15 replies to this topic

[simplesq]

Hi All,

We all work hard for our cash and we think really long on what and where we spend our hard earned cash. I purchased an Optima D34M about 18 months ago and had it die on me, what makes matters worse is that having a dead batterry was my reason for missing Round 1. Anyway cutting to the chase, the guys at the Optima factory was an absolute pleasure to deal with, no dramas or hassles, just a simple bat test and here we go sir your new Optima D34. Now that's what I call service and you can bet that if I ever have to purchase a bat in the future it will be another Optima for sure. You see it doesn't matter that I was the unlucky bugger that falled under their 1% fail rate. What matters is what transpired thereafter.

I've also had nothing but positive experiences dealing with Mark at Frankston Car Audio and won't buy my audio gear anywhere else regardless of whether what I want is not what he sells. Why, because its all about the service...

So has anybody else out there recieved positive experiences in the industry? Please gents don't take this as an opportunity to air out the dirty laundry for any bad experiences but rather an opportunity to tell us about the few great companies still in the industry.

[Nanook]

I'm sure like me, others out there have had plenty of positive experiences but the problem lies in the nature of the internet and how it gives people a place to vent.
When reviewing a product sometimes you are left with nothing but a negative review/experience from all across the world, even taking optima's for example, searching for it on another car specific forum i am on, i was purely looking to find info on fitment in the battery cavity, i was left thinking optimas wer crape and and had a huge failure rate! but like you said it all lies in the service i dunno if i even had a pointy to this i just kept typing errrrrr.....

[Lunchbox.inc]

i have to agree, i just LOVE it when you get some great service!!

for me, my main one was SOC car audio and upholstery, they've since changed owners and i wouldn't get them to do a headunit install in my worst enemy's car... BUT with the original owners, Stu & Danny these 2 guys are one of the main reasons i got into audio so deeply, there's a few guys who got me right into the scene, but even before the scene Stu and Danny were a huge encouragement, and the more i got into it, the more they looked after me, everything from letting me buy my gear at their buy price (making no money from me) thru to letting me out the back to watch how they did their installs/trimming, and teaching me along the way... even Danny sitting down and building my amp rack for the Corona with me as a project to get me doing some of my own work...

i had a REALLY good relationship with the guys there, it was a real shame to see the ownership change and the shop get run into the ground, but you get that unfortunately...

other than that, i have nothing but amazing experiences with Phatt, having Sam and Brett basically organise for me to get a semi-sponsorship with Cadence, even tho i had not spent any money with them, thats one hell of a business attitude!! didn't matter if i was a high paying customer or not, they went above and beyond to help me out when they didn't even need to... it's attitudes and business practices like that, that earns lifetime customers

and FCA, Mark's always willing to have a sit and a chat about anything, and he even forgives me for my SPL tendencies... lol just don't start talking about go karts... but he'll always gie you the best deal he can, there's simply no need to ask if he can do you a better price, because he's already knocked a tonne of what you should be paying anyways!! i have no idea how he even makes money with the amount of time he dedicates to just being a great guy, and letting Team FCA members use his facilities, and sitting chatting to likes of myself...


but no, i've been pretty lucky with the people i've met thru this industry, and i'm very thankful for this...

[TEGBOY]

Firstly it has to be Mark at FCA - he always puts his customers ahead of himself, often to his own detriment, he has had customers in the past abuse that trust, which does leave a sour taste in my mouth. I don't even ask prices with Mark, I just say what I want etc, and know the price I am given is the BEST, I mean the BEST it can be. Mark is the truest of gentleman; he looks after the cars in his workshop as if they are his own. I have never even seen as much as a mark or scratch on any car he's worked on.


I have dealt with PAC and FHRX - a great bunch of guys, always great to deal with

Also, MAS/Northfield Moorooka - Drew and Andrew (VIC MAS rep) have been a great source of assistance with the build of my current car. So thanks again guys, couldn't have done it without you.

[romano.inc]

to be honest my most positive experience thus far was my first event, which happened to be the first bass battle ever

before the day i only knew everyone by screen name and was quite nervous as id never competed but everyone there was so helpful and offered advice and compliments, i ended up winning my class and everyone was so positive about it congratulating me and i was over the moon.

Particularly people like steve (lunchbox) and john (tiger) who i always end up pestering for advice or info and they are always more than willing to help where they can and for that i really appreciate not only these guys but the whole MEA community for giving me a positive outlook on the sport! way too many assholes in this industry but its good to see that there can be a group like MEA that love the sport for what it is

[justdofit]

Alan and the team from Complete Car Sound in Brisbane always offer a high level of service and quality product at a great price!

With a wealth of knowledge amongst the guys they always go above and beyond to assist with all the detail neccesary to get the most out of your gear!

Top notch!

[ubernoob]

Over half of the gear I have ordered over the years has gone missing in the post, been damaged in the post or not worked properly on arrival. Every time something happened to my gear the shops sorted it quickly and that is from three different shops so I can't complain about anyone in Newcastle(excluding product knowledge). I also love the fact that Earthquake subs have a five year warranty as it took over a year to work out one voice coil wasn't connected on my SZ10 sub, it came back with a new cone and still only one voice coil working, ha ha.

