Bad experience, twice with a Viper Parts Vendor!!

[BlackACR]

I have tried to deal with this person before. He has always been a total **** to myself and a few of my friends. I will not name this Vendor. But, will warn people out there who they may be dealing with. Last time someone mentioned this persons business they where banned from this board. I will not make that mistake. On a end note. I don't like this same Vendor calling me about an ad I have in the classifieds and acting like he would like to buy the merchandise. The fact is my ad is NOT MISLEADING.

 

[ewave]

Come on! Let us know who you are talking about and the details of the problem. Don't allow yourself to be oppressed!

 

[cstegall]

Tony,
What Paul said. Always helpful to know who the good guys are and who the bad ones are.

Paul,
Everytime I see your avatar I want to click on it

...amazing job.

No Flame Intended...Just Observation,
CStegall

 

[JonB]

I call many classifieds and buy lots of stuff. FACT. Especially this month, since inventory was slow in 2002.

I called Tony, whose classified tire ad suggests that 3-year old tires are no good!! Michelin says otherwise. I did NOT pose as a Buyer.... I simply asked his build dates, (good, new tires by the way, Tony!) and I asked why he felt 3-year old tires were bad. He told me to 'check the VCA board', and I said I would, and posted a follow up. THANKS to him for the lead. It was nothing more than that. End of Story.

He has never bought from me (my loss?) and I dont know him. sorry?

 

[joe117]

So, JonB, why is this guy upset?
I've bought from you and I had small problems that you took care of, so I would certainly rate you as an honest person running a straight up operation.
His problem seems to be that you called him about his classified ad. Why did you call him and why is he upset?

 

[BlackACR]

I think this will start a few more posts about customer service. This is the reason I have not dealt with you. The 2 times I called you where rude in my opinion and, we know about opinons. But, I'm not alone!! I have sent my business else where. (Did not pose as a buyer), what's calling and asking 20 questions and being rude at that. Some people on here would probably prefer a year old over a tire being 3+ years old!!

 

[BlackACR]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by joe117:
So, JonB, why is this guy upset?
I've bought from you and I had small problems that you took care of, so I would certainly rate you as an honest person running a straight up operation.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You must have read a different post than I. I was not attacking his honor or integrity. It was more about the attitude I received after telling him I would think about buying a product he was selling. Which I felt the price was way to high. I'm glad I waited 2 days saved my a few hundred bucks.

 

[jimandela]

i can now add my 2 cents.
Jon has answered every one of my questions
via email and phone. I have not be able to purchase anything
tried once part was damaged in shipping. he gave full prompt refund.
no bs!
so i feel that in general i have been a pain to him and he still takes all my calls and emails.

Sometimes he is busy selling/shipping expensive components (full exhaust,etc)so being "rude" is understandable if i am only buying a $40 part and he is in a rush.
but he has told me call me back in a hour.
so...that is my 2 cents take it for what it is worth.

Will he bend you over like .... 3 letters... HMS?
NO!!! NEVER!!

JIM

 

[JonB]

Tony, Joe et al:

I am an anal-retentive person, who always tries to get specific.
THE YEAR MATTERS.
When you try to first become my customer, some folks are put off that I DO ask lots of qustions...year, make, model, mods, location. I put it in a customer file. THEN I can answer questions correctly. When you send an E-mail, Ive got your specs.
But some folks hate the 'grilling'. They also hate being on hold. I hate it, too ! (Example: some guys buy new ABS Vipers without teling me! Imagine that.... They order pads, they got NON ABS pads by mistake because the FILE says 1996 GTS! )

And I can promise to have the best prices on NEW, but on USED PARTS its apples-pommegranites comparisons. E-bay for example shields some stolen parts, aquired for ZERO. I cannot compete sometimes, as Paul and others know well. But "prices are negotiable" and I hate to lose business over ~~$200 difference IF-IF-IF I had the room to work.

Lastly: Tony, I just asked your dates, never asked a price, dickered, or acted like a buyer, Right? I just called ! My main focus was the '3-year' concern (of monnie?, elsewhere, as YOU told me, thanks) So I said thanks, went there, and replied. Period.

Tony, please try me again, and Ill sell at ZIP profit. Try me. Satisfaction guaranteed. I can only take my reputation to the grave, so you can have my profit...Id prefer to have you as a customer: File opening......

