Can remember if i'm allowed to do this, but I'm going to anyway.
The following are my opinions based on my own experiances with Scoobymania.

Decided that AP 6 pots are the way forward, so call all UK AP dealers and agree a price slightly less that list. Great, all I need to do now is find some!!

Called Mike who informs me that they have a set on order from AP, and can ship direct to me in 5 days time which would have been a Tuesday. Great, as I have powerstation the following Thursday and Brands on the Friday therefore I'm able to fit them the weekend before. Mike was also able to match the price quoted elsewhere. (Thanks)

Payed for them on my credit card and was told that 5% or 6%(can't remember which)would be added as I had payed by card. I questioned this and was told that it's normal. I also bought rear hoses to match the braded ones in the kit. So I stumped up....lets say over £1,675 for the brakes and hoses. Card debited.

Tuesday arrived and I put a call into AP to make sure that the brakes would be leaving that day, to be told that the order from Scoobymania hadn't even been placed. Called Scoobymania who coudn't work it out. Called me back to tell me that the brakes that AP had were for someone else and were already sold, damn! OK when would some be ready for me? Tuesday next week I was told. So the following Tuesday, I called AP again to see if the brakes were ready for shipping, no, they still hadn't been ordered.
Called Scoobymania to find out what was going on. They called back to say all was in hand. The kit would now be with me on Thursday (Powerstation). On the Wednesday I called AP again to check that all was OK and they inform me that the card that Scoobymania had used to buy the brakes had not gone through. (not my card by the way!)
Called Scoobymania and told them to sort this out as I was now getting a little pissed off. Anyway, the kit arrived in the office in London on the Thursday and I went from Powerstation to pick them up.

Great!! They looked the dogs bits and I couldn't wait to fit them. But wait.....No rear hoses. Called and they sent some next day (cheers)

Fitted the and rear hoses and bled the system right through. Done!

One problem though, it looks like the mounting brackets may be machined wrongly, as the pads are running over the outside edge of the disks on both sides. Called Mike who explained that this wasn't correct and that I should call again on Monday to arrange another set of pads first, just in case it was a fault with them.
Called on the Monday and it took 3 weeks and a few more calls to get some new pads from AP. To make it worse, out of the 4 pads sent, 3 are different. It appears that I have a set chucked together from AP and sent to me. Tried fitting one pad on one side and it's exactly the same problem as the origional ones.
Called Scoobymania last Thursday to explain, and was told that they would call AP, heard nothing since.

So.. my point is?

I'm pissed off and still have brakes that still are not quite right, and no communication from Scoobymania.

I ask myself the following:
Why hasn't a firm that developed this kit with AP ever got any in stock, and why don't they have a credit account with AP if they sell so many kits?

Why hasn't my card been credited with the origional card charges and compensation as agreed with a member of your staff?

Other than all of the above, I'm very happy with the brakes.

Martin

 

When I come to getting APs I think I may go to a different supplier then, thanks for the warning Martin. With all the comments posted about suppliers its always good to know personal experiences. Hope it gets sorted soon. Pity all suppliers arent like the Wax Wizard.

Jase

 

Typical - we get told to complain more and more and yet still get crap customer service.

Go on - give watchdog a call.

 

I'm similar, my GpN discs are 2 weeks overdue, after 3 phonecalls.

I'm still trying today to get thru...

Darren.

 

Crikey, The buzzards are gathering before this supplier had a chance to type a reply!

It is worth pointing out (and I hope Martin will back this up), that NO OTHER SUPPLIER that Martin had spoken to, was able to get anywhere remotely near our supply time! (Even accounting for the one week delay).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Martin, thanks for the feed back, direct to me would have achieved the same reply/result. I have no problem personally in it being in an open forum.


Yes, the kit was one week later than originally projected to us from the supplier.
This was still considerably quicker than any other supplier had quoted you I believe?

Credit Card surcharge was notified to you (4%). You chose this option. Visa Delta, Switch or cheque do not carry this surcharge.

Martin, we did you the whole lot for £1,671 (all inc.) RRP for that lot is £1933 (all inc.) so you actually did quite well out of it, not only the best price, but also the quickest supply.

Our order with AP Racing, was placed over a month before (as part of a general stock order), AP Racing would not know who that kit was for, so would be unable to tell you that "your" kit was not ordered????

No wonder it made no sense to us, they have no way of being able to measure that?

AP had made a mistake, the kit they said we could have, was already earmarked for another (of their) customers, ours was the one after it.... the one you received, only a week later, <I>(so must have been on order all the time, as there is a nominal 6 week lead time for them).</I>


We said it was all in hand because it was, delivery date error aside, it arrived as soon as it became available, direct from the manufacturer.

