bit over his head, but that's no excuse for 6-month-long waits.

My recommendation in these cases is to charge-back to your credit card if you are truly dissatisfied and/or concerned about not getting what you ordered. Mike is a nice guy and does great work but I always advocate for people to be in control of their buying process.

I'll direct him to this thread and see if he cares to pop in...

 

Wow if I saw this I wouldn't have ordered from him. I ordered stripes from him two weeks ago and sent him a message on twitter asking about them and he said they're done he just hasn't shipped them yet o.O

 

I think he's running a ponzi scheme aka pyramid scam. I've filed a complaint with the Arizona better business bureau. Www.arizonabbb.com
Hope they can get me money back from this vendor.


Mod note - Edits are in italics.

 

This is Mike.

First off let me state that this will be my ONLY reply. I don't have tome to get on here every time someone starts crying about where their stuff is.

Everyone that is having problems with your wait time should have read our FAQ page that states these parts are taking longer than expected to make. I've explained this on my website and several other threads on here and it's always the same.

I mean really some of us had to wait up to 9 months just to get our MINIs so why would a new and very popular product be any different?

We are a 2 person operation. Now three people with my Father-in-law helping out to make these parts for us since I do not have the time to make them and everything else I do in the company. These parts are a Patent Pending process and we as a small business don't have the funds to get these parts made in China like some of the other vendors.

These parts are made one at a time in our little shop by one person. My FIL can only produce around 10 full package orders a week on a good week. When we run into a snag like not get our supply of plastic on time then that throws us off another week. If the parts are Gloss black parts then we have to take them to a body shop that is an hour drive from my place so that takes a week. Don't even get me started on the Painted parts.

Then there is the issue with the R56 Headlights rings. We where having a problem with the plastic not going back on the part. No one told us this we just had to figure it out on our own. So the solution for this is to mold the parts directly on to the OEM Headlight ring. Now we are talking about thousands of dollars that I have to dish out to make this right. Since we are a small struggling business like the rest I can't just go out and Buy 50 sets of Headlight rings. I have to get them a few at a time. If anyone feel compassion then they can send us there headlight rings and we will get the parts with in a week because most of those orders are just waiting on the headlight rings.

From the very first order placed on our website you ordered with the understanding that all parts are still in a test faze and we needed your feedback to make them perfect. So instead of getting Phone calls about your MINI Wing badge coming off you Post on here and Bad mouth me. How is that fair?

We are very clear about our wait times and our return policy. I'm sure you all read those before you ordered right?

Anyway to some things up. Vinyl product has an average of 3 weeks wait time. Some stuff like stickers and a very stripes sets we keep in stock and usually ship out within a week.

Molded parts or in VERY HIGH demand. we get an average of 2 to 3 full package orders a week for these. We are getting caught up though. We have a little over 50 orders right now all in various stages of completion(mostly waiting on Headlight rings) We are still waiting for our new supply of plastic to come in, which should be any day now. When it does we will get through these order as fast as week can. I'm going out to the dealer tomorrow to pick up several Headlight Rings so I'm sure we will be sending at least 12 orders out next week.

So Again I say. Be Patient. If you received your parts and had a problem then CALL ME!!!!!!!! I can not express that enough! If you want an immediate response then that is the only way. I have NEVER not returned a phone call. EVER!!!

I really hope this is the last time I have to respond to a thread like this.

 

7 MONTHS 4 DAYS SINCE I PLACED MY ORDER........

3 WEEKS SINCE THE LAST TIME I CALLED AND SPOKE TO YOU BY TELEPHONE; AT WHICH TIME YOU SAID IT WOULD BE 2 MORE WEEKS.

YOU STILL HAVEN'T SHIPPED MY ORDER OR NOTIFIED ME OF A N Y UPDATE TO MY ORDER.

4 MONTHS AGO YOU TOLD ME I WAS #8 ON THE LIST.

I REALLY HOPE THIS IS THE LAST TIME I HAVE TO RESPOND TO A THREAD LIKE YOURS POOR MOUTHING YOUR RIGHTFULLY IMPATIENT CUSTOMERS.

