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west coast speed problems

11K views 133 replies 45 participants last post by  Tlizard 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I have been using this forum for a while, but this is my first post. I wanted to let you know about my experience with West Coast Speed.
I ordered reproduction SAP grills for my 06. I placed my order on December 12 and was given a delivery date of December 26th. I did not receive the grills. I made several calls and sent numerous emails requesting a delivery status and was told that they would ship out the next day. I still did not receive the grills. I only received the grills after i requested a refund thru Pay Pal.
I am also disappointed with the quality of the grills. I really hope that no body else has had these kind of problems with West Coast Speed. I personally will not deal with this company again.
 
#39 ·
Yeah I was a few clicks away from purchasing an OTRCAI and looked to see if they were worth it. now to see at least 2-3 threads on complaints. I still believe that the products are decent and that he will come through, but it is just typical for the wait times and lack of communication
 
#40 ·
I have always had awesome luck with Spencer. His parts are more than acceptable, and my painter says his are the best repro's he's ever seen. I won't get too deep, but my guy has built more cars on accident than most will on purpose. Any problems I have ever had were met with quick response and most likely a personal call, ending with my installation being the issue. WCS makes reproduction parts. These are not OEM parts and anyone that has ever added third party or repro parts knows (or should know) there is prefitment work on all of it. Hell, a factory five car needs about 80 hours of bodywork before paint, so it amazes me how surprised people are if they have to sand off some mold edges for spoilers and sideskirts. Basic rule I follow with aftermarket body parts is 2-3 times price of the part to actually install it properly. If you try to cheap out, it will show. So if you buy an SAP extension for 500 ish, figure 1500 to have it prepped , painted, and installed within OEM quality. I think the brazen orange paint was $250 or more for a pint on mine. I bought the best shit I could get my hands on.
 
#41 ·
Lol so that's 2-3 people with good feedback vs like 100 people with bad feedback lol.

There should be ZERO excuse for the bad communication and poor quality for the money they're charging..

My sap grills came crappy too. Not the outside but the inside of the grills looked like my 10 year old nephew put it together at his arts and crafts class.

But since I waited 3 months, yes 3 months, i didn't want to complain, I just wanted to install them.

I wanna get a svede to replace my vararam but I'll wait for a used one.

I'm in sales too and there is NO excuse..not even a death in the family, being sick, phone lost, dog died, car stolen or any of that BS. You GET back to your clients.
 
#45 ·
this dudes rockin it on what im about to.



but your concern is also mine... hence why i have not pulled the trigger. anyways i have other pieces to get before im ready to plop this thing on.
it has already taken a while to find information through threads about real time results on this thing. now to find more about it's efficiency vs. other brands....
 
#51 ·
I am the guy that paid for these and yes if you would have answered your phone that’s exactly what I would have done. You also had the option of refunding my money once I opened the case against you with pay pal. Twice I was told " they will ship tomorrow" and twice they did not. It was only after opening a case with pay pal that they shipped. Just plain and simple it was a sour deal for me and it is apparent from all of the posts on this thread I am not alone.
 
#52 ·
Posting the good with the bad...Spencer called me this afternoon(morning his time) to talk about my order and its possible ship time. I am hoping he can come through and get me this by the 30th so I can have time to install it before my tune.

I will keep you posted.

'Moe

EDIT
Just wanted to add that Spencer took almost 15 minutes to chat with me and explain the situation on his end and to listen to the situation on my end. I offered him some advice on how to deal with long or unknown lead times ect...and he seemed responsive. He said that he would try to get me the intake before my tuning appointment but could make no garuntees...We will see how this plays out.
 
#53 ·
damn spencer you should be a politician lol...
 
#54 ·
Yeah! Spencer wants to listen to people complain full-time. :wall:
 
#55 · (Edited)
I also want to add some of my other thoughts. It's no doubt that Spencer is still making decent, quality products for our cars that otherwise wouldn't be available. He is also a production/distribution center for other people's ideas who maybe other wise wouldn't have the capital, resources, outlets, time to produce items like the Godilocks Splitter and Svede intake in large quantities with a low enough 'cost per unit' to make the return on investment worthwhile. This is just the rough, brief reality of simple business principles.

Given our niche market, our catchment size is very very limited. That being said, I'd be hard pressed for Spencer or anyone here on this forum or the likes with a GTO to make a substantial profit with the products available at WCS to provide a paycheck large enough to support the cost of living in California by running WCS as a sole source of income.

So I assume that Spencer does this WCS gig on the side and has a 'real' job to get him by with what ever he may need in life. I think that although his business etiquette is questionable, as stated in my first post, I think he does do the best he can given his situation, whatever that may be.

I believe as a soceity we sometimes lose track of the other person, the 'you', the 'we' in relationships and focus solely on the 'I' and 'me'. My example of this is -- if you have a first date with a beautiful girl at 1:00pm at a local coffee shop and she never shows, most of us will probably think that she 'stood us up', 'bailed', 'didn't respect and care enough to be polite (or ethical on business terms) with a heads up/status update'. Although this may be a single reason to explain the no call, no show, there could be others as well. Car issues/concerns, family/friend emergency, or even damaged/lost phone. Life happens, and sometimes we forget about that.

For me, its the 90/10 rule. 90% of life is how you react to the 10% that is not in your control. YOU choose and decide how you want to react to that 10%.

I digress. But I hope my thoughts may help others consider what lies behind the business structure at WCS and our lovely first world problems.
 
