Lesson learned, buy from Pelican, NOT Auto Atlanta!

Gus Berges · 02-18-2014, 05:56 AM

I have purchased quite a few items from Pelican, but in this last instance where I needed an evaporator for my car (2002 C4S), funds were low and I opted to get a generic evaporator from Auto Atlanta as Pelican did not offer it. I ordered based on what they offer on their website and as it turns out, it was the wrong part. They completely refuse to accept any negligence on their part and now they want me to be responsible for the cost of shipping back to them as well as re stocking fee. Keep in mind that I did call to make sure I was going to get the right part (their website is about the worse online shopping experience ever...) as I had to ship the part overseas. Instead of admitting to part of the responsibility, they in turn are arrogant about it, specially a person by the name of Leo.

Lesson learned, pay extra and continue to get the great service that Pelican offers. I have yet to receive one wrong part from Pelican, and whenever I call, I get what I need resolved right away.

Hopefully this saves someone the headache of having to deal with a company that is obviously not in tune with what customer service is all about. If you read this on other Porsche boards, my apologies as I want to make sure the message gets across.

scottrx7tt · 02-18-2014, 06:09 AM

Just wondering how you will buy this part from Pelican if they don't offer it? Sometimes you just have to take a chance on it. One thing you will find out about these old Porsches is some parts listed will not fit your exact application, especially with A/C components. There were several different variations from the factory for certain years, also you don't know if the previous owner made changes to the system, or upgraded to something custom.
I went through this when i was ordering brake calipers for my car(bought from ********.com) I have a 79 911, and ordered for that year, little did i know that the previous owner upgraded to 84-86 calipers, which had different locations for the brake lines, and were made for a thicker rotor. I could not ask ********.com to take the blame for something that was beyond their control, they sent me what i asked for, so i had to eat the shipping cost....my mistake. If companies refunded shipping costs on customer errors, either they would not make any $$, or they would go up on their prices.
I am pretty sure Pelican would charge you too for return shipping if you ordered the part in error. *********** does not stock some of their parts, so they have to special order them, if they return those parts to their distributor(or Porsche) they are charged a fee also.

Gus Berges · 06:19 AM

Scott: Pelican does in fact offer this part (evaporator), but from a manufacturer that is a lot more expensive than the one Auto Atlanta offers.
Though 12 years old, my car, a 996, not a Carrera/SC, is somewhat contemporary, or at least from an era where digital documentation abounds, so having clear records of what fits and works and what doesn't shouldn't be too hard to obtain for a company that specializes in this sort of business. My system is completely stock from factory and had never been opened before. With the exception of tinted windows, and an oil drain plug from LNE, and an auxiliary cable for the stereo (VW/Audi part!), my car is 100% stock as it left from factory (car barely has 30K miles on it).

Again, Pelican has done no wrong in this, it was *********** (or is it Auto Atlanta?). Reason I did not get the evaporator from Pelican was simply a budget thing (nearly twice the price, but it was justified by having different manufacturers of the same part). I'm pretty confident that if I would have gotten the wrong part from Pelican, they would have treated me differently. I agree with you 100% if the case was as in yours with the brakes, but in this instance, it was a part to fit a completely 100% stock system of a car that was relatively mass produced.

I just want to make sure that nobody confuses the great service from Pelican with the crappy one from Auto Atlanta (or is it ***********?)

At the end of the day, I got the part locally as I needed my car back. Paid dearly for it!

GeorgeK · 02-18-2014, 06:38 AM

Auto Atlanta have been getting ratings between "squid" and "slug" for as long as I can remember...

Gus Berges · 02-18-2014, 06:44 AM

George, thanks for sharing as I did not want to come out as the only one complaining about them. Wish I had know about it beforehand.

Matt Monson · 02-18-2014, 07:00 AM

Gus,
You are correct. I have in fact gotten the wrong part from Pelican before and they handled it efficiently and without an attitude or blaming the customer. Good group of people Wayne has assembled.

Regards,

Matt

Gus Berges · 02-18-2014, 07:03 AM

EXACTLY Matt! That is the whole point of this thread. Hopefully this thread will help others avoid the mistake of dealing with Auto Atlanta and instead deal with Pelican. Hopefully those who are on the fence about which company to deal with, will see this thread and help them make the right choice.

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Ah, "Doctor 914" is a tool......the east coast Motor Meister.

scottrx7tt · 02-18-2014, 07:13 AM

Gus, i will say that Pelican parts BY FAR is the best company to deal with. I am a highly satisfied customer. They stock far more products than anyone else. I also didnt notice that your car was an 02 model, which obviously should be completely stock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gus Berges

Scott: Pelican does in fact offer this part (evaporator), but from a manufacturer that is a lot more expensive than the one Auto Atlanta offers.
Though 12 years old, my car, a 996, not a Carrera/SC, is somewhat contemporary, or at least from an era where digital documentation abounds, so having clear records of what fits and works and what doesn't shouldn't be too hard to obtain for a company that specializes in this sort of business. My system is completely stock from factory and had never been opened before. With the exception of tinted windows, and an oil drain plug from LNE, and an auxiliary cable for the stereo (VW/Audi part!), my car is 100% stock as it left from factory (car barely has 30K miles on it).

