My customer experience with Prodigy Customs
 

I've been holding off making this post for a long time, probably too long, but it's time to share my experience with the rest of the Lat-G community... I'm doing so because I realized today that yesterday was exactly 5 months since the final payment was made to Prodigy for parts that were ordered in November. And while many of the items from my order have arrived, the biggest still has not, and I'm tired of my phone calls and emails over the last few weeks not being returned...

Since I'm sure folks will want some details, I'll try to document my experience as a Prodigy customer as best I can here. It breaks down into 3 separate purchases with a few modifications along the way.

My first purchase from Prodigy was for a Rick's / Vaporworx Gas Tank for my 2nd gen. I placed that order as part of the GP that was done right after these tanks were announced. Payment was made for that tank on September 30th. Frank told me that they had one on order for one of their own in-house projects, and he wanted to get that in (time estimate of 2-4 weeks) before he ordered the rest to make sure there weren't going to be any surprises or problems. Ok, that makes sense...

As the tank became part of a larger purchase, I won't go into the details here, except to say that as of March, I still didn't have my tank. After a post that I saw from someone else, I made a call to Rick's and spoke to Hector. At that time, Rick's didn't have an order for my tank! I asked him if they were actually shipping the tanks, and he told me yes, they had been since September. So I email Frank, and he has no idea that Prodigy hasn't even ordered my tank yet. Um, hello? This unfortunately becomes a pattern as I discover.

My second purchase was part of another Prodigy GP, this time their 20% discount for a set of Forgelines. I gave Frank a deposit for 1/2 of the set of wheels since I hadn't decided exactly which style or BS I was going to run. I was the holdup on these for a while, until recently. About a month ago, Frank posted here that he had a set of the GA3 centers for sale, and since that is the wheel I decided on, I agreed to buy them. After doing some research and measuring, I decided on what I wanted. I've since been trying to finalize this order to get the wheels done, to pay the remainder of my balance, and to get the wheels on the way to me. I've made 3 phone calls or emails in the last month... No reply or returned phone calls during this time. (and I just love reading replies to other posts saying "just give me a call" during this time. gripes me to no end...)

So then my third purchase, this was the big one. I was having conversations with Frank for a few weeks as I decided what engine, suspension, brakes, transmission, and other purchases I was going to make. I settled in on a large, although smaller than originally discussed, list that included a T56 Magnum kit, a V/A AC kit, an AAW harness, a PRC radiator/condensor/cooler, several DSE items, a Wegner accessory kit, and a couple of other small items. The first portion of that order was paid for on November 24th. Items were supposed to be charged to my CC as they were shipped. Over the next few weeks, Prodigy made the charges to my CC, with the final payment of the remaining balance on December 9th.

Over the holidays, I ended up needing a few additional items for my engine, so Frank handled drop shipping those items to my engine builder. Those were actually handled promptly, I want to give credit where it's due.

Within the next two weeks after final payment, some of the order arrived. The DSE parts, and the PRC radiator and condenser. So we were off to a good start. But then the shipments stopped. Between the holidays and some personal and work-related travel, I didn't pursue or followup with Frank until the end of February. But at that point, I was still missing a pretty long list of items. I emailed Frank to ask about the status, and his reply indicated that he had no clue that everything hadn't been shipped. Apparently he and Lisa had a miscommunication, each thinking the other had completed the order. Well, ok, **** happens. When I tell him how much of the order hadn't arrived, he replies sounding pretty surprised, and with my favorite quote so far: "I'm making this my number 1 priority". That was February 25th.

So again, a few items start showing up via UPS. The AAW, the missing oil cooler (which didn't come with the radiator originally as it should have), the V/A items. But still no transmission. I did receive the bellhousing somewhere in here. Frank tells me on March 3rd that the transmission should have already been shipped (and when I say transmission, I mean the whole kit: clutch, shifter, trans, etc...). After two weeks and nothing arriving, I tell Frank that I'm headed out of town for a few days and to make sure nothing ships while I'm going to be gone. I gave him the exact dates to work around. I emailed him when I returned, since I hadn't heard anything and nothing had arrived, and he tells me the remaining items can ship 'tomorrow'. That was March 30th.

