All the vendors have access to post to the same places we do as members. Many vendors do contribute and even get into heated discussions. PU only chooses to post in the a place we only have read access too. Why don't they work on their customer relations by being a part of the community instead of just selling to us.

Answer your potential customers questions with the medium many of them choose to use. Very simple business practice.

 

Do they still respond to PMs in their read only section?

 

HAHA I just did a google search on british double-anodizing and it brought back 5 results: This thread twice, and the other 3 didn't give me anything useful, though I only skimmed them quickly

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ng&btnG=Search

 

Along the same lines.. I was told, when shopping for the Axis-PU rims, that they were "3 stage powder coated".. which I've never heard of either.

I know I'm coming across as kind of bashing PU, but I don't have much of an opinion either way, other than feeling like their parts are other brands, only marked up, for the most part.

Honestly, it's pretty hard to get as bad of a rap as PU has gotten. Questionable products is one thing.. but lack of ownership of the issues makes the ship sink exponentially faster. That, compounded with the stretches-of-the-truth make for a quick demise..

 

This is going to sound like a copout, but why are we trying to argue with someone whose in Palo Uber's pocket, literally?

We bring up the same issues that have been ongoing for years, and we get the same broken record responses from him as we've been getting through the vendor announcements (but PU wants to discuss these issues OPENLY, remember).


So, in the end, there will always be a couple of people trying to portray PU as a good company, and there will be an army of people making sure that potential buyers are informed of how PU really does business.

 

British double anodizing is soaking the object in malt vinegar and wrapping it in newspaper, mmmmm fish n chips

 

About the special treatment being against forum rules, I contacted them initially outside of NAM, maybe that has effected my experience as well.

So I don't feel I have broken any of the NAM Rules.

I'm simply trying to convay my experience with them and their products.

Probably another reason why you all are a bit bitter, besides having had bad experiences with them as a vendor.

To be honest I keep trying to give NAM a chance, and I always get reminded why I log of for periods of time.
This place is filled with to much drama, people feeling their opinions are the only ones and the correct ones.
Have fun with the bitchin' guys!

 

Can I do this to my whole car to resist chipping, peeling, oxidation, and swirling? OOPS better get the patent ball rolling on that before PU beats me too it !

 

My own humble opinion is that a forum like this is the perfect place for everybody to share their own opinion about stuff and have these discussions, it allows every point of view to be shared and lets others decide for themselves. My worries are different from yours, I think NAM is being restricted more and more everyday, with some users' posts being screened prior to posting and the like. But that's another discussion altogether.

Obviously if you share YOUR opinion you think it is the CORRECT opinion, it is the nature of the beast.

In the case at hand (PU), most unrelated third parties (like myself) have been exposed by these threads to the bs and bad experiences from PU clients for too long and everyone with a good opinion of them seems to have some sort of additional benefits other than the normal client would have.

To me it all comes down to this: if it smells like cr*p and it looks like cr*p, then it most likely is cr*p. So, for me it's pretty obvious what's going on here. But I guess for others its not as obvious, and that's were the open discussion is beneficial to everyone.

Actually, this thread has been pretty tame compared to others. Then again, you never know how many screened posts never made it to the public eye.

 

I hear your point about this being a place for open discussions. I kind of understand all the people speaking about there service being cr*p, I'll give you that although I have had nothing but good service from them. But to say their products look like Cr*P when they haven't even seen them is a different story.

That's really what bothers me here, I have their Scoop, Extension Wing both in the Carbon Fiber as well as the 15% Aluminum Pulley and those are great looking parts. I find them to be nicer than others out there for the mini. The Lugs and the Antenna's I have had no issues with either.
So to say that everything they make is crap is a bit far fetched.

But hey, who am I to judge. Sounds like we have some experts here!

 

It's just a saying, I did not intend to say that PU's products look like crap.

I guess I should have worded it differently.

Occam's razor: "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one,"

To me it's pretty simple what's going on here.

Better?

 

It doesnt really matter whether you contact them outside of NAM at first. If you are receiving special treatment from a vendor......and then go on to speak their praises....it's pretty sketchy. Whether it's against the rules will be up to mods i guess.....but don't you find it odd that the only people who say good things about PU happen to have received special treatment with either parts or prices?


Ya sure....there are problems with all vendors.....but the other companies have countless happy customers (who don't get paid special treatment) and a few unhappy members who had problems with some parts. PU has such a low number of happy customers that you can count them on one hand .....and there is a pretty decent gathering of unhappy customers who have received poor quality parts.

 

Its not so much that their products are crap, its that they market their products as extremely high quality and much better than their competitors, when in reality they're just inferior quality products that have been rebadged. Thats a serious problem when people believe they're buying top of the line goods only to find out later that they've actually bought a bottom-of-the-barrel good and paid a top-of-the-line price for it.