YOUR BUSINESS PRACTICES ARE LAUGHALBE AND SAD.

SORRY I ORDERED FROM YOU - A B S O L U T E L Y.

RECOMMEND YOUR PRODUCTS - N E V E R.

IT MATTERS LITTLE THAT THE PIECES MIGHT BE THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD OR A POCKET ON A SHIRT. THE WAIT HAS BEEN

INTERMINABLE;

1.incapable of being terminated; unending:2.monotonously or annoyingly protracted or continued; unceasing; incessant: 3.having no limits:

 

Matters little since AE is not an accredited BBB business (no surprise there). The complaint you filed has been closed as they can take no action other than to note the complaint and disposition.

 

I can only offer my past experience with AC. I've placed two previous orders with them, the results of which has been positive. The quality of the products that arrived were as good, or better than I'd expected, they were packaged properly to ensure there was no damage during shipping and they arrived promptly.

At present, I have two orders with AC and if it means I have to wait an extra couple of weeks to get good quality work at a reasonable price, I'm willing to wait for that American made quality.

 

If the problem is only headlight rings, then the "right" thing to do is to ship out the rest of the orders and send out the rings later.

Also, how can you not afford to buy 50 sets of headlight rings when you've been paid for all of them in advance?

 

+1

 

I have NEVER not returned a phone call. EVER!!!

I call BS on that statement.

But, it doesn't matter. The vinyl is on my car, and its "ok" (cetainly not the best I have seen) and I know in the future to never order from you again, and I'll never recomend you either. If for nothing else but because of your awful disdain for those that give you money in trade for your product.

Here is a novel idea, don't take orders you can't fill in a timely manner. It's ok to say no... As opposed to taking money and making the customer chase you down.

 

Mind if I chime in my 2 cents about AE?

I was a customer of AC. I placed an order for head light rings and door handles in flat black. They were neither painted nor glossed. Mike and I negotiated a bit and we made what I originally guessed to be a good deal: about $110 shipped.

The wait time was about 3 months, give or take a week. I thought the wait time was worth it as everyone raves about Mike's products and it's quality. However, when I came to installing the parts, the head light rings were not bad in fitment but had weird blotches that made the paint look uneven. The door handles bothered me as well. The box that it came in, included no instructions, no 'vinyl tape' that some received. Then again, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the installation. I test fitted first and was disappointed that I need some black vinyl tape to cover some of the chrome. Being a perfectionist, it really bugged me that I had to still use vinyl tape on such a expensive piece. I've seen the argument that all MINI's door handles are sized differently from the factory but the gap I had was outrageous.

Yes, it is an expensive piece and I know people will talk about the man hours, the R&D behind the product and such. But at the end of the day, we're talking about $110 for 4 pieces of black molded plastic, that took 6 months to deliver. Price vs. Value. The value isn't meeting the expectation of the price+time I paid for. As for "Don't even get me started on the Painted parts." what's the excuse for my flat black parts?

Let's talk about quality. Again, I'm a huge perfectionist, and I've heard people on the forum chiming in about how "great" AC quality is. I've had the headlight rings and door handle covers on for about half a year now and if you look at them, the color is not very even and there seems to be discoloration. Again for price+time vs value. It's not meeting the expectation.

I have no experience with my own business and how to run a business but as a consumer I can tell you that you are utterly lying about the turn around time for your parts. "we are fulfilling orders as quickly as possible in the order in which they are received, one at a time. These items will take AT LEAST 6 weeks in most case" 6 weeks = 1 and a half month. I'd be confident to say that MOST cases (cases = molded parts) take AT LEAST 6 months not weeks.

When there are multiple threads complaining about the same problem and even moderators start to encourage a credit card charge back, then there is obviously a problem and your not addressing the issue.

Quotes about AC:
"As slow as these guys are you had better cross your fingers, your toes, and anything else in close range I've given up hoping that my stuff shows up"

"i am over six months since my $420 order was placed and charged with AC. Still nothing. Although I am still holding on to some sliver of hope for delivery, each day it gets harder and harder not to file a claim with me CC.

if you are anxious at 3 months, if i were you, i would bail now. if you still can."

