Race-Mart/Paul Fink Motorsports BAD

[Darky]

I recommend against doing business with this guy/company. I shoulda known when I tried ordering bushings for my shocks from a drag racing site, but they were the first ones I found that "had them in stock". That's in quotes because he makes no notice of anything being out of stock, not even after you order it with express shipping because driving a Jeep with only 2 shocks, even for only 10 miles a day sucks. I didn't find out it was backordered until 6 days later when I e-mailed to cancel the order. He let me know it was back ordered and had been special ordered from the mfr. I replied that I would still like to cancel. No response. I even tried calling and it goes to voice mail every time.

Fast forward another 6 days. I get the invoice e-mailed out of the blue and apparently the bushings have shipped. Today is the 19th and I have yet to see them. In e-mail exchanges he claims I'm getting a better value because they were shipped via 2 day shipping and I only paid for 3 day. Mind you 2 day would be yesterday, and that doesn't change that I ordered 15 days ago. He refuses to refund the shipping or even acknowledge the part about not informing the customer that his parts are back ordered. Here's a couple e-mails between us...

[FONT=&quot]I need to cancel my order from you, ID 8472. I placed the order 3/4/2010 and haven't received a shipping confirmation or word on being back-ordered, nor have I received the bushings. I paid extra for faster shipping because I need these to get my vehicle on the road again. I have been unable to reach anyone by phone and have no means of checking on my order status.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It has been special ordered for you from Prothane to be drop shipped directly to you.[/FONT]

This next one was from me, 6 days after he ignored my response to his last, basically restating that I need to cancel.

[FONT=&quot]Just got the e-mail showing they've been shipped I would still like to work a discount here. The fact that I paid for expedited shipping but still ended up waiting 12 days for it to ship out is a bit ridiculous. If you had some form of notification that an item is back-ordered, the whole problem could've been avoided. Instead, I find out from you 6 days after I pay for my expedited shipping that you are out of stock. That's bad practice, it's the type of thing that will cause me to not do business with you in the future and to recommend to others that they follow suit. If it's happened to me, it's likely been the case for others as well. I want to hear from you about getting a refund of the extra shipping costs by the end of this week (Friday, 3/19) or I will seek a partial refund from Paypal for the shipping costs.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Justin[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ok, I have a question.

You paid for shipping by FedEx Express Saver. Was the shipment sent by FedEx Express Saver?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I paid for express shipping because I needed the parts quickly. I placed the order in good faith that I would be able to receive my parts quickly. There was no notification at any point that there was a back log and I would have to be waiting. I did not receive any notice until 6 days later when I e-mailed you to cancel my order and you then informed me of the back order. When I responded requesting to cancel the order again, there was no response until a week later when I threatened to open a claim against you. Paying $24 for shipping 4 small bushings, that would cost you about $5 in a USPS flat rate box, under the impression that I would receive my goods promptly, yet still waiting over 2 weeks is ridiculous.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Again, I repeat, that is bad business practice and you will receive no more business from me, and I will spread the word around to the other 14,000 members of my national enthusiast club to avoid you, unless you can reach a satisfactory agreement with me regarding this order. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]You paid for FedEx Express Saver, a 3 day service. You got FedEx 2 day service. You received more in shipping service than what you paid for.

Please review again our published terms of sale . We have gone to great lengths to explain the order process. We followed our published process to the letter. You ordered an off the wall part and we got it for you as fast as humanly possible. This part is not in stock anywhere. If the part was available you would have had it in 1-2 days.

