Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 09:55:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Dio Genio <diogenio@domain.elided>
Subject: [alfa] Buyers: BEWARE of Stebro Exhaust Ltd...
Stebro Exhaust Ltd. of Canada make a wonderful
product, but their customer service is absolutely
pitiful! I ordered a Milano center section on Dec. 4th
and was promised by Dan (the owner, he said), "in
stock, delivery tomorrow, will e-mail the UPS tracking
number in one day." Note: my credit card was charged
that same day. Five days and five phone calls later, I
was finally given a tracking number that was NOT mine,
indicating a shipment sent three days before the date
I even ordered! When I told him this was NOT my UPS
number, the answer? "Oh, that IS your number...the
shipment was "lost somewhere in Buffalo" and "UPS
recycles tracking numbers anyway." What a bunch of
crap.
Again, he promised to immediately build up a new unit
(2 days max.) and this time ship it via Fed EX at his
expense. Same story...no muffler, no tracking number,
5 more phone calls. At the end of December I told my
credit card company to withhold payment to this
firm...the goods were not delivered as promised, and
their actions seem boderline fraudulant.
Three more calls and I finally reached the elusive Dan
and told him about my credit card chargeback. He asks
"what can I do to save this order?" Simple...send me a
muffler via air freight within 2 days or forget it
all. He then "checks out in his shop" and responds
with a no problem, and offers to credit the charge
back to my card if he does not deliver in the 2 days
as promised. Asks me to call him again 2 days later
for the tracking number. I call, the usual answering
machine is on, I left a message, (and as expected)
received no call back. Same routine next day. Finally,
I left a word on his answering machine to consider the
order cancelled and to immediately remove his charges
from my card.
Alfisti, this is a firm that does not respect nor care
about their customers. Lies and deceipt are their
tactics to book your order and then string you along
while they use cash flows from your credit card
charge. If Dan had just been honest and told me it
would take 2 months to manufacture my product, I
actually would have waited. It would have saved me
over a month of irritation and 20+ phone calls to
Canada.
Luckily, my credit card firm is bound by law to
protect me. The actions of Stebro are deceptive and
unethical at the very least. Stebro charged me for
something that they never shipped, then lied about it.
Are these actions considered illegal in Canada? I'd
like to send a complaint to the Canadian authorities.
Can anybody steer me to the proper Canadian office?
As for Stebro's "lifetime warranty," forget it. With
this type of customer service, the firm will not
remain in existance long enough to honor that
warranty.
Just my two cents. Buyers, BEWARE! Buy an Alfa OEM
muffler.
Diogenio
S. California