Stillen. Any one encounter this before?
08-10-2011, 07:54 PM
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Stillen. Any one encounter this before?
Get this. My girlfriend's dad has a Z and yesterday he was looking to buy a plenum spacer and Stillen sway bars. He found a great deal from a local specialty parts store selling the sway bars and called Stillen to ask why he should buy those sway bars over a competitor and also see what kind of price he can get on them if he bought directly from Stillen. He has a Stillen exhaust and intake already so he is familiar with the brand. While conversing with a guy at Stillen, Kenny, he mentions the price he found and Kenny then says to hold on a second, he needs to talk to his manager. Kenny comes back and asks if he could call the guy to verify the price. