MB Autosports = unprofessional

[Drew]

Well, thus far I

[Blue Batmobile]

I'm sorry to hear about the bad experience you had with them. I for one, had no problems with them. I ordered my painted hoodscoop on a Monday, and received Thursday of that week.

Bat

[Mistrimeat]

Are you 100% sure its not the delivery service's fault? UPS is known to screw up from time to time. Recently, I was wainting on some JDM parts to arrive via UPS - I was tracking it through their website. It showed a delivery date of Friday Dec. 21st. tI just showed up today (24th). :mad:

[celica70]

yea me to i ordered my cf hood scoop a long time ago i got my hood and its tight by still no hood scoop.

[yota_racer]

I had a little problem with them, but I dealt with them professionally. There is no need to come on here and talk about how much they suck, and that they should be dropped as a sponsor. That isn't cool. Complaining that you had to wait for 4 weeks is enough. I sympathize with you though, because I had a bad experience that cost me $360 that I won't ever get back. Deal with Min personally instead of coming on here and bashing him and his company. Just my opinion.

[DaileyDog]

i don't agree, yota. this is a public forum and i believe we all have responsibility to share information from our experiences. if that happens to be helping someone install springs, fine. if it includes complaining about a sponsor, that's fine, too.

i will add to this: i ordered my scoop from MB before the recent GP. but, i saw the GP after i ordered and then called to see if i could get the GP price. seemed reasonable to me and they agreed. i could have just canceled my order and then hopped on the GP. either way i'd get the $40 discount.

well, then, my scoop was delayed and delayed. and i called and called and finally got min himself. then, he said the GP discount was NOT going to happen (though it had been confirmed 2 times on 2 different calls; i just kept confirming it becuase the credit hadn't shown up on the CC yet and the scoop wasn't on my doorstep). so, now i have a $40 credit with MB that i better use quick before they "forget" it and then i just totally lose.

my take on MB is that min is a good guy trying to get his business going. and i think most of us have been satisfied (even with the complaints on fit and finish that have come up; my scoop fit well but the color is way off). but, i do think min is a bit overrun and needs to make some organizational changes that will make his life and his customers happier. he's a good guy but quite a bit disorganized, it seems.

drew's got a totally valid point. this is a public forum and he's sharing his experience with MB. just like blue batmobile did. and many others. just as i am. should larry dump MB? i wouldn't but it's not my site. or yours.

good luck drew. i do think min will make it right by you as best he can. it's just too bad he has to keep making things up to people instead of getting the job done right the first time. he'd be insanely successful if he did it that way.

mike

[larryd]

actually it took me over 2 months to get mine.. though I didnt pay for it so i couldnt really bitch about it.. but I will have to say, Min can do some really nice stuff sometimes but there are areas that they do lack in..

[CELICA414]

i've had the same problem with this company. i ordered my white hood scoop in october and i still have not gotten it. i've called them a million times and they keep telling me this week, well that was months ago. i'm never buying from them again. i already paid for the scoop months ago and i have yet to get it. i'm very didastyified. alll i know is when i do get it, it better look perfect or it's going back. i'm sick of waiting.

[ToyoGT]

If you paid by credit card, just call your credit company up and dispute the charges. You will get your money back and MB will have to answer to them. It works, give it a try.



I also agree that if someone has had a bad experience they should let us all know about it. You don't have to curse them out or anything but messing around with anyone's money is not a good thing. I feel your pain. I just ordered some stuff from them as well, should be here by week's end. It better be anyway.

[Drew]

I by no means wanted to be "that guy" who comes on the internet and bashes a company. But, after my little experience thus far, I thought it necessary. Plus, I was hoping that someone else on this board would speak up and let me know that I am not the only one...and I'm not. What really spooked me was when I called a few days ago for a progress report and Min answered the phone (I know his voice by now). I knew it was him but still politely asked "May I please speak to Min?" The man didn't say "this is Min" or anything like that. His direct response was "Ummm, wait, who is this?' I again said "Oh, I'm looking for Min." His response again was "who is this." Then I told him my name and why I was calling...he then told me Min was unavailable and put me on hold for almost 15 minutes (see prior post). I hung up, called back, and got someone totally different on the phone. He said Min was helping another customer and asked if he could take a message...I had already been down that not-calling-me-back crap before so I said "no," I want to know where my scoop is. He put me on hold and said Min promised it would be here by Christmas. He promised me he would ship it out in time....this was Wednesday or Thursday...can't remember, I called both days. Thus, I don't think it was a shipping problem. If he was concerened about it not getting here in time because of shipping, he should have sent it out overnight free of charge (since I was promised "by Christmas") and at least given me a tracking number if it had already shipped by the time I called on Thursday. This is totally unaccceptable.

[Blue Batmobile]

here's my take. I think it's important to share experiences, whether good or bad. However, I disagree with someone saying a sponsor should be dropped because of a bad experience with them. That should be up to Larry.

Bat

[mastersamman]

I agree w/ Bat. Its up to Larry, but IMO, the sponsor should stay no matter how bad they are (we have enough lack of parts and suppliers already.)

