Interest! Dropping MB from sponsor

[CelicaNamja79]

Okay,

After reading all the threads, and posts of MBautosports from time to time, I am taking the initiative to start a thread to vote. As I have noticed, I've saw too many negative comments towards how they conduct their business. I also did not appreciate the owners responses. If you are looking for threads, please do a search functions or just visit seller & feedbacks, Group Buy forums.

Please take your time to decide whether to vote for stay or leave. Thank you.

I do not want our Middlemans to get blamed for slow service or bad service. For members that are conducting GP, please make sure that you are able to carry on the GP smoothly in both sides of the game.

[Jesse IL]

I have to say I'm neutral. I mean, on one hand, I'm sure their service has problems and the quality of their kits is probably terrible (which isn't really their fault). But at the same time, they're giving money to the site, and I'm sort of of the mindset that you get what you pay for. Replica parts are crap, and people are rolling the dice just buying that kind of stuff. You also need to understand that when you pay more money for things, part of that increase in price goes towards paying for superior service. In other words, that type of stuff just goes with the territory.

[ringthree]

In before the LOCK!!

[soceur]

I pretty much feel the same way Jessie IL feels. Service is terrible, but they are providing funds to the site. So with that said......let them fund the site, if you don't like'em don't buy from'em.

Lau'San

[MarkyMark]

Originally posted by ringthree
In before the LOCK!!

Aye!

[soceur]

Oh yea, In befo da lock:)

[Baldhead_J]

If they are supporting the site, let 'em stay. I hate warn people away from a sponsor, but bizzness is bizzness.

[CelicaNamja79]

I agree with many of you. Since they are funding the site, they have the right to stay but I hope they are not taking an advantage of that. Keep on providing your comments and I am sure Min would get something from this poll.

"Bizness is Bizness"

[oo_snoopy]

Their kits are very bad, and they don't care either, yes their funding the site, but running a bad business.

[Personafied]

I have had good service from them but the quality of there products are like tonka toys. Even though Tonka makes better quality car parts for the toys. I just dont like them never taking the blame for anything. Min seems to always have an answer for everything and it is always diverted somewhere else. If there shops that makes the kits would get it right the first time they wouldnt get complaint. I say drop them. Bad business makes for a bad reputation.

[TeeAREdee]

a sponsor is a sponsor. What happens when NC loses all spons0rs? no more sigs, no more this no more that because there's no money for bandwidth.

most of the problems with MBautosports is with the shipping....I don't think any local ppl had problems.

Sponsors don't directly affect any of you(to a certain extent), they affect Larry and his website, so it would be pointless to vote them off.....cuz it's no ones decision but the person who owns the site. (yes, we do make up the website and we made it waht it is, yada yada yada......but leave and tell me where you would go and get the same feeling) So you can take the choice of leaving if they remain sponsors. I don't think anyone would care or be affected, because they are already boycotting MB, so It wouldn't make a difference. (not directed towards anyone, just speaking in general terms)

and people wonder why no one wants to make parts for the celica.

Just ranting, dont mind me.

[skamikaze]

Originally posted by ringthree
In before the LOCK!!

me tree!

[Personafied]

In my perspective, its just a bad to have sponsor that doenst treat its members right. Your right it is up to LarryD. But if it comes down to sponsors and members that make this place fun it would be a tough decision but in my mind there will be other sponsors to come along. For some reason I think MB tries to be a lot of sites sponsor. You didnt really think they only sponsored NC.org did you?

[Mistrimeat]

eh?

[TeeAREdee]

Originally posted by Personafied
In my perspective, its just a bad to have sponsor that doenst treat its members right. Your right it is up to LarryD. But if it comes down to sponsors and members that make this place fun it would be a tough decision but in my mind there will be other sponsors to come along. For some reason I think MB tries to be a lot of sites sponsor. You didnt really think they only sponsored NC.org did you?

point taken :wiggle: :thumbup:

[CloNeGTS]

Plain and simple.....it's not up to you to decide. Larry's site, Larry's bills, Larry's check......

If you really care this much, why don't you discuss it with him before making such a mockery of a sponsor on the very forum they have supported since day 1.

[Personafied]

Were not making a mockery of a sponsor Rob. We are just voicing our opinion. As I said before it is up to Larry to decide. Why would MB want to be a sponsor its easy money to advertise and have people buy from them. Yes they do pay Larry for being a sponsor, but they are making so much more money from good members like you and I.

[CelicaNamja79]

Personafied has a great point. Yes, I agree with about Larry is the only one that has the eventual rights! All we wanted to do was voice our opinions against the bad business MB was running and being the fact they are our site sponsors. Yes, MB does pay the dues to Larry but that does not necessarily mean that he can run bad business over the net and always comes up with something to cover his business rather than trying to make it better. When demerits are discovered, it is only natural to show an improvement as such, but Min and MB is not doing so. Of course, it does not really affect most of members that does not do business with MB and it is solely their choices to boycott or what not. We are only trying to epitomize MB's mistakes and that they should try to make an improvement towards so. MB definitely needs to rectify their business situations and clarify their path of doing so whether it is on this site or what not.

[minboost2k]

Here is what I think (as the owner of MB and sponsor of this site):

I built my company with the intention of providing the best service possible (as well as the best fitting parts) to customers locally and outside of California. I've read hundreds of horror stories about people buying from other companies and wanted to change the industry.