Our Credit Card had not gone through.

Yes, that's true, because, shortly before, AP had (mistakenly) charged a set of pads to our company card and erroneously charged us <B>£2,926.00</B> for that single set of pads (instead of £216.00)!

This was not spotted until we received the 'cardholder not present' transaction slip the following week.

Glad they arrived with you OK.


No rear hoses in the box as they came from us direct. (admittedly a day later, sorry).

The mounting brackets have NOT been machined incorrectly.
The origianal/perceived problem was suspected to be a pad dimension fault. AP said they would send a set of checked pads to you so that they could get yours back and see if they were wrong. (Mistakes can happen).

I will check with AP to see why it took them 3 weeks to do that?

Although the pads may have looked different, AP Racing assure me that regardless of their cosmetic appearence, they were from the same batch and were perfectly OK.

With regard to the original query with AP Racing about the pad fitting. They had to build a complete kit up, and actually fit it onto an Impreza before they could exactly duplicate the perceived problem, <I>(remember, they don't keep these kits on the shelf)</I>.

They have reported back to us today that there is no problem, (now or previously). The 1mm difference is acceptable and allows for "Disc Swell" which sees the disc grow when hot. There are no plans to alter any part of the kit .

Your brakes are officially and always were correct.

You stated <I>"Why hasn't a firm that developed this kit with AP ever got any in stock?"</I>

We have routinely got all AP kits in stock. From order to delivery takes approx. 6 weeks from AP Racing, (can be longer if they have their own supplier problems).

We are out of stock only occasionally, when demand is greater than AP Racing can manufacture to.
AP Racing DO NOT keep ANY stock of these kits, they are made to order only!

A Credit account is not quite so easy, when we first started dealing with AP Racing, we were a brand new company.
They (understandably) wanted to see a healthy 12 month trading history before they would give us a credit account (which we now have).

Our credit has never been a hindrance or caused any delay in this or any other matter.


Your card HAS been correctly debited at the agreed price, no compensation is due to the best of my knowledge?

Conclusion
==========

Your kit came to you one week later than originally estimated, (due to manufacturer delay), at the agreed <I>(& very good deal)</I> price, charges at the agreed rate.

The reported/perceived problem has been officially deemed as correct by AP Racing and was correct all along.

Glad (hope) that you are happy.


Mike.

 

Milky.

Your discs are on backorder with the supplier, (as you have been told)?

The supplier is still unable to give a delivery date. (You are one of many in this boat). Constant badgering of the UK importer seems to be doing nothing to speed this up.


Mike.

 

As a side note, many smaller companies make a surcharge on Credit Card purchases (Visa and Mastercard).

They are normally passing on the charge from the bank - not everyone is the size of Tesco and thus cannot either a) swallow the charge or b) put the thumb screws on the card service provider to get the charge down to a minimum.

Chris.

 

Just had a conversation with Mike, and although I'm still without disc's, you can't do anything if suppliers (Mike's suppliers !!) let you down.

Don't think I'll get anything any better for under 150 ukp, so think I'll wait...

Thanks Mike....

Darren.

[This message has been edited by Milky (edited 22 November 2000).]

 

Mike
Thanks for your reply.
Did it take you as long to write the reply as it did me to write the questions

The only thing I'd still like confirmation on is the pad bit. I disagree that an overlap of 1mm is correct on brakes of this calibre, and the disks don't expand that much. I can fit the replacements and send the others back to you if you'd like, but they have an unworn edge on them. I will not settle for this as a conclusion. Would I need to take this up with AP directly??

Thanks for the response once again. This was not intended to create a scene, just my own views.

I still maintain that the communication is crap

Regards
Martin

PS
I made the compensation bit up anyway

 

In reply to your questions.

Yes it did (take as long).

I will again refer this back to AP technical, for further consideration.

Yes, pads back to me if you could... Thanks.

Yes, I thought you had.

Mike.

 

I also paid 5% also when I bought my last big item on the credit card. Now what was it......oh I remember.. it my new Scooby

5% on 14.5k - now that hurt

bkar

 

If you get a problem with anything in future paid for by credit card and can't get satisfaction (Mike i'm not having a go at you - I don't know the facts of this case - a general comment)- put it in dispute with the card co and they do not pay the supplier until it is sorted if you are quick enough - usually sharpens them up a bit!

 

Chaps
Not having a go at anyone but:-
4% is a bit steep for a card transaction, most card companies will give even a new business 2.5% or lower especially when your average transaction value is fairly high which I asume scoobymanias' is. I managed to negotiate 2.3% on credit cards and 45p per switch/debit transaction in my first year trading and have never imposed these charges on customers. Indeed the only time I have ever been surcharged for using a card myself has been upon purchasing computer hardware where the supplier is doing well to clear between 5-10% margin so can ill afford to incur any extra expense!

