Not a fan of PMB Performance Options

[carr914]

One thing I remind my customers of is that each part I sell is special for that client.. I build allot of parts to order.. That maybe what others are talking a bit about here as Eric does need to order parts for drop ship and once ordered he is at the mercy of his vendor.

As to a side note I am sure Eric appreciates your input for improvement to the process.

Thanks for being one of the responders to take an unemotional, level headed view of this. As for your second point, I would hope so.

99% of the responses have been level headed & unemotional. Perhaps like your problem with PMB is the same that you can't see the forest because of the trees. You mention Just in Time logistics that has been around for decades, but apparently you don't understand it when it come to small businesses which comprise most of the automotive market.

I would suggest you stay with Auto Atlanta!

[brainf18]

My point for mentioning JIT was to illustrate that having accurate shipping and tracking information shouldn't be "to much" to ask from ANY business Large or Small. And then acting as if it's too much of an inconvenience to provide was my issue with PMB.

If he'd said, "Sorry about the mix up. I'll check on the status and get back to you with shipping / tracking info", then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Point is he didn't, acted as if it was too much of a bother, and I made decisions based on inaccurate verbal communications that turned out to be wrong. That's it in a nut shell...

I'm sure PMB is well liked and the owner is a good guy...But my "individual" experience was less than stellar.

[ConeDodger]

My point for mentioning JIT was to illustrate that having accurate shipping and tracking information shouldn't be "to much" to ask from ANY business Large or Small. And then acting as if it's too much of an inconvenience to provide was my issue with PMB.

If he'd said, "Sorry about the mix up. I'll check on the status and get back to you with shipping / tracking info", then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Point is he didn't, acted as if it was too much of a bother, and I made decisions based on inaccurate verbal communications that turned out to be wrong. That's it in a nut shell...

I'm sure PMB is well liked and the owner is a good guy...But my "individual" experience was less than stellar.

At this point in time, you have 14 total posts and joined 914World a little more than a month ago? To me, this means you aren’t part of this community. Almost half of your posts are in this thread! Did you join just to piss in Eric’s Cheerios?

Looking at what you said just in the above post, I wonder if you just have a need to be right?

When I order something, I hope that it will be there in time for me to get it when I have time to work on it. But if it doesn’t show, I understand that there are many things out of the business owners control. I don’t go on Yelp so I can create a headache for the business owner. I’ve had a key piece of equipment go down and need repair, shutting my doors and leaving my customers out in the cold for as much as two weeks. Did I call the repair business and complain? You bet! I worked it out toe-to-toe with the equipment manufacturer. I didn’t however, start trashing their reputation in their business circle. That would be dickish...

[mb911]

At this point I think it's all water under the bridge. Now can we see the car /build your working on? Would love to see it..

[colingreene]

I really dont understand what it is you are hoping to gain or achieve by posting this thread.
Eric has always had a track record of trying to make sure his customers are always taken care of. Occasionally its possible that someone feels like he could have done better but to blast someone on a review and then post a thread about it seems a bit intense.

Like others have pointed out not always do things go according to plan in the automotive world let alone porsches let alone 914s.
Lets put it this way he supplies to people like Jay Leno and Magnus Walker and other people of note and I haven't seen any of them bash anyone ever.
Its best if you have a customer service complaint to take it up with the vendor rather than go to that vendors friends and try to get them to agree with you.

[rhodyguy]

Shit happens. Consider the matter a lesson and move along.

[brainf18]

My point for mentioning JIT was to illustrate that having accurate shipping and tracking information shouldn't be "to much" to ask from ANY business Large or Small. And then acting as if it's too much of an inconvenience to provide was my issue with PMB.

If he'd said, "Sorry about the mix up. I'll check on the status and get back to you with shipping / tracking info", then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Point is he didn't, acted as if it was too much of a bother, and I made decisions based on inaccurate verbal communications that turned out to be wrong. That's it in a nut shell...

I'm sure PMB is well liked and the owner is a good guy...But my "individual" experience was less than stellar.

At this point in time, you have 14 total posts and joined 914World a little more than a month ago? To me, this means you aren’t part of this community. Almost half of your posts are in this thread! Did you join just to piss in Eric’s Cheerios?

Looking at what you said just in the above post, I wonder if you just have a need to be right?

When I order something, I hope that it will be there in time for me to get it when I have time to work on it. But if it doesn’t show, I understand that there are many things out of the business owners control. I don’t go on Yelp so I can create a headache for the business owner. I’ve had a key piece of equipment go down and need repair, shutting my doors and leaving my customers out in the cold for as much as two weeks. Did I call the repair business and complain? You bet! I worked it out toe-to-toe with the equipment manufacturer. I didn’t however, start trashing their reputation in their business circle. That would be dickish...

