Customer Reviews

[v8klla]

You know what sucks about Quickbooks (and I'm not trying to make excuses at all, don't get me wrong) you have to be in what's called "Single user mode" to be able to combine customer names. That means I have to kick everyone else out of the system while I make this simple change lol, just ridiculous.

[DoughtCom]

Now that I have my parts I can honestly write a legitimate review based on my transactions and the quality of work. The reason I went with MAP is because Chris has always been a really cool guy to work with, the shop is local, the prices on parts and labor are awesome and after seeing Bob's porting work... well it's flawless. The work I had done was a "stage 3" ported head and a "stage 2" ported/coated intake manifold, along with buying quite a few parts like cams/springs, etc.. But was really excited to see Bob's work on my IM/Head.

Sitting down with them on 5/15/09, we talked about parts and what I wanted, this went fairly well. I was then quoted about 2-3 weeks, which I was ok with since it was an expensive job and I didn't have the funds quite yet. I left my cores with them and with a quote that was about $200 cheaper because they misquoted me Evo VIII FP4R's. Bill then IMed me a few hours later to let me know that I was misquoted and then corrected the problem and cut me a small deal on the cams. At this point I was still a fairly happy customer, Bill has always been a great person to deal with and enjoy doing business with him. It was good that he caught the mistake, shows that he's really dedicated to his job and on the ball.

3 1/2 - 4 weeks went by without me really bothering MAP, but then I started worrying. So I went in on 6/18/09 or so and paid about 70% (even though Chris said I didn't need to) what I owed since it wasn't done and talked to them to find out it was another 2-2 1/2 weeks out. This I was understanding of, however extremely disappointed, upset with the lack of communication and felt like a customer that wasn't cared for. I then on 6/22/09 find that another customer was bumped up before me and write them an e-mail explaining my concern with this. Chris e-mailed me back within the hour or so and explained that my head was being worked on then and that it would be done Thursday.

At this point I had already paid off my insurance ahead of time since I had to wait 2 weeks anyway so I didn't have the funds anymore to pay them what I owed. I explained that to them and Chris said I could pickup my parts ahead of time. It was critical to have it by the weekend because a friend was going out of town that was helping me put it together and both of us were trying to get it running for their upcoming Brainerd event.

Thursday (6/25) rolls by and I find that it won't be done until Friday. Friday (6/26) rolls by and I find it won't be done until Saturday and have to remind Bob that I have an Intake Manifold that needs porting/coating as well. Saturday (6/27) rolls by and I get a call at around 3-4PM that it's at the machine shop and they aren't returning MAP's calls. So now that weekend is shot. Monday (6/29) comes along and it's done at 5:30PM. I pick it up WITHOUT the intake manifold. Bob then tells me that the intake manifold will be done at 9PM but could be until 12AM. I get a call at 12:30 AM or so saying it'll be done in 50 minutes or so. I ended up picking it up at 2AM. With that said, however Bob offered to drop it off AT MY HOUSE at 2AM, which was nice of him.

As a customer, this has NOT been a smooth transaction. I also have not been offered a discount or anything to make up for it, other than the small one on the cams. All I was offered was multiple dates/times that couldn't be met which only upsets the customer more.

With all of this said after everything is said and done, Bob is an AMAZING porter and he takes his time with his porting. It's obvious why he's having to push back times and it's definitely worth the money to get his porting work done. Would I do it again? Hell no, not unless I have a core or mentally prepare myself that it's going to be about twice as long as quoted. I think they need to be honest with their customers and or fix the issue of not being able to quote proper times. I also think that they should be more concerned with keeping the customer happy. By either cutting them a little break or giving them store credit or ANYTHING to help motivate their customers with returning knowing that the timeline they're quoted isn't remotely accurate.

[v8klla]

It really upsets me to see comments like this from you. I know that the wait period for your head was longer than anyone anticipated, and I can't apologize enough, but I have to point out that we put your work in front of other customers (yes there are people waiting more than 7 weeks at this point), we let you take the head without full payment, and Bob busted his ass to get this done for you (unless you think working until midnight is normal) and then delivered it to your house. We greatly value your business and the lines of communication were always open in regards to the status of your project. I'm not sure what we could have done differently to make this situation better other than greatly exaggerate the estimated time frame to cover unforeseen circumstances that may arise. I guess we will be taking that route in the future.

[DoughtCom]

Honestly... that's not the reply I was looking for. But I will conclude with this. Bob busted his ass on my stuff, you're right. I've worked 120 hours to get my job done (slept under my desk 3 nights in a row that week) so I take my work serious as apparently Bob does.

I was fairly reasonable in my review and if you read it, it's MOSTLY praise. You can take it how you want and be upset but considering the circumstances I would be happy it's a laid back person writing the review. I've already contacted Bill and told him I'm paying the full amount today, even before you replied to this.

[At-Least-It's-An-Evo]

I guess we will be taking that route in the future.

Sometimes you just have to do it. That's the only way to not have unhappy Kranky customers who will only come back and talk shit.

There seems to be quite a number of 400 DD/Mustang dyno Evos around here.... Wonder who's fastest. MN EVO Shootout at Brainerd?

[v8klla]

It's a balancing act that we just haven't gotten right as of yet as we are still getting used to having Bob on our team while at the same time experiencing a huge increase in demand. We can quote an exaggerated time frame and risk losing the business or quote what it should take and risk a review like this if we aren't able to meet the dead line.

[Kracka]

I'm not sure what we could have done differently to make this situation better other than greatly exaggerate the estimated time frame to cover unforeseen circumstances that may arise. I guess we will be taking that route in the future.
I think this may be the best route for you to take until you're able to get planning/scheduling down more accurately. Missed deadlines seems to be a continuing problem; its always better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa.

[DoughtCom]

I think this may be the best route for you to take until you're able to get planning/scheduling down more accurately. Missed deadlines seems to be a continuing problem; its always better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa.

Agreed, which is honestly all I was trying to say. Like I said I'm extremely happy with the quality of the work and Bob's efforts that night. I have always liked working with Chris and especially Bill I just was disappointed with the last transaction. Just need to figure out the scheduling and over quote time, it's something I've had to learn throughout my years as a programmer.

[Jakey]

It's a balancing act that we just haven't gotten right as of yet as we are still getting used to having Bob on our team while at the same time experiencing a huge increase in demand. We can quote an exaggerated time frame and risk losing the business or quote what it should take and risk a review like this if we aren't able to meet the dead line.
You must quote an exaggerated timeline. Even though the economy still is in the shitter, I have yet to find a supplier with a shorter leadtime than before the economy shit. Business is business and if you do not meet deadlines, you're fucked. You're better off coming in early than late. It is critical that customers are properly briefed that quality has a leadtime, junk is fast.

[Mike Neal!]

Thanks MAP for comin thru with the hook up on the oil feed line!! :)


http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/blkperl/siiicksnap.png