itbgti
05-17-2004, 06:14 PM
After getting my car back on track, and now having to rebuild it (again), I have been on the phone lately with many companies. Here are some of my highlights:
LTB Motorsport: Overall one of the best businesses (racing and non-racing) that I EVER had to deal with in my life. LTB is extremely pleasant, honest, and VERY fair. Louis will do anything to make sure that you, the customer, is his #1 priority. He has extensive product knowledge, and will follow up on any issues that you may have. I cannot give this company enough praise…I had heard others say they are a great company, so I had to place an order myself. Let me tell you, anytime I need a non OEM item, I will call LTB first, and see if he can get it.
Phil’s Tire Service: Incredible customer service, tons of product knowledge, honest and very fair. Phil stayed on a Saturday till almost 9pm mounting 16 tires for me. He allowed me to chew his ear off for a good six hours as well (if someone can listen to me ramble for six hours, that is pretty amazing). Also, Phil is meticulous when it comes to balancing tires, he uses an adapter which holds the wheel by the lug holes, which simulates the rim/tire being on the car even better than the typical center cone. Also, he took his time with each rim/tire, and made sure it was perfect. Even after forgetting something at his shop, it was promptly shipped the next day. Again, I will be going to Phil for all my tire purchases in the future.
Shine Racing Service: People have heard me preach about them before, great service, one of the best VW builders out there. Great business overall, honest and fair. I purchase all OEM and VW racing products through them exclusively (as well as all street VW stuff).
Now the bad:
Racer Wholesale: Ordered $450 worth of products online (not the biggest order, but still a decent chunk of change). I received a total of FOUR separate packages (not being alerted that some may come from alternate locations) over a span of 7 business days. Upon receipt, I noticed my Kirkey seat shoulder restraint was missing the bolts to attach. I called RW and asked for the bolts (mind you, I am talking about $3 in parts) to be shipped to me….after arguing for 30 minutes on the phone, my two options they left me with were: A. go to local hardware store and buy the bolts WITH MY MONEY or B. Ship back the product AT MY COST and they will ship me a new one with the little package of bolts. Point of the story, if they cannot take care of a $3 package of bolts, I will be damned if I will trust them with a larger order, or any order in the future for that matter. Oh yeah, another little frustration point, all of the covers for the Kirkey supports where of different make…on had an embroidered Kirkey logo, one had a rubber one, and one had none at all…kind of tacky.
NOTE: I just received a new RW catalog, on the cover it says “Under new ownership, better customer service”….maybe they got the hint from others.
I was not encouraged to post by any of these companies, I just think others can benefit from their services (or benefit from avoiding them..RW)
LTB Motorsport: Overall one of the best businesses (racing and non-racing) that I EVER had to deal with in my life. LTB is extremely pleasant, honest, and VERY fair. Louis will do anything to make sure that you, the customer, is his #1 priority. He has extensive product knowledge, and will follow up on any issues that you may have. I cannot give this company enough praise…I had heard others say they are a great company, so I had to place an order myself. Let me tell you, anytime I need a non OEM item, I will call LTB first, and see if he can get it.
Phil’s Tire Service: Incredible customer service, tons of product knowledge, honest and very fair. Phil stayed on a Saturday till almost 9pm mounting 16 tires for me. He allowed me to chew his ear off for a good six hours as well (if someone can listen to me ramble for six hours, that is pretty amazing). Also, Phil is meticulous when it comes to balancing tires, he uses an adapter which holds the wheel by the lug holes, which simulates the rim/tire being on the car even better than the typical center cone. Also, he took his time with each rim/tire, and made sure it was perfect. Even after forgetting something at his shop, it was promptly shipped the next day. Again, I will be going to Phil for all my tire purchases in the future.
Shine Racing Service: People have heard me preach about them before, great service, one of the best VW builders out there. Great business overall, honest and fair. I purchase all OEM and VW racing products through them exclusively (as well as all street VW stuff).
Now the bad:
Racer Wholesale: Ordered $450 worth of products online (not the biggest order, but still a decent chunk of change). I received a total of FOUR separate packages (not being alerted that some may come from alternate locations) over a span of 7 business days. Upon receipt, I noticed my Kirkey seat shoulder restraint was missing the bolts to attach. I called RW and asked for the bolts (mind you, I am talking about $3 in parts) to be shipped to me….after arguing for 30 minutes on the phone, my two options they left me with were: A. go to local hardware store and buy the bolts WITH MY MONEY or B. Ship back the product AT MY COST and they will ship me a new one with the little package of bolts. Point of the story, if they cannot take care of a $3 package of bolts, I will be damned if I will trust them with a larger order, or any order in the future for that matter. Oh yeah, another little frustration point, all of the covers for the Kirkey supports where of different make…on had an embroidered Kirkey logo, one had a rubber one, and one had none at all…kind of tacky.
NOTE: I just received a new RW catalog, on the cover it says “Under new ownership, better customer service”….maybe they got the hint from others.
I was not encouraged to post by any of these companies, I just think others can benefit from their services (or benefit from avoiding them..RW)