lotusdrift,

You have been PM'd.

Rishie

 

Thank you for the PM Rishie, I replied.

my inquiry was made on Friday, December 17, 2004 @ 9:20 PM, B2s on an S13.

 

I am in the same boat as Lotusdrift. Can I send you my serial number to track as well? I have no idea where mine came from originally. I just know I had heard great things about them and now I feel screwed. That's just the way it is.
Where are the serial numbers located?

 

There's the issue. Fact is all the policy is attempting to do is get more money out of the consumer's pocket for the exact same product.

If the USA dealers don't want to service imported products that's their prerogative, but forcing the consumer to pay an extra fee on top of their purchase to ensure the product they bought here will even be serviced doesn't make sense.

Regardless of the good intentions all the fee does is **** off the consumer, as this thread proves.

 

Rishie,

Thanks for your comments however you were a strong supporter of JIC just a few months ago. What happened?

I think I will quote what I wrote in my post a few months ago.

"And please note that even if you know you are right and I am wrong it simply does not matter. The fact that these conclusions are so easy to come to is a problem."

The policies are pissing people off and it will hurt sales. End of discussion. As for your comment about my site that is just wrong. It is there to help people, nothing more. I think I will be helping people by warning them about this before they buy a kit. Word of mouth is important to vendors and it would be a shame if they were to ignore that over a policy like this. If you are tired of defending these policies then change them. Good policies rarely need defended.

dis1

 

Same reason any other distributor changes their mind. Either:

A) They don't sell JIC anymore

or

B) They make more money off selling Zeal

 

We actually make less money on the Zeals. We were a strong supporter of JIC until they started refusing legitimate warranty claims from our dealers and clients, as well as when they started doing backdoor sales in our exclusive region. There are so many reasons why I have stopped carrying JIC product. #1: they lowered their quality standards because we had premature failures on many of their coilovers after the first year, #2: policies about protecting their product were never enforced as we are doing here with Zeal.

Basically it was creating issues for both our company as well as our clients. If we are not supported and protected by our manufacturer then neither will our clients. This is not good business practice. I was a heavy heavy supporter of JIC until they proved to me that I should not support them any longer.

 

My comment about your site was with regards to you interrupting simple informative posts I make here with regards to product and referring them to your website. It's great if your website explains everything, but that is not my site and I don't have the ability to post information there.

The big point here is that THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR POLICIES ARE THOSE WHO GOT THEIR COILS GRAY MARKET. END OF STORY.

ANYONE WHO BUYS ZEALS FROM AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WILL HAVE THE BEST SERVICE AVAILABLE IN THE INDUSTRY, HANDS DOWN.

Straight up, if you buy gray market coils to save a buck then you should expect to not receive the services of an authorized purchase or install.

If it's pissing off our legitimate clientele I would be concerned. For you to simply state that this policy is pissing people off completely is a generalized statement. I'm not interested in sales from parties or overhauls from clients who buy their stuff straight from Japan. That purchase was not part of our company, nor should it be supported as such. WHY ISN'T THAT EXPECTED?

If we were to begin overhauling used coilovers from Japan, don't you see how that can be detrimental to our product here in the states.

 

Sorry, rotary racer was logged in on this computer. However he feels the same way.

Rishie

 

Rishie, check your PMs on ARD T2, thanks.

 

Why dont you overhaul gray market coilovers but charge out the *** for it? At least your making some money off the people that go thru Japan for these.

Jason

 

Ok, first of all if you have something you would like on my site you are free to e-mail me. If you take a look at my site you would see that several companies have done so and their info is posted there, including Zeal. It is not a forum though and I only put content there that I see as valuable. Also I did not “interrupt” any of your posts here with references to my site so I’m going to have to raise the BS flag there. In fact you made your comment about my site when in fact that was your first post. So can you explain how I “interrupted” you when you weren’t posting? Maybe you have some other issue with my site? I hope not because several of the people who contacted me about my site bought their kits from you. Do I get a cut? No, instead I get your rude comments.

