How business is done....

[Exar-Kun]

Ladies and Gentlemen of NICO;

I am sure we've all ordered parts for our cars. I'm sure we've all made our cars faster/lighter/better handline/cooler looking/ricerific(joke!) by using plenty of different businesses available local to us and, more recently online. With so many options to choose, why pick on business over another? Why choose a NICO sponsor or anything else?

Well, my friends, let me tell you...I am a business major and the lack of service or caring by internet companies(esspecially car performance parts places) of late leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. I am pretty sure everyone here has at one point or another gotten screwed over, delayed forever, or otherwise dissatisfied with various parts order businesses, right?

The true test of a comapny is how well they handle their errors or problems as they arise, not their price or their cool looking project cars...

I've got two little tales for you guys, from two companies, both of whom handled the problems excellently...

Two weeks ago, I decided to replace the stock plastic tubing on my intake, and hotshot released their "version 4" intake systems...seeing as I only needed the piping from the MAF to throttle body, I bought it from SouthWest AutoWorks (SWAW), AT the same time I bought some things for racing(NISMO steering rack bushings and some Power Enterprises Oil filters) from Phase-2 Motortrend...

My parts arived 4 days after my orderes from both vendors...

the SWAW story:The box arrived late(3pm) and I immediately went to install it...the intake didnt fit...not even close. Not only that, but it wasnt the RIGHT ONE, it was the "old" version 3 intake...I e-mailed them for two days and got no response. I then called them, and talked to Alex, whom told me to ship it back and he would ship out an Inejn intake for no additional charge! "This is nice" I thought to myself. I shipped it back, recieved confirmation that it got to Matt(their warehouse guy, I guess) and called Alex again, he said the new injen peice was shipped from injen to arive on wed. of the following week......I waited until monday and it wasn't here. I was more than a bit miffed, so I called Alex who explained that Injen had lost a set of intakes and other items in their shipping warehouse, and that a new peice was being expetied to me by this friday.....It came yesterday, Next day AM air shipped...

now, some of you guys dont realise just how much it costs to ship a box that big next day air AM(commonly called 'overnighting' a box) so I chcekd, it probably cos tthem 50 dollars to overnight it to me. That my friends, is how business is done. SWAW and Alex did an incredible job of accepting the blame and m complaints and remedied it as quickly and efficiently as they could..ther was no 'well, we cant do X or well, it'll be a few more weeks" it was just DONE. That myfriends, gets repeat customers, and I hope you all take this into consideration when picking your place to purchase items...

Because lets face it, you want a company that will get you set up right ASAP, not delay it...

ON the Phase-2 side...Both the oil filters were wrong(Power Enterprises screwed up on the part numbers in their catalog..) and one rack bushing was wrong(I had two of the same teardrop shape..) so I e-mailed Wayne(whom I have done business with before) whom promtly shipped me a new rack bushings, along with the return packing slip and box...

I was ecstatic, in 3 days I not only had the right parts, I had a new shipping tag so I didnt have to pay freight back to them, and a box for it all! Again, that my friends is how you do business! Wayne took great care of the situation, and I will never hesitate to purchase parts from his company because he gets things done so professionally.

Thats it. Two examples of why to buy from places you trust and both places are NICO sponsors...coincidence? I think not.

Just a thought as to where to spend your money, and where I'll be spending mine.-chet

[j-z]

thats really great to hear. to bad not all companys practice business that way. it was really cool what phase 2 did for you. they sent you the correct parts while you still had in posession the 'wrong' parts and they gave you a shipping back box along with a return shipping slip. thats just ****ing magnificent!

[Cyberkreig]

phase2 is ABSOLUTLY top quality. in ordering from them I have had more than one item damaged during shipping and at least one item delayed. In each case they were extreamly helpful & responsive. In one case i emailed wayne about damage and HE called ME to arrange a return.

Becuase of effort like that I have a small stack of Phase2 receipts...

[AZhitman]

VERY cool.

Our sponsors are top-notch. We do a much better job now of scoping them out, checking their rep, and asking around about them, and it pays off.

Aslso, keep this in mind: Every time you buy a part, check with a NICO sponsor. Even if it costs a few bucks more than "Chumpo's Cheapy Partz Barn" down on the corner, you're helping NICO pay the bills. Besides, we've all saved a LOT of money through things we've learned here.

Great post, Chet.

[Qdemption]

Exar-Kun, are you still in school. I was in the Terry College of Bushiness at UGA. I sill have a year left. Just wondering if you went to UGA or not.

[xyster]

I've done a lot of business with a lot of different vendors while building my car. In 99% of the cases, I've gotten the parts I ordered, and they worked as advertised. However, I now only do business with a couple vendors: Heavythrottle, PDM, and Enjuku. (I've never had experience with phase2 or swaw, so I can't comment on that). Why do I only deal with those vendors? Because the others had sub-par customer service. I'm willing to pay more, and wait longer, to do business with a company that deserves my money, be it a NICO sponsor or not. I think the average person in this country agrees with me on that, but it's a simple lesson that a large percentage of american companies cannot grasp, including the one I work for. *sigh*

[TurboKA37]

i agree xyster. and i have also have done some business with PDM, they are very nice to deal with

[Exar-Kun]

Yes, I attend at the gwinnett campus, its my last semester.

also, I was commenting on how well the service at those two places was, and that they happen to be NICO sponsors.-chet

[Qdemption]

Congrats on finishing. I myself have not been in school in 3 semesters. I am going back next Jan and finishing strong.

[underground]

Hey 37,

Sorry about the delays!

This past week I have been in Chicago, IL working at a homeless shelter, I do one big service project once/ year. It is my way of giving back to the community.

I was out of the office this past week from March 12-22. Sorry for any confusion.

But, when I answered your emails, I was at a internet cafe in downtown Chicago and had limited time trying to research your previous emails to figure out who you were and what you wanted. We get about 50+ emails/day and its hard for me to remember every customers exact situation, pricing, product needed, etc.

Your order will be processed tomorrow, March 23, as I just got back into the office today and am working on emails, voice mails, etc.

Thanks for purchasing from a NICO sponsor. I hope you are extremely pleased with your exhaust!

ChrisUnderground Motorsports

[TurboKA37]

thanks for the confirmation. i didnt kno that you were out of town all last week until i called this afternoon. looking forward to getting the exhaust and thanks again for the great deal!

[AZhitman]

FYI - I had lunch with alex from Southwest Autoworks today, and toured his new shop. It is AMAZING!!!

You guys owe it to yourselves to check out his prices on certain items - That guy is CRAAAAAZY!!!!

Alex has much love for all you NICO peeps, feel free to drop him (or any of our sponsors) a note thanking them for helping keep NICO up and running!