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Planet Miata and Mazmart. Thumbs down.

11K views 37 replies 26 participants last post by  Stoly 
#1 · (Edited)
There is not a "service" review section, so I figure this would be the right place for this.


All I wanted was a non-power antenna. I figured it would be no big deal, so I clicked on the "planet miata" banner at the top of the forum, and called the number on the website, and followed the very specific directions about leaving a voice mail.

This was Monday morning, around 10am, CST.

I waited until noon Tuesday, and called again. Left another voice mail.

Nothing.

Called again, today, Wednesday, around 3pm, CST. Get someone on the phone. Nice. Describe what I'm looking for, and I get the "I'm in a meeting, I'll call you right back" So, I give the person my number, and hang up.

Nothing as of this post.

Well, **** those guys then!


Flash back to Monday night... I'm on the throne reading my new copy of autoweek during my PM/BM.

In the back there is an ad for mazmart. I call them bright and early (around 10 or so) Tuesday morning. Talk to a guy named Paul. Super nice on the phone, and knew just what I was looking for, but was not sure he had it. He said he would call me back after lunch, or in an hour or so.

12noon Wednesday. Nothing.

I call. Talk to Paul.

Again.

He informs me that he was understaffed yesterday, and got behind. I understand this, **** happens. No big deal. He said he would go look for the part, and call me back in 10 minutes. Ok, fine. This was at 1130 CST.

330 cst, Wednesday. Nothing.

I call again. Talk to Paul. He has my parts. Knows right who I am when I call. Nice. Kinda. Perhaps he should have called me?

I finally give him my billing info, and email. I also ask for a tracking number.


No tracking number as of the time of this post.

UPS issues a number when you punch in the info. I know how this all works, as I use UPS most days for work. He even asked me my shipping info in the order it comes up on the UPS software.



So.

I have my **** on the way, but this was way too much work. Way too fucking much. Granted, it was "only" 30 bucks, but still. what the ****?

All of my messages said "if you have this, I will buy it, please call me"

I feel like given all the communication resources at our disposal in this modern world, the total lack of communication is totally, totally unacceptable. This was not about a high-dollar item, but it was more about building a customer relationship. I now know of two places I will not be dealing with any more when I need parts. Too bad.



Now, on a more positive note, I sent the guy at Broughton Automotive an email about my antenna order, and he got back to me in 8 minutes.

No ****.
 
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#6 ·
Sorry to hear about your bad experience, especially with Paul @ MazMart. He is an awesome person and someone who goes to extreme lengths to make his customer happy. If he said he was busy or understaffed, I'd take him at his word, I've been in MazMart a few times. The phone is constantly going off and people are continually walking in the door. You have to remember, they deal with all Mazdas, not just Miatas, and they have a TON of parts, so they stay busy.

That being said, I've had nothing but great transactions with both companies.
 
#38 ·
+123456789

Paul is great and after breaking my stock '91 open diff I decided to get a Trosen unit. Paul went way above and beyond in helping me even after telling him I was calling for information and wouldn't be able to buy for a month or so.

I never once price shopped him and called him as I told him I would once the funds hit the bank account. Why? It's was the right thing to do and their service was great and the diff was from GA to TX in a few days. As promised, they shipped everything needed for the swap and everything was in great condition.

I agree with the comments about this being the automotive industry and people being more 'car guys' then 'business people'; however, we bear some of that burden i.e. the comments made about being $5 cheaper on eBay...

I would rather spend $100 more or even wait another month to not only have what I want but to be treated as a customer. I don't price shop for a dollar. I people shop for service and though I've never bought anything from Planet Miata I will say that mazmart is the one of the best companies I've dealt with since starting my rebuild.

And there it is! My $.02...
 
#7 ·
I've had a similar experience with Planet Miata. I ordered a bumper to do my +01' conversion and it took forever to get a hold of anyone over there. I left a few voicemails and only got a hold of someone after countless non-stop calling...I hate the fact that they don't have the option to buy their stuff online.
 
#8 ·
I don't know but everytimes I called to Planet Miata, Steve always answered. I guess you need to call during normal hours and it's fine. Very good service and parts ships pretty fast!
 
