An example of the principles of the OP.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...82-post28.html

You still sell Curt?

 

The right thing to do would have been to have checked with them if they wanted to be named, and if they did, that their info was current as of the writing of the post.

Is the purpose of the thread about the principles of IB, or that of certain members? If the former, it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to crawl out and speak up about the issue. If it is the later, well it takes at least 2 people to have a discussion, so that won't work with the conditions you have to deal with.

Mark

 

That post needs its own thread! ! !

 

This thread needs it's own forum.
Oh crap, I wrote that out loud

Mark

 

don't forget this gem on the website

 

And here I thought a ricer was a kitchen utensil, used to make potatoes look like rice

Mark

 

The 2nd page proves that I must doing something right. My biz is growing, the right people hate me and always post the half truth about the facts. The other vendor in question called me a name in a post last night.

I have made my point and those not drinking the Old Boy NAM Koolaid know the truth and are voting with their orders.

I'm off this thread, never returning, you three have fun with each other.

Since you seem to have time to search the Internet for unless info try and find a single customer of mine with a complaint and try and find another parts vendor on NAM that every posted on a thread linking to other parts vendors on NAM selling the same parts.

By the way Mark, I have yet to get a single PM from any vendor in the OP.

Hello Mods, you might think about closing this thread since it's way off topic and as long as the above three are posting here it will never be on topic again.

 

Are home based NAM Vendors of less value to NAM members?


Depends.......at whose expense is this "value" taken?

 

I buy what I need or want. I don't care if it is from a huge company or a small guy working out of the garage. What is important is the service,Quality and warrenty of the product I'm buying. I think a company like "pooch style that makes the product they sell at home and ships out of their home is just as good as GM or Ford (Probably a little better). There are more small guys out there that do the same type of business and do it on the side out of their homes to make some extra cash. It is the true "AMERICAN WAY" and I do not find any problem with it.
The fly by nights usually do not last very long.
I always look for a N.A.M. vender first if I need a product. It don't matter where they work from if they have what I need and give me good service.
Ronnie948

 

 

There is a problem with this that may not be intuitively obvious...The MINI pie is only so large. Many of the vendors that actually R and D products, stuff we'd never see if these vendors didn't exist, also have to sell products they don't manufacture to make a living, it's part of their MINI business, this is not a side job to make a bit of extra cash for them. The products they develop in and of themselves don't make enough money for them to survive on, it's just not a big enough nor lucrative enough market, and R and D is expensive. For them, it's a career, not a side job. So if another vendor, who just drop ships the same products at slightly lower prices from his office enters the fray, there is just that much less for the guys who do this 24/7 to sell. And some of them go out of business. It's already happend to some very good vendors, and now we all lose out. They obviously won't be developing anything anymore...

That's not to say that guys like Dustin can't coexist; in fact for some vendors he's a valuable outlet for their equipment and helps their sales. On the other hand, their is quite a bit of overlap in places, and there is the rub.

The issue with the hitch is just bad, if that's the case; unfortunately it doesn't appear to be patented. Doesn't make it right though, be the kind of thing you'd like to see vendors distance themselves from...

 

 

Nice post.....and I will only add that by supporting a vendor that is low balling other vendors simply because they can afford to isn't doing anyone really any good. Let them find their business part of the pie on their own merits and not simply on price.

 

Anybody else?Q

 

sounds like a personal attack to me. haven't you been warned about that before? maybe even twice before?

one wonders what your day job must be like to have to sell blatantly copied (Curt) and second-rate parts (heated wipers imported from Canuckistan? ) for a niche car like a MINI Cooper.

there are several businesses out there who operate real live shops/stores and have a vested interest in the community and are not just out to make a buck.

 

I would like to know how to tell a store from someone working out of their home. They all look alike on the internet. I choose to use the venders that advertise on N.A.M. first and if they do not have a product I want or need I look at Amazon etc. If anyone has a better way to buy things on the net I sure would like to know.
Ronnie948

 

Never had any NAM Koolaid, but it might go good with vodka, and

Who is he referring to, and just what is the real topic of this thread

Mark

 

pick up the phone and call? if they have a shop or do installs, chances are they know what works and fits. Anybody that sells Alta on a dropship basis will never have that same experience. A shop or store that does installs will give better advice from having done installs. And, that business should employ trained techs vs. a shadetree who charges you.

Keep in mind this old axiom: "We offer quality, service and price: Choose two". If someone is cheaper, there's a reason why.

 

Ronnie, one thing I've learned the hard way (and this isn't directed at Dustin), is that just because a vendor advertises on NAM, and/or is sponsor, doesn't necessarily mean they are honest, legitimate companies with your best interests at heart, or even know much about the parts they are selling. The majority of them are, but it has been written on this site more than once that NAM itself isn't liable for any issues with the vendors; the vendors pay fee, advertise, and become sponsors. They aren't screened, and once they're in, they can rip off the community if they so choose, and it can take FOREVER before NAM will pull them, despite numerous substantiated complaints... Unfortunately getting the vendor tag here doesn't necessarily mean that vendor meets with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

There is one example of this that always comes to mind, but the company was so bad, it's kind of like "Voldemort", I can't even say it's name. And it took forever until anything was done about it.

Anyway, PGT's suggestion is a good one, and it's what I usually do, either phone or email. And not only have I learned a ton from doing this (and the good vendors are so into what they're doing, they'll spend the time to explain things to you--usually they're so into MINI's that they actually ENJOY talking/teaching, unlike damned near any other transactions I make).

I've picked up things I never would have known about otherwise--and, it's also saved me money here and there in ways you wouldn't imagine. Indirectly, by explaining my goals, and then being redirected in a better direction to accomplish them, and directly--it's not uncommon for a vendor to cut you a discount when you talk to them--not always, but it almost always happens on big orders of multiple high ticket items--do that on the internet, and you're not going to get that. Plus the technical support afterward can be a godsend....

It's difficult to figure out who's on the up and up by just reading the boards--their are so many hidden agendas around here that they finally put "As the World Turns" out of business.... But if you read around, with time you can figure who is up to what, even if you can't get all the specifics, and there are enough well thought of vendors on here that you can pretty much find whatever you need from one of them.

 

Ubermort? From "London"?

I ask that we keep this thread on topic, there's some good information, esp when it comes to helping people try to become/stay educated customers.

 

One way to find out about the vendors, is to attend one of the larger national events, like MITM, AMVIV, MOTD. You can meet them in person, see their products, and watch them do installs. Over the years we have had numerous installs done, and made purchases at these kinds of events.

Plus you get to meet members from all the different MINI web sites, who will go unnamed. Some of us are actually quite pleasant in person

Mark

 

Ubermort....I like that!!!!

 

Funny how that changes when you're not constantly being told to go elsewhere

 

Hey, thanks for the popcorn

Another way to get a "feel" for how good a vendor is, is to peruse the boards and see which ones are talked about in a positive way, usually with a , and which ones tend to constantly be having to defend themselves, and the products they peddle, followed by either a or a.

Mark

 

Can I have some of that NAM koolaid? All this popcorn has really dried me out.

Kevin