Blowing off some steam

[1973Swinger]

I just wanted to blow off a little steam about something and voice my opinion, so here goes. As most of you guys know, Im in the process of gathering parts for my Swinger, and have been spending quite a bit of money in the process. I have been ordering things from all over the place trying to get the best deals that I can find. Well, the other night I called up Summit and spoke with one of their sales guys who was extremely helpful, nice and even saved me money by letting me know that I could use a few things that were a bit cheaper than similar items from different manufacturers. I was pleased and even had a smile on my face when I hung up the phone with them. Then I called Jegs, The sales person seemed like he couldnt give 2 shits about what I was doing and all he wanted to do was get off of the phone as quickly as possible. After recieving my parts from them, I discovered that they had sent me exactly what I said I didnt want. I called their customer service to get it taken care of, and the woman at the other end of the line was just as rude as the sales guy and acted like she didnt care that the sales person had been the way he was. She would not listen to my complaints and was not very helpful at all. I was not being rude or yelling about anything to either of these people. Now alot of my job consists of customer service and speaking with pissed off people with broken computers and such, so I know what it is like to deal with rude and hostile customers. When I call customer service or a sales person, I do not get aggressive or hostile with them because I know how I hate that, and I know that 9 times out of 10, I will get better service anyhow. I gave no reason to these people to treat me the way they did, so I will NEVER order another part from Jegs. When Im spending money, I expect good customer service, whether it be from the sales person, customer service person or whomever I speak to. I will continue to use Summit, even if they are more epensive than Jegs on something because of the great service they have always given me, and like I said before, I will NEVER CALL JEGS AGAIN! Not only will I never call them or buy from them again, I will be letting everyone I talk to about stuff like this know about my experiance with them along with my opinion that they suck, and that they should spend their money elsewhere. I dont know if anyone from Jegs comes on here, but if they do, you guys have lost a customer and run the risk of losing more. I have seen the same type of opinion expressed on a few other sites about Jegs, so I know that my experiance was not a fluke.

[custom880]

Do yourself a favor. In the future go to Mancini. They are Mopar people. Jegs and Summit are Chevy and Ford people. Threy don't know Mopars. I order from Mancini when it comes to performance parts. If I need a very good cam I will go to racer brown, or Hughes. I stay away from Comp or Crane for serious stuff. I just ordered parts for my 6 pack engine from m
Mancini. Ordered on Monday got the stuff on Thursday. Everything was fine and I got a free hat! Yeee Haaaa.

[1973Swinger]

Well I ordered the rest of my stuff from Summit, and it always comes in 2 or 3 days, I get all kinds of free goodies like hats and t-shirts, plus they give you a coupon for your next order to save even more money. Summit has always been good to me. Ill have to give Mancini a look, but I wont say anything bad about Summit, they have been extremely helpful and nice. Thanks for the tip though.

[Madman Stephan]

I've learned that sometimes you just have to be rude with people to get what you want. you don't have to be nice when THEY made the mistake and are wasting YOUR time.

Here's something to try: Go find something you bought that you don't like and try to get the money back from the store you got it from. If you don't have the receipt, the item is slightly used and you're trying to be nice in the process, chances are you won't get your money back. But, if you show up 15 minutes before the store closes, raise a fuss and ask to speak to a manager, you'll have your money in no time.

I once returned a pair of slippers I had worn for a couple of years. Before leaving the house I put some small bandages here and there on my feet (keep reading). I go to the "returns" counter and there were a few people ahead of me, by the time I get to the front of the line, there are a few people behind me. I put the slippers on the counter and ask for a refund. Do I have a receipt? No. Have I worn the slippers? Definitely, judging by the smell and the few rips. They tell me that I'm out of luck. Well...... I raise my voice level a few decibels and explain that these are the worst slippers I'd ever worn and that the little plastic reinforcement strips were cutting into my
feet (Bull-sh!t) and proceed to removing my current footwear and expose my band-aid covered feet, raise one of my legs up and put one up on the counter. I then ask "Do I have to rip off my band-aids to show you how much pain I'm in?" I got a store credit.

[1973Swinger]

Im not saying that Im not firm or sometimes a bit aggressive when I need to be. Believe me, im no sweetheart or wimp about things, but im also not totally overbearing, just plain rude or disrespectful either. All that Im saying is that in my expreience, Jegs customer service sucks and Ill never buy from them again. By the way, thats just plain messed up to return those slippers. WTF possesed you to do that in the first place?

[bjoehandley]

Originally Posted by Madman Stephan

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I once returned a pair of slippers I had worn for a couple of years. Before leaving the house I put some small bandages here and there on my feet (keep reading). I go to the "returns" counter and there were a few people ahead of me, by the time I get to the front of the line, there are a few people behind me. I put the slippers on the counter and ask for a refund. Do I have a receipt? No. Have I worn the slippers? Definitely, judging by the smell and the few rips. They tell me that I'm out of luck. Well...... I raise my voice level a few decibels and explain that these are the worst slippers I'd ever worn and that the little plastic reinforcement strips were cutting into my
feet (Bull-sh!t) and proceed to removing my current footwear and expose my band-aid covered feet, raise one of my legs up and put one up on the counter. I then ask "Do I have to rip off my band-aids to show you how much pain I'm in?" I got a store credit.