Tony Besh
2000 ACR
Black Silver
-- Miles?
-- Mods?
-- Driving Venues?
-- Planned mods?
Im starting your file........Ive got your phone from the ad !!
THANKS for a 3rd chance.............or a 3rd strike

 

[malcoll]

Just as a general comment. I feel strongly that this forum SHOULD be the open forum where Viper owners can post freely information about experiences they have with vendors.....all vendors...... freely without retribution such as banning.

That said, I have called JonB thrice. The first time to ask about wheels, the second time to ask about wheels, and the third time to order EBC greens.

All three times he was professional, not overly FRIENDLY, but very professional. He answered my questions, gave me quotes on some used wheels (which I have yet to purchase)..... but always professional.

Actually JonB, you never "grilled" me about my Viper...... but you sent me the right pads!!!

Just my .02........ never be afraid to share a poor experience, and always share the name of the vendor....... the vendor can always put up his defense... and other can come to his/her defense if they so choose. Information is valuable, just make sure you post actual events.


Later,
Lance

 

[cstegall]

Tony,

I don't know your situation but I am sure you have your reasons for feeling as you do. I can say that JonB has always dealt with me very courteously and has been very,very competitive in his pricing. Many times he has sent me to others if it looked like his price was going to be higher than someone else's. I do know that Jon needs to clone himself in order to work with all the folks that call him,he however, has decided that he would rather do his best to try to speak to everyone personally rather than let a machine "take a number". I am sure that this practice stretches his patience(I know it would mine)and that sometimes that may translate into rudeness. I always chalk it up to business and know that the next time I call him he will take the time to talk me thru every little question that I may have about my car.

Yep..I support PartsRack...by choice.


No Flame Intended...Just Observation,
CStegall

 

[2MANYTOYS]

As a new Viper owner (bought my first Viper in Nov.)I have had to do a lot of reading here on the board and find out for myself who's straight and who's not. I have bought many different things from JonB from expensive to inexpensive. Never once have I had any problems. He has always treated me with the utmost respect and manners. The prices are fair as well. JonB is as straight as they come IMHO.
BTW, Jon if your reading this I will be calling you tomorrow for the second order of HRE's.

 

[FrankBarba]

Hey whats the matter with Jon B? get to the point....i have purchased from jonb and have never had a problem. parts are always as advertised and i have sometimes received more than i asked for at no extra cost. I have also advertised in the classifieds sometimes i get a call from jonb wanting to know about the part listed, if he has a buyer he's gonna call. jon b is the viper guru.

 

[SUN RA KAT]

I had the pleasure of buying performance spark plug wires for my Viper to prepare it for the Roe Supercharger. Jon talked me out of the wires I wanted and sold me different wires at a much higher price. Several weeks later there were many posts here about how the wires I originally wanted - MOPAR - caused the static that made even listening to the CD player an unhappy experience, and the wires he did sell me - Magnacore - were great. Thanks, Jon!

 

[NCVCA]

My 2 cents?

The Viper community is very close and vendors often become friends. This causes a problem because everyone has to eat while we feel like we are friends so we should get a special deal.

I think Jon is what he says he is --- anal retentive. I'll add sometimes gruff and he switches lines and puts people on hold more often than I go off track (but thats for another post).

Jon is running a business. "yeah" you say but think about it... There is a very limited number of customers. Only Viper owners are even potential clients. There are a LOT of competitors. The only way he can differentiate himself is quality of service and/or price.

Well, you can't sell to everyone at cost or you go broke and you can't (even though he probably wants to) talk to every person who calls for an hour. There just isn't enough time.

So, when you call Jon expect to get asked a lot of questions - it benefits the buyer and seller by minimizing problems.

Also expect to be put on hold because he probably had to put someone else on hold to answer your call. He's just trying to help as many people as possible and run a business at the same time.

Lastly, there are a lot of good vendors out there. I personally think the best way to determine good from great is to post here and ask, see who shows up at VOI's and Viper Days events and support vendors who support the Viper community.

There are also vendors who sell certian items exclusively so it's wise if at all possible to maintain a friendly relationship with everyone. SOME vendors/tuners make this impossible, but most are just trying very hard to make a living and help fellow Viper enthusiast.

Remember my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it!

 

[malcoll]

See that's how it works...... in this case it appears that the jury is in...

JonB is good people!'

Now about that "no profit" mentality??

JUST KIDDING!!!!

