AutoGeek Rant - Questionable Business Ethics

[BobD]

David, why not go straight to the top (Max)?

May as well talk to the wall.

 

[BobD]

Oh, and if you start dealing with them again after this you'll need your head examined. LOL



You guys need to start posting over at detailingforums.com !

 

[5spdfrk]

Too bad for all parties involved. They've lost a knowledgeable poster on their forum and a customer who has spent who knows how much over the years with them. Good discussion and accurate information is what these forums are all about, and the fact that they are trying to push their own agenda does not look good at all. Do they really think that a post questioning the origin of a product is going to hurt their business that bad? I doubt it would, because several hundred people may see it over there, but now many more on multiple forums will see it now. Sucks for them, because I, like many others, would rather order products from a company who is looking to further the detailing community not hinder it.

 

[Dan]

When you find an unbiased forum, let me know. Yes they showed their asses on that one, can you say you are shocked they were looking out for their own interests?



I'll continue to buy from them, they are cheap, ship fast and have handled a situation I had with a product very well.

 

[Accumulator]

Too bad for all parties involved. They've lost a knowledgeable poster on their forum and a customer who has spent who knows how much over the years with them...

My sentiments exactly. But I'm especially sorry to hear David Fermani's side of it, and not just because I consider him a pal.

 

[AeroCleanse]

AeroCleanse - I've talked to Mike on his personal sell phone several times. That's where I left my voice message like other times. I also sent him a PM here with a Read Receipt which he acknowledged. I'm done reaching out.

Mike is the new guy there, despite his knowledge.



I'll tell you what I've done myself is these kind of situations. Find out who the person in charge is, in this case you know already. Write an nice (and I mean nice) letter, then FedEx it to them. Sometimes the person in charge doesn't know whats going on in your specific case.



It depends on how far you want to take it.

 

[WAS]

I've seriously considered doing some en-mass orders with AG (since I'm in Canada, it's only worth it if I make larger orders due to shipping costs). That said, I will certainly be thinking twice before ordering anything from them. I don't like businesses that, for no good reason, go after other businesses in a cut-throat manner.

 

[BobD]

I've seriously considered doing some en-mass orders with AG (since I'm in Canada, it's only worth it if I make larger orders due to shipping costs). That said, I will certainly be thinking twice before ordering anything from them. I don't like businesses that, for no good reason, go after other businesses in a cut-throat manner.

Ever try E-shine. They seem to be really good and have a lot to pick from.

 

[WAS]

Ever try E-shine. They seem to be really good and have a lot to pick from.

eShine Canada ? Chris Pace ? Yep, I've ordered from him a few times. Just bought an extractor from him actually.



Hahaha, I'm looking at AG's web site, and took a look at their "Cobra Arctic White Edgeless Polishing Cloths". Here's a copy and paste from their product description:



For wax removal, the Cobra Arctic White is the reigning champ. Its looped texture cleans without caking and leaves the surface completely free of residue and that pesky white dust. (If you were using Pinnacle Souveran™, you wouldn’t have to worry about white dust!)



Didn't take me long to figure out what kind of product marketing they're doing

 

[Barry Theal]

David Im sorry to hear about all this. I have got to be honest Autogeek has been good with me. THis just goes to show how ignorant a company can be. I'm actually surprised Mike Phillips has done anything. Well I guess he got bought out. This is a shame. Time for me to give up wolfgang Fuzion. Im done with these clowns!!!!!!!

 

[AeroCleanse]

David Im sorry to hear about all this. I have got to be honest Autogeek has been good with me. THis just goes to show how ignorant a company can be. I'm actually surprised Mike Phillips has done anything. Well I guess he got bought out. This is a shame. Time for me to give up wolfgang Fuzion. Im done with these clowns!!!!!!!

You can always do what I did, start selling products yourself that you use and like. Wouldn't apply to AG house brands of course.

 

[David Fermani]

Just got home from dinner and found the post that BigAl bumped deleted. I asked that they should reconsider and it got deleted.

They must have been reading that thread immediately after you posted and like all the other controversial threads there, they just wiped it away from everyone’s view. I guess we know the answer to your question then!

David, I can't believe that a company would turn its back on someone who is so knowledgeable and helpful. But we are talking about the geek here. After the way I was treated by them 3 years ago, it does it not suprise me one bit.