I hate it when people pull this kind of BS, they just seem to think they should get something for nothing. Anymore I think retail management must be a bunch of eunichs with this customer is always right crap. At one point Toy "R"Us would take anything back, even if it was broke, 2 years old, and wasn't even bought at a TRU just to get customers to come in the store instead of going to Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, or Meijers, What killed me was that if you told the customer that you couldn't return it based on the return policy and they screamed about seeing a manager, the manager didn't have the cajones to back up the return policy. At one point the DM that was with the company the last CHristmas I worked there had a rule that if he got a customer complaint that one of his managers didn't take a product back, regardless of condition or situation but within the guidelines of the return policy, that store manager lost his or her job. Sometimes I wished a was the manager, there's just somepeople that need to be told to take a hike when they act like that. In the store I currently work in, if it has been opened in a un-repackagable way (packaging shreaded, missing stuff from box, etc..), or used in some way (Nitro RC Cars if you've put fuel in the tank, any kits that are opened partially (sp?) assembled) we won't take it back or charge a 15%-20% restocking fee if we do.

When it comes to buying parts for anything I own (plastic models, r/c, bicycles, real cars, etc) I usually try and do it as locally as possible after a questionable experiance with Forward Motion on rear shocks for my Shadow several years ago,plus I don't mind paying tax since it goes locally anyway. A friend of mine who'd modding his '04 Silverado does most of his shopping online (but call the orders in himself) since he claims he can't always get some of the stuff he wants locally. He's had good luck with Summit, but as Custom said, he owns a Chevy so he's already got a leg up there.

[Madman Stephan]

What possessed me to do this? Boredom...

And yes, you're both right, this was total BS on my part to see if it could be done. I'd seen a documentary about the retail industry and how this person claimed that they were able to return just about anything after having used it for a while.

It's really easy to do this with the larger chains. For example, why keep a pressure washer or (enter equipment name here) when you can return it after you're done with it? It's cheaper than renting....

[landyacht67]

I agree with bjoehandley. Customers who come in to my store with obvious parts quality issues will always get refund/exchange. But if something is questionable then people who yell and scream will, at best, get store credit or (usually) get told to pound sand. People who are calm and reasonable usually get full refunds. Then again I learned from my old boss about fineing customers:

Complains about having to wait in a lineup - 10% surcharge
Complains that hourly rate is to high - gets quoted 20% more labour time
Acts like its our fault that the vehicle he brought in to be cleaned is dirty - 10% surcharge
Interupts customers who there there before him to ask us "quick" question (usually takes extensive 20 minute destcription) - 20% surcharge / 100% if first customer walks out.

We have actually barred customers for our showroom for being too painful to deal with.

That being said (back to origional topic) If you were polite and Jegs didn't step up and take care of you then they don't deserve your buisness. There are too many companies today that don't realise customer service is what keeps you open.


Julian

btw I am aware tha this post may seem hypocritical, but when I'm at work I do strive to give the best customer service possible (unless your an ahole, and then its too bad)

[1973Swinger]

Originally Posted by Madman Stephan

What possessed me to do this? Boredom...

And yes, you're both right, this was total BS on my part to see if it could be done. I'd seen a documentary about the retail industry and how this person claimed that they were able to return just about anything after having used it for a while.

It's really easy to do this with the larger chains. For example, why keep a pressure washer or (enter equipment name here) when you can return it after you're done with it? It's cheaper than renting....

Its also dishonest and in some cases illegal. People that do stuff like that are the ones that end up ruining things for the rest of us. Id rather be honest and feel good about my life and actions than take advantage of the system. No wonder things are so screwed up and difficult these days. What happened to honesty and integrity anyhow? Just because you can doesnt make it right.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by Madman Stephan

Why keep a pressure washer or (enter equipment name here) when you can return it after you're done with it? It's cheaper than renting....

Why?

If you seriously have to ask that question, you aren't much of a man or person.

Your parents must be proud.

Originally Posted by 1973Swinger

What happened to honesty and integrity anyhow? Just because you can doesnt make it right.

Honesty and Interity obviously are characteristics that completely escape MS.

[Madman Stephan]

Don't give me a speech about my morals. I know where to draw the line. I'm not going to sit back and fork over my hard-earned money (what-ever's left of it after taxes) on crap that's gonna sit in my garage doing nothing for 11.5months of the year. I can't afford to buy quality items "made in the USA" by some unionized drop-out making $20/hour. Does this sound familiar to any of you guys? Making you should go have a look in the mirror!

When I buy stuff, my neighbours and family are ALWAYS welcomed to it. Free of charge! I really don't see the point that everyone needs a garden tiller, or a snowblower, or an auger.