#56 ·
Spencer since you have chimed in on this post. I would like a refund on my order. I'm tired of waiting for my SVEDE and would like to go another route. Unfortunatly I cannot call you but please message me on here so I can get my refund and take my buisness elsewhere.
 
#57 ·
I feel like as a business owner I can relate to what he is going through. With that said even if this is just a side gig I think you can easily invest 30-45 minutes a day to respond to emails and phone calls as needed. For me its not so much the wait or even the fact that I may not have the stuff in time for my tuning appointment, which is my fault for scheduling a tuning appointment BEFORE I had the parts in hand, it was the lack of ANY communication. As I said Spencer called me today and took 15-20 minutes to chat with me about welding, my project and to hip me to the situation on his end and to understand the situation on my end. I respect that. Whats more is I respect him for CALLING and offering an appology. Shows some measure of character. Wether or not I will have this by the 30th of this month is another story.

'Moe
 
#58 ·
it think the real reason everyone is heated... including myself, is that he has such great product that takes way to much frustration to get, just like james biz. everyone was jumping over each other at even a chance at dat billet lol.
 
#59 ·
Word on the Billet haha
 
#60 ·
Well for my .02, I purchased SAP replica grilles and they did take longer than expected but Spencer did reply to my emails in an acceptable amount of time. Have had them on for a couple years now, regular day to day driving and no chips. Paint looks to be top notch, now that may be from an old painter or a new one IDK. He did make up for the time it took, I ordered the grilles w/out the mesh and the ones I received had the mesh with the GTO logo so either it was an "I'm sorry" gesture or an "oops" either way it made up for it. Only suggestion would be COMMUNICATION!!! Either hire a receptionist or get your girlfriend/wife to tackle the job. Biggest thing to making it in business is communication. If the customer knows that you are aware and is acknowledged then it can buy you extra time for the orders and repeat business.
 
#61 ·
I wouldn't care to wait on something if I knew up front or there was some form of communication or reasoning behind it. Not replying to emails or phone calls is unacceptable for any buisness. Especially when that buisness/person has $500 or more of your money.
 
#76 ·
Like i said earlier, only reason why they're still in business is because of a demanded, rare part(s).

They would have been shutdown immediately if we could source these parts elsewhere.

If you do a search on the bad feedback about this company, its usually the "same" group of people who will chime in and say, "i've had good results, good communication, good service from WCS". And if you look carefully, they're mostly "veteran" members.

Now im not saying "noobs" are kicked to the curb but looking at it from a business point of view, in order to still generate clients even with terrible feedback, you satisfy your MAIN (veteran) customers FIRST. That way when THEY post and give good feedback, that will still give confidence to new buyers on taking the risk of ordering parts from them. Knowing it might take long.

Its just sad that all these new clients who took that chance are finally realizing the mistake they made for buying such rare parts.
 
#65 ·
I completely understand both sides of the story. I feel that I can better relate to spencer as I am often in his position. Sure I dont run a business like he does, but I can relate to not being the quickest to get back with people. Im 110% of the time overwhelmed at work, I cant spend hours each day listening to people bitch and moan. I cant call back every person that calls me to explain a delay. I try my best to get back to people, but sometimes you gotta get shit done, even if that means sacrificing return calls. Basically its a lose/lose situation. If he spends hours each day updating all of his customers, that's hours lost that he could be working on his parts.

Sure to most, it sounds like taking "a few minutes" each day to update customers is a no brainer, but sometimes its just not always in the schedule. Either way, people are going to mad. Like others have said, he is thankfully one of the few vendors still making us parts, bear with him lol.
 
#66 ·
I disagree. I run a welding business and am often in the field and believe me there is no way I can NOT call back a client. The fact is people are paying you good money and they want some measure of customer service. Taking 30-45 minutes every day to respond to emails is not unreasonable if you own a business. The emails do not need to be novels but can be short and sweet.

"Moe,
Your order has been processed. Shipping is expected to be the first week of Feb. Thanks for your patience. Contact me with any further questions.

Navin Johnson"

Thats all thats needed. Its poor business and he knows it. I am hoping for all concerned he adjusts his way of operating.

'Moe
 
#67 ·
People wait just as long for Mav Man products. Hell I waited about 5 months each time I ordered something from him. It's just the nature of owning what's getting to be a rare car. However, Mav Man's communication is much better. The most alarming thing about this thread is the lack of quality people are reporting. That is unexceptable! I don't mind waiting a long time for products, but when I do get them they should be near perfect. Which anyone who has ordered from Mav will agree is almost always the case.
 
#68 ·
I think for most of us the waiting is NOT the issue. Its the poor communication. It starts at the website where it lists the lead time as 2 weeks and continues with little to no communication from Spencer. Again I will say he did take time to call me and chat about this that and the other. Very nice guy on the phone. Spencer is not a bad guy. He just needs to improve is communications.

As for Mav man parts. My limited dealings with him have been AWESOME. Great seller and stands by his product.

'Moe
 
#69 ·
I will not sit here and say that Spencer from West Coast Speed is fast in anyway. But I will say that my repro SAP grilles look amazing and the paint is flawless. It did take some time to get them in. After the expected delivery date I called and he called right back once he got to his shop and sent them out within 3 days. He was also very helpful in helping me to fix and restore my used OTRCAI. It too looks amazing and performs like no other! I will personally continue to use WCS for upgrades in the future.
 
#70 ·
ive heard this before and its really disappointing i really want to buy the svede but i dont want to have to deal with the long wait and wondering if ill ever get it.
 
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