I'm just thankful that we have a place like Autopia to voice concerns.

You’re right Bryan. These people in my opinion have no integrity to themselves or the detail community. Look who their mouthpieces are? Not really the typical face of the real detail world. That’s why they cater themselves to newbies that don’t know the 1st thing about detailing. It’s like the blind leading the blind when I see some of their longggg threads.

I am not suprised................. if anyone knows how you can get burned supporting products/re-sellers it is me, like Joe Peschi says in the movie casino "It's all about the dollars" but this way of doing things always backfires in the end............ ALWAYS.



Once again "stepping over the dimes to pick up the pennies".

Great info Bob! Glad you see through the smoke and mirrors of these big $$ resellers. Being in California I’m sure you’ve had many run-ins with people posing as real detailers. It’s now here in Florida.

I've been saying this for years. LOL I'd never do business with them. And the funny thing, when I was detailing and not reselling, it's the only place we bought from. They screwed us in the past too.



Here is a funny story. i tried to get them to carry my products a while back. They just stopped responding to me and never showed interest in it. Then when I announced the closing Max emails me and wants to purchase everything at a discount. Did not want to have anything to do with me in the past but when they thought they'd be able to buy it at close to nothing and sell it for a heavy profit they came to me. I told them no, obviously.



Another thing they did was they used the keyword "danase" in their yahoo advertising. You'd type in "danase" and they'd pop up. I had to contact yahoo and get it stopped, and yahoo pulled it within 24 hours. I should of contacted a lawyer.

Really? So they figured they didn’t need your products, but they’d spam your name for their own best interest. They got off easy. I would have sued them. Just goes to show you how hot & cold they are when it’s good for them.

May as well talk to the wall.

Oh, and if you start dealing with them again after this you'll need your head examined. LOL

You don’t have to worry about that. No way in the world. I wish I would have listened to everyone a long time ago.

Too bad for all parties involved. They've lost a knowledgeable poster on their forum and a customer who has spent who knows how much over the years with them. Good discussion and accurate information is what these forums are all about, and the fact that they are trying to push their own agenda does not look good at all. Do they really think that a post questioning the origin of a product is going to hurt their business that bad? I doubt it would, because several hundred people may see it over there, but now many more on multiple forums will see it now. Sucks for them, because I, like many others, would rather order products from a company who is looking to further the detailing community not hinder it.

You’re right. Truth & accuracy is the backbone of a strong forum. Without it, it’s a loser deal. If this thread can reach out to anyone teetering on the edge; I hope they see the light. I’m just dissapointed that I wasted countless hours participating there giving my heart and soul; just to have it edited and deleted because it didn’t conform to their agenda. I actually tried their in-house brands after seeing a couple reviews. They just didn’t meet the high expectations that their “Product Testers” stated. On 3….2….1……Reality Check!

When you find an unbiased forum, let me know. Yes they showed their asses on that one, can you say you are shocked they were looking out for their own interests?



I'll continue to buy from them, they are cheap, ship fast and have handled a situation I had with a product very well.

Yeah, I thought the same until this whole ordeal happened. I just won’t participate when I know shanagines are being pulled right under my nose.

My sentiments exactly. But I'm especially sorry to hear David Fermani's side of it, and not just because I consider him a pal.

Thanks Accumulator. I wish I had AutoGeek’s explanation. Their continued lack of acknowledgement just shows that they’ve chosen to run from their accuser instead of explain their piss pore misjudgment. When you’re wrong, man-up and admit it; or state your case for crying out loud.

Mike is the new guy there, despite his knowledge.



I'll tell you what I've done myself is these kind of situations. Find out who the person in charge is, in this case you know already. Write an nice (and I mean nice) letter, then FedEx it to them. Sometimes the person in charge doesn't know whats going on in your specific case.



It depends on how far you want to take it.

We’ll have to agree to disagree then. This comes down to what you’d do based on your beliefs. I just feel differently and chose not to beat a dead horse and waste more resources just to break through the force field of incompetence. The thing is, I’d be willing to bet $$ that Max knows the whole story(before this thread came out) and probably condones the way his people run his forum. IMHO he most likely coaches his staff on handling obstacles like this and prides himself on this behavior. Otherwise; he’d acknowledge it in my opinion.