The quality of their products are what they are, our problem is that they claim that they're something that they aren't. If they marketed their products as they should be, giving credit where credit is due and charging a similar price, I doubt anyone would have a problem with PU, at least not in that aspect.

 

I'd also be interested, especially since so many of their products are manufactured elsewhere and rebadged, where PU scoops and other products claimed to be manufactured in their exclusive UK facility are actually made.

People can argue that the marketing about the artist and such are misleading or not (some of their claims may be subjective), but most (if not all) states have specific laws outlawing misdesignation of origin of products. I'm not accusing PU of doing this, since their products may very well be manufactured in the UK -- but if not, such practices would be unfair and deceptive under most state consumer protection laws.

 

Sounds to me like a case of getting a foot and wanting a yard here...
People claim that MANY of their products are Re-Badged as their own.

After talking to them about their parts and comparing them to others out there. The only parts I'm truly convinced are re-badged are the wheels.
I was looking through ebay and came across the wing that was referenced earlier in the thread and think that might be possible.

Their pulley is similar to the MiniMaddness pulley although bryce straight up told me that they are the same and that they have a working relationship with the guys there.

Just out of curiosity, what are the other re-badged items that they have?

 

^ Although I mention rebadging (by the ways, some have said that tools like lug wrenches are rebadged Gorilla tools -- I don't know if that's true or not -- sorry if my statement above sounded like it was a fact in all cases), my point is that, regardless or whether original or rebadged products, any claims that a product is manufactured in the UK if it is not, would be a false designation of origin... that's all. To the extent that products claimed to be manufactured in the UK or by PU London are being manufactured as stated, there's no problem -- even if they are made by someone else for them.

 

just a thought...this topic is always a touchy one on many Mini forums...not just NAM. i think that says a lot. pages and pages of people just complaining about Palo parts, service, attitude and such...its nothing new and they have been told to re think thier ways and change up the marketing. RED FLAG.

to compare:

sure, you'll have a couple M7 hatrers, for example, but, on the average i think the pros outweight the cons greatly in regards to M7 products. same goes for Craven and many other Mini aftermarket companies. all these companies are a part of the Mini community, they sponsor events, from the smallest to the largest. they are active in our community. does Palo do that? if they do, i havent seen it. and that may seem silly to say but, it does matter.

also, Palo markets thier stuff as "high end". only issue with that is its common knowledge that most of the stuff is rebadged mid level (if that) stuff. thats a RED FLAG right there as well. anyone that works in the aftermarket industry, such as myself, can see that. plain and simple.

i dunno, seems like the only people supporting them are thier customers and thats cool. if you run thier stuff, ok, cool but, you have to realize that the rest of us on all these forums have more than valid points and just accept the fact that they are half *** in many ways.

now, i have said this a couple times....its hard to come down on someone for doing their thing and making money but, within this community, i feel its much more important to look out for the next guy and shed light were it needs to be shed. whatever side of the fence your on with Palo, i think its safe to say that they are shady in the communities eyes and that says alot.
if they had any ***** they would vendor at the dragon event or in Vegas. if they have, sorry, i didnt know and would love to hear a story or 2 about that.

and like i have said a million times before...

IBTL!!!!

 

Good post. However, I don't think this thread should be in danger of getting locked.

 

Oh I am sure it will........NAM doesn't tolerate questioning vendors about their products or business practices. Doesn't pay the bills for Mark ! LOL

 

From what I've seen, you can count them on the victory (or peace) sign.

 

On what basis? I think that nearly all of the PU threads are still around.

The only threads that get locked are when the people in the thread act like children.......that hasnt happened in here (and i hope it doesnt)

 

I think what he's talking about is that there were two threads that mysteriously disappeared a few months ago. Not just locked, but vaporized - all without the namecalling and insults that usually causes threads to be locked.

After asking the mods and finding out the threads were "under review", they finally came back a few days later (although I believe at least one of them came back locked), but I think it opened a lot of peoples' eyes when they saw a thread go "poof" simply for casting a vendor in a negative light, and not for the normal reasons (personal attacks, threats, profanity, ****, political discussion, etcetera etcetera).

 

If you really want to get at Palo Uber, buy my SpotMax rims..That'll learn 'em! Power to the People.

p.s. I accept PayPal. Rims for sale in classifieds....

 

 

There is a new vendor post from Geoffrey regarding their PU wheels, now offering a $500 savings to Nam members
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=116946

I wonder if this includes the good batch or bad batch of tuner lugs

This is what gets me

We have sold the rims to NAM members that include, archetects, structural engineer, a principal of a Lambourghini dealership, Nascar sponser, Comercial pilot, radiologist (MD), to mention a few...The reason we list this, is for one reason, These Guys Know Cars and Components, and they ALL said the same thing...without question, the finest quality in both manufacturing and finsih, they couldnt be happier. We think by hearing from people who own our rims is the best way to evaluate your decision.

Can any of these happy Nam'ers please speak up?