What's Wrong In This Picture
 

I LOVE Pelican Parts! They did a truly amazing job of "making this right". I got a free shipping voucher in North Carolina from California within two days and the replacement vinyl in less than a week. The new Targa top is now on and it looks great! Thank you!

I bet they make it right. Every company has a screw up. The difference between a good company and a great one is how they deal with their own screw ups.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. I hope you're right.

I once was sent a mis-matched set of sway bar drop link bushings, one black, one white. One for my 1977, the other for a 1978+.

It was the last time I tried ordering from Pelican's direct competition. However in all fairness everyone makes mistakes.

The other place replaced the bushing, I still have it if anyone wants it for the cost of shipping.

Obviously, they forgot to take the "Do Not Bend " sign off before shipping. :D

Ever heard of drop shipping?
Pelican most likely ordered that product from either the manufacturer or distributor, and had it shipped directly to you. That saves time, money, and gets the product to the consumer faster. But it also means they never see it or handle it or package it.


If I were pelican, I'd politely suggest you lay it out in the sun and let it rest a little while so it'll be good as new, right as rain, and to get over the drama queen stuff.

I bet they'll be a whole lot nicer than I would be after your over-the-top and accusatory post.

Ever heard of LL Bean or Stew Leonard. The most delightful shopping experience you will ever have.

The customer is always right!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1405431356.jpg

I think ApexNC deserves it done right.

Did you contact PP and give them the opportunity to fix the issue prior to posting this here?

Interesting, in that it would seem from his reply that his first course of action was not to contact Pelican and ask for a resolution to his problem, but to publicly complain about them in a forum provided by them at no cost to him.

Then you have to ask if the problem is even a real one, or something that could be fixed easily, without resorting to aquiring another part.

JR

+1

I think you should give a vendor the chance to make things right before taking to the airways.

Pelican missed a part in my order once, I rang, got an immediate apology and the correct part was dispatched (to Australia) pronto. Not the slighest question, or suggestion that they had sent the part and I was making a suspect claim.
As Glen says, sooner or later a mistake will happen. It's how the company deals with the mistake. Pelican is yet to disappoint me...............

Apex, we know its frustrating when his sort of thing happens, but you've been on this board long enough to know Wayne will make it right.

And using the gift certificate your late wife gave you makes the sting a little more pronounced. I get that. Just give PP a chance. You be cruising with a good top in no time.

Of course it was drop shipped. Do you really think Pelican keeps a warehouse full of targa roof skins in inventory at all times on the off chance that someone from North Carolina will order one?

When you yell at the Pelican phone rep you're shouting at him about someone else's mistake. Is the skin even damaged?

+1 when they make it right I hope you start another thread about the great customer service.

If it was dropped shipped, doesnt that mean it came from a place that is evem more spescialized in porsche vinyl than pelican parts?

1. im 100 percent sure pelican will make it right if you want another one
2. im 99 percent sure who ever packed it has a dark sense of humor and was messing with you
3. Im 98 percent confident it is probably fine to use as is

Almost surely drop shipped.

Proper course of action is to contact the seller and ask for resolution.

If you do not receive satisfaction then it's certainly appropriate to air your grievances in a manner that gets the attention it deserves.

I have no doubt had OP followed that course of action we would

a) never have seen this post
b) Pelican would have had a conversation with the originating supplier
c) we may have seen a post from OP praising how well Pelican handles customer issues

Items that are drop shipped usually come directly from the manufacturer.

Yeah, I don't know about that. There are lots of morons out there and stupidity doesn't need to be catered to.

While in college, I worked part time at the grocery store near the school, a Publix. Across the street from the Publix was an Albertsons. While working in Publix, I saw a little old lady bring a gallon of milk in the Albertsons' brand with the Albertsons name on the bottle back to Publix. The mgr tried to explain to her that she had to have bought it across the street, but she was having none of it. He did eventually take it back, and in that case it was only $2, but there are times when morons try to pull the same kind of crap with much more expensive items.

I also worked at a retail auto parts place. We'd had several customers over the years that tried to have motors replaced for free because of their mistake. I once had a guy come in that was fumin' because we had given him defective brake pads. He had installed the pads backwards, metal plates towards the rotors and pad material towards the pistons, and had driven on them. The pads had very neat circles cut into them by the pistons. Yeah, no, the customer is absolutely not always right.

A customer may not always BE right, but if your company policy is to treat them as such (no matter how stupid they are), it ensures a happy customer, which almost always generates repeat business and word of mouth business. So, spending a few bucks to appease a dumb customer generally has a great ROI.

This. I've had a couple of minor issues ordering from Pelican over the years, all quickly resolved.

I'm sure you are perfect, never made a mistake, and if you owned a company with employees or subcontractors you would personally inspect everything that they do, as it's being done.

