[Hydratech®]

Look, I understand that you have a small shop and therefore have to budget time with your projects carefully. I have been there before with Paul's Performance Shop, my first little shop in the mean streets of Detroit 30 years ago. You have ordered in a few systems from us over the years and we have never had any reasons to lock horns before. Covid hits like a freight train, causing delays with most EVERY manufacturer out there. Even the corporate giant, Wilwood, went into lengthy back orders, with you also noting that you had to wait 4 months for a StopTech order. So after publicly explaining Hydratech's delays very candidly and extensively, along with also sincerely apologizing for the delays, you decide to blast me. Looking back, I see that I should have never bothered going into the extensive explanation. I should have just stated that it was shipped and left it at that, blowing off all of your various sarcastic comments in Ken's build thread, then just barring you from doing any further business with us the next time you needed something. Lesson learned - some people will attack and run with it when you tell them things they really didn't need to know. I was always comfortable in Lateral-G since before its inception, now that is no longer the case. I have received no support from people who I thought were here for me, going from hero to zero just like that. Maybe it is me, though I stand firm in my Detroit based beliefs. Or maybe people see that Hydratech is no longer in Detroit, now located in Tennessee, and perceive us to be somehow lesser for it.

My guy Jim, an ex circle track and drag racer in his 70's, is the good man that handles the retail sales and public communications here at Hydratech. He had reported that you where becoming more and more PRICKly to deal with in your communications (yes, that means more than one communication). I reviewed the scenario with your order and reported back to Jim with estimated timing, which he then passed along to you. Ultimately, we delivered only a short week later than the conversation you had with Jim had initially estimated.

So hmmm, why did I get so angry with you? When Ken groused that he had not received his brake assist system yet, stating that it was getting ridiculous in the vendor feedback section, I did not know who he was. After he posted back stating that it was an order placed by Donny at Frame Up Wheel Works, I looked into it and saw that it was YOUR order - THE guy that Jim reported to me as being a rattlesnake. I have a very low tolerance for anybody that gets Jim worked up, as he is a good, calm mannered man. If a customer gets Jim soured (which takes a lot), it gets back to me. I then decided to look at the build thread, and what I saw in post after post ragging about still not having the hydroboost with your particularly toxic comments just lit my fuse. Realizing it was you behind Ken's post, getting thoroughly pissed about what I saw in the build thread is why I did not respond immediately. I had become embittered with the remarks on the forum, in conjunction with you rattling Jim on the phone. I determined the best response was going to be the explanation post, with news of the system being completed along with an actual image of the system.

Be it known that Jody, the owner of Lateral-G, had decided to place a copy of my post from the vendor feedback section into Ken's build thread - I did not post it there. Jody's reasoning was that he deemed it a good read, one that would help everyone see the facts better as to why the system had been delayed.

What did you do just about immediately after reading my sincere and apologetic post? Let's go over this one more time:

https://lateral-g.net/forums/showpos...&postcount=107

https://lateral-g.net/forums/showthr...=58865&page=11

Glad you posted that here so I don't have to wait for my reply to post in feedback..

YOU SARCASTICALLY SAID THAT YOU WERE PLEASED TO SEE THAT I HAD POSTED IN THE BUILD THREAD SO THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO PATIENTLY WAIT FOR MODERATOR REVIEW TO POST A RESPONSE IN THE VENDOR FEEDBACK SECTION, NOW BEING ABLE TO JUMP ON ME IMMEDIATELY - NICE, WHAT A SOLID CITIZEN YOU ARE.

I am sorry for everything you have been through, however, it was more important to garner sympathy than to simply reply to my PM at 7:45 this morning asking for a status update. That says a lot. You could have spent the morning helping poor Jim answer the phone and deal with all those irate customers instead of telling us about your feet.

EXCUSE ME FOR NOT SEEING YOUR P/M AT 7:45AM, AS I WAS IN THE MIDST OF COMPOSING THE LARGE AND DETAILED EXPLANATION POST. NOTE THAT I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT NEED OR WANT YOUR SYMPATHY. WHAT A COMPLETELY VILE THING TO SAY ABOUT MY INJURIES.

