So I called in and placed an order.
Both the lady I talked to and I got on the website and agreed on the part I needed.
She said she had a 914 at home in the garage and said she knew which part I was talking about.
It is the little plastic spacer/washer/shakeproof washer that goes on both ends of the rocker panel.
I ordered 6 of them at $1.05 a piece.
I got them and they were the wrong parts.
I got a lock washer i can get at ACE for a nickel.
So I called and talked to Brad.
He apologized and said that he would get these out at no additional cost to me.
So today I noticed that there was an ADDITIONAL UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE FOR $17 on my card.
I called and talked to Brad and he made it out to be all my fault.
The price of the one he claims to be correct were $2.50 a piece.
He said I was billed the difference.
Well according to my math 6 @ $2.50 is 15.
That is what I was charged. + $2 shipping that is $17.

Shouldn't I (at the very least) get my $6.30 back from the first order?
Shouldn't I have been given the chance to deny or AUTHORIZE AN ADDITIONAL $17 charge to my card?

What shoould I do?
Am I wrong?
I just dont like that they charged the additional $17 without talking to me about it.

Wait until you get the parts and if they are correct then call your credit card company and tell them you did not authorize the new charge.
You will be telling the truth and the ball is then in your court.

Jim

1) If you didn't authorize the charge then AA is in the wrong.

2) Are you talking about the rubber/hard plastic spacer? You can get those in the plumbing section of your local hardware store

Knowing how accesible George Hussey (owner Auto Atlanta) is on this board, In my opinion, you should talk to him before putting it out to the site. Everyone deserves the chance to make things right before making it public.

I agree 100%. My purchase of rear springs/shocks and two Vitaloni mirrors had the potential for a similar issue, but AA handled very professionally and in timely fashion.

Shocks. Received one correct one, and one not so. Brad handled, and shipped me a new one, with a return address label.

Mirror. One was missing a mounting piece. They shipped me a new one.

Invoices:
Yes, I was charged for each of the new re-ships (product and shipping). Once the bad parts were returned, I called Brad again, and they reversed the c/c charge and second shipping charges.

All is AOK.

I am guessing that there are alot more positive experiences with AA than isolated issues like the above based on my experience.


John

I am upset too. Most of what George knows about 914's he is not telling us. Come on George! Dish it out. I know that you know more than the 5 or 6 pamphlets you have written. Give it up George!!!

Seriously, Just ask for George when you call. He will handle it. No need to pull anyone's pants down publically...

I see 3 areas you screwed up on.

1st, you obviously didn't know the part # - that is what their catalog ( paper or internet) is for.

2nd, Why didn't you call and place the original order with George?
If not George, why not Steve Gaglione (smg914), who works for George.

3rd, Upon the screw up, why didn't you call George then, instead of some flunkie.

Also I would take this up with George, instead of picking a fight on a Forum.

T.C.

I would normally agree, but how many times has this kinda thing come up with AA, and how many times has George had to fix something when his company screws it up? I see these threads all too often, and it always ends in 'George made it right'. Personally, I think he likes to be the hero that swoops in to save the day. But if his business were on the ball, he wouldn't have to. A good supplier is as invisible as possible, NOT one that is very accomplished at fixing it's own mistakes.
My $.02. You can all start flaming me now.
Mark D.

Get George involved. AA has screwed up with allot of folks here.

Come on it's $20 bucks, AA should send the right stuff and refund !!

Leading with the chin, what sucks even worse is slamming someone publicy then 6 months down the road have to "kiss their ass for a favor" (give them your busisnes again) cause now you need them!.. AA

with george being an increadable resource to the community. i can't and won't say bad about my few experiances with him directly. the help on the otherhand makes for about every increasingly common complaint i've read here. unfortunately it has frustrated me to the point of buying elsewhere at times.

just my .02c, hope george sorts it out or his help may just kill off any of his positive contributions

I disagree with you here T.C.

First, I, probably like the OP, would think calling by a company owned by the "king" of 914's and talking two employees saying they know the part exactly would be the whole point of calling a specialty store...to get the part I want.

Second, the OP only has a few posts and been a member since late last year. Maybe he didnt know of George? I guess he could have called the store and asked for the owner but after talking to two employees and having the order screwed up and being overcharged, why would he think the owner is anymore competent with employees like that. He could have searched and come up with thread after thread of typical AA crap but I doubt that would help.

