man, i cant believe it took stillen so long to act and get back to customers on a timely basis that our old thread here (a hugely viewed top 2o thread) went missing... hmmmm, wonder why?

anyway, anyone interested at all in what stillens end result was (those of you who remember?)...

any of you had similarly bad experiences with this shady company?

 

well, it gets much worse. it took them seven months to finally get it (almost - would be a stretch) right. sent me two bumpers that they didnt check for quality before it arrived in vegas, both times the infinti dealer refused them. talking with the stillen rep they admitted they should have opened the box. they then bought a fiberglass fascia from intense, and to my knowledge they spent about 1200 on it and last i checled it was still sitting gathering dust outside at the body shop as they refused to mount that also. to expedite, i agreed to go with stillens front bumper, as i was running out of time and patience and wanted to try to meet them half way (again). i was told also during this period a tech would be contacting me for my query about the supercharger belt squeaking; still no manual, specs, help with this issue for nine months now... they then offered and today took off the table a set of brakes and rotors for my troubles. man, i have to tell you that i have no idea how this company stays in the biz. its like they try to purposefully screw you in every way possible, then try to bury it instead of simply trying to talk it out. getting anyone from a low level rep to the boss' son to reply on a timely basis - if ever is next to impossible. i have a feeling that maybe these are the same guys secretely running our country now - makes sense on both levels to me.

simply put, i didnt post anything negative for almost a year since i had so many little problems that kept compounding due to their ineptness. instead i got screwed in just barely getting my bumper fixed that they damaged (something i didnt do but had to live with for months and do all the follow up myself) before the heads in charge decided that bean counting is the future instead of good word of mouth and customer service.

DONT BUY FROM STILLEN. LOOK AROUND THESE AND OTHER FORUMS AND YOU WILL SEE HOW MANY FOLKS HAVE GOTTEN THE SHAFT.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND BUY ANY OTHER PRODUCT FROM ANY OTHER REPUTABLE VENDOR WHO DESERVES YOUR MONEY AND WILL TREAT YOU RESPECTFULLY...

 

In July 2007 Gspothawaii’s G35 coupe was delivered to STILLEN’s Costa Mesa facility for the inspection of the AP Racing performance brake kit that was installed on the car by another facility in Hawaii. Upon inspection it was determined that the installation of the brake kit was performed incorrectly and was causing some problems. Stillen fixed all of the issues for no charge. While the car was here the customer decided to have a Stage 2 supercharger installed. The installation of the supercharger began on July 13, 2007. During the installation process the front fascia was trimmed to allow clearance for the intercooler. On July 25, 2007 the customer came in from his home in Hawaii to pick up his car and complete his move to Las Vegas. Stillen also covered the expense of the airport shuttle for Gspothawaii, his wife and their dogs from LAX airport to our Costa Mesa facility at a cost of $351.When the work was completed the car was received and there was no mention of any issues at the time of pick up.

On August 14, 2007 we received a phone call from the customer complaining that the breaks were squealing. On August 15, 2007 Stillen shipped out replacement shims at no charge and Stillen covered the installation cost for the shims.

On August 21st, 2007 we received an email from the customer stating that the fascia had been improperly trimmed and was not cut flush. Upon inspection of the pictures we received from the customer Stillen offered to send a replacement Stillen front fascia and offered to cover paint and installation. At this time the customer refused this offer as he stated his fascia was an original “Top Secret” brand fascia and he wanted that as a replacement.

On October 26, 2007 the customer began posting in internet forums complaining of Stillen customer service. Offering little facts, and completely ignoring the efforts Stillen had already made to rectify any problems.

At this time Kyle Millen was asked to work with the customer and try to get things sorted out. After much discussion and collaboration Kyle and the customer came to an agreement that Stillen would purchase a new front fascia from a vendor of the customers choice and cover the cost of paint and installation. The customer offered to allow Stillen to buy a less expensive replica fascia. Stillen went ahead and ordered the new fascia and had it shipped on November 26th ($350.00 not including freight.) When the fascia arrived at the customers installer it was determined that it was damaged and of poor quality. At this time the fascia’s manufacturer was contacted and they wanted a chance to fix the problem. They sent a new fascia to the customer which was also deemed to be of poor quality.

In December it was agreed that instead of continuing to run in circles Stillen would purchase the original Top Secret brand front fascia. Unfortunately this purchase was delayed due to my (Kyle Millen’s) illness. Not a very good excuse but I was heavily medicated and forgot to order the fascia. The fascia was ordered in early January, Retail on this kit is $ 919.00 and shipping was over $200.00. When this fascia arrived in February the customer was out of the state in Hawaii for one month. Upon his arrival it was deemed that the Top Secret fascia was made of fiberglass and not urethane as we all thought which brought into doubt the brand of the original fascia installed on the customers G35. At this point the customer said that he did not want the Top Secret front fascia as he wanted a urethane fascia. Even though Stillen had shipped three fascias already we suggested the customer consider other options of body kits because we really did want a satisfied customer and we wanted to “work it all out”.

The customer came back to us and said that he would accept our original offer of a new Stillen front fascia if we would include a free Stillen splitter and that he would also need a new grill. The customer also asked if we could paint the fascia before shipping it and he would simply install it himself. We suggested that painting the fascia before shipping it to him was pretty risky considering it could get damaged during the shipping process, the paint might not match perfectly, and it is best to test fit a fascia before painting it. On March 10th, 2008 we shipped a Stillen front fascia and splitter. On Friday March 28th I received an email from the customer letting me know that he had an appointment with his body shop to have the fascia painted and installed. On Tuesday April 1st I received a follow-up email from the customer letting me know that the car was at the body shop.

