Reviews of Companies and People you have done Business with.

[tyoneal]

Hello:

In and effort to help keep people keep from getting ripped off:

Are their any Companies on Lateral-g, or Pro-touring.com who you would recommend doing or NOT doing business with?

I have used several advertisers on these two sites, and had a really great business experience with all of them so far.

If you have had positive or Negative experiences with some, who were they, and what did they do for you, or to you? (Please elaborate)

Please mention the Companies at the Front of your Review so people searching for a specific company can find them easily.

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These are the Companies I have had experience with and will be reviewing.

Twist Machine
Detroit Speed and Engineering
Group Purchase @ Lateral-g
ATS/Speed Tech Performance

Twist Machine: Ordered a Street Fighter Spoiler. It looked great, was shipped promptly, and Steve was very nice to answer some further questions about his products, and just some additional questions I had about Pro-Touring Cars.

I would definitely Recommend Him and his Products.
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Detroit Speed: I ordered a ton of items from them. They were polite, and everything arrived in good shape.

I would certainly recommend them, and someday I would like to meet them as well, hopefully at an event sometime in the future.
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Group Purchase: Frank and his family have always done a nice job getting everything I wanted, and when I was in a pinch, Frank took the time to get the parts in needed extra fast. He is always busy, and still finds time to squeeze in a call as soon as he can.

I would certainly do business with him again.
=========================================
ATS, Now Speed Tech Performance: I ordered parts from Tyler when he was with ATS and his products are terrific. He had them as soon as he could (The Spindles were Backordered) and was very helpful with his advise.

I also, bought the "Coil Over" Kit, the Penske Shocks, and the "Lee Steering Box". All the products are first rate.

Since then, Speed Tech has acquired ATS. I haven't bought any of their products yet, however I wouldn't hesitate to do so, as I know of a number of people have, and as far as I know have had a very nice experience with their service and parts. I have visited with the staff at Speed Tech and have found them to be knowledgeable and helpful.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for the products they sell.
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I would certainly mention if someone here, or at PT have been Jerks or have ripped me off. I wouldn't want for someone to innocently get screwed by them and further, I wouldn't want a crook to get a damn dime.

I hope others will take the time to add to this link. Money is tough to come by, and you certainly don't want to lose it because you accidently walked into a trap.

I hope this has been Helpful, If you can think how to improve this please mention it.

Best Regards,

Ty O'Neal

[camcojb]

I like the idea of this, but can also see how it can turn into a bash fest. Let's get Scotts view before we go further.

Many boards don't allow vendor bashing (including this one) so maybe we can come up with a way to do this that will work. It would be great info. I'm closing it temporarily until I can talk to Scott.

Jody

[XcYZ]

I too like this idea, it's something that has been discussed many times. There are plenty of positives, but there are also negatives. Protecting people from bad businesses is a good idea, but how do we differentiate between bad business and someone who thinks they got screwed and just wants to burn a business by giving false accusations and half-truths. I think we all know that there are 3 sides to every story. lol

Here's an idea that I'll just throw out there for debate/discussion. What if we had feedback system that was universal, like grading A through F on many aspects of a transaction. Say, pre-sale communication and education, turn around time, quality of product/service, value of product/service, after the sale communication/support, dispute resolution, etc, etc. These universals could be applied to every transaction and could be followed up with a summation of the experience. I would then close the thread. Any follow up discussion about it could be started in the Open Discussion and linked back to the Business Review thread. It would keep the Reviews VERY easy to follow and search.

I simply don't want a bash fest. If this is a direction we, as a community, want to go, it should be productive. One of my biggest pet peaves about the internet is when someone has a question or problem and they just jump in with both feet making accustions when they NEVER even called the business to ask about the problem first. It's happened here many times and I've seen on every automotive Forum that I'm on.

What do you guys think about a graded feedback system?

[Bow Tie 67]

I like the idea.

[rjsjea]

Originally Posted by Bow Tie 67

I like the idea.

X2!....

[DOOM]

Great idea!

[camcojb]

sounds good to me. Worst case we wouldn't be able to continue it if things got out of control, but wouldn't hurt to try.

Jody

[Vegas69]

I'd also scrap the idea. You guys will be busy editing threads when you could be enjoying your kids or a beer. I'd look at a sticky or similar with advice for new or inexperienced guys. Encourage them to be active on the boards and look to some veterans around here for guidance.

[DFRESH]

Scott--it sounds like a good idea, but I would rather see folks using the PM feature to check in with others when they are serious about making a purchase and have questions. I've done it this way--it's how I got to know Todd and many others--I see the products they have on their cars, and when I get close to buying, I check in with them to see if they like the part, had good success with the vendor, etc. Keeps the forum clean and headed in the right direction. You have one of the very best sites going here---if it makes it better by having the reviews of vendors, so be it.

Doug

[killer67]

Scott:

What about a dedicated/moderated section on the Forum home page called, "Sponsor/Member Feedback" That way it is all in one place and can be carefully watched to distinguish between impatient/complicated customers AND shops that have genuinely screwed people out of money. Just another thought. Roger makes a good point that there is less nagging on this forum than others, and more "meat" and stuff we all want to read and see.