As you can see I deleted my first topic about SLR.

I got a call this evening from Spencer and talked to him for some time about my perception and his point of view.

Concluding the conversation, my post and reaction to the initial perception of bad service was an a knee jerk reaction made without taking the time to explore further, thank you to Patrick helping me out. in conclusion, I should not have called Spencer Low Racing a dishonest company.

During my career of being self-employed I have always lived by the rule of 2 things.

1. you never get a 2nd chance to leave a first impression

2. Establishing a trust relationship with a client through open and clear communication is vital to the customer in order to get an understanding for the process of serivce deliver thus eliminating the rick of a negative feel through guessing perception

Spencer, in taking the time to call me and explain how the process of delivery and charging takes place managed to do just that.

I retrospect getting an order from the East coast to Seattle in less than 48 hours by effective work is a feat that has to be recognised.

My Credit card was charged based on an estimate and the difference will be refunded (or re authorised) back to my credit card.

Would I purchase from these guys again?. Without hesitation.

Claus

As I said in a PM to patrick after reading that thread...

Spencer really needs to kick Patrick down some money...

Patrick has done an excelent job of providing customer service for SLR here on XOC... Playing "Middle Man" with upset customers and Spencer is so far above and beyond what anyone would expect...

Just wanted to publicly acknowledge patrick's fine job of conflict resolution.

Sorry, Patrick deserves nothing.

Playing middle man for a company (sorry, one guy with a garage) that doesn't stand behind its products is nothing to cheer about.

My SLR products broke, and sagged, and turned to shit. SLR did nothing to solve any of my problems. Where was my support ?

Claus, SLR illegally charged your credit card, that's something I would be very worked up about.

Is that why you took down your SLR lift kit review in the review section?

Why did you delete your original post, don't you think others would benefit from your experience whether the outcome was good or bad? Isn't that what this forum is for?

And why, if you live by 2 rules, is it ok to break the first one and endorse someone that breaks the second?

All it sounds like to me is he talked you out of being upset. Does everyone who has a problem with SLR have a middleman to explain why crap service is ok? Because, had you not deleted the original thread, this was your first impression after 4 phone calls.

didn't even notice it was taken down... he should have left it, or ammended it to include what he fealt was wrong with it... a review is a review, Movie reviewers don't give everything two thumbs up.

Then kick down some gratitude to the FedEx guy. SLR didn't do that and you certainly paid for the privliedge.

I agree. His original review was favorable. Then after time, he wasn't satisfied anymore. I am curious to find out the details - its a review afterall.

In my mind, everyone deserves a 2nd chance. I, in my business have often wished for that chance to explain and set a misunderstanding straight....Spencer did that by picking up the phone calling me and having a productive conversation. Spencer did not talk me out of being upset, I was pissed when he phoned..he took the time to listen and explain the procedure of delivery and sale which he did not do when I first called

I removed the post as it did not display the level of objectivity I should have displayed had when I let my emotions out through the key board.

The buttom line is, Spencer delivered the shocks in 44 hours flat, I am not charged a penny more than I should (an authorization was made on my credit card for far more than the price but will be adjusted when the charge goes through), I was frustrated by the lack of communication in regards to delivery, My expectation was higher than what was delivered in that regard,

I take this experience as a lesson that no one is perfect, they run small businesses but are sensitive to going the extra mile to set things straight, I respect that and value that enough to compromise and try to understand

OK, recap:
After 4 rude phone calls (your description) and an illegal charge on your card (that you only found out by calling your card company since SLR wasn't helpful),

then complaining here,

and then through intervention of some middleman,

SLR finally contacts you and then talked you out of being pissed and into an "understanding" mood,

now convinced SLR is the greatest,

you delete a thread possibly informational to future readers and post how great SLR is how you were mistaken.

Uh, ok.

That and the poor business practices of SLR. They basically reverse engineered the CALMINI upper control arms, and passed them off as their own design.

I don't do business with people like that.

I have purchased a few items from SLR, not on the level monetarely as some but I have recieved my purchases in a fairly timely manner. Now the concern lies with the middle man why should this person exist?, Should SLR take it upon himself to resolve these blunders and right his wrongs? Maybe there is more to the story that I am reading here. How does the saying go?, one angery customer spreads the word to 10 of his friends, I dont know somthing like that.

I have purchased a few items from SLR with great results. He always took my calls. If I had to leave a message, He returned my call normally within 20 minutes. I never got any attitude from him or his employees. I always made it a point to phone in my order.
He made a set of custom AALs for me and I had them in about 1 1/2 weeks.

My only insignificant complaint was that he ship the AALs in a box, not loose. The centerbolts always get screwed up by UPS.
He did send me new bolts in about a week after I called him up about it.

I'd definitely deal with SLR again in the future regardless of anyone else's experiences.

I had problems getting a straight answer out of SLR when I ordered Bilsteins and when I posted my story on the XOC I got an email from Spencer saying I gave him a bad rap and he didn't believe I was telling the whole story (which was crap and he knows it) and so instead of getting into some huge fight with him I just deleted my posts. Either way SLR defiantly needs some help in the customer service and communications department!

