...and no phone number posted.

I've attempted to contact 914 Rubber about five times, inquiring about the glass roof a la Saratoga, but better?) I've heard they wanted to do a production run on this spring.

I get the suspicion that they're not getting my messages somehow. If that's not it, they likely need a secretartpy but can't afford one (??). I've been there myself. I know how it is.

Well, guys, if you're reading this, please let me know what's up. I'd like to buy TWO of your roofs and have them sent to TX ASAP.

Thanks,

Mike in Munich

Try sending an email or PM to Mark Whitesell on here as mikey914

did you send the email to mark as directed here?

Mark is on his way to the WCR so he may be delayed in responding a few days.

Yes, this is what I've done at least 5 times over the past 3 months.

Mark's son and his brother are filling the orders.

I meant sending an email directly to him at the email he listed above the form?

I've tried to contact them thru their "Contact Us" form...no response so I went someplace else...hope when I need something again things work better...

There seem to be problems that hopefully they can work out because the products are good.

I have the same issue and I, like Mike, am looking elsewhere.

this again ....

you guys need to understand the most all vendors on this site are not a full time business but are a part time service to supply no longer produced parts for these old cars.

and some times things dont work the way that it does with a big commercial business and you might have to try a couple of methods to get in touch with them.

i myself have not had any trouble getting in touch with 914 rubber.

Mark is probably on the road to WCR by now. I am local and can go by the shop in the next couple of days and find out if they still have those and get back to you. They are working constantly to improve both parts selection and service, but it is a sideline business, constantly struggling to become something bigger and better. So don't give up hope.

Mark has a real job that affords him the resources to to pay serious money for tooling and manufacturing to support all us cheap 914 guys car habit.

Thanks Mark

Wasn't really a complaint, but if you cannot get a hold of them after weeks or months, don't you think they'd like to know that as well?

Given they are more or less a one man operation (Mark) and has a pretty huge number of people interested in his products, he has at times developed a pretty hefty communication backlog. Sometimes it has take over a month for him to respond to me but he always seems to get to my emails eventually. Think about it, this is not his day job, and you have possibly hundreds of emails asking about product and orders and you are only working that in your free time, it takes a while to make it down the list sometimes.

Making those tops was a pretty serious endeavor. IF he will even make more this is something you should be prepared to wait quite a while for.

YOU need to understand a couple of things:

I don't appreciate the "crazy" emoticon.

By your very question, "this again?", it might occur to you that three or four different members who had the same experiences on different threads might have cause to voice those opinions.

You took a defensive position without asking any questions. Let me ask you, is 3 weeks without a response being impatient? Would you do that with a member selling something in the classifieds?

I have talked to Mike on the phone and he seems like a class guy. I would guess like Mueller said, that he would want to know if things aren't quite right between him and his customers. Sorry if that's so hard for you to swallow.

sorry i offended your delicate disposition.... you're from jersey and i thought you might have had thicker skin.

"this again" was in reference to threads about our member vendors and not just this one as there are several that are not full time.

and you did find a way to get in touch with Mark. and again these are not the regular type of retailers here.

it just seems that these threads come up as bashing these guys for not responding like a commercial business would. and i would hate for them to get discouraged from continuing to provide for us because the pressure to operate like a commercial business is too much to do while having a "real job" and a family life.

so when having trouble getting in touch with them, i think it would be best to think of them as guys and not a business and put a call out in the form of a pm, personal email or phone call, or worst case a "hey mark from 914 rubber call me" in the garage.

and if all else fails you could always order from AA

You're misinformed if you're nder the impression the BUSINESS is a one person operation. It's a BUSINESS, for real! Yes, mark is commercial pilot full time and he is a very busy man. Unfortunate that inquiries have not been addressed.

I placed an order a few weeks back, never received any confirmation except from PayPal. After a week I sent Mark e-mail. Several days later after not hearing back I contacted them via their website contact page. Blake responded the same day with tracking info showing the package went out two days prior and almost here.

Unfortunately the order took about six days to ship. I realize this is a small business and don't necessarily expect shipment within a business day or two, but the lack of an order confirmation and shipping info concerned me.

On the positive note, I've made several orders over the last few years with no issues at all. Furthermore I've been pleased with his products.

Hopefully these are just growing pains as Mark expands his product line and increases his sales.

It has nothing to do with skin thickness; when somebody takes an unprovoked jab at me, I'm going to jab right back.

Bashing? Please quote the line which bashes 914 Rubber.

