Summit Racing Customer Service

[Josh]

I've been ordering parts from Summit racing for the truck almost exclusively, as they have fast shipping, excellent selection, good prices, and whatever I want is almost always in stock. I've ordered all of my fuel system parts there, along with several other items, and have spent almost two thousand dollars there, with another couple thousand to go.

I ordered several -6AN fittings for my fuel system, and was installing one last night. I got it 2/3 of the way installed into the hose, and then it abruptly snapped off. Luckily, I had left enough extra on the hose length that I could cut it off, and threaded another fitting into it, this time with no issues to check the length, all was well.

I called Summit this morning, and spoke with a customer service rep, who, informed me that in 7 years of being with Summit, he had never heard of an AN fitting breaking off, and that to do so it must have been cross threaded. I informed him it had not, to which he responded that it had to have been, and he proceeded to tell me they would not be sending a replacement, and that if I wanted, I could buy another.

Little did he know that I am a quality engineer at a major engine manufacturer, that has worked with metal extrusions in the past (as these fittings are turned from), and know that if you get oxide slag from the outside of the billet into the part, it will cause porosity and weakness in the part. If you look at a high res of the fracture, you can make out two tiny black dots at the initiation point of the fracture... You guessed it, oxide voids.

The point of all this is to simply make everyone aware of Summit's customer service. Had they said "Sorry about that, we'll get another in the mail free of charge" I would be posting up right now how great their customer service is. Instead, I will be relaying this to the other 3 forums I am a member of, as well as to Summit's customer service division.

Oh, and, to prove I didn't cross thread it, some pictures:

[MSeriesRebuild]

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who has such issues. We had a deal with a service provider this morning we have used for years. We had a legitimate problem that should no have been sent out and back to us like it was. Sparks flew when I inquired as to why. We've had several other issues with this same provider over a couple of years, we had talked each time in an effort to get it squared away, but when the same issue came up again, (about the 4th time), I was at the end of my rope. We won't be dealing with this one again.

[Joe]

I wonder why is it that every tech support or customer service type thinks that they know it all and that everyone else is an idiot!

[rixm37]

I don't get it !!! Customer service is getting to be so on or off. Some are great but there seems to be a growing number who just won't believe you or don't care. With Summit I would worry about another person taking his business to Jegs !!.

[Joe]

I don't get it !!! Customer service is getting to be so on or off. Some are great but there seems to be a growing number who just won't believe you or don't care. With Summit I would worry about another person taking his business to Jegs !!.

It's simple, manufacturers and retailers like most companies today are usually run by the bean counters and they only see CS as necessary(?) evil. It doesn't generate revenue for them and only costs them money so they're going to hire the cheapest, laziest, most imcompetent people that they can get and put them in the worst working conditions! SOME of the better run businesses see it as an opportunity to create customer loyalty and they usually have GOOD to GREAT CS. Dillon Precision is one such company. They're absolutely super to deal with!

As long as people continue to buy from the CHEAPEST company instead of the ones that take care of their customers, customer service will continue to get worse!

[HingsingM37]

Customer service in general nowadays is awful. I deal with venodrs daily and sadly nobody cares anymore. They will flat out lie about delivery dates to get orders, mis-ship parts, or never call back. I spend most of my workdays now apologizing to my customers for my vendor's stupidity. Just this week I had a vendor assure me that an order was going NDA as requested. I had a customer with a line down. The following morning no parts. I called them and they said, "oh, it shipped ground...." couldn't tell me why . This type of thing happens 10 times a week.

As for Summit racing, I live just a few miles from their store. I deal with them very little. In 20 years I watched them go from gearheads who gave a damn to a giant "carnival atmosphere" that is no different than a Best Buy or Autozone. It is staffed by kids who wouldn't know plastic gage from Silly Putty. They always have an ad for telephone CS reps in the local paper weekly. If I go in there I look for the oldest guy at the counter to help me.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Customer service in general nowadays is awful. I deal with venodrs daily and sadly nobody cares anymore. They will flat out lie about delivery dates to get orders, mis-ship parts, or never call back. I spend most of my workdays now apologizing to my customers for my vendor's stupidity. Just this week I had a vendor assure me that an order was going NDA as requested. I had a customer with a line down. The following morning no parts. I called them and they said, "oh, it shipped ground...." couldn't tell me why . This type of thing happens 10 times a week.

As for Summit racing, I live just a few miles from their store. I deal with them very little. In 20 years I watched them go from gearheads who gave a damn to a giant "carnival atmosphere" that is no different than a Best Buy or Autozone. It is staffed by kids who wouldn't know plastic gage from Silly Putty. They always have an ad for telephone CS reps in the local paper weekly. If I go in there I look for the oldest guy at the counter to help me.

You nailed it, this is the norm for most these days. These kids just don't see the point about the importance of you calling back next month or next year. We have gotten some really good projects because we took time just to talk with someone, it is very important. Another one that comes to mind that is just like David says Summit is, Eastwood.com, for the most part they honestly don't know which end is up.