My experience w/ MB Auto, great!!! Sorry Guys but dats the truth. After hearing about others bad experiences with MB Auto, especially thelostrican's(some name like that) wing, I decided to buy their Kaminari rear bumper. I ordered on Friday, Nov 30th, I believe and got it on Wednesday, Dec 5th. Now dats great service, although they did want to charge me $130 for shipping to my house and $80 to a business. Guess which one I chose. Even the Rod Millen lip and sides took longer, a week, to recieve. I'm still waiting for my Rod Millen wing tho and that was almost a month ago, but they only charged me $50 for shipping and they still havent charged me for the wing yet.

Anyways, MB Auto's delivery service is great is what I have to say. Remember, I only ordered from them once. For sure not twice if these bad expereince keeps up. Sorry for the long post.

[oreo]

i'm in the group buy that Drew is talking about getting on, and did anyone know that that group buy supposedly ended nov. 6th... it's now christmas day. the only thing i have heard about my scoop is that's it's winter so it's hard to paint them blue (look at the gb forum if you don't believe me) sounds like pure b.s. to me, and it kinda ticks me off. almost everyone else has gotten theirs, but they didn't come till last week. atleast the company could have been like they are on back-order or something. think about it like this, how pissed would you be if you had to wait almost two months for something you've already bought?? my credit card got billed last nov. just like everyone else's that ordered on that group buy, i agree with drew it's very unprofession. as far as dropping them from sponsorship purhaps the owner of this website should talk to mb autosport, because even though it's not his responsibility to make mb autosport an effective business, it does look bad when that company is represented on this site. as for those people that have good experiences that's great, but i've had two horrible experiences with them.

[LaW]

Guys I think that drew has every right to recommend that the sponsor be dropped. Obviously it's not his decision but he does have that right to voice is opinion...which in this case is that he recommends that mbautosports be dropped. I think he knows as well as everyone else does that it's larry's decision. I think everything you wrote drew is fine; you have every right to voice your experiences and opinions.

That's my take on it.

[2001REDCELICAGTS]

I wrote them about a painted hood scoop and was told that they are selling them faster than can make them. Its going to be like 6 weeks before then have more painted ones. I don't know the reason for the long time before availability. If they are selling them as fast as they could make them then it would make sense to make more and do it on acelerated basis. Now would be the time to make plenty when the product is hot. Is this so hard to manufacture and paint? I just get the feeling that they are waiting until they've charged someone's credit card before they start manufacturing this item. I just don't want to put up with a almost 2 month wait before I get something I ordered. If some other company manufactured the same items and delivered in a timely manner they could eat MB autosports's lunch.

[Drew]

Thanks for the support people. I appreciate it. I honestly would not have been too upset had someone simply told me, "sorry, Drew, they won't be here by Christmas as originially promised." I would have been OK with that. This kind of reminds me of the Toys-R-Us debacle from last year. They took all those orders online and promised people the orders would be there by Chirstmas and they never showed. I couldn't imagine my kid's face iff that had happened to me. I'm no kid, but I guess you could say I really looked forward to having "my toy" by Christmas...I was going to install it today since my busy time at work pretty much starts up now and doesn't end until April....65 hour weeks with, if I'm lucky, 1 day off per week.:eek: And if Min reads this post, sorry man, you really ticked me off with a broken promise.:sad

[TRD-GT]

mastersamman:
uhm,....somebody called me:confused::p

drew:
i feel u....and what u are doing is not wrong.....i had some big problems with them.....talk to min directly.....an complain......make him remeber that he promised it before the 25.....

i can tell u that u will recieved what u ordered, the question is when.....

good luck

pd:
there problems is that the are not big enough to handle, as many orders as they get....but atleast u know that min wont steal from u...he will deliver....eventually that is:D :p

[Keyshawn]

Well, I'm going to see how good their customer service is first-hand. The paint on my hood scoop is chipping, and I'm gonna ask Minh for a new one. I'll tell everyone here how it goes. The one advantage I have is that I live in So Cal, so I can see Minh personally, as opposed to simply talking on the phone or over email. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly.

[4B]

I sorry about your scoop that is a long time but MB Autosport will make it your oder right. Im MB sponsored car and Min is in no way trying to make anyone unhappy hes trying to change this Import industry. The scoops are a really popular item and shipping around X-mas is a real hassle. Im going to talk to him tommarow and Ill have him post on this.


I know im biased but I dont think by any means MB should be dropped form this board. Min has so many projects coming for the Celica you guys would miss out.

[Blue Batmobile]

I'll be at the End of the Year Meet next Sunday at MB Autosports! Can't wait to see what Mins gonna have on sale:D.

Bat

[racinjason]

All I have to say is you gotta be honest with your customers. If you can't do something or something get screwed up like it does regularly, you gotta inform your customers. It happens when orders get fouled up or a product isn't right. It's going to happen to every company. I don't think they should be dropped as a sponsor because of one bad or even a few bad experiences. It's going to happen. But they need to be honest with thier customers and do the right thing. I have screwed up an order already. I have had customers screw up thier orders already. I have had powder coat that flaked off a part already(Thanks Powder Plus! :) ) But hey it happens. And I do what I have to, to make it right.