"92 days and counting for handles .
Super frustrated, likely just going to order up some vinyl and wrap them since I have use for it else where..."

"For me it's FOUR MONTHS since I was billed. In return I have received multiple "Be patient" emails. "

"I ordered a full set of gloss black parts on February 27 at which time my credit card was charged.
On Monday, July 6, I received this email from Mike Syfritt - "I think we are good. Your stuff should be going out this week.
Cheers"

"4 MONTHS 2 WEEKS.....STILL NO PARTS
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED.... "

"hey guys my lease might finish before they get here so i might be selling my flat black emblems when and if they get here....... im just shocked ......takes half a year for some emblems"

"Man I'm in the same boat, its a bunch of BS. AC has had my money since the first week in March and still no parts. I understood that it would take UP to 6 weeks, but its about to be three times that lead time period and counting!!! I made a thermoforming machine to mold plastic as my senior design project, if I only I was still near my school, I'd making these myself..."

"I finally received my stripes after 3 months of waiting, half a dozen phone calls and many emails most of which I did not receive anything but "Out of Office". The stripes appear to be of a good quality and I started installing them today. Not only was the wait frustrating but the fact the my cc took the hit 3 months ago doesnt seem quite right. Good luck to the rest of you that are still waiting."

"The extreme wait time and lack of response to many people’s inquiries is unacceptable business, no matter how "honest", "nice" or talented a person is. These are things that need to be spelled out up front.
Above all, the disrespectful forum reply to a concerned customer who had tried to inquire about a product through the proper channels, failed and posted a frustrated post is enough for me to take my business to a more reputable place. Time and money is too important to people to be strung along indefinitely.
I hope service gets better or this business will surely fail."

"If only we'd known....
Ordered Feb 27. Talked to him 2-3 weeks ago. "Be patient".
No other choice.
Chalk it up to lesson learned....an expensive lesson."

"Even though this is essentially a "hand made" business where everything is custom, at some point he will have to realize that the business model where you fully charge for something 4-6 months before it can even be made and shipped, doesn't make for happy customers when they are told it's typically 6-8 weeks. Unless you are a part time hobbyist and everyone buying from you understands that.
It's almost like a moratorium on new orders needs to happen until he catches up. Perhaps a non refundable deposit system (or something like that), instead of full payment up front, would help allay concerns"

"Took him 6 weeks to finish my stripe when he said it would be done in 2 weeks.
He also doesn't respond to voice mail or e-mail."

"I hate to speak badly of anyone in the MINI community, but it must be like two months since I first ordered my centercaps. I got one set after waiting about a month, and they were the wrong size. Now I'm still waiting for the replacement. I'm beginning to think I should have ordered from elsewhere, like Grafix Werks is it?"

"I ordered and paid for some center caps on March 30th, was told they would do their best to get them to me within a couple weeks, then they would try to get them out to me before MOTD....they never arrived. I have sent Mike repeated emails without response since MOTD.
Has anyone heard from them? What is the typical turn around for custom products...I am heading on 8 weeks now. That just seems excessive. It would be nice to just get a return email."

"I disagree. I spent a lot of money and paid for install. Some pieces were not made at all, I had to help with the install, my stripes are different widths and I have marks on it from when it was installed."

"I've had the same issue not receiving merchandise paid for and have corresponded via email that my stickers were on their way and today I still have not received them. So i think this is happening a little more than not."


Responses from AC:
"I don't have tome to get on here every time someone starts crying about where their stuff is."

"I am so tired of dealing with people like you!!! These are still a test market product as it CLEARLY states on our website."

"That is not my fault and you should have used some patience which it seems that most of NAM lacks."

"My conclusion is it's not my "Inferior Product" But MINI's manufacturing."

"Crying about how long it's taking on NAM is not going to get you the parts any faster."

"I really hope this is the last time I have to respond to a thread like this. "

Check my posts. I frequent this forum daily almost hourly. I always try to be nice to new members, old members, and equal between all vendors. Even the crazy "my tune vs your tune" threads. I chime in to help wherever I can. So it's very rare for me to rant and complain about something. This is one of those times.