Lance

 

[garolittle]

Count me in as a supporter of Jon B. He gave me excellent advice concerning a potential headgasket problem on my previous '94 RT/10. I have always valued his guidance and I will certainly be calling him soon after I purchase another Viper next month.

Gary Little

 

[monnieh]

My experience with JonB was not about price, honesty, integrity, etc.

IT WAS ALL ABOUT HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Since the cat is out of the bag I will go ahead and tell you my post a while back about "the age of tires from the" was in regard to JonB.

His customer service while selling me the tires was as good as it goods. Had warm fuzzy feeling after buying from Jon. When the age of the tires became a very sincere concern for me I call Jon. Read my other thread if you want to know what happened.

After the sale, COMPLETELY DISSATISFIED with the customer service. The icing on the cake was him offering to sell me a 2nd set of tires!?! How insulting can you possible be? This is after him telling me he just got a pallet of 1998 tires in.

I had assumed Jon was just having a bad day and took it for that. However, when several people prodded me about who it was I found out several people had received poor CS AFTER the sale.

I can assure the jury is still out as a lot of people are afraid to post their unhappy experience with Mr. B. after that fellow was banned for posting "bad press" on the forums sponsor.

 

[Marc Lublin]

Personally, I hate when people say, " I buy from him and he's great". I used to hear that all the time about Hennessey and he's a crook. But JonB lets face it, you sometimes come out with some stupid sounding crap, but the third chance line was first class. I truly believe you try to help your customers. By the way, I bought from Jon and had a good experience.

 

[NCVCA]

Pleaaaaaaaaase,

Skip the "he was banned" story... that has no legs.

There is a LOT more to that story and everyone involved looks back on that as a wild time in the history of the board. I was part of it.

Jon, if anything, is too passionate. I once posted (it lasted about 7 seconds but anyway...) something that caused huge problems. Effectively I was "banned" and I probably should have been, but the reality is my post was passionate and out of love for the car, the club, and the people. The funny thing is that I was railing on a guy for his passion about the same things. Jon is no different from what I've seen - he's just in love with this car and the people.

If you had a crappy experience I'm sure everyone feels for you (including him). If Jon offered to sell another set I'm sure it wasn't meant to offend you - he was looking for a solution. What do you want from him? Specifically? I've found him to be reasonable. I ordered an item that never came because his vendor dropped the ball. Solution?? Full refund no questions asked. No one is perfect, but he stands behind his business.

Please don't bash vendors over something this minor - Jon's been around longer than almost everyone I know in the Viper community and will be here a lot longer than most I know as well.

THAT my friend is called equity. It's a tough business. I think he's earned his good reputation even though.....

even though he may not be the sweetest, most social, buddy buddy guy. MOST would agree he does his level best for his clients (and with his knowledge thats says alot).

Anyway, most of us live in America and the freedom to do business with whomever we choose it what makes it great. Jon has said he wants your business and the chance to earn it. If you own a business you know you have to earn it every day.

I have learned that most times I think a company has taken advantage of me that in fact they haven't. My company deals in products and services that are very technical. Occassionally a client is unhappy because they don't undrstand the intracacies of what we do. All I have to do is take the time to educate the client and they come around. I have the luxury of the time to do this because my average customer spends over $20,000 with us a year.

I don't know Jon's business (I've actually only met him once at VOI7) but I bet his average customer spends less than $1000 with him a year. There are exceptions like I have $3 million clients, but on average folks aren't sending huge checks. Let's just remember Jon PROBABLY (no disrespect intended for other vendors) sells more Viper parts than any other single source.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Is the Viper community better off for The Partsrack????

 

[Ron]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">For what it's worth at this point, Jon has always provided excellent advise and given me all the time I needed to make an informed decision. His pricing has always been fair and sometimes even aggressive. He in business to make a living, but unlike some others, has never made me feel as if I was being gouged because I owned a Viper.

Though I haven't had the pleasure of working with all of the various Viper vendors, Chuck Tator and Sean Roe certainly fall into the same category as Jon in my experience... Valuable assets to the Viper community.

That said, I also agree that this forum should be about sharing factual experience to the benefit of the community and as a motivation for improvement of the vendors actions. How you accomplish that without resorting to slander and spreading of hearsay, I do not know.</FONT f>

 

[SingleMalt]

All I can say is this is ONE HOT post. Don't change A THING, Jon. I'm sure I speak for many when I say, "Thanks." You've been nothing but the best to me and I hate to see comments from a thin-skinned person try to undermine your livelyhood. Very sad.

