Called today 8-6-03 they are hoping for "early" next week. Problem w/ production. Which could be true. I am a little upset that we had to pay in full just to order the exhaust. So now about 35 people x 630.00 = a lot o money to be held up. I do not mean any disrespect to Labree motorsports, but maybe this will be a lesson to learn by...

 

I called and spoke with Brent and Judy. I kind of understand that it is out of their hands, but like mentioned above, that is a lot of money out there. Also, I own a business in South Carolina and it is illegal here to accept money for something that you do not have in stock. If you want your money back, like I did, they can say nothing to you. They are required to refund you your money. They also tried to pull the, "we have to charge 2% for use of our credit card machine" line with me. That did not work either. I am sure he is a hell of a guy and probably will end up producing some nice cats for the car, but he is not a good businessman. To not even give your customers a heads up is the wrong thing to do. I will end up buying all of my G parts from someone else. Hopefully you guys will get your exhausts soon. Oh yeah, I cancelled my order on Monday. My exhaust from conceptZ will be here next monday. Price was only four more dollars shipped to my door.

 

i was totally going to jump on this group buy, but for some reason, i just had a gut feeling something was up.. no offense to labrea or anything, but i trust someone who actually has the item in stock, so that's why i got mine from yuichi at strictlyz.. you can't go wrong, cause he'll even set u up with robert, who's an expert mechanic.. if you guys are still in the market, just hit up strictlyz.. that's my two cents..

 

jotay, I'm going to assume you're legit and not some supplier/vendor or parts dealer. that said, what you say is extremely sad re Brent Labree and his group buy on Borlas. While it doesn't tarnish Borla's name (no pun intended for the unpolished finish), it really does a number on Labree. Many of us are either small business owners, or have close ties to one. What you say is very correct. And it says something about Labree that I leave to the individual conclusion of each of us.

As the Brits would say, very poor form. Quick responses, too, from those who like/use Strictly Z or Concept Z. There is always someone ready to leap into the vacuum created by poor service or sales. Too bad for the departing business; good for us!

BONDg35c

 

Oh well.... I am sticking with my order... I know there are 3 people who cancelled their orders... and he is willing to sell the 3 exhaust for the group buy rate....

I understand people's frustration, we got a good deal... relax... I think everyone will be happy at the end.... [img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

 

I think everyone needs to relax. The only reason they told us it would take about a week is because thats exactly how long it took to get the Z's exhausts. They were never told from Borla that it would be a week. We all took a chance by getting on this group buy before the exhausts were in stock, and this is what happens, you wait for them.

Luv My G

 

I agree - you guys need to "chill out" and be a little patient. Our Borla systems will come. I had to wait 6 months just to get the car.


Larry Bushaw - 6MT coupe - "Objects in mirror are losing!"

 

In line with the more reasoned, and reasonable, people who've posted on this forum/thread re Labree and the Borlas, I'd modify my statement posted earlier. I guess it is to be expected from all the known info that the group buy was well in advance of production, let alone shipping or stocking of inventory. And therefore, a degree of patience is very well called for, and I agree with that.

I would say, however, that communication and the right words could have avoided some of this. If, for instance, Labree had said, contact me by whatever means if you're concerned since I can't put out 50 emails every other day as a status-update, or some such thing, or if he had posted the status on a special website, I think that might have made a lot of difference to some buyers.

These are, after all, first time buyers from Labree. Most of the buyers are nowhere close to his location and have never met him; he's just a voice on the end of the phone. They have no history with him and that's an important fact.

I'm willing to give Labree the benefit of the doubt, but this is a very good demonstration of how to handle customers. I agree with the opinion of others that charging a 2% fee for credit card refund is a bit unnecessary.

I'm hoping that everyone is satisfied with the end result which is to get the exhaust on their cars and feel the performance!