You can throw as much shade as you want, but you haven't said anything that disputes the facts as I've stated them. But then again, according to you, I'm not part of this community...

[dwillouby]

Hello,

Wanted to comment a bit.

First its none of my business if someone is not happy with a vendor.

Its up to you and the vendor to resolve.

I only go by my experience in dealing with such. I don't always trust reviews as they can be biased.

I have had no complaints with anyone here that I have done business with.(AA included) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As far as you not being welcome here. This is a small community and all should be (feel) welcomed.

FYI I live in Mt. Washington and would be happy to meet you & check out your car.

David

[914_teener]

Next time shop at Automobile Atlanta! They never have customer service issues, and I'm sure you won't have to endure anymore "malevolence"!

If this isn't your first rodeo, did you forget about having parts in hand before scheduling shop time? I mean you don't have the brick layers show up when there aren't pallets of bricks in the yard.

I have also ordered parts from AA and have been quite happy with them. Not sure why you'd feel its OK to take a cheap shot at AA by dragging them into the conversation but its NOT OK for me to voice concerns about PMB? I can only assume your friendly with PMB and feel the need to come to his defense.

To address your second point: Companies large and small use "Just-In-Time logistics" to maximize efficiencies and reduce inventory storage costs. JIT logistics

JIT logistics is also a standard business practice. Perhaps you're not familiar with the concept but its based on suppliers providing predictable and reliable service, with accurate information about delivery times, so those downstream can plan accordingly.

This goes to the heart of the problem. A miss-match with my expectations for service and the reality of dealing with a company that's not up to normal business practice standards.

I have a minor in Industrial Engineering. This is a theory. It also assumes steady state of production and a kanban or reservoir of inventory that SOMEONE must hold the bag. He is a small company with a narrow client base, so your expectations to apply JIT is perhaps a unrealistic expectation. With JIT, you would still take into account lead time if the kanban was zero. So the theory wouldn't apply.

Not from the internet but from experience. I am sure that PMB does not hold inventory and does depend on vendors to drop ship to hold inventory. He probably take advantage of discounts that you can't and passes that along to you and maybe make a couple of bucks for the trouble.

Good luck on your 914.

[Mikey914]

Eric is a good guy,
That's what this boils down to. I would and do do business with him regularly. He has had some shop labor issues and honestly running a small business takes a lot of juggling, just when you have everything going smoothly, something upsets the balance, and it's back to stacking it all back up in working order.

Eric is not Amazon, but he provides a service. If things go sideways, he will do the right thing. That's why he is my #1 for our brake rebuilds we stock. We can get cheaper, but we have no issues with the quality of his work, and that is worth a lot.

I can assure you he is doing his best to try to get your situation worked out.

[Mueller]

Do people even read?

His gripe was about shipping and lack of tracking or updates.

I had the same issue, I ordered a bunch of parts and was hoping to get them before my build party (which was cancelled due to a trip to the ER)

Emails and calls asking about tracking, nothing.

If he has vendors drop ship I never saw that on his site, I found out once I received the parts. It wasn't a big deal, just something that would be nice to see in print.

Not everybody knows just a small operation with just a few people.

Give brainf18 some slack, I see a mob rules mentality with many of this responses.

[colingreene]

As a small business why would I want to declare that i have a vendor drop ship some of my products.
If anything I would think saying I dont have this in my hands but someone else does would put people off.

[914_teener]

Do people even read?

His gripe was about shipping and lack of tracking or updates.

I had the same issue, I ordered a bunch of parts and was hoping to get them before my build party (which was cancelled due to a trip to the ER)

Emails and calls asking about tracking, nothing.

If he has vendors drop ship I never saw that on his site, I found out once I received the parts. It wasn't a big deal, just something that would be nice to see in print.

Not everybody knows just a small operation with just a few people.

Give brainf18 some slack, I see a mob rules mentality with many of this responses.

Yes I read it from the first post and here is what I took away when I read it:


Guy takes his car to a competitor of PMB. Then after taking his car there orders a bunch of parts from PMB. Since Eric drops ships and no tracking numbers were given or provided, the parts don.t show up when they are ready to be installed.

Guys calls up PMB and complains because there is a lack of concern from PMB about PMB's competitor and the few bucks that PMB is making on the deal and the phone rant is not worth the 2 bucks that PMB is making.

Guy then gets on an internet soapbox and in an attempt to make that box bigger and the megaphone of discontent louder quotes a logistic and manufacturering technique that has no bearing nor applicabilty to a custom car restoring business.

Yea I read it.