Again, Pelican has done no wrong in this, it was *********** (or is it Auto Atlanta?). Reason I did not get the evaporator from Pelican was simply a budget thing (nearly twice the price, but it was justified by having different manufacturers of the same part). I'm pretty confident that if I would have gotten the wrong part from Pelican, they would have treated me differently. I agree with you 100% if the case was as in yours with the brakes, but in this instance, it was a part to fit a completely 100% stock system of a car that was relatively mass produced.

I just want to make sure that nobody confuses the great service from Pelican with the crappy one from Auto Atlanta (or is it ***********?)

At the end of the day, I got the part locally as I needed my car back. Paid dearly for it!

Gus Berges · 02-18-2014, 07:21 AM

Here is a comparison of what I got (shiny part!) vs. what I needed. They claim that there is only one right part, the one I got from them, but I think the picture speaks for itself that what they claim is false. It almost seems as if it was for a right hand drive car instead of left hand drive, but that is not the case of my car (left hand drive, just like in the US).

earthcloud · earthcloud's Garage

Auto Atlanta, from my experience, is a total waste of your time and money. Beware. Believe me, I know. That was 20 years ago and things haven't changed.

RD911T · RD911T's Garage

I started to order from Auto Atlanta this morning. I needed a brake reservoir for my 71. It was $77 from Pelican. Seemed pretty expensive for a little plastic box. I found Auto Atlanta had if for $44 and checked out some of the other prices of items I need for my suspension rebuild. All of them were about the same price as Pelican. I went back to Pelican and found a cheaper version of the reservoir. This is my only complaint about Pelican, it seems to be a little difficult to find certain items at times. The search function seems iffy. I'll spend a lot of time looking for a part and then call Pelican to ask and they can find it in a heartbeat. I'm usually pretty good at web searches.

T77911S · 02-18-2014, 08:35 AM

pelican makes mistakes.

when i ordered the main fuel line for my 77s they did not tell me i needed a "mod kit" because the fuel line had changed. i sent it back because it did not fit. only when i called a long time parts supplier did i find this out. he told me as soon as i ordered the fuel line that i needed this kit.

i also had another company send me the correct box/part number when i was building my 914-6 but the box had the wrong part in it. they tried to tell me i many not get my money back because it was not their fault the wrong part was in the correct box.
they made it right.

so you just dont know. they all have their moments.

GaryR · GaryR's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeK

Auto Atlanta have been getting ratings between "squid" and "slug" for as long as I can remember...

I'll add to the "S" rating. Ordered a pair of 993 Aero mirrors from them, said they were "In Stock". A week goes by and I check, note on my order that I have to call them. I do, and am informed they will be about $50 more than what was advertised and they are not in stock. I'm not finding them anywhere else so I say move forward. Two weeks later I see they STILL haven't shipped them and I find them "in stock" (and verified by email this time) at another site. I call AA and tell them if they are not on the way to cancel. They tell me they have shipped from Porsche and are due in "tomorrow". A week later still haven't shipped so I cancelled, got them from the other guy (for less than the original AA $$!) and I will NEVER buy from them again.

Brant · 02-18-2014, 08:58 AM

the 914 crowd has a saying about automobile atlanta...

Friends Don't Let Friends buy from AA

pelican is such a good company
AA is such a bunch of scam artists.

Matt Monson · 02-18-2014, 09:01 AM

T77911S,

Any time there is the human element there will be mistakes. It is how a company handles their mistakes that truly defines them.

GaryR · GaryR's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

T77911S,

Any time there is the human element there will be mistakes. It is how a company handles their mistakes that truly defines them.

Exactly, compounding false advertising with misinformation and lies... not so good.

AA!

Sunroof · 02-18-2014, 09:16 AM

I continue to buy many parts from AA, but I drive over to the facility, hang out at the counter, let them know what I need and if its in stock they bring it out, I inspect it and if its correct I buy it and leave! So far in dealing with them for over the last 10 years, no issues. I have yet to order anything via the AA website, so my experiences have been postive.

mysocal911 · 02-18-2014, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottrx7tt

Just wondering how you will buy this part from Pelican if they don't offer it? .

If parts are not listed in their catalog, just call Pelican Parts and ask them.
Pelican Parts has many sources for Porsche parts, many are not listed in the
catalog. There're many competent sales & staff people at Pelican Parts that have
great Porsche knowledge.

AJ's 911 · AJ's 911's Garage

Agree 100%. I have sent Pelican Parts Customer Service pics and or descriptions of parts I needed when I did not see in their website. They have routinely come back with the parts number and actually assembled them as an invoice ready for me to click on to order.