That was the last email that I have saved from Frank about my order. We communicated via phone a couple of times regarding the wheels, and I've emailed him with some information and questions about fitment, but with no reply. I've called twice in the last month also, no returned phone calls. And as of today, May 10th, still no transmission/clutch/shifter/etc or oil cooler adapter which I'm owed. At least the Vaporworx tank did finally arrive a couple of weeks ago, 7 months after my order and payment...

I hear about all of the great customer experiences that people have with Prodigy. Perhaps I'm the only unlucky one and 99% of the orders go off without a hitch. Maybe it's because I had a relatively large number of items on my order. Whatever the issue, my patience is gone. I'm aware that Prodigy moved their facility last month, but that's simply no excuse. I'm owed a high-dollar item, one that should have been in my hands months ago before the move even started, and having to continually chase my parts down has led to a very dis-satisfying customer experience.

I'm writing this all down because I, in large part, made my decision to send this purchase to Prodigy based on the experiences that I read about from others here and on other sites. I think it's only fair to let other people know that things don't always go so smoothly.

Here we go again......sorry you had a bad experience Bryan

the only thing i can think of is that he is way too busy,I ordered some parts and it took longer than expected but it all got here as promised ..his prices are great but i guess you gotta wait a bit longer ,maybe he is short hand of staff or something ,communication takes a bit to get a hold of him,IMO I would buy from him again because I know he`s a car guy and I would find it hard for him to shaft someone , but now I know when i order something from him its because its for my car and not a customers car,and shouldnt expect it right away.

You make a good point Rick although I feel that every sponsor and member on here is a car guy/gal

Bryan,

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I applaud you for giving the members of this forum the opportunity to make an informed decision on whether or not to deal with Prodigy.

Frank needs to make this right or Prodigy no longer needs to be a part of this community. This is the 3rd time in recent months this exact story has unfolded with Prodigy, months of waiting, charging when parts were never ordered from the manufacturer, no communication (or flat ignored), etc.

Three strikes... Frank needs to make this right (like, Today) or he will no longer be a supporting vendor here.

I feel our community is being taken advantage of without regard of consequences.

Sad to hear.

Not cool, not cool at all.

Thank you for sharing your experience in detail. I'm sure you didn't like writing that post any more than the vendor likes reading it. I know how very frustrating it can be to be in your position and I only hope you get things worked out immediately. :thumbsup:

As always, a BIG thank you to Scott for representing the interests of all of us here on Lateral-G. :lateral:

I can only chalk it up to them being extremely busy with the move of there shop as I have called several times over the last couple weeks in an attempt to place a parts order and have left voicemail's with no response back. Seems odd after the positive experiences I have had with them in the past.....

I respect how you administer this site and look after the members of the lateral-g community.:bow: :bow:

I too am a vendor on this site and I think it’s funny how some people defend the hell out of others with excuses. We as vendors are all extremely busy and our top priority or at least it should be is taking care of our customers. We have all been there and we have all made mistakes, it’s how we handle them that makes us a good or bad vendor but charging someone for parts and not following up with them is not acceptable unless they are made aware up front that things may take a while. Maybe Frank is just that busy that he can’t keep his head on straight but I am sure he will chime in here and make it right.

I am going to take off my RideTech hat and install my "friend" hat here. It is not my intent to minimize this issue, but to hopefully place some perspective on it.

Frank and Lisa are friends of mine so feel free to color any of my personal comments as you wish.

In my opinion, Frank suffers from the same ailment that mnay of us do...he is a nice guy who finds it hard to say "no". He also suffers from the same time management shortcomings as many of the rest of us. Those 2 traits, coupled with the fact that his business has increased greatly over the last couple of years, have led to the growing pains that he [and now some of his customers], may be experiencing.

In a perfect world we could all buy our parts from a vending machine...stick your money in, get your parts out. [That is, IF you knew what to order?] That is how larger businesses are run and how my accountant would like to see mine run. The reality is, we are talking about humans. Humans who may not be as effecient as a machine or a computer.

However, the same traits of being a nice guy have led Frank to assemble 30 years of valuable car knowledge. This is knowledge that has been earned by reading, talking, listening, and most importantly, being there and doing it.
This is the knowledge that we all crave...offered at no charge by someone who can ignore politically correct influences to make sure our projects have the best chance of success. Vending machines cannot offer this service.

So, does Frank and Lisa being "nice people" excuse their perceived spotty delivery record? [I say perceived because I do not have first hand knowledge of the facts of this specific case]
No, it does not.
BUT...[there's always a but involved, isnt there?] I was at Prodigy last week for a visit. They are currently working 16-18 hours a day moving into a new building that is at least double the size of the old one. This will allow them room to manuver instead of repelling over the stacks of inventory that resided in the old building.
Most importantly, he is in full search for a person to coordinate the ordering and delivery of his products. Although this detail may be taken for granted by civilians, it is a crucial position that requires complete focus...focus that a business owner simply cannot provide. I do speak from experience on this point.

My point: Carbuff has every right to be mad, and in my opinion, every right to express that anger and relay his experiences.

It is Franks right to respond, should he choose to spend his time in that manner instead of tracking down deliveries.

It is our collective responsibility, should we choose to accept it, to NOT lust after his blood like a pack of wolves.

As far as banning Prodigy from this or any forum, We will all be poorer because of that.

I went through a partial restoration and have purchased most of my parts from Frank so I feel I know him better than most. He was to busy then and I'm sure it's multiplied since. I can honestly say that he always treated me right.

I agree with Bret, he's a wealth of knowledge and consumers take advantage of it. They know they can call him and get the answers they need. He does offer free planning and advice and I'm sure there are days when he wished he didn't.

I know that his move to the bigger shop is all part of his plan to create a more efficient business. There comes a time in every business where customer service suffers from a one trick pony. One man can only do so many things in a day. Things are easily forgotton. Believe me, I've been there and still suffer with it. Once he gets the new shop set up and a new assistant that's focus is customers and orders, things will smooth out and likely be better than ever.

I certainly not trying to say what happened to the poster is right. I'm sure he'll make it right and remember, there are always two sides to every story.

I think Bret and Vegas69 bring up valuable points. However, and this is just me, I would have more respect for a vendor to tells me as a customer "look I am growing faster than anticipated and at this time I can not guarantee you the customer service you are entitled to. Rather than taking your money at this present time, let me point you in the direction of someone who can help you right now. I hope after this move and the growth of my company you will continue to be a loyal and valued customer."

I just think that would be a whole lot more professional as opposed to taking someones money and making them wait months on end because "your just to busy". Just my opinion.

Bryan, I have no voice mails from you, none, and the email below is the last communication we have had. I have seen your threads asking how to measure backspac so I assumed you was handling it yourself, but still have recieved no intructions from you? I guess there was a question for me to answer in reference to factory width I missed. opps. BTW, i do have the specs now from the other car we did for Telly, but have no way of knowing if you guys both have the same rear or not. If you could get that simple question answered from you suspension guy, were ready to build.

As for the parts from the other order, I need to look into it but I can tell you the oil adapter is here somewhere in the pile of parts we are loading on shelves now, BTW, the $150 oil adapter was free be sure to mention that.

As Bret mentioned I am in the shop till midnight everyday right now building the perfect facilty to handle the growth. So if someone calls and DOES NOT leave a message I have no way of knowing. I have no missed voice mails from you in recent weeks I can find.

Some asked in a another thread if I had "fallen into a hole" as I have not been on the board much. For the last couple months I have not been chasing sales. I actually have tried to throttle it back while we get set up in the new place and have a couple people in place to handle orders. Sure we have been taking orders if someone calls in, but we have not been promoting or creating sales until just the last few days as we are about 80% functional now.

I see Modern Museum chimed in, he was the last person I had this issue with Scott refers to. Maybe he can chime in, he has got all he had coming and more as we have handled some issues for him that were not our problem. And no, the thread had nothing to do with why i sent him free stuff he needed we were not responsible for, nor did it make the missing parts we could not get magiacally appear. There were a couple more threads that popped up after our thread people struggling to get the same things he was missing. So no, the "thread" was not what made it happen.

In your case Bryan a email or voice mail would be all you needed to do.

Our last communication, have you have something different please let me know.

From: Bryan Cope <@carbuff.net> (Add as Preferred Sender)

Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 12:14 pm
To: [email protected]


Folder From Subject Date Size
Hi Frank,

Still trying to get final information the wheels. I know the fronts are
going to be 18" x 10" with 7.2" of BS, which I think would work with the
centers you have.