You can also order the bilstein shocks from AC(for liftd Xterras) so their is also another avenue. As well, why not order them directly from Bilstein, as opposed to a parts house?

]

I'll bet you the "prototype" he showed on here and on his webiste is Calmini blue under the gray paint. He conveniently drilled a hole through it where the Calmni log was etched.

He got my money for a Stage III that I couldn't align and started sagging almost immediately. I got no help from him. When I replaced my SLR arms with Calmini arms and posted a picture of the two side by side he called me a work to chew me out for trying to ruin his business. Calmini may take incredible amounts of time to deliver some profucts, but I have never had one of their parts fail or not work. And they have never harassed me at work or attacked me on the internet. YOu decide who should be in business and who should just give up.

Just to clarify:

I speak to SLR almost daily and have for some time now. I do not get paid by them. I am in a very heavily intensive customer service based industry and have extensive experience in dealing with customers both happy and very disgruntled.

Over the course of my conversations with SLR we have discussed customer service issues among other things in his attempt to be a more customer friendly business. Spencer is not always the most diplomatic and patient customer oriented person and is making attempts to be more so.

I believe that SLR has good ideas, a good vision, and sells some great products. I also believe that as shop guys who are happier cutting and welding, sometimes their lack of experience in dealing with customers hurts them and prevents them from moving foreward.

SLR does not have the ability to post on this board nor are they able to defend themselves in any way here. I do not believe that a one sided perspective given , nor do I believe that a disgruntled customer should be left unattended to. Therefore, I have tried to pass on the information about unhappy customers to SLR and spoken with him about the best avenues of conflict resolution.

People are going to continue to order from SLR. Unfortunately, not everyone will be extatic with their experience and because of my relationship with SLR, I can make an attempt to remove the adversarial relationship and assist in resolving these conflicts.

For the record. I dissagree with SLR manufacturing and selling the Calmini design "econ arms" and have told him so. I have spoken to Steve of Calmini and apoligised for anything I had said about Calmini and hopefully put that in the past.

I think that a healthy, competitive marketplace can only be a good thing. The more companies making quality products that people are confident ordering from benefits everyone.

I agree with your statement whole heartedly, especially the last part!

Cheers,

"Spencer is not always the most diplomatic and patient customer oriented person and is making attempts to be more so."

That is no lie. Although in the two plus years that I have seen him operate I have not seen much progress in the right direction. Some of the problems people are having now, I had back before the second GOX when I tried to order shocks from him. Same run around. Same "they are in stock and shipping today" Same "we will call you with a tracking number". SSDD (same shit different day)

In my case it ended up being the same as so many here. Although they told me they were in stock and would ship that day, they were in fact NOT in stock and had to be drop shipped. (I was told this several times)

He knew I was on a dead line and when (after many phone calls to find out where the hell the shocks were) it was discovered that the shocks would not be to me when originally promised and he wanted ME to pay for expidited shipping to get the shocks in time for GOX. Bad form.

I agree that an open market with multiple vendors is the best way to go.. but damn. I just wish we had his dad back at the wheel of the company. His dad earned the respect of the Nissan community (and Nissan) his son is just riding his coat tails.

Carlton, his dad's primary busines at Low Manufacturing was the 4wd conversion kits. The performance, suspension aspect of the company is relatively new and Sr. was only truly involved in the company at the very beginning.

Steve ,in regards to the "econ arms" , your inflamitory speculation is incorect. Those were in fact a prototype.

the econ arms where not just powder coated.... you can tell from the picture and the way the metal deforms that the hole was drilled prior to the bend being made...

they are not repainted calmini arms... but they are reverse engineered calmini arms.

still a poor business decision

Prototype of a copied design. What is the difference. They are blatant copies of anothers design.

But hey you know what they say.. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery..

I know that he purchased a set of Calmini arms for "comparison testing" What happened to the test? In it's place we get a new product that looks so similar to Calmini's it might as well be the same parts.

exactly... they are identical in design(save for a couple cosmetic holes), but not actually calmini's parts

What SLR products have you equiped your X with?, and have you had any probs?
On SLR web site it says somthing to the effect that they have been in this business for 27yrs. has this good business, bad business been around as long? If so i can't believe there still around.
Im alittle bummed out to hear all this, I have planned on buying some of there products in the next couple months. It seems SLR is possible losing potiental customers by not rectifying any probs. in a prompt professional manner.
In my profession (nurse) I have delt with many unhappy "customers" and not once have I been rude nor provided them with anything but the best care I can provide. On a daily basis I have to defuse bad and potientaly violent situations. It seems to me SLR regardless of what customers say he needs take a mature profesinol stance and deal and take care of the probleam. He chose to be in this business, I and Im sure the owners expect quality products and when less is recieved after laying down in some cases lots of money, people will bad mouth you.