Wow. I'd say there is tie for today's 'Pelican douche-of-the-day' contest, and lunch isn't even over yet. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/8164694-post18.html

I'm embarrassed that I will hit 'submit reply' after I write this.....

Please show a pic of your Targa Top after you recover it, in it's perfection.....

.
It's called "consumer sovereignty".
A good company knows this.
.
I had a field supervisor years ago who screwed up a job on a monthly service contract. I made good to the tune of $5,900 out of pocket. It was my 6th year on that contract and I kept it until I retired 18 years later.
$47,000/yr. contract - I would have been a fool to not honor it.

Why would someone put a "Do Not Bend" sticker on a Targa Top skin?

exactly, so they should know how to package their items.


Again I think sombody with a spare sticker and an apreciation for sutle humor is have a good time with OP

Technically that top is not bent, it's folded.

At least it wasn't spindled or mutilated...

ApexNC,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for packaging this item incorrectly and any inconvenience to you.

We're going to ship you a new replacement item, properly packaged, immediately.

Also, you will receive two emails, the first will be an RMA# and the second will be a prepaid label for the original item. We're not going to wait to receive the original item before we ship the replacement but if you would return the original item in a reasonable time-frame, we'd appreciate it.

Once again, we apologize for the issue and we're hoping to earn your business once again in the future.

Feel free to contact me directly at anytime.

Mark Hotchkis
Pelican Parts
mark@pelicanparts.com
310.626.8765 x309

Douche. Seek a resolution before the public bashing.

Exactly my thought. Pelican is one of the few companies left that actually uses USA-based customer service guys that'll answer the phone and talk to you. If you'd talked with one of their people we wouldn't even be here.

Bad form.

The comment about bending the targa roof skin made me LOL - too true! They're supposed to bend a bit!

For Newbies, this is not because the issue was so public, this response reflects the normal Pelican standard of service.

Exactly how it should have been handled, and exactly how I'd expect Pelican to handle it. From my experience, their customer service is top notch. OP, next time (if their IS a next time) I'd suggest you go directly to them to get resolution instead of taking to the public forum first.

Just received a FedEx return shipping label. So far so good. Thanks for the sympathetic responses. I posted that this morning well before west coast call center people were even awake. I agree it would have been more gracious to contact PP first and were things going better here I certainly would have. But yesterday was not a good day for me at all and finding this on my doorstep when I finally got home at 3:00am was just the last straw. I know. That's really not PP's fault. Sorry. I promise to praise the excellent customer service I got once this gets sorted out.

I'm sure I speak for more than myself when I say I hope that as time passes your days will get better. We know they can never be what they once were but I hope you soon find peace.

As much as we sometimes bicker and kick each other around down here in OT we are like any other severely dysfunctional family and should you ever need someone to talk to we are here to listen and help in any way we can.

Be strong and be well.

Scott

ApexNC. Nice apology. It was needed. PP has exceptional customer service as shown above. Now that the stress is relieved plan on a drive to the Raleigh Grand for "cars and coffee" this Saturday AM.

I figured OP was having a bad day from his post. I could see how a bend across that giant do not bend sticker could get you worked up a bit if it was a bad day.

The outcome was exactly as everybody expected. Pelican is awesome, I dont even cross shop anywhere else any more. If they dont have it I probably dont need it :).

I STILL think somebody was messing with you though :)

+1
Ever since I have been buying from PP, I have never had a problem that they wouldn't make right.

Good customer service is a priority at Pelican Parts.

I think Comcast hires the guys that Wayne won't

While it may be easy to criticize Apex for being rash, one thing that stood out from his original post was that this was purchased using a gift cert from his late wife. The emotions tied into this must be enormous.

If we were to wait to act only after logical process was applied there would be far less passion in the world.

I'm not for knee jerk reactions dictating life - often cool heads prevail but we are human and not Vulcan.

Should he have done due deligance and contacted Pelican in a measured and appropriate professional man or expressing his concern, seeking a remedy prior to going public? Well ya, but that's not always going to happen because we are human beings rought with passion which is often pure gut action. Isn't the best way to love life but I would not like the alternitive.

Pelican did right. In my 10 years dealing with them I've not seen been screwed over once. I wish all companies worked like they do. Wayne set a good set of core values in place. Mark and the rest of leadership are tops. Best I've witnessed.

Glad we gave Apex his chance to vent with little condemnation.

But let's try to understand his perspective. It's not just a bent targa skin, it was a conduit of love from his late wife. I'm not so sure if that thing came delivered by a guilded chariot being driven by Steve Macqueen being pulled by winged unicorns farting skittles it would have good enough. He's allowed to B a bit. It's understandable.

Hmmmm, a month and a half later and we never saw pics of the new top! Like a previous poster stated, I don't think the top being folded in half made any difference. Lay it out in the sun and it would have been fine.