On the rears, I'm still trying to determine what I need. I think I'm going
with an 18" x 12" wheel, but the BS is my issue. Do you know what the
factory rear axle widths on the second gen Firebirds is? My axle is going to
measure 61.25". That's going to put the BS somewhere around the 6.5" to 7.5"
range, but I just don't know exactly... Do you have any that you have done
on these cars?

Thanx!
Bryan

If it was a voice mail to place a order it is on a note pad full of custmers wanting to buy stuff. For 2 weeks we were running off laptops while the new server was installed. I could not take a order for a week or so as we switched accounting and invoicing systems also.

As I said we are at about 80% right now I am still in the shop all day but if you get the voiuce mail I can call back.

Hopefully in the next couple weeks the phone will be answered live by a receptionist and someone will be in place to handle NON technical orders. And let me focus on the orders that require tchnical advise and decisions.

I would have to agree.
I would also add that I deal with people on this forum and others on BOTH sides of the purchasing experiance as a vendor and a customer.
let me tell you comming strictly from the "Customer" side and moving to the "Vendor" side........... WOW I think if most Customers actually had to be the Vendor it would change your outlook, I am sure Brett and Chris and any of the other vendors on here would attest to that, and Frank isn't MAKING any parts.

just my .02 worth......... sorry change not given at this machine

I'm not looking to remove anyone, Bret. I'm looking for resolution. I know there are 3 sides to every story...

Frank,

If you don't have any voicemails from me, then you have lost 2 on your end. I just went and looked at my AT&T account, I made 1 call from my cell phone, and one from my work line which I am unable to access records for:

DATE TIME CALL TO NUMBER CALLED RATE PERIOD FEATURE MINUTES
04/29 01:58 PM ORLANDO 407-832-1752 DT 2

The email you quoted was the one I sent you before the 2 phone calls. When you didn't reply, I then made my calls.

Regarding this:

That is completely untrue, and I don't appreciate the implication. From Prodigy's original invoice, there was an $88 charge for a Wegner oil cooler adapter. Per conversations between you, me, and Wegner, it became apparent that this was a one-off item that Wegner had built for someone and was not manufacturing. As we discussed that, you stated that you had found the Mocal unit at PRI and that "we need to get your one" if it would work with my oil pan choice. Never was there discussion of giving me the item for free, nor was a price discussed. I inferred that this item would replace the one that I had already paid for, and wasn't receiving. So please don't try to make it sound like I am getting something for nothing here as I most certainly am not.

Somehow it feels as if the finger is being pointed back at me, THE CUSTOMER, for not following through and making phone calls or emails (which I have in fact done) to chase down the parts that I am owed. Please explain to me how that makes any business sense from a vendor's perspective? The fact that I have had to tell you on multiple occasions (yes, I too could quote emails but really don't feel like having to dig through them again...) during this transaction what I am still owed is ludicrous to me! I have well over $15k spent in parts from your company, parts that were paid for in December. Why am I even having to address this at all, publicly or privately? When did it become the customer's job to ensure that the vendor's supply chain was doing its job? I noticed that you didn't even address the actual issue of payment being received and parts still having not shipped, instead deferring to other issues in your reply.

With regards to the other vendors and friends of Frank's who support him, I expected those replies, and I have no problem with them. I have no personal beef with Frank, and honestly I give him credit again for his willingness to help out the PT community by answering questions, and other acts like his help of James & Mary last week. Another part of the reason that I gave him my business was due to his knowledge and the time he spent with me on the phone answering my questions before my purchase. This post wasn't meant as a personal attack, it was simply an effort to inform others in this community about my experiences with a vendor who actively promotes and works to attract business through this venue.

That said, all of the vendors on this site, and any vendor anywhere for that matter, made a choice to go into this business. In making that choice, you have accepted the responsibility for taking (sometimes large) payments from customers and delivery of goods and services in return. If you cannot do so in a timely manner, for whatever the reasons, it's in your best interests to be proactive and communicate the issues with your customers, in the name of promoting good relations. I am MUCH more tolerant of problems and delays if someone I'm dealing with makes an effort to communicate with me (and I say that as someone that has run a business where I was in this situation, dealing with customer issues.). In this case, all communication has been initiated on my end asking where are my parts.

Oh, and I still don't have an explanation as to why I don't have my parts...

