Customer Service Problems with Autopia-Carcare

B

BookemDano

New member
Hi. I'd like to say that my experience with Autopia-Carcare Store has been wonderful, but unfortunately the opposite is true. Has anyone else had problems with Autopia-Carcare Store customer service?

Here's what's happened...

Sunday morning at about 11:00 AM, I finally chose the 3401, LC pads, and a bunch of of MF towels, and entered an order with Autopia-Carcare. Then at about 2:00 pm, I realized that I had screwed up and neglected to add a GritGuard Pad Washer and solution. (It's probably overkill, but I'm into "overkill".) So I left a message with Autopia-Carcare and asked that they add the washer and solution to my order. And then I emailed them with the part numbers, just to be sure that there was no confusion.

Today, I hadn't received any response - phone or email. So I emailed them again and then called again during business hours in the morning. No one home. I left a message again.

Then at 2:15 EDT, I received a canned "Thanks for your order" order confirmation for the Grit Guard Washer, but NO pad washer solution. Still no other response from Autopia-Carcare.

This afternoon (at about 4:30 EDT), I emailed and called AGAIN. Again no one there. So I left a message again.

At this point (7:00 EDT), I'm about ready to give up on Autopia-Carcare. If this is the kind of customer service I can expect when I want to order MORE products, I'd hate to think what would happen when I needed help with a PROBLEM.

On the off chance that they may respond, I'm waiting until 8:00 pm EDT. If I don't hear from them by 8:00, I'm cancelling my orders and ordering from Auto Geek.

Regards,

Dan.
 
The office is open 9am to 4pm EST. Right now it's 7:45pm EST but if you PM me your order number, I'll make sure someone is in touch first thing tomorrow morning.
 
Hi. I PM'd the order numbers to you. While I very much appreciate your help, I'm concerned that it's this much trouble just to get customer service. Very concerned.

Regards,

Dan.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
Dan, you do realize both are exactly the same company, right? Same call-center, fulfillment warehouse, etc. :bigups
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Charlie,

Hmmm... I'm surprised at that. The office times are different, some of the product lines look different, etc.

That said, I just looked at the address for returns:

Autopia Car Care
Returns Dept
7744 SW Jack James Dr
Stuart, Florida 34997

Autogeek.net
7744 SW Jack James Drive
Stuart, FL 34997

This is very bad. I'll have to look around for other vendors.

Thanks for the heads up,

Dan.
 
So it hasn't even been 24 hours (after a weekend no less) and you want to cancel an order? That seems a little harsh, but what do I know...
 
Flannigan,

It has nothing to do with time and everything to do with non-responsive customer service. I'm trying to ADD to an order that I placed. So instead of writing me a quick email that they'll take care of it, they simply add PART of the change. Then when I call and email multiple times to straighten it out, and get no response, that bothers me.

It irritates me that they have time to incorrectly process orders, but no time to respond when I'm trying to fix an incorrect order.

Dan.
 
Like I said, it's the first day back after a weekend. I'm sure they get tons of orders on the weekends, and yours wasn't even placed until Sunday...SO like I said, I wouldn't expect a call back that soon, let alone make a thread on the forum calling them out....
 
BookemDano said:
Charlie,

Hmmm... I'm surprised at that. The office times are different, some of the product lines look different, etc.

That said, I just looked at the address for returns:

Autopia Car Care
Returns Dept
7744 SW Jack James Dr
Stuart, Florida 34997

Autogeek.net
7744 SW Jack James Drive
Stuart, FL 34997

This is very bad. I'll have to look around for other vendors.

Thanks for the heads up,

Dan.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, I wasn't pointing that out to steer you away from them, just that there's not much point in cancelling the order with ACC and going to AG when you're ordering from the same place regardless which site you use. Past that, it comes down to your preference. :bigups
 
Also keep in mind that everyone at Autogeek is preparing for Detail Fest, which is now less than 2 weeks away. Next to Black Friday and Christmas, this is one of their most hectic times of the year. I'm sure they would appreciate a little understanding on your part.
 
Flannigan said:
Like I said, it's the first day back after a weekend. I'm sure they get tons of orders on the weekends, and yours wasn't even placed until Sunday...SO like I said, I wouldn't expect a call back that soon, let alone make a thread on the forum calling them out....
Click to expand...
Perhaps you're right and my expectations are too high.
 
Sorry you had trouble with your order.

Please let them straighten it out for you! :)

They also just got done with a sale this wekend so things are probably hectic.
 
Charlie, Shane,

Thanks for the feedback. I assume that ACC is also prepping for Detail Fest. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Regards,

Dan.
 
Interesting stuff. I didn't realize that I was dealing with a conglomerate.

Apparently the parent company is Palm Beach Motoring Group. Besides AutoGeek and Autopia CarCare, it looks like it owns several products sold on it's websites, including Pinacle, Wolfgang, Detailers Pro, Diamondite, Cobra, and Blackfire.

I don't like house brands because they typically don't live up to expectation. Fortunately I'm happy with the Zaino products that I'm using, so I don't have to worry about the consumables. I have towels from several vendors, but I just ordered Cobra towels. Since this is a house brand, I'm going to carefully compare them to my other towels including PakShak.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Dan.
 
Some customers are just not worth the trouble. There is no satisfying some people no matter what is done or said. As a vendor I would thank that kind of customer for going somewhere else.
 
BookemDano said:
I have towels from several vendors, but I just ordered Cobra towels. Since this is a house brand, I'm going to carefully compare them to my other towels including PakShak.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Dan.
Click to expand...

The thing about towels in particular is that in a lot of cases, the same manufacturers/distributors provide private-labeled towels to many different resellers, with the main differences being size, color, and the style of edging around the MF fabric. And of course the price commanded by the particular reseller.

For example, I have several of the Meguiar's Water Magnet drying towels, and then bought some of the Cobra Guzzler drying towels since they were running a good sale. As best I can tell, the actual towel fabric is exactly the same; the difference is the Cobra towels are green with green edging instead of gold with black edging, and I got a couple that are larger, and one that is smaller than the Meg's towels.

So yeah, quality can vary widely but you can't always judge by the brand name on the towel what it's actually going to be. Kind of like how people assume Sam's Club towels are junk just because they're cheap, and I have never found that to be the case. I even use them on super-sensitive paints like BMW Jet Black and have never had a problem with marring. Technique is what counts.




Also, seeing as how you're a Zaino fan, I have to ask: ever try any Duragloss products? ;)
 
I've done business with both companies for a long time and have never had any problem what so ever. They do carry a few house brands, but make no mistake about it..those house brands can hold their own with the best of them. In fact, this is the first complaint I've ever heard on PBMA's customer service. It all comes down to personal preference on where you want to spend your money, but I can promise you that your not dealing with some shady fly-by-night company. I'm sure they will make it right with you.
 
RTexasF said:
Some customers are just not worth the trouble. There is no satisfying some people no matter what is done or said. As a vendor I would thank that kind of customer for going somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Interesting point of view. I put in my Zaino order and PakShak order AFTER my ACC order. Zaino shipped my order earlier today and Ranney Pak (PakShak) answered within 5 hours of my email to him (her?) about status of my order.

I'm VERY satisfied with Zaino and PakShak customer service. Give me a little customer service and I'm very happy. So obviously you're talking about someone else. Too bad the facts don't support your opinion.

Did YOU get up on the wrong side of the bed? Maybe that was what Dr Oldz was picking up. Hmmm?

Dan.
 
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