Hey Guys,

I've been looking around for about six months for a shop to do a pulley install in Vancouver. Bishop Sales (http://www.bishopsales.com/) in North Van has recently become an Alta dealer and is bringing in a number of their parts (pulleys, CAI, etc) and will be doing pulley installs once the product arrives. Tim Dalton (tim@bishopsales.com) at Bishop's has been co-ordinating this, and we're going to line up a pulley party pretty soon.

More details on the Vancouver Cooper Club's message board here: http://groups.msn.com/VancouverNewMi...0&all_topics=0.

Regards,

Alex

 

Has anyone in the Greater Vancouver area had a pulley installed by Bishop?

I heard through the grapevine of them screwing up a few installs, fishing to see if there is any truth to this rumour.

Any comments or feedback would be appreciated.

 

They did my rear sway bar (H&R) and happy with result. Of course pulley is much more complicated. My Alta pulley was done by Arthur at Mini Richmond in 2005. It's been more than 2 years with no problem.

 

I live in Cloverdale and work in Richmond so I had my dealer, Mini Richmond, contact Bishop on my behalf to purchase a 2" Alta antennae. For the last 3 days they've been telling the parts manager at Mini "it's on it's way should be there; in the morning, then afternoon, then tomorrow" and so on. It's only a 1/2 hour away ! Needless to say the parts manager is not impressed. You'd think Bishop would try to impress a potentially large account like a Mini dealer with great service but not so. Makes you wonder what the customer service is like for joe public.

 

I'm the **NEW** tech at Bishops and while i have absolutely nothing to do with shipping and or ording parts why would you waste your money ording it through the dealer and not direct? We do not deliever the parts ourself, we use shipping companies so parts get picked up and dropped off on their time, not ours. I'm curious as to why you'd opt to pay for shippingto the dealer when it's only 1/2hour away plus the dealer markup on the part(if any) as opposed to just picking it up yourself or having it delivered to your house?

i'm not trying to start anything, just curious.... :D

I work here so i know how it is sometimes... it also really depends on who you deal with here... may i suggest dealing ***ONLY*** with Skylar for ordering parts and me if you need work done.


I just installed an Alta Rear sway bar, some springs and a SC pully on friday and it seemed to go very well.

as for the other pully install, that was before my time so i don't have all the details but it was an issue with belt slippage from a miss-aligned pully, or so i'm told. also from what i'm told we(bishops) paid for the job to be redone at a Mini Dealer... well that's what i was told.

anyways just deal with Skylar for parts and me for Service/performance upgrades and tuning and you should be in good hands.

 

Not that it matters but since you asked. My dealer was getting me the antenna at his cost and since I go by there every week day on my way to work it was just easier than making a special trip to N.Van and therefore worth the $5-10 for shipping to me.

In case you're wondering how this fiasco ended; on the 5th day and a couple more phone calls later we gave up and I ordered the antenna direct from Alta along with a pair of rear sway bar end links. Funnily enough Alta is able to ship me the parts to my door from Oregon in 5 days. You're probably wondering why I didn't just do that in the first place. It's because I'd rather support local business's and incorrectly assumed it would also be quicker and easier to go local.

For the record the straw that broke the camels back was after 4 days of twice a day calling and being told each time "it's on it's way it should be there in a few hours" the last time he phoned he was told the courier company can't locate the part and "we'll call you back after we talk to them" which after 5 hrs they still hadn't done. If your shipping dept/parts guy had just said in the begining "you should recieve it within 5 days" I would have been surprised/disappointed given the short distance but not pissed off. They should of just been straight up from the beginning and when it hadn't been delivered when it should of they should of made an effort to solve the problem rather than just give yet another empty promise or throw their hands up and blame the courier. So far as your comment about the courier company delivering it on their time not yours that's just a cop out. I work for a courier company as a fleet mechanic and also ran a truck with another courier company and it's always on the customers time. Courier companies work the same as taxis or tow trucks basicly you phone up they give you an ETA of when they'll be there (usually within a couple of hours any longer and they know you'll call someone else) and if the pkg is being delivered locally it will happen later the same day or first thing in the AM. If they don't work on your time line or they drop the ball then they don't get called back so most will bend over backwards to keep the customer happy because the competition in that industry is fierce. Regardless of who's fault it was or who initially dropped the ball as a company providing a product or service it is that companies responsibility that if something goes wrong to fix it not blow smoke up the cutomers *** or pass the buck, it's called customer service. So in this case because "Bishop" didn't fix it by re-shipping another antenna out on a "rush" at their expense or having the shop helper, etc, run another one out and deal with the courier company on their own time they lost a potentialy big parts account like Mini Richmond and myself as a customer. Not to mention the bad word of mouth advertising this has/will cause Bishop. I can't say I'm surprised though speed shops are notorious for acting like their **** don't stink with the attitude of "we have the part you want and if you don't like the way we treat you that's too bad ". Mopac is a perfect example of this.

