quichedem

iTrader: (4)

Near the end of February (22nd / 23rd), I reached-out to them to order a set of custom spark plug wires for my stock, but relocated, coils. I was asked for, and provided measurements, and was sent a custom link to order. I was also told the parts would take a couple of weeks for them to get and there was assembly time. I didn't / don't have a problem with any of this, and ordered just before the end of the month.
What I do have a problem with is spending the last two weeks just trying to get someone from Sake to just contact me back with a simple status update. Starting mid-March, I sent an email each week and called repeatedly. I had to find their phone number on yellowpages as they do not list it on their website. All contact was simply ignored until today - a month from initially placing the order. I received an email from two separate people telling me the order shipped, and an "apology" with an offer of an undisclosed "wholesale discount on a future purchase." Of course, they only send snail mail, so that's another 1-2 weeks down right there.
I'm just here to say that I have spent a good amount of money with this outfit over the years, but I will not tolerate being plain ignored. I caution anyone reading this when making custom orders with Sake to consider this.

F1blueRx7

iTrader: (5)

There's a vendor review forum buried in the new marketplace. But I hear ya. I have some products from SBG that I'm very happy with (Including their wheels!), and some that cost me several times what I paid for them. Customer service wise I was able to call their tech line and get a straight answer when I've needed it. At the end of the day I'm happy to have a vendor that is willing to invest the R&D to make parts for a market that will never grow.

quichedem

iTrader: (4)

Believe me when I say I very much agree. They sell some top notch stuff, and I've spent a fortune with them. To date, I've purchased a set of Ohlins, Greddy full v-mount kit, and dual oil cooler kit. I've also gotten smaller items (i.e.: oil filter pedestal, etc.) I just got livid when I was completely ignored for 2 weeks. I was told it would take a couple of weeks for the parts to make up my wires to come to them, and I have no problem with that. I agreed to it. I just cant stand being ignored. Not a way to run a business.
of course, I was offered a discount on a future order. This is a nice way to try to make it up, but shouldn't be a business model. When I ordered the Ohlins, they accidentally sent me the RX8 kit.
My point is that a little communication goes a looooooong way! These are specialty parts for our cars, so I don't mind waiting. I think most of us don't. Just tell me if you're behind, and post a phone number that you'll answer.

CarbonR1

iTrader: (2)

I'm guessing that the small shops servicing a niche community are probably understaffed so customer service falls is the first thing that falls behind. I'm not excusing it, I just think we have to be a little realistic when dealing with shops like SB.

cr-rex

iTrader: (114)

Small shop, understaffed, whatever. His repeated attempts at contacting them were definitely ignored. The only way they weren't is if NO ONE was able to get in contact with them and THEY not contacting anyone else. It seems highly unlikely an operation can go weeks without speaking to anyone about anything.

And of course its understood here that no one is being ungrateful but its not ok to do things like this or to have things like this happen. As I've said before, just because they are catering to a niche market it doesn't make it ok to treat people however you want. There is still a premise of respect and professionalism for your customers. We hinge on them just as much as they do on us.

I hope they respond to the thread

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

iTrader: (7)

I've personally never had an issue with SBG but things are definitely different as I am local to them and can just head to their shop at any time. It is unfortunate though that people who are not local to them are experiencing this and there is no excuse regardless of catering to a niche market or not. They cater to other markets as well as S2K, Miata and Type R as well but the RX7 is their baby. Business is a business and they need to communicate with their consumers.

SpinningDorito

iTrader: (2)

Even the snailiest of snail mail in the US shouldn't take 2 weeks. I live in a fairly rural area and first class mail normally gets here within a week, if not as fast as priority/flat rate does.

I also needed custom coil wires for my relocated ign1a coils. I just bought a generic coil building kit from one of the major brands, and the ratcheting crimper tool and did it myself. It was actually fairly straightforward and I was able to make 3 sets for my car so that I have spares on hand. I think the total cost for the kit and tool still came out pretty competitive with ordering a custom set from anywhere.