I don't order from AA and this is why. I chuckle when people say "you never hear the people who had a good experience" and while thats probably true, I just wonder it only seems to be AA over and over and over and over again...maybe HPH and Pelican are better at making sure it doesn't happen in the first place

can we get vendor bashing it's own forum or something? or make it "political" so it goes away?

btw I quit having sympathy when AA screws up something, there's been too many threads saying "AA screwed this up" for you to not know they they have a tendency to

Interesting thought... but I love playing devils advocate. One would initially think that its a small world, I agree AA has many parts that one day "publicly bashing person" would need something from them to finish a project. Regardless of which company is being posted (leave out names next time dude) he is trying to ask the community if he is out of his mind, or should in-fact try another suggested way of dealing with the company.

But thinking outside the box, there are more than one person in this small world, and "publicly bashing person" could get a non-public bashing friend to purchase parts from said company and pay them back, which would keep said person from "kissing ass" as you say. Thus defeating your logic of chin leading, and more like big balls leading.

Hi George! one day I might make tanks again... you interested when this economy gets back on track?

Well, the way I see it is this (personal feelings aside).... If more than a few people see it fit to complain here about a certain vendor, then there must be something not so right.

George is a businessman and we need him. Other than his advertising, he doesn't solicit our business. We call him. He offers a product we need and want. And if we want his product we buy from him. I don't mind the fact that he or anyone else makes a profit. They botched an order of mine also but one call later it was handled and I was happy with how it was handled. George has been in business a long time. That is usually a pretty good indicator that a company isn't screwing it's customers. (excluding massage parlors) Just call him.

I know this! This is the last negative thread about AA I will open, Read or Post on. I'm sick of them & while some are justified. How about we just deal with it personally & not in a public forum. I agree there are times to share bad experiences. Especially to save a fellow teener from having the same experience. Having said all that. Do we really need a thread complaining about a $25 order . How about instead of pushing these threads with to many replies. You just share your experience with a PM . Anyway I'm glad to be done with these. If anyone see's me posting on another AA bash. Please feel free to slap me through a PM

yes. i looked at Home Depot. Lowes. And Ace Hardware.
No luck so I called AA.



this is not meant to be a bashing.
I am asking if i was OVERREACTING.



1st. You are correct. That is why I called so we could talk our way thru it.
Who is Steve Gaglione?

2nd. If I need a $1 part I am to call George?
He will get sick of me pretty quick.
That is why he hires the "flunkies"

3rd. See #2

Finally I am definately NOT PICKING A FIGHT.
I will still shop there. Trying to see if I am overacting.



First exactly.

Second I do know of George. Just didnt feel like he would appreciate having to deal with what should be a $6 transaction
I have no prob with George. We have talked two or three times.

Well I don't know of George. In fact I don't know the owner of any of the local auto parts retailers in my area. One should not have to ask for the owner of any business to get proper service. It sounds like AA needs to train their employees or get new ones.
I have not purchased from AA. If they had the part I need, I'm sure I would regardless of the vendor bashing.

A business is only as good as its employees. If they need training... Train them.

If you have a problem with AA, putting it on the forum and than asking what you should do is not going to get the job done of you getting it straightened out with them. I have had only two problems with AA, the few times I have dealt with them. I was trying to order a couple parts online and I would put them in my cart; but it would show that I had over 30 items at a total of 400 dollars or so. I called them up and talked to Brad and he handled right than and there no problem or anything. My card was never charged at all. Call them and talk to them, or try emailing George. Talking about it on this forum is not going to make it all better and it won't help George to fix this issue out either. Take it took George not the forum.

1st of all, I used to be one of the biggest Bashers of George & AA - Life is just too damn short. Now George and I get along fine.

SteveHerman, maybe you didn't overreact, except to put AA in your original post.

Steve Gaglione (smg914) is a TWO time winner of our Car of the Month contest and George put his ugly mug all over the newest paper catalog announcing that Steve works for him. Between Steve & George, they have forgotten more about 914s than most of us will ever know. Plus he lives in Tampa, has a Great wife and I have know him since the 70's.

Also George advertises here and is on the Forum alot. If you were to talk to him about $6 worth of parts or $15 worth, you might pick up some info you need or find that you also need xwz part to go along with your order. You are not going to get that with a "flunkie".

T.C.

I suggested you talk to George first (or ask for the manager, owner, whoever runs the co.)for the same reason you would not want your employer, employees, coworkers, wife, husband, children, ect., complaining about you on the internet and using your name in the post. IMHO, Public forums should really be a last resort for private matters.

..........Well steve you asked the question in the beginning of your post "am I being unresonable"?.........Simply stated YES you are being unresonable....1) you didn"t want to bother george over a few dollars worth of parts...2) but you dont mind making your mistake into a posting to discredit george and AA.(thats real obvious).3) YOU KNEW you could find something at the hardware store , because you went there.(just to verify you got the wrong part you say).4) your posting is nonsense, over nothing.

yes.