I will not go into specifics here, but it goes beyond simple contact. That doesn't mean I will not place any more orders nor would I tell anyone not to do the same. But it would be a better transaction and there may be more of them if communication could be improved and equalled the quality and reasonable prices of his products. He should know.

Patience is a virtue. 914Rubber does a great service for us.

I will chime in here.

I have ordered from 914rubber probably 5 times in the last 5 years.
I received my shipment very quickly every time very quickly and very pleased with the products.

I have ALSO asked questiosn via their "contact us" email on more than one occasion and I have NEVER received a response.

Just a data point - nothing else.

If you look at the bottom of order page it gives an alternate email address for them, that is his personel email. also look closely around that page and you will find his cell number, I have used the alternate ways and have gotten a reply in a timely fashion, also remember this is his side job .

Mike,

i'm not sure if they have those in production yet. I bought one in the original group buy i think ist #14. They are acrylic not glass. I have thought about selling it and if you are intereted send me a PM if you dont hear back from Mark. I have the original box it was shipped to me in-i mounted it on the wall to use asa storage container, shipping will probably cost a couple hundred . - so send me a pm if you want to swing a deal.

BTW ihve ordered many items over the past few years (6) from Mark and all excellent quality. Sometimes it takes a while because he is not satisfied with the product himself and makes sure it top notch before it goes out. Ill use the seat cover orders as an example. He stepped up and made that happen but it wasnt pefect either. I was one of the first to get in line for those, like #5 i think. and i paid, back in October of last year and still dont have my seat covers because the grey/black was incorrect. Now Mark offered to refund me, give me a different color or wait until the right pattern was printed and shipped - i believe mine are finally being made now. i chose to wait , it was and is not an emergency . Based on his reputation and the quality of products he hsa supplied, produced etc i know he will come thru. Things happen. Yes, it can be frustrating but iven never heard of him promising one thing and providing another(AA?) like that other company .
just my 2cents worth.

My personal opinion about this (mine alone, you know what they say about opinions) is
that of the 12 or 15 items that I've purchased from Mark and 914 Rubber is this....
they were all cosmetic or interior pieces that don't stop me from driving my 914 if I have to wait a little longer to get them. I don't worry about that stuff. Why? This car is a project to have fun with....I don't show it, autocross it, race it or compete with it. I like the fact that it's an open ended thing and it gives me a good reason to do something I enjoy. All the dealings I've had with vendors like 914 Rubber or Chris Foley @ Tangerine have been positive and I don't mind waiting for quality and people who care about the 914 and people who drive them. The one time I had a question about a part, I used the 914 Rubber online form and Blake emailed me quickly that afternoon. I know that Mark has a pilot job and keeps busy. Would it upset me if I didn't get a response? Maybe but I suppose it would depend on the question at hand. I'd like to think I'd give Mark the benefit of the doubt and let him get back with me. I try to be patient and not worry too much....but that's just me! Carry on....

He doesn't seem to be very mad about it...

Posting a thread to get in touch with them seems reasonable.

I am very glad that I don't have to make the tooling for this stuff. On the other hand it might be wise as the business has grown to engage some help. The form type of email contact is always annoying, even if needed.
I once received a package contains carpet for a cayenne from perhaps the most famous 914 vendor out there in a city in Georgia. They simply asked that I take it to the post office and send it on to the customer in Iowa, which I did.
I like Mike and his support of our passion, but the other guy has the same amount of passion. My luck with 914rubber has been mixed, but he has always been responsive, and I cannot imagine him asking me to forward a package, so we give Mike a pass.
Wish he had a partner with a 914 parts livelihood that was his main gig. That seems to have made places like pelican grow. As I recall Wayne used to have a high pressure, high pay job.

I'm going to see Mark soon & I'm going to bust his balls about it . We all know he is a stand up guy. Nothing major to worry about here. Still if that portion of his site isn't working. Should be a fairly easy fix to get those emails going to the right place. Which I am sure he wants. It's just this damn interweb thing is tricky

I just got a text back from Mark with a number for the guy at the shop in the am.
I will give him a call tomorrow and inquire about availability and inform him to check the email.
And a link to this thread if I can figure out how to do that.
Either way I will let you know what I find out

Just don't try and use any humor here when asking about Mark. Lotsa' grumpy old guys.

GET OFF-A MY LAWN!!!