I appologise Shmee if the above feels like I ripped a strip off you. I don't blame you at all you're the tech in the back so as you mentioned the sale of parts and shipping them has nothing to do with you but let me put in terms you can relate to. As a tech I'm sure you've worked the flat rate system at some point in your career and know all too well, as I do, if you have a "comeback" because you screwed up you redo the work the second time for free because it's the right thing to do and that's just the way the system works. The customer paid the amount of money asked of them for the service or repair and for whatever reason didn't get it so you don't make excuses or blame the service writer, etc, you just fix it at your cost period. See the similarity ?

At this point you and/or the parts guys may be thinkin "It was just a $40 antenna who cares?" Well I am planning on doin a number of upgrades to my Mini so there's that money lost. Then there's Mini Richmond who were using my antenna purchase as a feeler having not used Bishop as a part supplier before (they didn't know you sold Mini parts until I told them) needless to say that potentialy large account is lost too. So I guess that antenna all of a sudden became extremely expensive and it's Bishop who should care.

An old saying comes to mind; "a happy customer will tell a few ppl but an unhappy one will tell many".

 

Another Alta supplier in Vancouver is Rocky Mountain Imports
PH: 604-531-6017
http://www.rockymountainimports.net/
John does his very best to give the best prices around.

Cheers
Dennis

 

Thanks I'll check them out.

 

went to get something installed @ bishop for two times..

and both time, I left unhappy...I made the appointment but never got what I wanted installed.

 

Matt,
no no, i understand what you were talking without the analogy.
Skylar was going to sign up and add in his 2 bits on this subject but i see he has not as of yet.
All i know is the part was shipped out Via Greyhound, the waybill was printed the day of or the next after order and greyhound never came to pick up. the exact details will be stated by Skylar if he ever gets time to post.

mx100,
who were you dealing with at Bishops to get installs done?
it surely wasn't me or you'd have your parts installed and have a big smile on your face. :P
if you were refering to the gathering we had a couple of months ago, that was never a install day yet there were a few people who got confused and assumed it was. other than that, while i have been here anyone who has had an appointment to get an install done has happened even if i have had to work late to finish it.


I've delt with Bishops for years but never as a customer. i have owned my own performace busines for the past 3 years and have been running the local and been in the international Ford Focus Community since 00. I know the reputation Bishops has in all the Comminities they service or have attempted to service... and the opinion of them held by many other shops out there. I joined up with them because of the oppertunity it presented but in coming in with them i hoped i could help change that bad rep at the same time and it's slowly coming around.

I'll say this, now that i'm running the "Shop" side of things and Jeff and Skylar are running the sales side... there shouldn't be any complaints about installs or problems with work. if there are, i'll take care of it and fix it for free if it's a problem with my install.
I know some of you have been left with a sour taste in your mouth in past dealings with Bishops but i'd like to ask you to give us another try. deal with me **only** for installs, i'll also set you up with the parts aswell and i know you will be a happy customer from that day on.

My name is Mitch and you can get me at the shop @ 604-984-3673.

I hope i can change some minds about how we do business.

 

So far as my "issue" don't worry about it although I was pissed off at the time and went on a bit of a rant it's done. I got my parts from Alta in Oregon in 3 days and am very happy with the service (from them) and the product so there's not alot of point in Skylar coming on just to try and convince me and others it wasn't his fault. Perhaps it wasn't, but he didn't try to make it right and in that lays the problem. You usually only get one chance at a first impression and the one Bishop gave me and Mini Richmond was poor. Too bad really, the future business could have worked out well for everyone involved.