As for MB autosports. I have had all good experiences with them so far.

[Drew]

Originally posted by racinjason


As for MB autosports. I have had all good experiences with them so far.

Didn't you have a terrible experince with your wing?

[TRD-GT]

Drew:
no the one with the wing problem was me....at the end i got a good thing in return...i can honestly tell u that min, came thru at the end...an i got a good deal:D

talk to him

[larryd]

well im not intending on dropping MB as a sponsor..its up to them to keep sponsoring the site if they want but its not up to me to withhold a good name for them. If they earn a bad rep then they get what they deserve.. I mean Ive been selling Injen intakes now for about 4 months and ive had a few orders have a few problems but I get on the ball about it and get it fixed up and taken care of right away.. customer service is #1 when it comes to taking orders.. you treat the customer good and they will come back again..

[skamikaze]

i feel for you. i bought the hood scoop when it first came out. i was so happy to get it but the quality was just horrible. the paint job was even worse. and then it wouldnt even fit in the stock holes of the hood. min announced they would fix the problem but refused to replace anyones scoop with one that would fit right. thats the stupidest crap ive ever heard. thats just like me selling one of you guys spoiler for a civic and saying too bad, you bought it, you make it fit. after that experience, i refuse to buy from them again. i never talk smack unless someone else has a bad experience, then i share mine so others can hopefully think twice. sometimes you score a deal, but sometimes you sacrafice quality and customer service. :(

[Drew]

You know, I would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk to Min and see what was going on and so forth. However, he was very nice and informative when I first ordered. But after that, I was unable to get a hold of him and I never received a call back. That's just ridiculous. :sad Maybe it will be here today, maybe not.

[Drew]

I finally got the opportunity to speak with Min directly today. He was very professional and very nice. He made amends with me and I can now understand why it took so long. So, I'm guessing the group buy was a crazy situation for them? Maybe if I had ordered it when nobody eles was ordering them I would have gotten it in early December. So, in sum, MB Autosports made me happy in the end....well, not really the end, I still don't have my scoop but at least things are better now! :) :D

[6SPDGTS]

Drew if you dont mind me asking how did they make this up to you? I want a scoop and this infor would really help me. If you dont want to post it can u email it to me tongue78@hotmail.com. This is Ryan from NJ BTW in case u forgot.
Thanx

[minboost2k]

ok, sorry about this whole thing but someone told me about this thread and I finally got a chance to check it out.

As Drew said, we worked it out. I had promised it to him before christmas but we just couldn't do it because christmas got very hectic and we just missed it. When he called we set it straight and the scoop is being sent tomorrow. We finally got them in today.

The delays are caused by "unforseen factors" with the hood scoops. Normally, businesses do not go into detail, but since I can imagine that you guys might think MB is unprofessional, I will explain...

Like many companies, we have another company manufacture these for us. Company X had quality control issues and their CF was not that great, so we moved on to Company Y. Company Y price-matched Company X, so we were in business, but our main contact at company Y departed on bad terms with that company and so we have a new contact at Company Y. Company Y's new contact is no where near on the ball with us and takes much longer than when we had the original contact person.

Add this to the (im)perfectly timed group buy, the holiday rush, and bad weather (which causes many problems, including longer manufacturing and painting times) and you end up with quite a delay. We did ship out ALL black, red, unpainted, and white (tomorrow) scoops from the group buy. silver is next, then blue, then carbon blue. We are working on getting an inventory stocked of these things, but honestly they sell before we make them and we reject quite a few of the ones we have for quality control issues - which was pointed out when the scoops first came out. A few Unison and other celica guys have come to our shop and seen our pile of imperfect scoops that we won't ship, and the hood we use to test every scoop on.

Please note that we do have an extensive inventory, probably equal to or greater than any body kit dealer on this message board. We are the only company to stock GT headers and Kaminari and many other parts as well. We ship 99% of Celica kaminari orders and AC Rev. Indiglo orders the same or next business day.

Honestly I can be a difficult man to get a hold of. The best thing I would recommend is to call early if you want to talk to me directly - right around 10AM PST. I am always in the office at that time.

I apologize to anyone still waiting for their hood scoop and please rest assured that we are working our fastest to get these out to you. MB will not be honoring any more groupd buys on this item until we have built up a sufficient inventory to handle such an order.

We encourage all celica owners to come out and meet some of us and see our facility this sunday, december 30th for the Unison/MB Autosport Celica parking lot show. we will be offering some great deals on select items, including kaminari, AEM, and AC Autotechnic, and will be raffling off several prizes, including AC Rev. Indiglo gauges and hood scoops. We will also be showing off a new carbon fiber/fiberglass bolt-on front-lip for the celica and preview prototypes of a couple new products for the celica - just a taste of the exciting stuff we are going to introduce for the Celica in 2002.

Please direct all inquiries, questions, or concerns to : minboost@mbautosport.com

Thank you.

[Blue Batmobile]

Min, thanks for clearing everything up. I'll see you at the meet this Sunday:)!

Bat

[larryd]

thanks for the info..

[ringthree]

Awesome Min. Thats the way to handle the situation. I wish several other companies would handle there customers that way.