Regardless of the reason the OP was calling, or what he was going to do with the information once he received it, every phone call in retail sales is an opportunity to win a new customer, or lose a new customer. The response from the salesman over the phone effectively ended any chance at any future business. That is not a good thing. The salesman would have been better off giving excellent, prompt, professional service and made the attempt to try to win sales for the future. I would rather lose a sale on low profit spark plugs and maybe win a sale on a big ticket item with a big profit margin.

 

Umm, that was service. You don't think answering phone calls and fielding customers' questions is customer SERVICE? How many businesses do you think would exist if they gave that answer to everyone they knew was not going to buy anything? How about you go to a store like Best Buy and ask a question about a TV, just to have the punk sales person to tell you "NO" because you are going to go to Sears and get a price match.
You're logic seems a bit flawed.

I, for one, appreciate this kind of information being posted. Customer service means a lot. Ask Alta. When I bought my wheels, I went with them even though their price was $60 more than another online retailer. I still purchased from them only because of how great they treated me in the past with any problem, question, or concern.

 

Well said

 

Very much agreed! I myself work in the parts industry and if my superior ever I mean ever caught me sounding anything like that on the phone to a potential customer I would be written up without question. If the regional manager heard that I would be fired on the spot!

Adding to what has been said I generally check prices and knowledge of vendors before dealing with them. If I ask for a part number I could be doing a whole list of things by using that same question.

1. How about checking to make sure they are giving me what I want?
2. How about checking for accurate information that maybe another vendor may have given me and I want some good blind feedback on a situation.
3. Maybe I am just an average person who doesnt know my butt from a hole in the wall and want an expert opinion on a situation but am trying to become more educated on the parts that I may be potentially paying out the butt for!

I think those are three good reasons for anyone who wants to say that how this vendor treated their customer is ok should think about before opening their big mouth.

Thank you OP for posting this valuable customer feedback. Hopefully Mini-Madness sees this and learns something from it.

 

So speaks the mini-madness gnome.

 

During the 6 years that I have made purchases from Mini-Madness, it has been a good experience. George (owner) has always answered questions about parts I plan to purchase.

 

+1
I could not agree more.
Thanks to the OP, I like this information be it good or bad.
Oldrick sounds a bit grumpy.

 

Really though it is just a part number, my first intentions on this was to research and learn more about the product and what not. You know if the gentleman i spoke to was a little more willing to help, and possibly educate me him self i most likely would have spent the few extra dollars with him. No other vendor that i have worked with has treated me this way.

 

A few searches on this forum would have given you all of the information you would ever need about the NGK plugs.

BTW:
Brisk Plugs > NGK

Jim

 

Ordered strut plates online. A few hours later get an email informing me they were presently on backorder and would ship early next week, asking if that was OK. I OK'ed it. Package arrived the next week as stated, well packaged and complete.

Sometimes people have bad days and you may have gotten them on one...

Rmpl

 

Ordered plates 4/29/09. Still waiting for them as of now 05/11/2009. Never was told they were backordered until i asked.

Keep in mind I'm 5 miles from the MM headquarters.

 

Its all heresay anyway. Mr. Zito could say anything he wants, what if the convo never happened and he just wanted to stir the pot- if you don't have anything nice to say then....
His statement is quite misleading and overstates his issue considerably, as it has nothing whatsoever to do with "service", but with his unhappiness at not being given information which you could have found easily by doing your own research.

I'd say that the title is very defamatory...and not fair.

"I'm not happy because Mini-Madness refused to waste time giving me part numbers so I could buy parts elsewhere"... I think this person nailed it, and how could anyone think differently. . How would you have conducted yourself, if selling these parts was how you fed your family? Wow.

 

First of all if I was running a mini tuning shop and this was my source of income I wouldn't treat ANY customer with disrespect. I'd try my best to capture their sales.

 

You have no idea. You should see the nasty pm he sent me.

Sounds like he really needs a hug..........or an enema.

 

I have to agree with OldRick and safetysean on this. If the OP had originally called and requested information about the product (such as heat range, performance, life expectancy), then MM probably would have given him the information. But he wanted the exact model number which is a clear indication he had no intention of doing business with them. I'm not aware of any parts vendor that would just give that kind of information out as it would ultimately hurt their bottom line. Granted MM could have probably worded it better, but they were still honest with their answer.

 

Don't know about you guys - but I would walk away from a dealer like that.