C'mon, the system and the policies are already in place. I'm smart enough to look for the loop-holes, unlike some of you primates that just hit the button and wait for the banana to come out! I got me a banana tree!

You guys still don't understand that this is the way things are done in the rest of the world, and that's why our economy is going down the drain. All the manufacturing jobs are leaving the country because YOU guys have lost your edge. You've all lost your hunger for success at any cost, and you'll be the first ones begging for change when the interest rate hits 10% and you'll be out in the streets whoring out your wife and kids.

How'd you guys ever make your way to fertilize the egg?

[Killer_Mopar]

I feel the same way about JEGs. I always go to Mancini and if they dont carry the part I want then nine times out of ten I will go with Summit. Not only is Summit cheaper, but they are more knowledgable and friendly.

[1973Swinger]

Yep, and I guess that those are the attitudes that got Canada to the top of the food chain in the world. Dont say OUR economy is going to crap, you are from Canada, and Canada's economy is not MY country's economy. As far as buying made in the USA products, I pay extra for them whenever I have the choice, but sometimes you just dont have a choice. Also, I have plenty of hunger for success, but I also have integrity and do not put my personal success above hurting others. I will never be out "whoring" my family, the fact that you would even say that kind of thing about anyones family and/or kids just goes to show what kind of a person you are. I do not agree with your views or with what you do, and think that what you do makes you no better than any other dishonest thief. Dont put those of us down that have values such as integrity and honesty. Anyways, lets not turn this into a political or moral argument, make your own thread for that. Lets get back to talking about how much Jegs likes to treat their customes like crap.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by Madman Stephan

Don't give me a speech about my morals.....

No need, because you don't have any. But congratulations nevertheless, you have just summed up your entire life in one short post. Most intelligent and moral people take at least a few pages to do so.

I find it absolutley amazing that you can actually wake up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see.

Please, please, tell me you have not found some female ignorant/despperate enough to procreate with you. With your attitude and morals, it would be a crime of epic proportions if you had children.

[custom880]

I really can't say anything positive about Summit, and I know Jegs is way down the list when it comes to die hard Mopar people. I have a friend who has a 68 GTX. She bought the car and needed a few things to make it completely correct. She lives within a hour from Summit. She goes to Summit and tells the goofball behind the counter that she needs a set of "correct" wheels for her 1968 Plymouth GTX. She got the wheels, and a set of "correct" tires. Two weeks later she sends me an e mail of a picture of her GTX. What do I see? I see a beautiful Gold GTX with Black stripes with 1970's ralley rims and raised white letter tires! I very kindly told her that they were not correct. She blew a gasket on me and said that SUMMIT told her it was right, that they KNOW what they are talking about. She trusted them, and damn near 2 grand later she is way off on her car. I dug up some original ads showing a 68 GTX ad scanned them and sent them to her. She very sheepishly apologized (I wasn't mad at her at all) and said she was very sorry. I told her to take the tires and rims off the car and go straight back to Summit. She and her boyfriend did just that. They put the car up on jack stands took the tires and rims (virtually no miles on them) back to Summit and explained to their manager what had happened. THE MANAGER sided with his counter person and told her they were correct Mopar wheels. She then called me on my cell while she was at the store. I got on the phone with the manager and explained (very politely but sternly) that they were not the right style Mopar rims or tires. I further explained that the correct wheels she was looking for were Magnum 500 Chrome wheels (no trim rings) and Firestone redline bias ply tires. They disagreed and would not accept the tires and rims back. Thats why I stay away from places like that. I am sure many people have had great experiences with them, but when I hear, and get involved with things like that it sticks. I wont patronize a business that will not admit when they are wrong. For whatever reason these two people had their collective heads up their asses and it cost a person I know a hell of a lot of money.

[Frank]

I usually buy from Mancini or Year one. Have never had an issue with either. I have recieved the wrong parts from Jegs(who, interestingly enough, campaign a MoPar in Prostock), and have purchased very little from Summit. I've also purchased MoPar items form Jims, and have never had a problem, although I've heard that many people have issues with them, too.

My son is part owner in a performamce garage now, and I will normally order parts through his shop as he gets a discount, and doesn't charge me a mark up.

[dust]

Originally Posted by 1973Swinger

I have seen the same type of opinion expressed on a few other sites about Jegs, so I know that my experiance was not a fluke.

Back to the original post... this is why I go to online forums. Honest experience.

@custom880: I can see how a Chevy boy can hear 'correct Mopar wheels ' and give her Mopar rims from the era. If she specifically said 'correct 1968 Mopar wheels', that may have made the Chevy boy think twice.

[1973Swinger]

Well, Summit really isnt a place to go for restoration parts in my opinion. At least thats not where I would look for original pieces for my car. Id go to Year One or one of the many other restoration parts suppliers. I go to Summit for performance parts because of their prices and great customer service.

Jegs