By the way are they worth it????? I sincerely hope so.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Ok
Three things:
Firstly, the communication issue. I called a number of times to speak to Mike and was told he wasn't in the office and that his employee hadn't had a chance to speak with him either in 2 weeks. This is why I posted this thread.

Seconly, The CC fee is now irelevant as Mike has kindly agreed to credit the charge back, therefore taking a knock on his bottom line profit. Thanks again Mike.

Thirdly, Unless Mike has anymore to add, I would like this thread closed please webmaster. Thanks

Martin

PS
Mike, I will be changing the pads on Sat morning and will post them to you at Scoobymania for Tues.

 

Regarding the pad issue, I don't know if it's the same with the 6-pot kit, but with the Scooby 4-pots the kit uses a 46mm deep pad rather than the standard 50mm deep one. If fitted with a 50mm pad it would mean the backing plate of the pad would rub the mounting bell when the pad was half-worn.
Always make sure when you buy pads for the AP 4-pot kit that you give your correct calier number, CP3215D46 (D46 denotes the pad depth).
Fewer pad companies make pads in the D46 size. It sounds like it may be the same for the 6-pots.

Stef.

 

W9GTR: I had this conversation with Mike yesterday, and he doesn't make money on the credit txn fee.

Their credit card acquiring rate is high: I think it may be because scoobymania have only been trading a limited while, so are still have a low credit rating in the eyes of megabusiness.

There's the option to pay via any other method with no penalty.

Hopefully, after a bit longer in business, Mike can get a better rate.

 

Hi martin

I know your pissed because I got the other set that you found...

Just to put petrol on it I did not get charged any % on my credit card

See yaa

Back to my pen testing....

 

My two penneth worth

We all have bad experiences from time to time, what makes these experiences easy to cope with though is how they are dealt with once they go wrong.

Personally I don't think posts such as these should be put up, instead they should be resolved directly with the responsible supplier.

I haven't come across a Scooby Tuner yet that offers poor service, remember that all these people are enthusiasts as well. I agree that professionalism is called for, but I also think that a degree of understanding is as well.

Martin, sorry your experience wasn't good, but maybe you should have had a conversation direct with Mike prior to your post especially with the evocative title like the one you chose.

Martin, I hope you get all remedied soon
Mike, my part time customer service skills are available at a price

 

DON'T GET RIPPED OFF WITH CARD SURCHARGES.

We run a business and were able to get a figure significantly lower than 4% initially from our merchant acquirer. Note though, the following conditions of contract, which I presume is applied by all merchant acquirers...

- You must not set any minimum limit on card payment amounts.
- Except for differences in price, you must treat purchases by card in exactly the same way as cash purchases
- With some types of card you must charge the customer the same price as if he or she were paying cash. These cards are Visa Delta / Electron / Switch and Solo.
- With other cards you may charge a different price. However, the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CARD PRICE AND CASH PRICE MUST NOT BE MORE THAN THE AMOUNT OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE CHARGE FOR THE CARD PAYMENT.

- Therefore, unless these companies have got a really bad deal of payment charges, they must be making a profit on the card surcharge and that is forbidden.

I would demand for this to be looked into - especially the guy who payed 5% on 14.5K !!!

Martin.

 

Not really that difficult to resolve, CC surcharge is actually less than we get charged. (we currently charge 4% of net cost, we get charged 4% of transaction total).

I hate paying surcharges myself, so always use switch or cheque. I am trying to reduce our surcharge % at the moment.

I had a choice, put 4% on everything carte blanche or just to those who chose to pay that way. I chose the latter.

Mike.

 

Just to add my tuppeneth re this little debate.

my clutch went in my sti5, i phoned round all over the place, and mike bless his cotton socks, shipped me a new ap clutch without me even paying for it (i had spanked my credit card on my wedding).

I had never spoken to Mike before, he didnt know me from adam. But he still shipped £500 (roughly) worth of clutch to someone he'd never met without payment and i forwarded him a cheque on installation.

I've always found him pleasant, helpful and is now one of the first places i call.

Just for the record guys, **** happens but people should talk more and solutions can be reached.


[This message has been edited by ptholt (edited 23 November 2000).]

 

I'm closing this thread now that Mike has had his chance to respond, as Martin suggested in his last post.

BTW: Tuners, (at least two of the other really well known ones, at least) getting let down by suppliers is a constant annoyance to me to. The number of weeks/months my car's been off the road, or suffering from substandard equipment whilst waiting for replacement parts is simply not funny anymore.

Moray