[76-914]

IMHO, this is just the beginning. As the 914 beomes more coveted the prices rise. As the prices rise the community's face and flavor changes. As we've all seen, these types of complaints are increasing with the influx of newbies (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) I remember when 914rubber just began. Anyone here remember buying old rubber pieces because there were no others to be found? Some of these guys posting on this thread remember writing letters in the 90's to find parts for the 914. Things have changed and are getting better everyday for those wanting to restore a 914. There isn't a vendor here that hasn't pissed off someone at one time or another. That's life! We make mistakes as humans. And the complainers will always make more noise than the satisfied customers. I'd bet a nickel to a donut that PMB has ~95% approval factor.

[orthobiz]

I love PMB

Paul

[drem914]

I have had 3 separate transactions with PMB.
Each one handled as they said they would and for what I paid for.
They have been helpful on the phone to select the correct product and if I needed any service they could be helpful with I would do it all over again.

[PeeGreen 914]

Never had any issue with PMB and ordered a lot from them. Sorry to hear your frustration.

Being someone who runs a repair facility, I would have expected the delay as getting parts for older vehicles generally takes forever.

Bitching about it doesn't do much good thought. As an umpire I would think you would know better. Eric is a small operation restoring and making parts and are virtually unavailable elsewhere. Most of his customers are happy with the service but shit happens, people are human, and mistakes are made.

[Eric_Shea]

brianf18 is customer George Perry. George asked for a "Military Discount" I gave him the steepest discounts I possibly could. I'll guarantee you couldn't find any of these items for less... anywhere. I have a great respect for "MOST" of those who served our country and try to help them when I can. I also spent 45 minutes on the phone with George discussing suspension setups and advising on which direction to take while that car was in it's present state at MetalKraft Coachwerks.

With the exception of the Sway-a-Way 17mm torsion bar set (which I was told was in stock when I ordered it) EVERY SINGLE ITEM shipped that same day we received George's payment. Not when George's payment cleared; when we received it.

We do drop ship to save on freight, reduce our carbon footprint and most of all, save our customers time. Every single parts retailer does the exact same thing. Some items shipped from Atlanta, some from Canoga Park and some from Elephant Racing in San Jose. These items were "all" detailed on Georges invoice but he didn't review it.

First call (not asking for tracking numbers BTW) was about the ball joints missing from his order and lamenting to Marquis on how we screwed that up. George was informed of the fact that the closest units were in Canoga Park and they would arrive the following day. These notes were detailed on his invoice.

Second call... we screwed up, they haven't been delivered. Marquis (who is one of the nicest persons on the planet) again informed George that they were out for delivery (yes, we're running tracking numbers for George and checking on this for him).

Third call... George now livid because the Sway-a-Way torsion bars hadn't arrived. I had no backorder notice and no out of stock notice from Brian at Sway-a-Way "at all". Sway-a-Way is one of the best drop ship vendors we deal with, that said, apparently, there wasn't a huge calling for 17mm stock 914 torsion bars. Regardless, I'm e-mailing back and forth from the tarmac at SLC as I head off for my daughters senior trip. While sitting at dinner on that same trip, I received yet another scathing e-mail from George telling me how I should apologize to him and, and, and... I decided to fire him as a customer.

So... steep, off the books, military discounts - free consultation - same day shipping on 99% of the customers order - flawless execution of said order WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE SINGLE LINE ITEM, the Sway-a-Way torsion bars which I found out, while on an airplane, were on backorder and; this is what we get. George immediately went to Google and left a bad review there as well. Over $150.00 in discounts, same day shipping. ONE item on backorder and, again, this is what we get.

So you see George, the world is a merciless mirror reflecting your attitude back at you. This is evident by the many responses herein. I know most of these guys (like I now know you) and... they, in turn, are very nice people. My @sshole threshold is pretty low and frankly, it didn't take long for you to cross it.

I do not like people like you so I end up treating you like you treat me and my staff. Pretty simple really.

[jim912928]

I dealt with Eric some time ago when doing my six conversion. Always time to give advice and the stuff I ordered was great. Having three older Porsche’s of different models (914, 911, 928) you plan around those few that play in the vintage car parts space....it’s not like going down to autozone or the local dealer on new models. Even getting parts directly from porsche is a wait as they try to locate parts for you.

[Garland]

“I decided to fire him as a customer.“

Stay from going insane.

My last 2 projects (never finished, always improving) I sourced the parts 5 to 10 years before starting!
Collecting project parts takes time.

If you were doing this 20 to 30 years ago, as many of us were you would have NO suppliers like you have today. Very little in aftermarket parts, other then spoilers, stripes, and parts they said would fit. And you would be doing the work yourself, due to shops pricing you out at the 911 going rate.

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