I ordered four rotors, the wheel bearings and seals.
WITH shipping it was still $30 cheaper than PP.

Even though I never had a big issue with them... the one small issue I had was exaggerated by a few members here.

I MAY be on their "whiny customers" list as George called it...
But when I feel like I am treated badly... I will say something!!!

When I am treated GOOD... I will also say something!!!

Whether or not I am on that list is unimportant...
Brad treated me great, he was professional and treated me the way i feel a customer should be treated.

I DO NOT ALWAYS BELIEVE THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!

THANK YOU BRAD AND GEORGE!!!

I remember that thread, I remember what I said too. Be cautious when throwing complaints in public forums where the seller is a member you might might need him someday.. Love 'em Hate 'em Either way George has great value in the 914 community.. I have had mistaken invoices and billing but when my car was on Jack Stands, One phone call and I got an answer from him personally that I needed. Grain of Salt.

Steve, Thank You!!; for the xr3000 elec. ingition and coil. it has been running strong since you came through with those for me.. Appreciated!! I see your sales of the CD Factory Manual I turned over to you is still profitabl;e.. Good Job!! -Joe

Am I the only one that never really found PP to be all that cheap? Seems there were generally better deals to be found elsewhere.

PP can be pricey

Now call Jonathan at GPR & see what youc could have got it for. I'll bet it's cheaper.

Ordering and recieving are very different.

received it today

PP can be pricy, but if something is more expensive, Tell them. They will tell you "their best price".

However the last time I ordered something from PP was 7 years ago and price compared on about 10 different things.

I have been buying mostly 911 parts from Pelican for a long time now. I have rarely purchased parts from them based on price. I purchase from them for selection, customer service, a great forum and great follow up AFTER the sale. Now I'm not rich so I do watch my pennies but when it comes to an overall shopping experience they are tough to beat. For 914 parts I'm still jumping around to various suppliers but I always check Pelican. You should shop where you feel comfortable with no anxiety over when or if you will receive your parts.

w/ Pelican I get what I ordered exactly as I ordered it and receive the order most of the time the next day if they stock it.. I return something no problem.. done! That is all I want..

I hate getting held up a week on a screw around bull whack,


GPR is right there too, They can get more than they show alot of times better price or the same, but never higher, I get what I ordered no error in 2-3 days usually..

Pelican's site shows you if they have in stock. I consider that a big plus. The other online 914 parts merchants don't have that (last time I checked).

Now you can just drive over to AA and avoid shipping costs all together.

It's an East Coast West Coast Thang!

Hey guys, this is my first post here. Thank you Steve for speaking your mind, I am glad that I could be of assistance.

I have been working at AA for almost a year and a half, and I have been working my hardest to make the process as streamlined as I can. There are some difficulties that still need to be ironed out, but we are working non-stop to make the purchasing experience as user friendly and painless as possible.

I really enjoy speaking with 914 owners, and Porsche owners in general. I may not have one myself, but I have been working on them for quite a while, so keep the stories and questions coming.

If you ever see any part on our site that you think the price is too high, please feel free to call me, and I will either set it right, or inform you why our price is higher (sometimes, other companies sell cheaper branded parts under the same part number). AA will ALWAYS price match if it is financially possible, and I will help you do the research in most cases.

For straightforward answers, cheapest prices, and the best customer service at AA, please e-mail or call. Brad@autoatlanta.com or ext. 104.

If the mods, or anyone else flags this as spam, please notify me, and I will remove it from the forums immediately! (unlike some other people).

Thanks again, and keep those teeners rockin!

EVERY part I've ordered from GPR has been perfect and delivered the next day, and you get a free pair of gloves! Wish it was a tool box magnet . AA takes a minimum of 8 days for the west coast i've found. Not totally there fault, it's just the distance in most cases.

Or going on 5 months now, in some cases

Unfortunately, standard FedEx ground is a 7 day delay to the west coast. We can overnight things, but the cost is usually REALLY high. You would think that in this day and age, we would be able to ship things for relatively inexpensive totals, but anything over standard ground is exorbitant.

wish it was a 914 magnet

What part are you waiting on, I will give you the honest truth on where it is, or why it is delayed. I don't even mind answering in open forum.

It's part of the changes I am trying to implement here at AA, complete transparency. Just ask, and I will help with anything I can.

Excellent..the thread could use an update, though I can guess what the answer will be.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=109028

Even as an AA employee, I was unaware that we were running a Euro Lens group buy. We have been out of them for nearly a year, and to go this long without any updates is just plain irresponsible. I have asked our accountant how many sets have been ordered versus how many have been paid for, and you will know as soon as I do.

We check with our customs importer nearly every week, and thus far, the manufacturer has still not sent them. We were told that they were going to be sent in late November, and have not heard anything from them.

Brad, I hope you continue to post on here. It would be nice to get straight answers, even if it's not what we want to hear. I haven't ordered anything from AA in about 2 years, simply cause I always felt like I got the run around. It's like no one really cared, and even George would just give a song and dance to try to give you an answer you wanted to hear. Honesty, good or bad, is customer service.