Since you don't' know Big Len personally you might want to check your typing fingers for erroneous comments. First if Len has something to say he is going to say it. As far as skin thickness obviously yours is see through since you are jumping on members. I too have been a victim on more then one occasion due to lack of communication from 914 Rubber, so it's not an anomaly with a single order, or pm/ website communication. I myself have posted in the garage and vendors section when I don't receive any communication about my orders, or responses from my emails, so unless you are the representative for ALL VENDORS, then you comments are out of line and totally wrong. As always this is my own interpretation of your comments. By the way Len is the sane one. Me on the other hand well that's a different story. The OP said they had been trying for awhile to get in touch with the vendor, they felt that this was the only way to get in contact with Mark. At no point was any mud slinging happening. Good job on supporting fellow members by bashing thier thread.
Andy

Since Mark is a pilot, you might want to use this analogy to explain why he needs to reply promptly to email inquiries; when an ATC facility is very busy, and a pilot calls them to enter their airspace, they might receive the reply "aircraft calling (airport) approach, stand by." That means keep off the radio, we're busy, we'll get back to you when we can. The analogy would be if Mark or an employee would check email each day, and when he gets one that will take some time to answer, he should reply "Got your email, I'll get back to you when I have an answer for you." That confirms he got the email, gives the sender an immediate response, some hope that a solution is coming, and deters them from sending additional emails looking for some kind of answer. If you're going to run a business, even on the side, it should be run like a business as best you can. Then again, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I don't know guys/gals. I have been reading this thread scratching my head. I don't even understand this debate. Mark does wonderful things for the 914 community. I am sure he isn't ignoring anyone on purpose. I'm tickled to death to be able to buy the stuff he sells. It is his prerogative to handle his business and hobbies however he chooses. And if someone becomes discontent with something related to it, they can go elsewhere. Isn't that capitalism? Oh wait, you mean no one else makes those parts we need? Well, then perhaps we should extend some grace to the only one that does.

MAYDAY....MAYDAY... I need parts NOW!

calm down...

Perhaps the second order of business of the work day, for the employees, should be a quick glance at this site are see if there are any threads pertaining to 914rubber. Seems as tho it's an employee issue to me, and THAT is not MY concern nor MY business. With that said, I'm out of this thread.

It's a pretty simple concept.
The OP started this thread to say:

"HEY 914 rubber, your email 'contact us' option on your website seems to be broken"

Why is that so controversial??

The OP (like ME) did not know that you can contact Mikey914 on this forum.
AND the fact that Mikey914 has not responded on this thread means he must be busy.

I'm sure the passengers on the aircraft he's piloting appreciate the fact that his focus is on the task at hand.

Hey guys,
Sorry for being out of the loop. Yes we left Tue morning and are on the way to WCR.
I did bring an old roof to show, and we didn't finish getting the new ones out in time. We tried to have one ready, but it wasn't in the cards.

I'm going back and checking emails, but with travel it still may take me a bit. I took Matt my brother who has been helping me to run this more like a business with be so we are down to Blake and Ryan shipping. I look forward to seeing ya all soon. Now off to the email.
By the way I try to check PMs here too so either way I will get back to you.
-Mark

Awesome. Thanks a lot. Like I said, I have tried a number of times over months. If it is a business, part time or not, when someone writes things like...HELLO?? Is anybody receiving these messages? PLEASE REPLY! ...you'd think they'd take notice and at some point prioritize getting back to you.

Appreciate your assistance!

Thanks a lot

M.i.M.

Thanks Mark, glad to hear from you. Hope y'all have a BLAST at WCR. Wish I could be there. My email is mikeinmunich@gmail.com. Please let me know what's up with the new roofs and when they might be available! Thanks.

M.i.M.

No, George, I hadn't tried that. I didn't see an email address above the form.

Thanks, tell 'me HI from me!

Thanks.

M.i.M.

Holy crap!

I just read all of the comments here and I almost feel bad being the OPer of the most negative thread I've read here at this most awesome congregation of cool guys I've had the fortune of being a part of on the web.

As mentioned, I didn't see a phone number anywhere on their site, I did not know the member's name and I had tried about FIVE times over the course of at least two MONTHS...

I suggest the desist and we go back to

It's all good.

M.i.M.

I stopped by and talked to Blake this afternoon after work. He said they don't have any of the clear tops at the moment but that a new batch is in the works.
I am wondering what email address and phone# did you use that didn't get replied to? Maybe we can get that looked into if it is not accurrate. Anyhow sorry I couldn't be more helpful.