Frank,

Yes, you have made everything right with my order. The OP should not be worried about getting his parts, but the timeliness of order completion is just as, or even more important than receiving the parts themselves. However, the extensive delays incurred with my order will leave me finishing my project in an un-air conditioned garage in the heat of the Houston summer. I'm not stranger to the heat, having worked a few years in the Middle East, but if I had received my parts in a timely manner, my project would be finished right now.

Yes, you have sent me a few parts that you did not charge me for, I’m guessing as a peace offering for my belated order. Either way, thanks for that. I will, however, be sending you some return parts that I do not need. To be honest, I really don’t feel comfortable receiving anything that I didn’t pay for.

Let me paint a picture concerning how users of this forum, and customers of yours in particular, see a Vendor (Prodigy Customs in this case) in this type of situation.

When customers send messages that are not responded to, that makes them irritable and bewildered regarding what is going on with their order. When their messages go some time without a response, yet they see you posting on the forums, soliciting sales, offering advice, etc., irritability transforms into disturbing. If you have time to post on forums (yet are working until midnight?), you should have time to expedite customers’ orders and more importantly, let them know the status of their parts.

In addition, if Prodigy Customs is backed up with orders, is in the process of moving to a new location and has limited communication due to this move, why on Earth would they still be taking orders if they cannot be delivered in a timely manner and maintain throughput? Waiting 6+ months to receive parts that are not specialty in nature is inexcusable. “Extremely busy” is not a reason.” “Moving” is not a reason. The reason why they are not valid excuses is because they were most likely planned events or predictable situations.

A better business move would have been to decline an order than cannot be delivered as promised so your customers can order elsewhere. This way, you would still be on good terms with that particular customer and eligible for future orders. The business strategies that you employ are confounding.

Example: If my boss gave me 5 things to do and increased my workload to the brim, and then he came back later with a 6th and asked if I could deliver this item along with the previous 5 (and there was no way that I could), it would not benefit me to take on the task and tell him that I could deliver. Come time for delivery, if I said that I could complete the task, when in fact I could not, would leave me with my pants down and my tail between my legs. To further worsen the situation, my boss could no longer fully trust that I could deliver when I said that I could, ultimately diminishing my credibility. The better business move would have been to decline the additional work, allowing my boss to distribute my work to someone else with a lighter workload, meeting the schedule and executing the project successfully.

The only situation where “busy” is an excuse is the one where you decline to take on new work. Using “busy” as a reason to not deliver as promised is retroactive and ill-considerate of customers.

Frank – I will say this again. You need to find a way to confirm the logistics of everyone’s parts. If you call and place and order to a sub-vendor, I don’t think you should place 100% trust in them to get the parts to YOUR customer in a timely fashion and maintain the entirety of the order. This is too much risk on your part.

Bryan – the reason you don’t have your parts is most likely because they have not been ordered. In tracking most of my parts that I received from Frank, they arrive with receipts stating order placement dates and shipping dates. The shipping dates are always pretty close to the order dates.

Also, I am speculating that there are more customers just like those that have posted that are still refraining from posting because they think their parts are coming in “next week” or “soon.”

Again, as always, if someone would like to challenge anything that I post, feel free to do so. In most cases, I can provide images scans or screenshots to support my statements.

Bryan – I truly hope you receive your parts soon so you can finish your project and enjoy it.

I have ordered a few things from Prodigy (PRC rad and DSE subframe being the largest) and have found that they are great to deal with. The one bit of advice that I can offer is that even if you feel that your being a PITA call Frank. He is busy and he does forget things, but the squeeky wheel gets the grease. He will take care of you. I can honestly say that I would not hesitate to order from Prodigy again.

Bryan, i go all the way back to April 18 on my voice mail and call history. i do indeed see you number a few times, but no message.

Regardless, you are correct, it should not be your responsibility to call me about getting your parts, I did not want to infere that. But there were no calls from your area code yesterday or in the last week for that matter. I would have made another call if I had not had contact in the last 3 weeks. The last communication we had everything was cool and yes, I admit I totally forgot about your order and follow up during the move. I wish i could say with everything going on I could wake up every day thinking about everyones order. A email, message, anything would have triggered me and brought you to the top of the list.

As for the Mocal, i should have said a "free upgrade" abut $100 of upgrade from what we oringally talked about.