When Ken posted in feedback last week you requested more information and he gave it to you. No follow up on your end.
When I have left messages inquiring about the status of this order I never heard anything back.
When I did get through, I got "two more weeks"

REALIZING IT WAS YOUR ORDER, I SAW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS DEALING WITH, KNOWING DAMN WELL THAT JIM HAD COMMUNICATED ALL TO YOU PROPERLY. THIS WAS A PURPOSEFUL JAB AT ME IN A VENDOR FEEDBACK SECTION BY YOUR CUSTOMER. YOU KNEW DAMN GOOD AND WELL THAT WE WERE DOING EVERYTHING WE COULD TO GET YOUR ORDER SERVICED BY SPEAKING WITH JIM. YOU JUST DIDN'T LIKE THE REPORT AND STARTED IN WITH YOUR TACTICS AND ANTICS.

When I was told it would ship tomorrow and it didn't nobody could be bothered to supply an answer......even now, you built in an excuse as to why it won't ship today as your shipping department is backed up.

THE RESPOSE WAS PROVIDED IN THE EXPLANATION / APOLOGY I POSTED. YOU WERE SO INTO YOUR RANT ON THE 4TH THAT YOU WENT OFF HALF COCKED, AS THE UPS TRACKING IMAGE I PROVIDED IN THE BUILD THREAD PROVED THAT IT SHIPPED THE SAME DAY.

The failure isn't the delivery time. The failure is the complete disregard for the customer and that was in your control the whole time.

YOU ARE STILL CONFUSING DELAYS IN DELIVERY WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEEPING YOU INFORMED OF WHY THE DELAYS WERE OCCURING, WHICH WAS THE CASE. YOU WERE WELCOME TO CANCEL YOUR ORDER AT ANY POINT. YOUR CHOICE WAS TO KEEP THE ORDER LIVE BUT TO INSTEAD SLAM US IN KEN'S BUILD THREAD AND ALSO BADGER AND HARASS US. THE FAILURE HERE WAS HOW YOU HANDLED YOURSELF.


Now further to your most recent "deposit":

I won't even address your drivel about definitions and punishing customers.....or the personal insults that you felt were necessary in your "professional" reply.

THIS READS MORE LIKE YOU WON'T ACCEPT ANY BLAME, BEING COMPLETELY SELF RIGHTEOUS, WILLING TO FIGHT UNTIL YOU PERCEIVE YOU HAVE BEEN VINDICATED - DONNY CAN DO NO WRONG. DONNY IS THE VICTIM HERE. SERIOUSLY?

I was informed that there was a covid shutdown at the machine shop and was told two more weeks until my unit shipped. That was January 12th. Nearly 3 months from the date that you took my money and 3 weeks after the date I was told it would ship. That was my first contact since placing the order. Tell me I'm not patient.

PLACING YOUR ORDER FOR A SYSTEM IS BEING BILLED FOR YOUR ORDER, TERMS ACCEPTED BY YOU WHILE PLACING YOUR ORDER. WE DID NOT "TAKE" YOUR MONEY, IT WAS PROVIDED TO US BY YOU AT THE TIME THE ORDER WAS PLACED. THE DELAYS IN PRODUCING YOUR ORDER HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED VERY THROUGHLY. THE REASON YOU BECAME IRRITATED IS BECAUSE IT CROSSED YOUR THRESHOLD OF WHAT YOU DEEMED OF THE SITUATION. DID YOU GET PUNKY AND UNRULY, SLAMMING THE OTHER COMPANIES THAT HAD LONG DELAYS IN ANY OTHER THREADS? NOT THAT I HAVE SEEN IN REVIEWING YOUR HISTORY OF POSTING ON LATERAL-G. BUT HYDRATECH, A SUPPORTING MANUFACTURER CONTRIBUTING GOOD WILL SINCE SCOTT GULBRANSON FORMED LATERAL-G, WAS FAIR GAME - NICE...

After that two weeks, I followed up on the order. I was told plates were in and it would take two more weeks to assemble. The next conversation was when Jim said it would ship Friday or Monday. Ken was sitting right in my office for that one. When that didn't happen, I needed to know why and Ken deserved to know why.

SO YOU GOT PISSED WHEN YOU COULDN'T GET THROUGH TO JIM AT THE EXACT TIME THAT YOU WANTED TO BECAUSE KEN WAS SITTING THERE? THAT CONSTITUTES A SERIOUS GRIEVANCE? IN YOUR BOOK, IT APPEARS THAT IT DOES. WELL, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD START LOOKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL MAN TO PUT ON THE COMMUNICATIONS. HE MAY NOT HAVE ANY BETTER ANSWERS TO PROVIDE, MAYBE EVEN LESSER, BUT AT LEAST THE PHONE CALL WOULD BE PICKED UP. HMMM...