On April 3rd we received an email from the customer letting us know that the body shop had finished the work and the fascia was painted and on the car. Also included in this email was an itemized list of expenses for paint, rental car, and replacement grill totaling $1,399.53. On April 4th a check was sent to the customer for the full amount. This check cleared on April 14th.

Currently the Top Secret fascia still sits at the body shop but not for lack of trying to get it back to Stillen. when the work was finished on the car we sent a UPS call tag to the body shop to retrieve the fascia. However, the body shop sent back the fascia they removed from the customer's car. I have been trying to get the Top Secret fascia back but as of now my attempts have been unsuccesful.

Initially when I started working with this customer to show some goodwill I offered to send a replacement intercooler (a $504.61 value) as his intercooler was scratched due to the fitment of the purported Top Secret fascia being too tight on the intercooler. He informed me that he would not need a new intercooler as he was going to be installing a replacement grill. However he did ask for free replacement rotors and pads for his AP Racing brake kit -- a value of $1,211.34. To date STILLEN has spent over $4,000.00 trying to take care of and satisfy this customer. Another $1,211.34 is not reasonable. None of our efforts have been mentioned by the customer to this point. It has been one month since this issue was resolved yet no one knows this. Never once did STILLEN agree to this as the customer is now saying. If the customer assumed that this was going to happen that's one thing. But never once did we agree to this demand.

Stillen has actually done more for this customer than what I explained here and I would be happy to share that information but I did not want to lengthen this post anymore. It is very unfortunate that it has taken this long to come to a resolution. Stillen has been in business for over 22 years, we service over 20,000 customers annually and we pride ourselves on offering a great experience to our customer’s. During this time we have received countless emails of support from many customers of ours that are very happy with their experiences with Stillen. We strive to please every one of our customer’s but some people just are not going to be happy – but we will keep trying!

Many G35 owner's are also Nissan Titan owner's and frequent the various Titan boards. Anyone that visits the Titan boards will see that I have been a long time member for many years. I encourage everyone to do some background researchon me. Feel free to visit mightytitans.com, titantalk.com, and clubtitan.org. Those are the most popular Titan forums and I am confident you will only see good reviews of my customer service.

It is very disappointing that it has come to this as I truly did not wish for this to be the end result. Modifying cars is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Anyone that has ever met me will tell you that I am a true enthusiast and I love modifying my vehicles. I want all of our customer's to have the same experience.

 

^^^Well it looks like Stillen has some of the best customer service instead of this poor service gspothawaii is talkin about, sounds like stillen tryed to help gspothawaii as much as they could but HE was the one giving them the shaft...

 

This I'd just very interesting its hard to read

 

sounds like the OP is just a squirrel.

...STILLEN's documentation seems pretty through, imo

 

Looks Like they went waaaay above and beyond.

 

looks like stillen did an excelent job to rectify the problem. this just makes the OP look like and assbag.

 

I'd say Stillen tried to fix a lot of issues that arose from the story told by Kyle.

Problem is, though that the customer started all this in July and was completed (if that is a correct term) in April the following year. Now, with all the back and forth and stuff that was done wrong and right, it still took 10 months.

That seems a little uncalled for and I am sure the issues didn't help. A company can be good at trying to rectify problems, but a great company takes steps to avoid problems. In other words, offering free this and that as a result of issues that could have been avoided in the first place (Brake shims, trim work, etc.) isn't really a sign of how good a company is. If I can see the overall results were 10 months in the making, I would say forget it and go somewhere else...

It was a tough read and I applaud Kyle for the details and also showing they made some mistakes, but forgetting to order something that pertains to a customer that has had issues for 6 months is not a good thing. We all make mistakes, but if it has been 6 months of back and forth and mistakes and issues, little things can be a big deal...

I'd consider Stillen, but the story from either side isn't a positive one...

 

The Real Question should be, Why would the original Don't Buy from Stillen thread go missing I have searched it's gone - vanished

Lou

 

Probably because its a bunch of BS and gspothawaii is just tryin to weasel all the money out of stillen he can.

 

I am going to have to side with stillen on this. From the original posters first post it seems as though he is the type of person no one can please and tries to take advantage of companies and their superior customer service. I as well work for a company that is all about customer service and it is amazing how customers try to manipulate situations just to get a "free lunch".

I have dealt with stillen on several occasions and never once have i had a delayed or in-superior customer service. Things have always been timely and very organized.

To the OP - grow up. Stillen has done more than enough for you. Now you are just taking advantage of the fact that they are willing to help. You are the kind of person (from what i have read) that drags society down.

-Sean

 

Considering it takes 1.5 weeks for each item to be shipped, then shipped back ect. I would say this would take just about the right amount of time. Figure one month for each bumper. I am sure the customer did not recieve the bumper and go straight to the body shop. It takes time to get appointments and everything else. So he went through 4 bumpers? I am sure that is 4-5 months in itself. Stillen i am sure is not going to send him a new bumper without recieving the old first. Then the brakes? He had new shims and then new rotors i am sure this took another month to get an appointment and recieve the rotors and shims.

It all falls together. The customer IMO is way out of wack on this one.

-Sean

 

I haven't had any issues w/ stillen ... visited them many times in costa mesa and have always been happy w/ the help.