 

Too bad you weren't there when I made my visits. My case was similar to what had happen for the Vancouver Mini Club, but I had an appointment both time. The lack of organization is what keeps me from coming back to you guys. Don't want to go into details, I'll just leave it at that..

Until I hear a lot of good reviews for Bishop.

I'll be gettin my parts elsewhere.

 

no no, that's totally understandable.

as for what happened to the Vancouver Mini Club... are you talking about the misunderstanding with the bbq/meet/show back in the middle of april?

that whole day was my idea for having a gathering of all of the Bishop customers(who didn't drive mustangs or other Domestic V8s) and my Focus customers to just come hang out.
the pully install day was a completely seperate thing and there was never going to be a pully installed on any Mini that day. iirc it was the Van-mini club that was confused and made the mistake but then again, i wasn't the one posting on that site so i have no idea, i just heard the backlash from a couple of Mini guys and here at the shop....
if that is the day in question but not the issue please explain because often i only get one side of the story here and i'd like to have all the info be it correct, confused or completely wrong.

unless you are talking about something completely different.... prior to my starting here at the begining of april...

like i said, i'm not defending anyone here.
i'm just concerned that what i'm doing here now is getting painted with the same old bucket and brush as what the front of the house is getting.

like i said before, anyone that deals with **ME** wont go away unhappy, i strive to keep my customers happy as i want them to keep coming back for more and more work. :laugh:
I like to think i have built a name for myself for doing high quality work, at fair prices, on time and doing it propperly or i'll fix it.
if nothing else, i'd be happy with not having people talk trash about the working being done here NOW when i have only worked on 2 mini's at this shop... both of which turned out very well imho.
ED955S is proof of that!

i have no problem with people voicing concerns about past work before i started here.... that has nothing to do with me after all!

anyways, i hope to meet some of you guys one day.
cheers

 

Deal with Mitch. I almost got him make my re-route pipe for my one ball exhaust project as I was convinced on his work on the Monster Miata (V8) but decided later to buy the Minspeed SS pipe instead with the intention of selling it later should I decide to go to a complete cat back to achieve higher sound level.

 

re: "it was the Van-mini club that was confused and made the mistake."

Having dealt with this situation already at the club level, I will just say the club dropped Bishop's as a sponsor following this event ... draw your own conclusions. And for anyone from Bishop's on this message board, this portion is also managed by the club.

 

PS: some of us will be in Portland next week and will be asking about a possible group sale to club members directly from ALTA. I personally have also contacted M7Tuning directly if anyone else is interested.

 

like I said.. my incident happen before you were there..so don't worry about it.

Regarding the work that you do and how you strive for customer satisfaction, Good for you.

 

Sorry Schmee,

I didn't mean for this to turn into a thread to beat up on Bishop's customer service.

I walked into your showroom and bought an Alta S/C pulley from Skylar in person. In fact, while I was there he gave me a heads up about a couple different parts (that I'm interested in) that he wanted to clear out. He was a really nice guy and I have nothing bad to say about my experience.

My question was related to installations and I feel that you have made it clear that you get installs done right and take personal ownership of that. I appreciate that. I opted not to have Bishop install my pulley as I am due for some major service and service will install it for me at that time. Going forward however, I feel comfortable having you work on my car.

Bryan

 

bryan,
no worries.
i hope to see you soon!

 

just a heads up for everyone, i no longer work at Bishops, i have moved onto bigger and better things and will be crewing on a Porsche race team for the 24hour @ Daytona this Jan.
I can still get Alta parts as a good price thru bishops and am still more than happy to do work for you guys, custom or installing parts.

just thought i'd let you know.

Mitch

 

So you left on good terms?

Congratulations on the Porsche gig.

 

yes, i left on good terms.... weather they stay that way is something that Jeff is in control of.
Skylar and i are still friends and a lot of the customers there still are in contact with me if they need any help.

 

Not to beat up on Bishops, but... in September I contacted them via email to get a price on sale and install of ALTA intake & turbo back. They did not reply to my email. I purchased from ALTA and had the stuff installed here on Salt Spring.

 

Since Alta is only in Oregon, I would personally make a road trip and have the parts installed by them (If they have the facilities) This would be especially valid for the intercooler, or other larger modifications.

 

I've discussed installation with Alta before, they don't have facilities...or at least they didn't, perhaps in their new home they do(?).

Bryan