SakeBomb Garage

iTrader: (17)

First off we want to apologize for the lack of communication. We're currently getting way more orders than we can handle and fill with our small staff, and things during Covid have not made it any easier as we have some staff working from home - so communication between the warehouse and email is lacking. We're very much a small mom-and-pop business, and we're simply overwhelmed with demand for parts currently, as well as supply chain issues from our vendor.

Here's the honest truth, we've got so many suspension orders, IGN-1A kits, oil cooler, etc orders coming in that we can not keep up. Our capacity to make custom plug wires for custom applications in a timely manner is just simply not there any longer until we've got some freed-up capacity and a larger staff. For the time being we've removed the product page from the website and gone ahead and given you a full refund. We just simply do not have the ability to support certain products that are custom for the time being.

As far as contacting us, we list our phone number on Google - if you google SakeBomb Garage or MiataSpeed our number comes up 510-356-5556 (all customers are welcome to call or text at any time). I asked Alexandra about this order and it sounded like she had given an upfront time estimate for a couple of weeks, maybe that was a little too optimistic considering the hundreds of emails and orders we're getting each week. We're definitely sympathetic to your situation and know what it's like to wait on parts ourselves, but unfortunately, we're in Triage Mode here at SakeBomb and the smaller or more complex orders are taking much longer than they normally would - especially for a stock coil relocation... if it were IGN-1A coils with different lengths where we have components ready to go it would have been much faster, but it's not often we have customers trying to relocate stock coils to another location.

You've been a good customer to us so I'm not trying to put you off in any way. We'd like to extend a one-time wholesale discount on a future order with us for the inconvenience, and I'm genuinely sorry that you didn't get a response back sooner. Hopefully we can make it right for you and repair things moving forward. Every customer is important to us... orders small or large I don't want to let anyone down here.

Thanks,
Heath Friedland
510-356-5556 shop / order status (call or text)

SakeBomb Garage

iTrader: (17)

To be clear this was not an in-stock item.... this was for custom wires with custom ends to relocate stock coils. If it were not a hand built custom item we would have been able to get it out much quicker.

quichedem

iTrader: (4)

Lots of good points. An update...
They wound-up sending priority, and the plugs arrived yesterday. The plugs did not fit, but there is blame on both sides. In my initial email, I SPECIFIED visible wire length, and the connection angles at each end. I saw the lengths on the custom link they sent, but (shame on me), I didn't verify the ends. I wound-up with wires I can't even use! I just sent a reply with this, and received a refund notification 5 minutes later. This is the best outcome I could hope for, and I will say that this is fair, but my main point of communication is the real take-away. I am not saying not to buy anything from SBG. Just letting everyone know.

RX7 RAGE

iTrader: (22)

I'm also having trouble with Sakebomb unfortunately with no communication at all after ordering almost $500 worth of parts last week.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (2)

you and 20 other people who spent even more maybe …

their only likely alternative is to temporarily stop taking orders, seen a few companies doing that because they’re so overwhelmed.

not every business was suffering over the last year, a lot of manufacturing and other businesses were booming. With everything opening up it just went to another level.

We’re just about booked out for the year where I work. It’s hard to take somebody seriously when they’re screaming for a quote ASAP and you have a 6 - 7 month lead-time, but it’s a good problem to have.
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94 R2

iTrader: (2)

Just my $0.02 for what it's worth...it's unrealistic for the best businesses to provide 100% perfect experiences to all customers 100% of the time. What is most telling is how they respond and handle challenges when they arise. Heath took full ownership, apologized, provided full transparency for next steps and options for the client.

My experience with Heath and SBG over the last 3 years has been as good as a client/shop experience can possibly get. I spare no expense on my FD and SBG has been and will continue to be the only shop that touches my car.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (2)

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Natey

iTrader: (19)

Agreed. Those guys finally got my car on the road after I got ripped off by more than one vendor/sponsor of this club for thousands of dollars (they're gone now, imagine that). Not too many resources left for us in the Bay Area, and I'm happy to have a good honest shop within driving distance.
Call Elite Rotary or Addicted instead and see how that goes.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (2)

edit: they just followed up and sent me the shipping info, so I’m good.
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