And you know what - if they are not smart enough to understand that they have just potentially lost a customer over a set of spark plugs while trying to think how to feed the family - well, they deserve it. Yes, he may have had intention to buy spark plugs cheaper somewhere else, but guess where he would go for the expensive dealer only stuff or when he is looking for a new car....yup, possibly to that very dealer. But not any more... from this point on someone who is more helpful will get the business.

 

Can you tell me why asking for an exact model number automatically means that you have no intention of doing business with someone? What is wrong with asking for a specific part number? There are plenty of things the OP could have done with the info that didnt involve price shopping. He could have been putting together a document to post on NAM listing part numbers for a tune-up, verifying that MM carried the right plug or any number of other possibilities. Maybe he WAS just price shopping. I dont know about you but I have price shopped many times before deciding where to purchase something. I believe that is a consumer's right isnt it? The OP wasnt asking for trade secret information. It was a simple question and he was given a rude answer.

 

On a whim, I called a few places and all of them gave me the parts number for what I was looking for without any questions. This is called customer service, and I agree with OP and don't appreciate being told that someone I might buy something from. As a business how do you know that they are not just checking that you will be sending them the right part. Case in point when I bought a cat back exhaust for my other car, I ordered it from the place with the best price to only find out they and had lumped two years together and the part didn't fit my model year. It is nice to know either way who you are dealing with.

 

Just for the record, the private note I sent to "Bigshot" was in response to his disrespectful public cheap shot calling me I'd say the same two words to him in person, and neither of them was profane.

 

keep in mind, this is my thread, however i do expect that ALL users follow the site guidelines. If these guidelines are not followed i will not discriminate and take the appropriate actions.

All in all, each of us have a opinion and lets respect them.

 

Glad that will never happen.

 

I am confused. Someone was trying to feed someones family a set of spark plugs?

Someone on nam delivered a public cheap shot?! No way!

And I would NEVER think of telling a someone who called me at work when asking for a stock quote "Well, since you are obviously not going to buy this stock from me you can go google that information" That is just plain stupid

 

Ive been to places, had some service done by them and had them refer me to other places to get the rest cheaper....I'll always go back to the guy who wants to earn my business and give me a deal as opposed to trying to make me go all-or-none with him.....

When i bought my mini i had dealers saying "whats it take to sell you the car today?" I told them to F off and bought it from the place that simply asked what i wanted and said they'd find it for me at the price i wanted to pay.

One dealer told me they'd sell it t the price agreed on the phone then when i went to sign and pick it up it was over 4K higher for their best price. I wouldn't buy a keychain from them now.

 

Think of it this way. That part number was considered intellectual property by MM. Like other specialty parts vendors, they put a lot of work in finding working parts and sources. Ask a company about their intellectual property and they won't give that to you (most go out of their way to protect that information). If a vendor doesn't consider it important enough and gives it away, more power to them. But I would never expect a company to give away information that's critical for their business. Even something as minor as spark plugs.

 

Ok makes sense when youre talking about breakthrough technology like, how to run a car on water, or government secrets like, what is the current location of special forces in Iraq but a good honest business has not real secrets especially when it is public knowledge.

I have worked in retail/customer service all my short life. I have recieved more compliments and had more return customers by going out of my way to give them what they want. I dont care if they go somewhere else. Information is key. I dont care how much product you have to sell without the information to go with it no one will come back. I have customers who come into my store (Advance Auto Parts) and ask specifically for me because of my willingness to share my knowledge. these people then tell other people about my service and I have 2-3 times more customers coming to me with their questions because they know I will supply them with an answer. If I dont know the answer I will point them in the right direction to finding it. at least 90% of those people buy high dollar parts from me without question on a regular basis because of my staight forward approach to questions. These people do not come to me because they know they can get the part numbers or information out of me for free but because I have the information about the parts I am selling and general knowledge about the issues they are having.

I am not afraid to give out delicate information because there is no reason to worry. If someone is beating my price then I am going to find out why and fix the issue. I challenge my customers to shop around and find a lower price with the same service we (myself and my associates at my store) will provide. like I state above at least 90% of those people come back and buy the parts from me and continue to do so.

Over the phone customers are the most important. No matter how unruly they are you must treat them with the utmost respect. They are not yet customers but potential customers. A salesmans responsibility when answering the phone is to get that customer into the store/ordering list to purchase items.