I am perfectly capable of sending an email. Why would I do so when you website clearly instructs:

Your Quote:
Due to very high e-mail volumes lately, we do ask that you please call us to discuss your needs. We are working to answer as many e-mails as possible in the most thorough and comprehensive manner in the order they are received, though are currently looking at 48-72 hours average response time.

Why would I choose to wait 48-72 hours when I could potentially get an answer right now with the customer sitting in front of me? If a company doesn't return a phone call, what faith would I have in their ability to return an email? Why is HydraTech's lack of communication my fault because I did not choose the right way to communicate.

THIS IS AN OBVIOUS ALTERNATE FORM OF CONTACT. YOU HAVE COMMUNICATED WITH JIM BEFORE VIA E-MAIL - IT IS EVEN HOW YOU CONTACTED HIM TO PLACE YOUR ORDER. AGAIN, IT IS YOUR IMPATIENCE THAT YOU COULDN'T GET THROUGH ON THE PHONE WHEN YOU WANTED TO. APPARENTLY I SEE THAT I SHOULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM BY FINDING AN ADDITIONAL PERSON TO MAN THE PHONES.

Please show evidence of PM after PM after PM from me. I sent one. I called hourly when no one returned my calls, in hopes that I could get through and talk to a person......only after I was told it would ship on a specific day and it didn't. If it makes me abnormal to want answers for myself and my customer, so be it.

YOUR PM'S WENT INTO DELETE / DELETE / DELETE / DELETE... UNLESS THERE IS SOME WAY OF RETREIVING DELETED P/M'S, I MISSED THE CHANCE TO TAKE A SCREEN SHOT OF MY INBOX BEFORE "TAKING OUT THE TRASH". AS FAR AS YOUR CALL AFTER CALL AFTER CALL AFTER CALLS, YOUR OBVIOUS PERSONALITY WAS OFFENDED THAT YOUR CALL WAS NOT BEING TAKEN.

I am sorry that you felt I was making light of your situation, that wasn't my intention. The point was that none of that had anything to do with what had transpired in the past month.

APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED AT THIS POINT - BACK PEDDLING ON THIS NOW IS TOO LATE... ONCE AGAIN, AS EXPLAINED, MY SERIOUS INJURIES WERE WHERE THE SUBSTANTIAL DELAYS HAD STARTED, AS I AM, AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, THE KEY MAN IN THE PRODUCTION OF THESE SYSTEMS. MY HANDS HAVE BEEN ON EACH AND EVERY UNIT EVER PRODUCED OVER THE LAST 21 YEARS. MYSELF FRUSTRATINGLY WORKING OUT OF A WHEEL CHAIR FOR 3+ MONTHS IN PRODUCTION WAS A MAJOR SET BACK FOR THE TEAM, DESPITE THEIR EFFORTS TO HELP AND COVER AS BEST THEY COULD. EVERYTHING EXPLAINED HAS LED TO THE CURRENT, TODAY, HERE, AND NOW, CONTINUED AND TREMENDOUSLY COMPOUNDED BY COVID CRISIS.

The failure isn't the delivery time. The failure is the complete disregard for the customer and that was in your control the whole time.

It rings even truer now, as you once again missed the opportunity to take responsibility for this and continue to miss the point in those simple words. You could have avoided all of your anger by keeping your customer informed, you chose instead to ignore them.

I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO MY COMPANY. I HAVE ABSOLUTE DIRECT CONTROL OVER ALL ASPECTS OF THE OPERATIONS. I SAID IT BEFORE, AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN. YOUR CONTEMPT HAS PROMPTED US TO STOP TAKING YOUR CALLS, AND HAS RESULTED IN BEING DISBARRED FROM EVER DOING BUSINESS WITH US AGAIN.

I HAVE APOLOGIZED FOR YOUR TROUBLES - THIS IS NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL. COVID HAS MONKEYED EVERYTHING UP, AND AS MENTIONED, WE ARE WORKING AS HARD AS WE CAN TO WORK THROUGH ALL OF THE PRODUCTION DELAYS.

Donny, knock it off already. You have weighed in on the scenario plenty.

There IS a difference - it is quality and engineering!

Thank you for choosing Hydratech!