Mike

 

[Newport Viper]

Always good service from JonB. Even with the pain of shipping stuff to Hawaii

 

[BADVENOM]

Since eveyone else is chiming in its my turn, Dealt with Jon B.
a few times. Never had any problems. He always answered my questions either by call bavk or by email promptly. Just asked him about windshield decal for my rt/10 and he emailed me back promptly to be of service.

Would defintely do business with him again.

PS ..Why can't we all just get along

ADAM

 

[Jerry Colpitts]

i have bought from jon b. several times to many to mention always a pleasant experiance never steering me wrong once when i need something i think of jon b. first he runs an excellent business.thanks jon b. your the best

 

[NJVIPER]

Folks,
I've got to tell everyone that I am a very concerned about the aggressiveness of posting responses lately.
I have recently been the attack of one for just asking opinions and its too bad if they have been asked several times...TFB!
I don't know about everyone else, but I come here for the sheer enjoyment of communicating with other Viper enthusiasts.
If there is a a problem, let's not ready, fire, aim...let's give everyone an opportunity to state their side of the story and do the right thing if required.
My personal involvement with JonB has been no problem. He has never pressured me to buy anything from him. Actually, I have not purchased anything..YET..but I have already referred other people to him.
Deal with some of the people I deal with everyday in retail and I think the opinion of JonB will be alot different.
If we start pi$$ing off our supporters (Bill Pemberton, Sean Roe, Chuck Tator, etc.) than who do we have left...JH???
Remember one thing, I don't see a scores of people stepping up to the plate to offer the services that JonB, and other forum supporters, are offering. JonB charges money like any other normal business would, but there is alot of valued added service he throws in for free as well.
Everyone has their good and bad days...innocent until proven guilty...not vice versa.
As NCVCA wrote "THE BOTTOM LINE: Is the Viper community better off for The Partsrack????".
In the short time (3 months)I have been on the VCA forum...I would say HELL YEAH!!!
I am also a JonB/Partsrack supporter...BY PERSONAL CHOICE!!!
Thanks JonB for your straight forward advice whenever I call!!!

 

[ceieio]

<FONT COLOR="Black">
In my experience, Jon has shown genuine enthusiasm for the Viper and taking care of me as a customer. In my dealings with him he rendered good service. (He even drove some parts down to me one day. This was the FIRST time I did business with him.)

Having met Jon and looked him in the eye I believe him to be the genuine article. Jon is very business like and direct (a trait that works very well for me).

I can see that his focus and directness could be interpreted as rudeness, but I believe his directness is his way to learn and get things "right". You will probably never have to tell Jon to "step in front of the bush" and say what is on his mind.

Some of us like that, others could be put off.

A friend of mine tells me over and over that there are three ways to view interactions, positively, neutrally, or negatively. Negatively - he is a **** who get's in your face. Neutrally - he shows an "ask assertive style". Positively - he is intensely focused and passionate about his craft.

Tony - I am sorry your experiences with Jon have not been as pleasant as mine. He really is worth another try. I hope you two can patch it up.

Best Regards,
Craig
</FONT c>

 

[MiamiJeff]

I too have only had very good experiences with JonB. Hope he doesn't take this to heart, but even if he didn't have reasonable prices, there is significant $$$ value to the ADVICE he offers. In many fields, there's almost always someone somewhere who might offer a cheaper end product...usually with far inferior (if any) service.

As a full service stock/bond/option/futures broker who doesn't do trades for $7.99 like the internet folks do, I can't begin to count the number of do-it-yourselfers I've heard about who've managed to nearly destroy their own personal net worth. I think it's called confusing "brilliance" with a "bull market" but that's a whole new Off-Topic category.

Again, there is value in quality advice. I've gotten nothing but that with JonB but I'll sure defend anyone's right to post any legit experience, good or bad, with any Viper supplier.

 

[Robert1994]

"When in doubt call CHUCK !"
Best service on new parts, FACTORY help, and all round nice guy:
Chuck Tator! (He actually dove 90 miles one way to deliver a part to Fed Ex to save us about $50 for shipping)
Used parts, shop around. There are many vendors.
Don(Paul)Scharf
Jon B
Pacific Salvage Company (cheap plug)

 

[Biff Brown]

Jon B's commitment, involvement and knowledge are "PRICELESS" to the Viper Community....PERIOD!!!!..We need more like him....THANKS JON!!!