We do not ship by USPS because we want our customers to receive the parts with a completely reliable service and be able to track them. We have been down that road and that's why we won't do it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Paul Fink[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]An off the wall part that’s not in stock anywhere? Explain then how it is on the same day that I first e-mailed you, I called Kartek and they not only had the part in stock but had it to my doorstep the very next day. I didn’t even have to pay extra for shipping. Odd, huh? [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I received notice that the bushings were shipped by you on the 16th. Today is the 19th. I have not received them. We’ll see if they arrive today, but your comment about receiving more in shipping service than what I paid for is incorrect. Regarding that, are you inferring that you paid extra for the shipping to improve my shipping from 3 to 2 days? If so, you may want to check into that and see why they haven’t arrived.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The real issue for me here is that I ordered a part that as far as I could tell was in stock. That part obviously was not in stock. Nowhere was that info made available. If that had been made known, we wouldn’t be having this problem. I ordered from you because I ordered the same part from Summit and after the order was made they e-mailed me, the next day to inform me of the back order and give me an approximate time for when I should be receiving them. I called them and someone actually answered their phone, something I have not been able to get from you, and requested to cancel the order. They understood and promptly cancelled it and refunded my money within 3-5 business days. I ordered from you and didn’t find out until 6 days later, when I emailed you, that the part was on back order. I tried calling, no answer. So I emailed. I’ve tried calling since, and no answer. I even left a message on the day I emailed you, and never received a response even though you state that leaving a name and number will receive a promptly returned call. I paid for expedited shipping because I needed the part within 3 days, not 3 days after 2 weeks! [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cliff notes, since you seem to be having a hard time following my main complaint and problem:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]You should’ve made it known that the part was not in stock, either before I ordered, or after I ordered, before you went ahead and special ordered it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]If someone pays for expedited shipping but then finds out they still won’t get the part for another 2+ weeks, maybe in the interest of service and keeping the customer happy, give them a refund of the extra shipping costs. Anywhere else I’ve ordered from has understood this simple idea.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]When a customer has a problem with your service, drop the attitude and listen. Figure out what the real problem is, and then (here’s the important part) do what you can to solve it. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your time, I will be filing a dispute with Paypal, and forwarding this exchange to your BBB and my Jeep club, as well as the other forums I spend time on pertaining to Jeeps and performance trucks.[/FONT]

I have since filed a dispute with Paypal, and filed a complaint with his BBB. I explained to the BBB all I want is a refund of the shipping costs. If I receive the parts, I won't seek a refund for them, although the fact that he went and special ordered the part without informing me of the back log pretty much sucks, especially since his return policy does not allow for returns of special ordered parts. Basically, I paid $29 for the 4 bushings and $24 to receive them over 2 weeks later?

 

[Phil]

Sorry dude, but if you needed them that fast, you shouldn't have ordered them online. Parts that you need right away are worth a phone call.

 

[Darky]

Couldn't get ahold of him by phone and according to the site, he had them in stock. My problem is not so much that it's taken 15+ days to receive them, it's more a matter of I paid almost as much in shipping as for the bushings and he couldn't even bother to warn me that they were out of stock? I ordered first form Summit. They e-mail me right after the order with the info that they were out of stock and even gave an estimate of when they'd get to me. I was able to call Summit and cancel with no problems the next day. And yet I can't get this guy to let me know what's going on until I try to cancel 6 days later?

As far as getting them somewhere local, I live in 29 Palms, I have an AZ and a Napa. Neither one carries the bushings in stock.

 

[Phil]

Couldn't get ahold of him by phone

Red flag.

Yes, you got screwed and it sucks. Yes, he should have contacted you.

I'm not saying he is right.

But when you need a part, like your example with Summit, there is something wonderful about places with 800-numbers, warehouses, and staff that answer the phone.

 

[Darky]

Red flag.

Yes, you got screwed and it sucks. Yes, he should have contacted you.

I'm not saying he is right.

But when you need a part, like your example with Summit, there is something wonderful about places with 800-numbers, warehouses, and staff that answer the phone.

Agreed, which is why I ended up ordering from Kartek. Called them, asked if it was in stock, and received them the next day. I'm just putting the word out for others who might do a google search for some shock bushings to replace the heims in the bottom of their 7100s and find this guy on the list. Most times when I order something online, I receive confirmation, ETA, and the part with no problems, I don't know why this guy seemingly can't figure out how that works.