BONDg35c

 

I think it's clear that this is a Mom & Pop operation, and they don't have the resources to provide Amazon.com customer service. If I'm not mistaken, they never came here offering executive service, someone else arranged the group buy through them and then posted that everyone should call them. I think the only misrepresentations were by people who exaggerated the availability of the product after putting in their order so that the 25 minimum would be met. Nobody runs a group buy for a product he already has, you only do that prior to putting in the order. If you've already ordered the product, you're going to charge as high a price as possible when the calls start coming in. As for the card refund fee, that's disappointing, but that probably does create a hardship for them at their business level, especially given their small profit margin on this. On the other hand, they shouldn't have charged cards without getting a delivery commitment from Borla. I think that was an honest mistake. They don't sound very savvy, and are stuck in an uncomfortable position now. On the other hand, they're stuck with *our* money, so...

The lesson learned here is that the standards and industry knowledge of Mom & Pop's are not as high as the average online retailer's. My guess is they'll be even less enthusiastic about these sort of arrangements in the future than we are. Protect your money, sure, but let's not drag them through the mud and brain them with baseball bats in the process. Maybe someone local could be the contact for us, and keep us updated by posting that he's doing so, rather than having each of us call individually.

-Jack
Obsidian '03 G35 Sports Coupe
Titanium '03 MX-5 Shinsen #532

 

Let's just hope they come in early next week as planned. If not The hell w/ Borla. It's really not LaBree Motorsports fault. Its the manufacturer. I will give another week or two and if I do not receive it, there are plenty of other exhaust out there to choose from...

 

TWO very well thought out responses by lebushaw and jdman. I applaud their thinking and logic. Let's step back from anger and anxiety.

BONDg35c

 

I'm in this group buy as well and do agree with JDMan and BONDg35c. But do feel that communications could have been handled in some better form. I'm patiently waiting, but did have to cancel a planned trip because of the delay. Sure hope the expenditure is worth it, as the stock exhaust has a neat tone.

03G35c/C_Blue/Willow/5AT/Premium/Splash/Garmin SteetPilot III/V1/SAT/XM/18" PermaStar rims w/NITTOs.

84685-G35c Eng Cvr Thumb.jpg

 

Well for me, communication is everything ...it's as simple as picking up the phone and dialing a number. I'm pretty easy going, and understand that things happen in life that we have no control over, and even those things we do were human and mistakes happen. However, EVERY business (being one myself) needs to understand customer service, and part of good customer service involves updating your customers as to the status of their order, especially when delays are realized. As for the 2%, not legal, UNLESS it was clearly explained before the order was taken. I can't speak for the rest of ya, but I never heard anything about 2%. Also, I was rather shocked to see that my credit card was charged PRIOR to shipment. If a business can haggle over 2% for cancelling an order, Then I can haggle over the 15.9% my credit card charges me for the purchase of an item that I don't have yet. Plus, I was unaware that this exhaust was unpolished, the pictures I saw looked polished to me. Soooooo, I guess this has been a learning experience for everyone.
Nuff Said!

"Use the Forced Induction Luke!"
-Jedi
2003 G35C, 6MT, Navi, Black Obsidian/Graphite

 

Well for me, communication is everything ...it's as simple as picking up the phone and dialing a number. I'm pretty easy going, and understand that things happen in life that we have no control over, and even those things we do were human and mistakes happen. However, EVERY business (being one myself) needs to understand customer service, and part of good customer service involves updating your customers as to the status of their order, especially when delays are realized. As for the 2%, not legal, UNLESS it was clearly explained before the order was taken. I can't speak for the rest of ya, but I never heard anything about 2%. Also, I was rather shocked to see that my credit card was charged PRIOR to shipment. If a business can haggle over 2% for cancelling an order, Then I can haggle over the 15.9% my credit card charges me for the purchase of an item that I don't have yet. Plus, I was unaware that this exhaust was unpolished, the pictures I saw looked polished to me. Soooooo, I guess this has been a learning experience for everyone.
Nuff Said!

"Use the Forced Induction Luke!"
-Jedi
2003 G35C, 6MT, Navi, Black Obsidian/Graphite

 

I personally dont care about the fact that they haven't shipped the exhaust yet but I am probably going to cancel my order. I dont think that I want the Borla any more. The Stillen looks a lot nicer and I want to see the results from the Shootout. If I had recieved the borla I would probably be trying to sell it right now anyway. Canceling just saves me the trouble. we'll see how it goes.