I think consumer education is more important then a rating system. Look at Ebay with the most indepth rating system on the internet. Buyer and seller feedback and so on. Shoot even Paypal is supposed to get your money back I guess. But how many people actually trust buying stuff off Ebay?
If you educate people as to how things work and show them what Quality is. It might help. But you also need to educate shops on bad customers who tell lies and change their story on a regular basis.
The reason I like this site is it is kinda like Disneyland. Reality kinda stops for the brief moment your on here. I don't like a lot of other sites because there is so much bashing that really solves nothing. Plus I don't understand how it is a moderators job to deal with a slow vendor or sponsor. They just sell the advertising to the vendor. Do you contact a magazine editor to help you sort out picking the wrong builder? Or go after the TV station that advertised the "SHAMWOW"?
I think the comment that just because some one is in the magazine makes there work or their product good. No it makes it "FREE". This is not consumer reports.
Ill start so far one of the best for service and products hands down is Ricks tanks very nicely made tanks and Hector is great and I,m sure we all agree on that ,That bought a tank from him.
Other include
Wegner motorsports
Paul at hydratech
Detroit Speed
Anvil
Schwartz Performance
Ringbrothers
Installed DSE minitubs, custom roll bar, and quadralink
I'd definitely do business with them again. Kevin Stearns (owner and fabricator) is a stand up guy, and was straight forward and honest about everything from the start. Gave me a very reasonable estimate and stuck to it. On top of that, I was very satisfied with the quality of his work, and how quickly he was able to get the job done.
The "rating system" is going to be really tough....and in my opinion starts this site into a path where it should tread very carefully....and in my opinion probably avoid.
Look at Ebay....Amazon etc...probably the most extensive "rating systems" out there. Pleny of really crappy companies work the system and get good rating....plenty of good companies get bashed by some whack job with a vendetta. As a company its really hard to defend yourself against someone that is out to nail you even when you didnt do anything wrong. On Amazon...pull up some common piece of equipment, computer program etc etc..... you will see reviews that are "the most fantastic thing ever"....and the EXACT same item will have reviews that say it was the "worst product ever".....with the EXACT same item??? How can the reviews be so far apart?
3 sides to the story..... you had better believe it.....
The way I see the companies and vendors that are on here.....as good "lead" or "heads up" to some of the stuff thats available out there....but ultimately its up to the consumer to check them out. Ask around.......
Maybe only have it for the sponsoring vendors...basically if the site is going to be affiliated with your company it will be held to a certain standard. Something like the Ebay "star rating" for communication, shipping, quality of product etc etc
I dont know....sounds good on paper and probably worth a try....but I fear how this site is going to get dragged into seeming like its acting like a vendor promotion or bashing site.
Maybe, maybe not.
I've been waiting for months for parts from a fairly high profile vendor on this site.
I chose to do business based on glowing reviews throughout the forum. If I were to comment now, it would not be pretty.
I'm fairly experienced and know what to expect and when I finally do get the parts I'm sure I will be happy.
So I guess my point would be that this vendor's reputation did not help except to raise my expectations and ultimately compound my dissapointment.
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SCOTT
71 Camaro project. "Mulletmobile"
66 el camino "Pye Wagon"
69 Camaro. sold
To be honest, I feel that one of the selling points of being a member of a forum such as this one IS the fact that you have a small window into the practices of some of the larger vendors, and that you get to see the experiences other forum members have.
It's true, this COULD get out of control very easily, but the fact is that most people that have a bad experience go ahead and make a new thread anyways.
And I think the benefit of having a system like this on a forum is that the reviews are not anonymous, as they typically are on ebay and most other sites. Anyone who has something to say about a particular vendor would typically have to have a damn good reason to post, otherwise they'd just be tarnishing their own name if it's an unnecessarily negative review.
The key is to try and keep it clean and not get overly emotional and worked up about things, in order to preserve a sense of professionalism which I think we would all appreciate.
I also think having a section of the forum for feedback would be a bad idea. All hell would break loose. It would start with the big things being revealed and slowly work it's way down becoming more and more loaded with people bitching about the tiniest little things as more and more people got comfortable with it. More people would post complaints than would post good experiences, thats just the way people are. If everything goes well they just move along but if they're upset or waiting for parts and have free time to type they'll be posting up a storm.
This hobby is loaded with small parts manufacturers who have low volume production runs. The industry is plagued with backorders and unavailability, parts brought to market quickly, and unrealistic delivery dates for services rendered. Compound this with a customer base that expects the timely delivery of exceptionally high quality products and services at the lowest prices they can get and naturally there's going to be dissatisfaction at some level. Right now it doesn't get aired unless someone is really upset but with a forum section people will start to use it to their advantage with the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" theory. Posting that they're waiting on parts so theirs get shipped first or their car gets painted next etc.
People who aren't members may join the forum just to get a quick shot at discrediting vendors for various reasons, whether they were dissatisfied long ago, fired former employees, direct competitors, or whatever. It would be very hard to control.
Members will stop coming to the forum when they wrongly call someone out and are embarrased to be found wrong themselves or will stop coming if they aren't satisfied with the outcome of their post. At the same time some advertisers will be upset by comments made or the way things are handled and will pull their ads.
The way it is now the people who have small to medium complaints don't post because they know there will be 5 people who will immediately defend the vendor or service provider. In the long run, are the small/med grievences things we all need to know about? Probably not. Someones part got lost in shipping or damaged because of poor packing. Someones car wasn't ready for the big show. Someones part didn't fit as well as they hoped it would. Someones paint or other finish wasn't quite the color it looked like on a sample chip. Do these things really matter all that much in the grand scheme? There's a lot that goes on behind the face of the forum that isn't going to benefit anyone or the forum itself being public knowledge. A few cases have been aired and we've seen what happens.
Glowing endorsements are often given about certain shops or vendors by favored customers, people with influential positions in the industry or media, and friends who all may be getting preferred treatment or discounts etc. from the business so how much faith would we have that the general public is going to recieve the same level of service they get?
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John Paige
70 Firebird Esprit, 400 TA clone type "The 14 car"
lab-14.com
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Mario
Hybrid Mode