[Josh]

just an update on this: Finally spoke with someone who wasnt retarded, but, they refuse to send me a new fitting free of charge on shipping. I have to return the old one first, pay for the shipping out of pocket, and then pat for shipping on the new one... well, thats awesome. My $13 replacement fitting will cost me $20 in shipping.

Thanks for the service Summit, I'll be shopping at Jegs.

[MSeriesRebuild]

just an update on this: Finally spoke with someone who wasnt retarded, but, they refuse to send me a new fitting free of charge on shipping. I have to return the old one first, pay for the shipping out of pocket, and then pat for shipping on the new one... well, thats awesome. My $13 replacement fitting will cost me $20 in shipping.

Thanks for the service Summit, I'll be shopping at Jegs.

This is why it's better to buy parts local, you can deal face to face, and shipping cost will not apply as a usual thing.

[Juan]

Jegs is not better than Summit, I can tell you that. I've ordered a pair of GM vortec heads from them one week ago through their website system. Ok, a couple of days later I received an email telling they needed more information to precess my order. Ok, I called to the number and extension in the email and a lady told me they are waiting a fax from my bank,
What fax? I've asked, a confirmation fax she told me, it's a standard procedure.
-Where are you calling?
-To your bank.
-In Argentina?
-Yes
-Ah, and what number you have
-1-877-xxxx (can't remember it now)
-But that's a US number
-Really?, (pause) it does look like a US toll free number, but it's the number in the system.
-Maybe that's why you cannot contact them.
-I don't know but that's the number I'm supposed to call... Is there anything else I can do for you, Sir?

FYI, I've dialled the number she gave me, and it was THEIR bank.

In a couple more days if they don't sort this out I'm cancelling the order and going for summit.

On the other hand, I've bought a couple of months ago some stuff from Summit, including an autometer sender for an electronic speedo. I couldn't make the speedo work, I took everything off the car, wire it on the bench with a 12v supply and spinned the sender with a drill. Nada
I''ve called auto meter customer service, they sent me a youtube link to a test procedure wich I followed and call them back with the results, "you have a faulty sender, call Summit and tell them this". - Yeah right I thought.

Called Summit that same afternoon, explained the problem, he asked me the name of the person to whom I've talked in AutoMeter and finally said "Ok we are shipping a new one tomorrow, to Argentina through USPS express service, keep the faulty one it's not worth the shipping cost back to us, please destroy it, have a nice day"
I was speechless, less than 5 minutes on the phone per call.
Three days later the sender arrived.

So I guess it depends on the guy you got by chance on the other side of the line.

[Lifer]

-Called Summit that same afternoon, explained the problem, he asked me the name of the person to whom I've talked in AutoMeter and finally said "Ok we are shipping a new one tomorrow, to Argentina through USPS express service, keep the faulty one it's not worth the shipping cost back to us, please destroy it, have a nice day"
I was speechless, less than 5 minutes on the phone per call.
Three days later the sender arrived.

So I guess it depends on the guy you got by chance on the other side of the line.

The customer service rep's attitude when dealing with customers goes a very long way in how a company is perceived by its customers. A bad attitude creates an unhappy customer, loses his business, and loses the potential business of anyone he talks to. Of course, anyone can have a "bad day," but bad attitudes seem to prevail in customer "service" these days.

[rixm37]

Well part of this whole situation is, it's a crap shoot . Just depends on who you get on the phone. I think everyone has had both good and bad experiences with customer service reps whether it is in the auto industry or any other business.

[Juan]

Amen,
I've decided some time ago that If the customer service person who picked the call is not helpfull, I just hangup, call again and start over, the chances of getting the same person to pick your call twice is slim.
Of course in shops like Summit or Jegs, not in a small business where mamma or Pop are the only ones who pick the phone.

[Master Yota]

Its been my experience that smaller businesses generally provide better service - simply because they need your repeat business to stay alive. Corporations won't worry about a single order, or customer, unless they are spending many thousands of dollars. We as enthusiasts don't even register as a blip on thier bottom line.

I've found that the worst service is usually asscoiated with stores that have a "parts department" - usually located right beside the ladies undergarment department and housewares. I won't even shop at those places. Lately I've been doing most of my parts shopping with vendors who specialize directly in the task at hand. If I need plumbing and hose connectors, I deal with a hose and tubing vendor - it costs the same price, and I get to have the pleasure of dealing with someone who knows more about the topic than I do. Its nice to deal with professionals, rather than gum chewing air heads....

[Juan]

Its been my experience that smaller businesses generally provide better service - simply because they need your repeat business to stay alive. Corporations won't worry about a single order, or customer, unless they are spending many thousands of dollars. We as enthusiasts don't even register as a blip on thier bottom line.

I think that a total balance of $ 20K in 2009 should appear as a blip in Jegses radar, this year I'm only at $ 8700 until now, including those vortec heads.
Again it depends on the guy who pick the call, they should look your history in the system.