So in closing I am not putting any blame on you, but a call yesterday, email or message would have been nice.

We are working to fix all of this and making a serious capitol investment and commitment to this. I can't fix what happened yesterday, only what happens tomorrow. Space, inventory, people, are all coming.

And as soon as you make a final decision on your backspace or get me the information I need about the rear, your wheels will be assembled.

In the meantime I am sourcing the missing stuff wherever I can to fil the rest of the order.

Not a peace offering. I contacted you to see how everything was going, see how things was progressing. I wasn not sure if you would tell me to go f__k myself or what. I just was thinking about your project, and wanted to make sure you were doing OK. I also wanted to let you know in spite of your thread I was still available to you. I did not want you to think I closed the door because you called me out. My follow up email was nothing more then making sure everything was going smoothly like I do for 100s of other members.

As for the freebie stuff, you did not ask, but I sent you some stuff that I thought would solve the problem. It was used stuff that would have value if you had to buy it but was stuff that I do not mess around with selling. I did nothing here I have not done for 100s of members. The parts were things I had laying around and I knew you needed them.

At the end of the day, I will still be on the other end of the phone if you need help weather you spend another penny or not, just like the 1000s of hours of free tech I do for other members.

I only brought this up so others will know you got what you had coming and more. I cannot run from our mistakes, but I can resolve them best we can. And have a made a huge investment and commitment to do so.

I have spent a few days hanging around Prodigy Customs with Frank when my car was being finished up. It is not an excuse, but Franks phone rings constantly, but he is not hard to get. If you have a problem, pick up the phone. I have never had a problem getting through. His phone number is in every post signature.

This kind of post makes people think something shady is happening, when it is in reality just a simple mistake. Frank is a straight up, no BS guy. He has hundreds, if not thousands of satisfied customers, and probably just as many he has given advice to that haven't actually bought anything. I have no problem recommending his shop to anyone, and I would assure you he will make any mistake he has made right.

There is no reason to charge a customer's credit card long before a part has been ordered. I can see the need to assure that the credit card has sufficient capacity before actually placing the order, but the time difference between charging the card and placing the order should be days, not months.

I've concluded that the small savings aren't worth the worry.

I think the biggest mistake vendors make is being too optimistic with delivery times--which I think is the exact opposite of what they should do. I actually ordered a part (without being charged for it) last November. I still don't have the part, but I'm not upset---why? because when i ordered the part, the guy told me it was a long lead time because there's not a big demand for A Body parts. Had he told me it was 3 weeks out 8 times in a row, I'd be very upset right now! :lol:

I've had both good and bad dealings with Prodigy. Alot of people standing up up for them and I don't feel it's right to only hear about the good ones. Not gonna post all the details but same stuff as other guys that recently posted. Even when I wanted my money back that was a problem. Heard alot of excuses for not returning calls and or emails etc. I don't do business with them any longer. Good luck getting your stuff, hope it all works out for you.

And that quote perfectly summarizes my feelings about this situation and the reason for my original post: to let others know that this can, and does, happen. There is no excuse for these kinds of delays when these vendors, for the most part, are simply having parts drop-shipped from the manufacturers once an order is placed and paid for.

And while I would be best served to just leave well enough alone at this point, I'm too damned stubborn to do so... This completely irked me:

Oh? So what were the communications that we had in February and March? And the phone call we had in early April when we discussed the wheels? How many more times do I have to bring myself to the "top of your list"?

Perhaps... But being 'nice' isn't the point. You run a business, a business that in no small part utilizes the 'free advertising' that you get by posting in these forums. Yes, I realize you pay to formally advertise as well, but you get a lot of "word of mouth" advertising here too. The point of the original post, as I stated above, was to let other people know about this entire experience and allow future customers to make a more informed decision about where they choose to send their money. My choosing to contact you, yet again, rather than sharing my experience with others, would have served no one but you...

Thank god Scott you man'd up. I have been reading similar post and stories and have also witness a similar account from my next door neighbor who has also purchased from Prodigy.

It is amazing how much protection this company has gotten from some of these sites.

It's about time someone lays it on the line as most of us can read between the lines.

Brett

As far as you "Deffending Vendors" do you think it is acceptable and good business behavior to charge a customers account (months in advance) and pool the money together with others which delays the delivery of the goods?