#14 ·
I've never called, but sideshow usually answers my PMs within minutes. So fast that I often wonder how it's even possible.

Sorry to hear about your problems, Palmer. I've been there with many other vendors over the years. Most have made it good. Some have gone out of business (Brainstorm anyone?)
 
#9 ·
Planet Miata seems to be hit or miss. Its pretty frustrating when you get no correspondence from a parts supplier though. Lucky for us, there are plenty of outfits that have what we need, so we can always shop around. Parts Group for instance has nothing but great reviews. They probably don't have a shorty antenna, but they have lots of good OE stuff.

Mazmart is something I am not familiar with, but I will keep an eye out for other reviews if I ever need anything they have.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly for you from this point on, Palmer. Enjoy your antenna, and don't hesitate to call them out. In this day in age, customer service is everything. If you piss off one customer, we got on the horn and talk ****. So its in their best interest to make you as happy as possible.
 
#13 ·
I flipped through catalogs and wondered: What kind of dining set defines me as a person?


Anyway, like I said, I know **** can happen. I have worked a customer service job for the last 10 years.

And I was calling during normal business hours. I just think that 24 hours is a reasonable time frame for a response, especially after multiple contact attempts.


Anyway, this is not a smear campaign, I just wanted to share.
 
#15 ·
oh man. the horror stories I've heard about brainstorm.
they were always cool when I went there though.
 
#18 ·
I apologize for your mishap with us. We did return your call, I guess it was to late. Sometimes this happens and again I apologize.Usually if we cannot get back to you same day for what ever reason we usually wait until around the same time the following day. With us being on the east coast I have waken up too many people on the west. If there is anything I can do to help in the future let me know.
I hope that our feedback follows through further than one mishap. I have dealt with tons of club roadster members on a business and personal level. Most have been on a good note. Again I apologize
 
#20 ·
Yeah, we all know that the automotive industry sucks ass and should never expect businesses in the industry to behave in a professional manner.

These businesses are ran by car guys, not business people. It's my experience that 99.9% of them don't know what the hell they are doing from a business perspective. That's why their service sucks and so many of them go in and out of business on a regular basis. Even the ones that manage to stay alive for a few years are never that profitable.

Adjust your expectations accordingly. Even getting someone to return a call is a small victory.
 
#35 ·
These businesses are ran by [_insert any industry here_] guys, not business people. It's my experience that 99.9% of them don't know what the hell they are doing from a business perspective. That's why their service sucks and so many of them go in and out of business on a regular basis. Even the ones that manage to stay alive for a few years are never that profitable.
Fixed. This statement is true for 90% of companies started by someone who thinks, "I don't need to work for the man. I can do this on my own."

I've had (and continue to have) similar experiences with shops & vendors in the car world over and over again. It sounds like the OP here understood that and was allowing for a 24-hour response time which is generous.

Glad it worked out in the end. Hopefully any vendor reading this will be inspired to step up their customer service efforts.
 
#24 ·
Dtorres was banned for a week due to failure to follow Product Review rules.

We don't have many rules around here at all and this was Rule #1 for replying in here.

1: Do NOT flame the original reviewer. A reviewer is allowed to hate on a product. You're allowed to agree on such hate. You are not allowed to make fun of someone for purchasing a product. Someone bought Sportmaxx and wants to do a review? Great. You cannot flame them. Such comments will be deleted and you'll be either temp-banned or given an infraction.
 
#28 ·
Never had a problem with Steve either, just chalk it up to **** happens sometimes. I've had to call back a few times, but in the auto parts industry, you have to deal with worldwide sales, so it's understandable to say the least. I doubt he forgot about you, but he also can't let stuff pile up either.
 
#30 ·
To be honest I have always struck out with Planet Miata.
I have been told more then once 'they'd get back to me'...and then zippo.

Paul at Mazmart has always been prompt with service.


In general defense of all vendors, nickle diming a-holes abound these days so I dont blame them for not getting back to anyone they feel is doing such. There is nothing more ridiculous then to give a customer all the info and attention they deserve, and more even, to have them respond with some douchery like "well, its $5 cheaper on Egay" etc :rolleyes:
 
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