As for the people that are complaining I don't see anybody here or anywhere that bought a gray market set. And yet I still see complaints. Ummmm. If I sell my car and the new owner needs a rebuild it sounds to me like he will have some big issues. Contacting you personally would seem to be the way to go but what if the new owner does not know this? The result... they are screwed.

As for buying direct from Japan I would like to see some info that supports that this is such a big problem. I looked in to buying coilovers direct from Japan and even bought several Japanese magazines. It would not have been an easy task and I would not have saved much money. (I was mostly doing this research to get kits not offered in the states.) Perhaps buying a used set from Japan might have worked but I was also unable to find such a set.

I'm sorry but you aren't providing any facts that support these claims for such strict policies. You say the complainers bought their kits gray market. I don't see this. I see people that bought what were probably legitimate used kits and were turned away by Endless. You say that supporting Endless Japan coilovers hurts business in the states. Well sure but if you properly support sales in the states this should be a non-issue because nobody will feel the need to buy a kit from Japan. (Unless they save like 50%, in which case there is another huge problem.)

Anyway I was already aware of your issues with JIC. I was trying to point out the parallels. I was a supporter of Zeal while you were still supporting JIC. Now I see policy changes that deter sales and service with Zeal just like you saw with JIC. I don't care for your ALL CAPS or your attitude on this subject. I am expressing my opinions on something I do support. Can't you see the parallels of me changing my mind based on Zeal’s policies just as you did with JIC? I still think Zeal is great and they support their products but charging install fees and turning away rebuilds without confirming if it is a gray market kit is not good business.

Lastly you said "If it's pissing off our legitimate clientele I would be concerned." Well guess what Richie, I am legitimate clientele and bought my set from a company who, at the time, was an authorized distributor. I'm not happy so aren't you concerned? Or maybe you can just dismiss my concerns along with everybody else's here?

dis1

 

i guess Endless/Zeal as a company has a lot to learn about customer service. Customer service is the backbone of any successful company. in the end, zeal coilovers are coilovers at one point in time manufactured by zeal...not replicas. if you were servicing replica zeal coilovers that would be a huge problem. but to turn away your own product when people are willing to pay you to help them fix products that you designed and manufactured is ridiculous. how does it benefit the company's reputation by doing that? in the end what you get is one end user with a set of authentic zeal coilovers that are blown and unusuable explaining to another end user of his situation and zeal's unwillingness to service products with their name on it despite their willingness to pay for the rebuild...where do you think that product goes...straight into the garbage can. and you think that person would ever buy another one of your products? you're not helping your reputation by turning people away, you're hurting it.

regardless of where the coilovers came from (Endless warehouse in Japan, Endless USA authorized distributor, or second hand from another end user), zeal was paid their asking price for the product the minute it left their warehouse...unless, of course, the coilovers were stolen out of the back of a van or Endless warehouse. so what's the deal, is Endless/Zeal Japan a different company from Endless/Zeal USA? why do you make such a big fuss about whether the product was purchased directly from japan or through an authorized dealer in the U.S? in the end your company still profits off the sale of a set of coilovers.

i could understand if you were servicing and rebuilding these coilovers for customers for free, but if you're charging people for it how are you losing money? i don't see any turbo rebuilders complaining about all the business they get because of customers are blowing their turbos. in the end, what you really should be concerned about is your reputation, and knowing that everyone out there who has a product with your name on it is completely satisfied. How can you blame people for liking your products and wanting a good deal of them even if they are used...just look at ebay...why is ebay so popular...because people want a deal...regardless of whether the product is new or used.

as long as the product the customer has is an authentic Endless/Zeal product...you should stand by....it's better than knowing that there are Zeal coilovers out there in the garbage can because people can't get them serviced. you know those people will never buy another product with your name on it. you're not the only high end coilover manufacturer out there...

 

Amen brotha!

 

WE ARE WILLING TO OVERHAUL GRAY MARKET COILOVERS AT A MUCH GREATER COST TO THE INVIDIDUAL. WE HAVE TAKEN HEED TO YOUR ADVICE. PLEASE email sales@autornd.com to receive your estimate if you need support.