I've seriously considered doing some en-mass orders with AG (since I'm in Canada, it's only worth it if I make larger orders due to shipping costs). That said, I will certainly be thinking twice before ordering anything from them. I don't like businesses that, for no good reason, go after other businesses in a cut-throat manner.

Thanks. I hope this thread helps you make your decision more accurately then. That’s the intent.

David Im sorry to hear about all this. I have got to be honest Autogeek has been good with me. THis just goes to show how ignorant a company can be. I'm actually surprised Mike Phillips has done anything. Well I guess he got bought out. This is a shame. Time for me to give up wolfgang Fuzion. Im done with these clowns!!!!!!!

I’m glad you’re not going to let the hand that reaches out for the $$ swing around to smack you in the face. I think it's time to take that AG banner down in your shop. Many people are inspired by your posts. I'd hate to see someone see that and think you're part of the losing team.

 

[Scottwax]

Hahaha, I'm looking at AG's web site, and took a look at their "Cobra Arctic White Edgeless Polishing Cloths". Here's a copy and paste from their product description:



For wax removal, the Cobra Arctic White is the reigning champ. Its looped texture cleans without caking and leaves the surface completely free of residue and that pesky white dust. (If you were using Pinnacle Souveran™, you wouldn’t have to worry about white dust!)



Didn't take me long to figure out what kind of product marketing they're doing

To be fair, that's good marketing. Sort of like the cashier at McDonalds asking "do you want fries with that", or me upselling polishing and waxing to wash customers.



As far as the incident between David and Autogeek, I think it is a shame that they wouldn't at least get with David and see if there was a resolution to the issue before it got this far. Unfortuntely, on most sponsored forums, this is the norm and not the exception. That's what I've always liked about Autopia. The moderators tend to let people hash issues out and only resort to locking threads or bans as a last resort.

 

[efnfast]

But in the end, it's just a web forum. That's it - it isn't a democracy, it's a privately run business venture. If they want to ban you for that, so be it. If they want to ban you because your name is David, so be it. If they want to ban you because you're black, then so be it (as long as they don't say it out loud, lol).



Shifty business for sure, but not much you can do.

 

[Junebug]

Well David, didn't I tell you that their "forum" was full of shills and wannabees. I was through when they started the "XXXXX" when I posted something about Blackfire. The only house brand worth a crap is Souveran - and Terry from CMA invented that. The rest of their stuff is rebadged, overpriced and just average or below. Don't sweat it man, like somebody said, after the noobs find Autopia or TID - they will avoid the geek like the clap.

 

[BigAl3]

as my old boss's son would say, "that ain't right". they start a thread and show a picture of you when you visit AG, and you've been a good customer for years, and there isn't any resolution/chance to this before you get banned?. that's like a slap in the face. david.. i do appreciate your honesty and your input, you are valuable source to the detailing community. it's someone else's loss, not yours...

 

[SilverJag]

Instead of taking the time to assess the issue and amend any problems, AG probably lost more respect and potential consumers in the process of ignoring this event. Unfortunate for them.



Dave, we've never met nor talked, but I've seen your work and help throughout these forums countless times - a very commendable thing to do.



Good luck to you,

 

[a.k.a. Patrick]

As a business owner myself, what would hurt the most is a cut at the Achilles. Just dont buy from them, stop recommending them, and stop visiting their forum? Move on..........I had a situation with Menzerna USA probably 5 years ago (I wont get into the detail), which really upset me as well. I refuse to even use their products (even if there offered for free), nor will I recommend them, nor would I ever sell them. I moved on, no biggy......

 

[The Enforcer]

Wow.....and I was upset about being banned for saying "queer" on here! I'm sorry to hear of your troubles......and glad you are opneing the eyes to everyone on here of the integrity adne thics of the pther party involved. Looks like I won't be buying anything from them anymore (seriously....I don't like giving money to people like this). DetailedImage will be getting ALL of my business from now on!

 

[agpatel]

Wow.....and I was upset about being banned for saying "queer" on here! I'm sorry to hear of your troubles......and glad you are opneing the eyes to everyone on here of the integrity adne thics of the pther party involved. Looks like I won't be buying anything from them anymore (seriously....I don't like giving money to people like this). DetailedImage will be getting ALL of my business from now on!

DI is great, Greg is a great guy to deal with and if i email him i get a response back pretty quick. There are also many other reputable retailers out there also that work the same way, no realy shortage of them in the detailing sector as i know many reputable ones.