Honestly, I cannot spend my whole day here, and I get enough of you guys at work, that I probably won't be posting from home. However, I will do my best to keep an eye on the forums, and post when it is deemed relevant.

That being said, you guys are my core customers, and if the self ascribed "914 world headquarters" cannot keep 914 customers, we have no business trying to expand to other markets. The more customers we have, the more we seem to disappoint. It is about time we earn the respect of our customers, and hopefully the paradigm will shift in a way that we start practicing what I am preaching.

As always, I welcome your correspondence. If something goes wrong with your order, or with your experience, feel free to e-mail me with your concerns and I will do what I can to help.

That said...try not to poke the bear, he can get angry pretty quickly. When that happens, he will take his toys and go play elsewhere.

IBTL?

Ah, the good doctor chiming in.

I really hope there isn't a lock on this thread. I think it is good that this is aired out. I want to hear what people have to say, and if there is something I can do to fix it, I will.

YOU know what IBTL means? Hell, it took me a while to figure it out and I practically live here The IBTL had a "?" because I am wondering if a fire fight would ensue. You seem to be well mannered and helpful. Cant hate that I have 0 dog in the fight.

I have bought from both PP & AA and generally buy whichever has the best price. The difference though is that PP has great internet customer service response. You actually get a tracking number that you can follow without asking for it. At AA they claim they respond to e-mail customer inquiries (couple of hrs? but soon during the week) but it usually takes them 3 days as of late to respond to my inquiries. I have to request tracking numbers, they'll give me one (after 3 days) and say the the carrier was to have notified me (hasn't happened yet!). This isn't just a one time experience with AA. I have placed a number of orders from them in the last year. Ordered carpet set, and wait, and wait. Finally (3 days after an e-mail inquiry) am advised that the carpet is on back order. Would have been nice to have known that weeks earlier.

So, I still shop AA but only when they have the cheapest price (by more than a few $) or if they are the only supplier of the part that I need. Otherwise, I look elsewhere.

Keith

Wow, where do I start. I know that there are several customers that have had continual bad luck, but hopefully some explanation will help ease the pain.

First, FedEx is contracted to supply every tracking number to every one of our customers as an automated service. The only reason you would not have gotten a tracking number from us is if you refused to provide an e-mail address, or the salesperson misspelled it.

Secondly, our carpet kits are made locally by a one person company. She has a day job, and only works on our upholstery and carpet kits as time allows. It would be great to have someone who could respond a little quicker, but we have yet to find anyone who does as good of work as she does for the price.

As for e-mail inquiries, unfortunately there are only two of us to answer all of those e-mails, and lately there have been 30-40 per day. We also have to answer phones, order products, help customers at the counter, search for new products to offer our great customers, work on fixing the database, and do customer service work during the day, so e-mail inquiries are usually sifted through to try to find who needs help the most. The best bet would be to e-mail one of us directly, as we check our personal inboxes much more frequently than the general inquiry box. As of right now, our sales staff consists of Brad (me...Brad@autoatlanta.com) and Leonardo Ventura (leo@autoatlanta.com). We are glad to answer your questions, but try using english...

Geez Brad, maybe you'd better ask George, Charlie, Lionel, & Carrie whatever happened to the rest of my order(s)?
... missing & incorrect parts paid for but not shipped, additional parts ordered but not processed, parts added in 6 months trying to get the first batch corrected.

When is it too long? How many times does the customer have to email/call to get the business to do their job?

I stopped emailing regularly when I got too busy with business/travel, my daughters wedding, 2 deaths in the family, construction around the house, etc., etc. I just don't have time to handhold vendors who should know better.

My answer - 12 months is too long! 2/13/11 is that milestone!

Poor customer service = lost business.
This is why AA has fallen to vendor of last resort in many of our minds - just too much work to get an order in and delivered in complete form. Too bad too, because AA has an incredible array of 914 goodies & knowledge.

I'll email you the last one I sent to Carrie Brad.

Glad you got your stuff Steve!

Your fellow Whiner!
Tom T

I am not a WHINER.
Some members turned my words around and accused me of of being deceitful.

Which is now why I am sure George does not respond to ANY of my posts.

My issue was being charged an extra charge without me being able to say yes or no to paying the difference.

I later found out that there was a KIT that included what i wanted...
it was $34 dollars more....
WHICH I GLADLY WOULD HAVE PURCHASED HAD I KNOWN THERE WAS SUCH A KIT AVAILABLE!!!
After the whole ordeal I even told Brad that I would have rather bought the kit for the extra $34 rather than the four pieces i needed for the extra $10.

BUT PLEASE STOP TURNING MY GOOD POST ABOUT GEORGE AND BRAD AT AUTO ATLANTA INTO BASHING!!!!

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT THEM PUT IT IN YOUR OWN THREAD!!!

I received that email and i received an email that it had been delivered.

A business explaining how they can't take prompt care of their customers because they are too busy? Good management would see the problem with this and make things more efficient or hire enough help to properly take care of the customer load.


So you guys have time to check your own personal email frequently during work but not the business email??? Priorities are off.