At first, this was easy with only limited sales I could offer great personal attention. I started with the MR2 (I used to own one) and then decided to move the Celicas by sponsoring this board. MB has sponsored this board for about one year.

Over the course of the past year we've grown and changed drastically and our customer service has fallen a bit - but our commitment remains the same. We simply face new and unforseen challenges that we are working to overcome.

We did have several notable positive achievements related to the celica. When board members screamed for a celica GT parts, we made them - the first GT header w/ 8-12 hp to the wheels. It was out before any other GT or GTS header. We also created the hood scoop at a customer's request (which we ran into many supply problems due to overwhelming demand - problems which we have now resolved with our customers). We also participated in the creation of the single-exhaust invader rear bumper and better-fitting R2 kit. We created the first (and only) urethane blitz front bumper for the celica. We were the first to make the distinction between the various celica blitz style front bumpers. We feel that we do make a positive contribution to this board and the Celica community. We only sponsor ONE other message board, the MR2 message board.

[minboost2k]

(cont'd)

There have been complaints about the quality on some of our kits. First, let me start by saying that we are an AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR of Kaminari body kits and we also sell other high quality kits such as veilside (special order only) and Wings West. We also offer various urethane pieces which are great fitting and great quality. However, we do offer many of the same fiberglass body kits that our competitors offer. This is not in an attempt to sell "Junk". We look for the best quality manufacturer for each style of body kit. Unfortunately, sometimes the BEST manufacturer of a certain style (like blitz style) is still not on the same level as a company like Kaminari. We do not manufacture these ourselves and cannot do anything other than to select the best quality kit from the available sources. We have compared HEI, TCS, USAFG, and GTP/Importfan (blue class) blitz celica front bumpers and found that ours are above average quality with some of ours being the highest (we offer TCS and HEI - TCS has 2 molds). We do have pictures and can post a comparison of all these bumpers. Again, this does not mean that they are perfect fitment. They may still require modification for fitment and will require specialized body work that many common collision or body shops simply cannot perform or cannot perform at a reasonable price. We don't claim these kits to be perfect, but they are certainly installable and will work for their intended purposes. If this is not what you are looking for or if you don't have a good body shop then we recommend you look into one of our Kaminari or other similar body kits. WE WILL BEAT ANYONE'S PRICE ON KAMINARI. PERIOD. (see our web site later this week for details). For non-believers i can make a web page for with pictures comparing the bumpers.

Please note that the products such APR, AC Autotechnic, Greddy, Razo, HKS, etc that we offer are the EXACT same no matter where you get them from. The quality issue is only related to certain aftermarket body parts.

Many of the complaints on customer service stem from the body kit quality issue. Many customers want to return or refund the body kit although we have a clearly stated return and refund policy. You can look at our competitor's policies and they are all the same. Those that do accept refunds still do not refund shipping, which can be in the hundreds of dollars (and you end up without anything).

Other complaints are related to the answering of phones. Straight up - our phone systems blows. We have just purchased a $1300 phone system to solve our problems. We also have added two more phone lines as of yesterday. We will continue to work on this and other problems until they are solved.

As we continue to work to improve our service we realize that we will not be able to please everyone and that we will recieve negative feedback. As we mentioned elsewhere on this board, people are more likely to talk about negative than positive experiences. We have had many positive customer experiences with celica owners. There are positive posts on this message board. Every company makes mistakes and we address them as best we can. This does not mean that every customer will always be satisfiied. There are a few select members that continually post their one negative experience over and over again in many different threads. Each post does not represent a unique experience. Also note that a moderator on this board is anti-MB. We used to sponsor him and he turned to importfan and slams us whenever possible to promote importfan. Also, many people who have never dealt with us add "i wouldn't buy from them....". That's fine, but don't confuse those with actual bad experiences with us. There are also people who had a bad experience a long time ago. Remember, we are always improving products and service.

I hope this explaination sheds some light on MB Autosport, our commitment to enthusiasts such as those on this board, our candid admission of problems and the steps we are taking to solve those problems and prevent future ones.

[xi KiNG ix]

i cant believe i read all of that

[GTS LAID]

well guys there you go.. straight from the supposed source of your woes... pretty convincing... if you got a problem with them dont buy from them... if you want high quality parts you can buy high quality parts ... if you wants cheaper stuff you get what you pay for but they basically provide the best ones available... even if they're not "good".

thats what i got out of it and i'm pretty convinced.

[Jesse IL]

Thank you Min. I have been involved with a small business before that was basically a distributor. I know what its like when your suppliers screw you over. Bottom line is that your customers hold you responsible. Even a truthful explanation of why the part is delayed is never good. Its easier to try and put off the question. I will restate this: you buy knockoff kits, expect pieces of ****. Period. That isn't anyone's fault but the manufacturer of the part.

[larryd]

ok simple and plain.. you got a problem with MB autosports then dont buy from them.. Just becuase you and a few others have had issues with them doesnt mean they shouldnt be a site sponsor. I know Ive personally dealt with Min a few times and Ive never once had an issue other then late delivery of the hood scoop becuase of the demand for the item. as Im sure many others havent as well.

Someone else said it well also, this site costs alot of money to maintain and its sponsors like Min whove been there for a long time that I can depend on to keep the site up, if you keep knocking them and we lose these sponsors then what do you think happens to the site.. kiss it goodbye..

So on that note this thread is closed, if you have a problem PM me or take it up in the Buyer/Seller feedback, its not yer deicsion to draw out the sponsors in General Discussion.