HKS Product / Purchasing Issues
 

As a retailer in the sport compact market we have been selling HKS products via their distribution network for more than four years. Needless to say I was excited when I received a newsletter outlining an introductory offer for their latest product offering, the GT7460R turbocharger. Multiple distributors contacted me regarding this offer as availability of the kits was extremely limited and they were well aware of our presence in the Evolution markets. Armed with that information we immediately launched marketing efforts to ensure we were among the first to promote this introductory sale. We were not alone, however, as the news had spread quickly and several other retailers followed suit.

With an MSRP of $2150 we made the decision to forgo purchasing of the kits without a confirmed customer order as at the time there was still doubt in my mind in regards to the popularity of this turbocharger. Initial prices were quoted at HKS' MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) but we quickly realized that several other retailers (including one known HKS direct dealer) were quoting and ultimately selling the kits at a lower price. At the request of several customers we decided to match the lower pricing knowing full well that those very customers would simply purchase elsewhere at that same lower price if we decided otherwise. It is my opinion that those customers chose to purchase from us based on previous positive experiences and/or our track record for outstanding customer service.

Each and every sale that we made was prefaced with a phone call to our distributors to verify that kits were available to fill the order prior to accepting payment from our customers. Purchase orders were sent and confirmed with our distributors leading us to assume that all was well and it was business as usual.

On September 22nd a facebook post from Mike @ AWD Motorsports foreshadowed that my assumption of business as usual was incorrect:

At that point in time I hadn't heard anything from HKS or their distributors in regards to this claim. It wasn't until September 30th, over a week later, that the situation went downhill. A large HKS distributor that was the recipient of several of our purchase orders for these kits informed me that they would not be able to fill any of our orders. They claimed that they had not received enough kits to fill any of our orders, not one. I immediately recalled the facebook post above and realized what was happening. A phone call to HKS was in order...

If you aren't already aware getting a hold of HKS is nearly impossible unless you are a direct dealer as they direct all inquiries to their dealer network. I ended up calling a tech support line and ultimately made my way through the prompts to the customer service manager. I inquired as to why the decision to disallow my sales of their product was made without any communication or warning. I informed the manager that I had already accepted payment from my customers for these products, and had confirmed purchase orders from their distributors. I was informed several times that the kits were very limited and that the distributor in question may not have received enough kits to fill any of my several orders. I responded that my distributors were well aware of the number of kits they were to receive, and that I had confirmed each order individually prior to processing. At this point she defaulted to a response that involved me having to contact the distributor for additional information (which I had already done) and I quickly realized that the conversation was futile.

The rest of my day revolved around strategy as we prepared to deal with this PR nightmare. My sales staff had to contact several customers, inform them of the situation, and either move them into another product or process a refund. I can't imagine that any of these customers were happy to hear from us that day, but Mike @ AWD simply couldn't hold back his excitement, he's a real class act...

The following day was just as action packed unfortunately. Apparently I mentioned the name of another distributor from whom we had purchased these kits when I was on the phone with HKS. My representative gave me a call and it sounded quite familiar, however, the "we didn't receive enough kits" excuse wasn't of much use this time around. The distributors online stock check system showed exactly the number of kits we had originally ordered available for purchase! Ultimately, my representative had no choice but to inform me that HKS would not allow them to sell the kits to me, just as I had suspected all along.

If you are a customer of ours that was involved in this fiasco I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. I hope this chronicle of events helps you understand why this happened and allows you to form an opinion in regards to HKS' actions and business practices. As always we will do everything in our power to rectify the situation to your satisfaction. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions or concerns.

Chris Carey, President
Modern Automotive Performance

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

HK$ has always been a ripoff elitist company anyways. They were always all elistist about their distributors for releasing any info/sales on their crappy F-Con standalone/piggyback-whatever it was too as far as I remember. Meh there are better companies out there.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

People, quit looking for overseas for big brand-name turbos! There's bad-ass, proven turbos being produced from American companies!

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

So why did HKS get pissed for you selling the same kit for the same price as someone else? Sounds like favoritism... Like Scheides said, theres plenty of other american turbos, but like you said, those people that already bought them I'm sure were pissed. What a dick move.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

yeah thats very interesting. I wonder if the companies that you were price matching also got cut off. Mike at AWDMotorsports sounds like a complete dick and a clone of Huml at Slowboy in his tactics.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Good ol' boy networks suck. But screw them, there's no need to swing from their nuts because they were famous in the 80's. If I was going to pay $2000+ for a turbo, it better be made of gold and make 2hp per dollar spent.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Some of the JDM nut-swingers on the X forums having been going ape over a new HKS turbo. It has less power than an FP Green but it's ball-bearing and JDM so it must be better.

After going through two sets of Rays lug nuts that are crap, I'm over the JDM mystique.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

lol when some one says jdm i instanly thing of the most riced out honda civic hatch ever lol

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

I hope this gets posted on every forum so ALL of the mitsu enthusiasts see how HKS, AWD Motorsports, and slowboy are all alike. Can I copy this and post on other forums?

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Please do, EvoM already took the post down as apparently they don't allow commercial reviews and they felt my thread would adversely affect the sales of other vendors :rolleyes: I guess I will have to get the customers that were affected by this to post themselves...

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Sad to hear, but I can relate. I also called their "tech" line way back in the day when I was having problems with my VPC, they were absolutely worthless and the tech obviously didn't care if I had a problem with their product. Back then, they were a major player, I didn't know they were anymore since so many new companies have come along with better, more cost effective products.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Meh, I say screw them. Like everyone already said, HKS is way overpriced compared to other brands of comparable quality, and to hear that such an established manufacturer in the performance industry is willing to be that shady is shocking to me. But, the good news is the free market will always win. Let HKS and AWDmotorsports and anyone else do exactly as they please, whether that is price fixation or shit talking other performance shops (very very mature I might add), because in the end the free market via consumers will correct itself. Oh, and negative word of mouth sure is a bitch :)

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Sucks to hear, but that's about what I'd expect out of Mike @ AWD. I have never bought anything from him and I know I never will.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

I had a similar experience to steve back in '06ish or earlier I had a problem with their WG they at the time didn't make a replacement seal and couldn't give a fuck.
F
uck HKS I actually don't even see how they are in business with all the other companies that have popped up over the last decade.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

This is ridiculous. How can they even do that? Confirm, and agree to sell the product then fall through for a none valid reason. I never thought something like that could happen on such a high level of business. Fail on HKS part. Just curious as to the facebook post. . .why would another vendor post such things about MAP. I understand competition etc, but it seems uncalled for and out rite low life.

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

The attempt to redirect business to a competitor using facebook strikes me as an amateur tactic. The guy probably hits on his friends girlfriends too! CLASSY

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Chris, this saddens me that a vendor such as MAP is treated like this, but doesn't surprise me all that much considering HKS' track record. You guys do amazingly good work for the volume of sales you deal with, especially considering you do business globally.

The comments from Mike @ AWD Motorsports chaps my ass, I'm running his aluminum driveshaft. :(

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Thanks for the support guys :)

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

If you are real broken up over this, I would gladly take the driveshaft off your hands :D

Re: Why you should think twice before buying HKS products
 

Fuck evoM! They are dumb asses then if they feel that they don't want the truth to be heard about their own vendors that they are supporting. That's the stupidest shit I have ever seen. That just makes EvoM look bad that they would rather have them as a "good" vender instead of people knowing the truth.