The only mob I ever had a problem with was whoever was importing Audiobahn years ago, but in the end I bought good gear instead of Audiobahn so I guess I owe them a thanks.

[Inspiron]

Nanook, on 06 February 2012 - 04:32 PM, said:

When reviewing a product sometimes you are left with nothing but a negative review/experience from all across the world, even taking optima's for example, searching for it on another car specific forum i am on, i was purely looking to find info on fitment in the battery cavity, i was left thinking optimas wer crape and and had a huge failure rate! but like you said it all lies in the service i dunno if i even had a pointy to this i just kept typing errrrrr.....

Yeah I 100% agree.

Mark at FCA has been a pleasure to deal with, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I live a tad too far away from him, I’d get him to some other little bits and pieces on my car.

Quote

I'm sure like me, others out there have had plenty of positive experiences but the problem lies in the nature of the internet and how it gives people a place to vent.

Yeah sometimes people just need to vent

Nanook, on 06 February 2012 - 04:32 PM, said:

When reviewing a product sometimes you are left with nothing but a negative review/experience from all across the world, even taking optima's for example, searching for it on another car specific forum i am on, i was purely looking to find info on fitment in the battery cavity, i was left thinking optimas wer crape and and had a huge failure rate! but like you said it all lies in the service i dunno if i even had a pointy to this i just kept typing errrrrr.....

Yeah I 100% agree.

Mark at FCA has been a pleasure to deal with, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I live a tad too far away from him, I’d get him to some other little bits and pieces on my car.

Quote

I'm sure like me, others out there have had plenty of positive experiences but the problem lies in the nature of the internet and how it gives people a place to vent.

Yeah sometimes people just need to vent

Edited by Inspiron, 07 February 2012 - 09:55 AM.

[Marc ♫]

I've had the pleasure of dealing with so many within this industry over the last 12 years. There are a handful (maybe a few more) of absolute gentlemen that over the years I certainly all friends. They know who they are.
However, from a retail and personal perspective I can confidently say these guys go way above and beyond for their customers: Mark @ Frankston Car Audio, Marty @ FHRX, Sam and Brett @ Phatt.

[iluvmusik]

Oh wow this is a good thread. I certainly have nice things to say about Marty @ Fhrx. That includes Daniel and Paul. Real gems to deal with.

You only have to see my build thread to know that I really like them

Not only do they do a fantastic job of installing my sound system, I also get good advice regarding components selection. I get charge a very reasonable rate. The boot install certainly took longer then the quote. I was only charge a few extra hours rather than the extra days it took. There was constant communication via emails and I was kept up to date with the install - like a Reality TV show going on lol.

The job completed to a 120% satisfaction and it even won me 2 trophies. What more can I ask.

Finally Marty gave me a free Focal cap and floor mats when I was going with the Focal Utopia Be 165w-rc splits - alas what am I going to do with them now
Ok Marty you're getting them back now and I want a Dynaudio souvenir instead

P/S Marty even provided after hours support - on a late Sat afternoon at the Rnd 1 ACT comp, he text me several times to enquire how I was doing. Now that is priceless

[Tiger]

I've had the pleasure for being involved in 3 of some of the most anticipated builds on MEA (Steve's Rade, Ross's Jackaroo and of course... Danny's box.. ES! boxes! hahaha) AND IN particular.... being the CAA Assistant State Rep in 2004-2006 for Victoria was my BIG entry into the scene. Spawning from this, I've also kick started Bass Race in Australia (although someone took credit over that one) and helped implement Bass Battle


Many happy experiences. PLUS.... beating a few competitors with no sub was a pleasure to see hahaha

[iluvmusik]

Oh I mustn't forget to give praise when praise is due.

I recently purchased 2 lots of CDs from ReferenceDisc. The first lot qualifies for free delivery as it's over a $100. The 2nd lot was below $100 for which I gladly paid the delivery fee.

Low and behold a few days later, I received a PayPal email with Marc's message apologising for one CD that was out of stock and a refund was made. What was really nice though was he
also refunded the 2nd lot's delivery fee as he said the CDs hasn't been sent out yet so he could have it bundled together.

So I get to purchase really nice audiophile CDs and they are at outrageously discounted price and my delivery fee was refunded.

So will I purchase more CDs from ReferenceDisc? You betcha. In fact it will be the only place I'll purchase from now on.

[Marc ♫]

Thanks for the credit there iluvmusik. It is sincerely appreciated. We try our best but more often than not it's never good enough for some of today's customers.
What I can say however to anyone that has looked at the site, is that we have been running the stock out to make way for a whole new range. In about 5 weeks there will be a whole new range and less "Out of Stock" on all the titles!

[Daz]

ditto ReferenceDisc's always got me my cd's fast as tho i have not brought as many that i want yet but great fast servive each time thanks marc

[Mr. Drifter]

I don't think I've had much bad experience in the business...

Some of the good stuff, includes them helping me out with my headunit (testing it for me) testing my amps, installing stuff in my car, generally being nice about it, letting me stand and watch, pushing through to finish the install well after hours because they promised me it'd be done that day. not charging me extra for certain things...
They're just really nice guys there

I think I'll be sticking with them for a while.. They've been great help