I hate to tell you but even I am getting sick of this crap.

Those are the factory repro spacers we make for the spoilers and valances long discontinued by Porsche and now made by us. That was a special size for a 6mm bolt and although they look like regular rubber washers they are not. They are the same ones we include in our spoiler and rear valance kits and usually do not sell them separately. We are bound by legal agreement to use the Porsche factory price list structure which has many many discontinued parts with crazy prices in it. You placed an order for a genuine spacer, it is no longer available. You were sent a aftermarket spacer at the correct price. The shakeproof washer part number that you received is the correct part for the number but obviously not what you needed.

As I said I am really tired of all of this petty bickering. We are here to help not to hinder and If you have nothing better to do than to complain about some washers on this forum, why don't you call and complain to me the man? I would be more than happy to talk to you.

We are the only place on earth who makes those silly spacers and should not even have separated them from the kits we sell, but in our eternal quest to go out of our way to help....and Carrie (the lady) bends over backwards to help customers with the tiniest nut and bolt because that is the way I run my company...I want 914 owners to have every part available to repair their cars... but we will not send out any part unless it is paid for. Send back the parts you cannot use and we will gladly refund including the return shipping. It is that easy without whining on this forum.

I agree with a lot of other people - enough with the vendor bashing already. I can see posting something if a problem went unresolved for months and was over a large amount of money. Take it up with the management at AA directly (George) or your credit card company. My God, what does everyone do, go and find the appropriate forum and post negative comments everytime something goes wrong in life?

i know i'm guilty as charged

So if you send back the wrong parts you'll get the money back for them.
That's not too hard, sounds normal to me.


There's no such thing as a perfect parts supplier. Even if they always ship the right package every singe time, sometimes their supplier puts the wrong parts in the box. I've seen a GM brake caliper, the wrong side, arrive in the right side box twice before. Can't be mad at the dealer's parts guys for that.

the vendor bashing does nothing good. if you have a bad experience with Pelican, AA, or "bob on ebay" don't buy from them anymore... 'nuff said. it's a free country buy from who you like... my good and bad experiences have told me who to buy from and who NOT to buy from. and there's already enough bashing for people to know that AA has had issues.


personally, I check what MEMBER vendors are selling before I EVER look at what AA, Pelican or others have in stock.

I for one am very tired of the perpetual passive aggressive drama/bullying.

Take it up with the vendor if you have a problem.

We don't have many vendors willing to support our habit. Work with them if it's wrong or.... you feel it's wrong.

No satisfaction? Feel $17 is costly for custom made NLA parts for car that's been out of production for 35 years? Send it back, get a refund, and don't deal with them again.

It's your choice, we avoid the drama, and some of us may continue to have a source for the hard to find parts.

How about a positive post?
I have been doing head work for AA since the mid 90's. George has always been easy to deal with, he pays his bills ( which is more than I can say about one of his competitors, but hey, I'm trying to keep this positive!) and he has never once asked me to do half-assed work for him.

I don't know anyone more commited to the continued enjoyment of 914's.

Steve,

NO you are not overeacting! I don't care how much a part cost. The company is in business to make a profit and is judged on how they do business and how they treat their customers when mistakes are made ( either side).

With what I have seen in the past I would love to teach some companies about customer service - I would make a fuching killing off the business they loose because of there lack of.

My 2 cents......

KP

George, Do you have those cute fuzzy dash covers in stock yet? Just kidding. I know I still have not called you, like you asked,But I am sure you just wanted to give me some free parts!

Not again! Poor old Dr. Evil was almost banned last time trying to get the thread locked. Look, George is an asset to our little cars. Is he perfect, hell no, do I shop somewhere else first-yes, but mostly cause of shipping time-not his fault. Enough of this bashing and he might just go away, then what the hell are we to do.

I pooped twice today. Both were fairly normal, maybe a bit on the soft side, but gratifying nonetheless

I see where your going. Mine was like a baseball at first then softened to a nice comfortable push.

The ones that really suck are the pinecones. You know, the ones that feel like your crapping a pinecone, pointy end first. OOOOhohhhhh the pain

I KNOW!!! Like trying to push a sideways pencil out your ass!!!

This one was more like a pineapple.

But why is it that the little ones hurt the worst and the big ol logs just flow right on out


I don't remember eating corn

Corn, peanuts, and carrots. It's like a succotash poo

Momentum?

PLEASE, no pics

Found these really nice keychains down on 4th Avenue in Anchorage while visiting my sister.....

Great keychains for kids, and you can make social comments with them...

What's the deal with the color of my poop? Sometimes it's a nice mocha shade, sometimes an evergreen, then there is that road tar color. Sometimes I think the mixer in the paint room is a little tipsy