There is a term used in business and taught in school called "Floating and/or kitting", the buisness practice I'm seeing posted all over these sites reguarding this company are similar to what most regulating authorities would consider unethical.

Has anyone checked complaints posted with the BBB?

I will just say it, and not post any more, I personally will not purchase from this company based on all the information.

Plenty of members will continually give the flip side to this.

Brett

Frank,

I've been thinking about this more since my last post, and I think it would be in both of our best interests to simply terminate the remainder of our transaction and go our separate ways. I'm pretty riled up after dealing with this all day, and I imagine you are pretty fed up with it too...

So assuming that parts aren't already in transit, how about you refund me for the outstanding items that I'm owed, and we'll both move on with our lives. That would include the transmission kit and shipping charge(minus the bellhousing that I've already received), the oil cooler adapter, and the deposit on the wheels. If the transmission kit has already shipped, then so be it, but we can terminate and refund the other items.

Peace?

I was hoping - and expecting - that this would have been resolved during business hours yesterday.

:rolleyes: Dang, dude. Ok. No need to swear.

http://gonzogeek.files.wordpress.com...joe-dirt-4.jpg

I spent the day yesterday trying to solve this problem and it won;t happen in one day. I did not have all the anbswers yesterday so i did not call Bryan. I will talk with Bryan today. If his final answer is he is done, then we will refund him.

Ok, so bottom line is there are parts on BO for the transmission and nothing I can do will make it ship complete today. It is going to take 4 to 5 days to complete it. Bryan and I will talk today and see what he wants to do.

The wheel centers are ready, we just simply need back space on those.

I think there might need to be a new type of perspective put on this. I have been a customer of Prodigy Customs. My first purchase for my car was through him. Was the purchase 15K, no, but is was around 2k. Was it a smooth trans? Not as smooth as I was expecting, however, in the end, I am a satisfied customer.

Now, the perspective I offer is from someone that purchases parts everyday. I buy things from the major companies; Cummins / Bosch Rexroth type companies to the mom and pop machine shops that produce the everyday build items that most people don't think about.

Frank is a mom and pop company (in my opinion Frank, not a slam) that can do the things that the major companies don't want to do. He also has some great knowledge because he has built many cars over the years. Either he documented things really well, or has a good memory when it comes to building these things.

Mom and Pops don't always have all the business tool or people to take care of all the things for daily business. But they manage most of the time to get them done. For all we know, Frank probably has to clean the toilets there at the shop.

The big companies have alot of the tools for business, but sometimes those tools get in the way to make sure their customer gets what he needs. It seems I can not win in some of these situations.

All companies have problems, from the big to the small. Communication is key, but is not always there. I actually had a vendor tell me this week that I could not visit to try to get answers on ship dates. That did not seem to go well for them. That was fun:lol:

Frank has replied. He seems to have tried to make it right, and I do have respect for him in that. Is he having growing pains? It seems so. I too have noticed he is not on here daily, so I believe him in saying that he is not trying to drum up business,but still taking orders as they come in. Someone stated that he should not be taking orders if he has all these problems. Hello, he still has a business that needs to pay the bills. I have no vendor that would turn away orders, even knowing that they will not provide on time. It's just not the way things are done in my business.

Frank, keep trying, there is no company that can make everyone happy. You'll die trying.

Customer, keep holding the vendors feet to the fire. But unless you are dealing straight with the manufacturer, know that someone like Frank is their customer and they may be giving him the run around also.

I hope some of this makes sense, I know I understand both sides.

HEEP

Excellent post...a very accurate and relevant summary of the way things are in the real world.
It doesn't diminish this particular problem at all, but it does clarify that these kinds of problems are not neccessarily unique to this market, vendor or customer.
Professionally, I will add that we have about the same amount of problems with small vendors as large ones...they are just a different color. Fortunately the overall quantity of problems is small. Maybe that's why they stick out like a sore thumb!

I agree with the above post as well. Very well written.

Darren

Am I missing something here? Do.Not.Charge. A. Man. For. Parts. And. Drag. it. Out. for. Months. Period. Tell him you can't and tell him how long until. If it's Twinkies or car parts.

When you hang your shingle out for business and you agree to serve the public with your wares, seems to me any business with a man's money and that man months without it (the cash or the goods) has the right to be pissed. Anything less is doubletalk.

Good luck Frank.