Funny, everything you are saying points to problems that should be solved by better management.

So what is IBTL? I keep a couple of lists of acronyms but this one is not on either of my lists.

Steve, I was simply empathizing with what you said about George &/or his staff labeling you a "whiner" in your very first post (better read what you wrote again). I was NOT calling you a whiner, because IMHO a customer has the right to complain about things wrong with their order.

FYI - this is what you said:
"I MAY be on their "whiny customers" list as George called it...
But when I feel like I am treated badly... I will say something!!"

Furthermore, I too have sensed this cavalier attitude when I spoke to George on the phone before, with others, and in their emails.

As others have said before & above, this represents a bad "corporate culture" to pass along to your employees, that customers come last and are a PITA when they flag something wrong about their orders, late delivery or whatever.

IMHO, letting my order sit for almost a year unfulfilled is NOT good business, and your post instigated me to send yet another email to them to try to get it resolved. In that intervening time, I too was charged $70 over the $195 NOS part, and it took them several emails & calls over a couple of months to get them to reverse my credit card overcharge. I know George reads the AA related stuff on here, so maybe this and my emails with get their collective act in gear.

While I'm glad that you had a good experience with AA on your recent order - other members on here deserve to hear both sides of the AA story, not just what you or any other topic starter wants them to hear.

So, as to your closing comment ("yelling" I might add), you simply do not have the right to tell everyone who disagrees with you and what you post, to go away! Last time I checked, we live in a democracy with freedom of speech.

You certainly have posted enough "negative AA" posts on here yourself in the past, so I find your attitude toward me on this one puzzling - especially since several others before and after mine were along the same "AA bashing" vein, as you like to put it.

1- Company emails should be checked more often than personal.
2- If you have the clientele, you have to hire adequate staff to fulfill your orders, and keep the customers happy. From what I have read here, the amount of lost customer that could have resulted in revenues would be enough to hire an employee to handle those emails, customer inquiries and order fulfillment.
Having Brad taking charge and try to shed light to unhappy customers is definitely a plus; it shows that the management is doing their best to improve customer relations and satisfaction. I believe it was long overdue, but better late than never.
I hope that one day we can all feel comfortable again to order from AA. The Management has their work cut out for them to gain customer confidence again.

This is a great start George and I give you thumbs up.

I know what i said.

I say I am not a whiner...
AA VERY POSSIBLY says I am...





Agreed... but start your own thread DO NOT turn my POSITIVE thread into your personal bash session




I do not have the right?
FREEDOM OF SPEECH says I do have the right!!!
I simply said do not turn my positive thread negative!!! (Which YOU have done ONCE AGAIN!!!)

If you had ANY TYPE OF CONSIDERATION FOR ANYONE ON THE BOARDS YOU WOULD RESPECT MY WISHES ON MY THREAD!!!





I have posted ENOUGH????
I have one other thread about AA ... JUST ONE
and it really wasnt negative... or meant to be negative.
Members on this board turned it negative... JUST LIKE YOU HAVE DONE TO THIS THREAD!!!

IBTL = In Before The Lock

ILBT = I Love Big Tits

Okay, I should have specified more. Usually the "Business e-mail" goes to a joint file, and we do look at it daily, but sometimes we miss one or two that should have been answered. The VAST majority of the e-mails coming into that file state something to the effect "Need Hood Nissan" or "Toyota part" or "I need a shift knob for my Seat Leon".

Also, "Personal E-mail" is a bit misleading. I don't receive e-mails from my mom at Brad@autoatlanta.com. I get customer e-mails, vendor e-mails, and orders through that e-mail. The far more important e-mails come to our personal accounts. I do not mean to call your e-mails unimportant, but there are cracks that they fall through. The best thing to do if you want an answer in a quick fashion is to contact one of us directly! We are always here, and we are always willing to answer your questions. ASK us!

Also, I really don't mind the bashing Steve, let the haters hate. I subscribe to the 20-60-20 rule. 20% of people will hate you no matter what you do, 20% of people will love you no matter what you do, and 60% of people are indifferent.

So, rather than asking for help, or telling me what should be fixed, it is certainly more conducive to flame. Flamers gonna flame!

Kudos, my broken clock was correct two times today!

It did take a while before this thread got heated.

To answer the inquiry about IBTL = In Before The Lock, posting in a thread that it likely doomed to be locked by the admins after it starts to get out of hand. AA threads tend to get close at least to this point. Lots of pissed off people with computers here.

It definately helps to be thick skinned around here.

I feel for ya Steve, "some of these" guys turned one of my threads into a gun rights thread and got it locked.

That sucks, Curt. It is unfortunate.

Don't think it you, was it Doc?

Actually, I don't know who it was (and don't really care). Just don't matter.

Nah, I dont pull that shit. I have a tendency to make smart assed, irrelevant comments in threads that are doomed. I dont make political comments, well, anywhere.

I'm with ya Doc. Hey, I been thinking about buying your video. Does it cover a complete rebuild? Is it in layman terms for the non trans person?

Whole shebang and in laymans terms

Got one left?

Got about 8-10.

PM coming.