It's a long story, but I think it is worth reading.

I ordered a set of Eibach pro-kit from tiretrends.com for my 04 cooper. When I received my purchase order I notice that they are shipping me the parts no. 5701.140, however according to the Eibach website the 04 cooper should be using 5702.140.

I quickly called them back, told them that they have got the parts no wrong. Later, they called back and insist that the parts no is right, they said the confirmed that with Eibach. I trusted them (which turned out to be a big mistake!) and so they shipped me with 5702.140, the wrong springs.

This morning (Friday) I bought my car to a local bodyshop, an hour later they told me that they have disassembled the suspensions and found that the springs didn't fit! If they put back the stock springs and gave the car back to me they had to charge me $120 for the labour. They were kind enough to wait for me to bring them the right set of springs, however my car took up one of their service bay which makes me feel very sorry about them. Therefore I had to find the correct spring as soon as possible so the installation can continue.

So I called tiretrends again and told them about the situation, they were willing to let me return the springs. However when I requested them to send me the correct springs with express delivery they wanted another $50 to cover the shipping cost They claimed that they will only pay for the ground shipping cost and if I want express shipping I'll need to pay for the difference. I refused to pay for the extra and returned them the springs.

I'm very disappointed with the fact that they were not willing to pay for the express shipping. It already pointed out to them that they have got the wrong parts number, and they still decided to ship me the wrong parts. They caused so much trouble to a customer (I will be without a car for at least 5 days ) and they still refuse to do something that makes the customer happy.

Let me know if you think I'm wrong, but I think that my request to have the springs shipped to me with express delivery is a very reasonable one, given the fact that I can't reassmeble the car without the springs!! If I were the store owner, I'd pay the customer to reinstall the stock spring and ship the product as soon as possible. Obviously they don't know what is customer service. They now not only lost a customer but also lost they reputation because I'm spreading the words.

I'm 100% certain that I'll never buy from them again, and I think anyone on this forum should also reconsider buying from this store.

 

I agree with you 100%! It was their mistake, you pointed it out to them prior to shipping of the product and they insisted that they were correct. They should not have charged ANYTHING to make it right! Even if you'd had no clue that the parts were wrong until the shop told you, it's their mistake and it shouldn't cost you anything and they should have overnighted the items to you.

 

Emphasis is mine, but which one is correct? Just for anyone considering the springs themselves.

 

Your post is somewhat confusing to me. You say they were shipping P/N 5701.140 but the Eibach website lists P/N 5702.140 for your MINI. Then you state they shipped you P/N 5702.140. Did you just mistype the P/N?
No matter... I agree with you and as you pointed out you informed them they were shipping the wrong parts. They should have shipped the correct parts as soon as possible and ate the shipping costs. Better to have lost the profit on the sale than a customer and having the parts returned - they lost the profit any way.

Edit:
Checked the Eibach website:
P/N 5702.140. is for the MCS (2002 - 2004). These may fit the MC (2003 & 2004) also their website wasn't that clear to me.
P/N 5701.140 is for MC (2002). :smile:

Charles

 

I just asked the same question.

 

That's is true but your post wasn't there when I started my reply to the original post. I saw yours after I posted and went to the checked the Eibach website to answer your question. I'm from Alabama - we have some slow types down this way and I'm one of them. :smile:
Charles

 

You should write a letter to the president of the company and tell him you expected better customer service. As a result you have posted a letter to North American Motoring web site illustrating the time and expense it has cost you.

At that point you probably won't get a response back because the damage is done to both parties and you have already posted your grievance so don't expect anything in return. However, letting a supplier know that you were very unhappy about their service is important. Just telling us here at NAM is sort of preaching to the choir, you need to let the owner or president know. Good luck.

 

Just another great example why we should always buy our aftermarket parts from a North American Motoring Sponsor company whenever possible.

Sponsors here not only know their stuff when it comes to the MINI and won't ship Honda parts to MINI owners, but are usually available here to address any customer service issues that occasionally arise. Their businesses depend on positive customer feedback here and I will always buy from a NAM sponsor if the part I want is available from any of them.

Since tiretrends is not a NAM sponsor, they certainly do not consider themselves to be experts when it comes to providing aftermarket goodies for the MINI community.

Sorry that your first post here is a complaint, but welcome to NAM and be sure to give any of the NAM sponsors a call the next time you want the right part shipped the first time. .. .

 

Thanks for everyone's reply! I really see some useful suggestions out there.

yes it was a typo. They shipped me 5701.140 , and insisted that 5702.140 is only for the cooper S. FYI, 5701.140 is for pre 03/2002 coopers only. 5702.140 is for post 03/2002 coopers and cooper S.

When I talked to the tiretrend staff on the phone I actually asked him to talk to the manager and see if they could also eat up the express shipping cost. They called me back in 20 minutes and say that I still have to pay $50 for express shipping. They originally quoted $70, so they already reduced by $20, but I think it is still not good enough. Assuming that it was the manager(=owner?)'s decision, I think they just don't care about the customers. I gave them a 2nd chance and they still decided to make me pay.

The reason that I bought from tiretrends is that I live in Toronto and tiretrend is a canadian company, therefore there will be less trouble with shipping and all the custom fees. Unfortuately now I lost time and money buying from them