ATTN: warning about Stillen / Steve Millen Sportparts

Let me ask you this. Let's say I bought a part from you, and it failed... I am expected to give you a blank check or a CC pending your testing of the failed part for as much as $100 to get a replacement?

If this is accurate, then with all do respect, there is no chance in hell I would agree to those terms, nor would I do business with a company who as a matter of policy does this. Unless the item was 75pounds or more this is most unacceptable.

Based on my experence with defective goods... every business I've delt with returns defective goods on their own dime. I assume it's because it's their fault a product failed. Some offer faster shipping options for a fee... but for the most part if it's bad I pay to send it, they pay to replace it. Other places choose to provide a UPS tag and the process is free.

I've tried to verify your return policy as I was most curious about who to do business with, and I must say your staff wouldn't answer any questions about the subject and did indeed hangup on me. As a rule I take all internet warnings with a grain of salt. Based on a lack of clearness of your policy, I fear your company isn't compatable with my needs as a consumer. The rudeness of your staff in answering questions about policy is not compatable with my needs. It doesn't matter if Mr. Lilly's allegation is accurate, there is no excuse for staff yelling at basic questions of policy.

Harbor Freight is a company who I do business with, though only localy. I'm fortunate enough to have one near me. My only complaint is the checkout staff is painfully slow, as a matter of policy simple things need a management password, as well as consumers who request goods from the back hold up a line till someone grabs it. But as far as returns go, never had a problem. I returned their tranny jack adapter because it didn't fit my jack, which wasn't a problem as they said it would fit my jack. The other is a simple soldering gun bought onsale which took moments to return. "It broke, bought it yesturday, just want it replaced please".

But yea, alots of their goods are pretty cheep will break sooner or later but need to finish a project and will only use the thing once sorta deal. Though I was very impressed with their 1/2 inch sockets. I have not broke one yet.

Exactly!

All Stillen has to do is to tell Mr. Lilly to ship the part back - if it is defective, Stillen will pick up the shipping cost for the return and for the new part. There's a big difference between a DOA component like this one and one that goes bad after four years.

Bob

Hummm sounds friendly enough. So are you going to fix it?

Reminds me of Wheels Direct here in Toronto. Good God... expect a year to get a pair of Rims.

I bought a Weber gas grill a couple of years ago and assembled it myself (as a mechanical engineer it's my professional duty to do things like that). The plastic shelf that mounts on one side of the grill was cracked. I wrote Weber a letter and in a few days a new shelf appeared at my doorstep, no questions asked.

Since I already had the grill almost completely assembled when I unpacked the shelf and discovered it was broken, I couldn't very well return the grill to Home Depot. However, it *could* have been that I had broken the shelf while trying to assemble it. Weber didn't know which was the case, they just took my word that it was their fault and went ahead and sent me a new one.

Another example of Harbour Freight standing behind their products - bought a set of cheapie combination-wrenches - the 14mm broke while I was working on the car - I called them up - told them which one broke and in less than a week a new one showed up on my doorstep - no out of pocket cost to me. They just took my word that the wrench broke while using it.. didn't need any proof/pictures etc. Even though this is a smaller and cheaper item, it still shows how well a company is willing to stand behind their products and keep the customer happy. This is especially important in Harbour Freight's case - where the general opinion is that they sell cheap quality tools. Of course a big company like Stillen - they don't have as much motivation to be customer-friendly - since they dominate in the aftermarket Nissan/Infiniti space and have a line of customers waiting to pay for their add-on/replacement parts and accessories.

I'm not sure if I would call the message BS my self. It is far too vague to be either fact or fiction. It's mostly marketing speak, which tends to use many words to say nothing at all.

As far as the rudeness of the staff, while I've never bought anything from them I did call to ask about their return policies. I was hung up on. So i'm inclined to believe the poster's claim of being treeted rudly.

As far as their policy of returns, I can't conferm this all all as it seems no one is willing to state what their return policies are. I don't know the weight of the poster's package, but i'm inclined to agree that $100 to ship something twice excessive. While I'd be willing to ship defective goods on my own dime, I'm not willing to pay handling fees for something that is broken. After all, it's not my fault it's defective, and I already paid for it.

I wouldn't blame the kids, as they are just following the rules laid out for them. After all, as Bill Claytor pointed out, they are acting with his approval.

I'd say irrelevant what his claims were. I still remember the classic L.L. Bean story. Some guy bought a pair of boots way back in '55 or so.

In '78 or '79, they went bad.

L.L. Bean paid for shipping and replaced his "defective" boots.

End of story.

LL Bean had a lifetime, no questions asked, warrantee. Look for that to change under the new ownership of Sears.

Huh?

What are you smoking Bill?

How about a link that substantiates that change of ownership.

DaveN

Almost...

Sears bought Land's End last year.

Rick

Sorry, I had a brain fart. I tried to cancel the message immediately after I discovered my mistake, but it apparently got through. It was Land's End that Sears bought.

I was planning on buying some stillen parts but not any more!

Cha-ching, cha-ching... I wonder if Stillen hears the $$$$ stacking up.

Bob

I've been entirely too busy lately and haven't been reading usenet. Coincidentally, just today I decided to look into finally modding & upgrading my (now out of warranty) '00 Sentra SE. I was actually looking into these two parts when, during my research, I stumbled upon this thread:

If this is some elaborate troll then bravo to the original poster & his minions. Conversely, if this is a representative slice of Stillen's 'customer service' then I think I'll be looking elsewhere for my exhaust & intake. Maybe I'll place a call to them tomorrow AM and see how things go.

McGarrett

Sorry to hear about your problems with Stillen. Here are several email addresses and phone numbers that I was able to dig up out on the WWW

Regards, Phil

Steve Millen snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com Steve Millen snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com Steve Millen snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com

David Scholum snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com

Adam Hume snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com PH: 714-540-9154 X138 800-576-2134 X138 Fax: 714-540-1826 Adam Hume snipped-for-privacy@fea.net

Bill Claytor snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com Alex Cates snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com Edward Sanchez snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com Donald Weberg snipped-for-privacy@Stillen.com PH: 714-540-5566 x156

snipped-for-privacy@Stillen.com snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com snipped-for-privacy@stillen.com

Thanks for the warning! I will not be doing business with Stillen. It seems they want you to go away than fix an oops! James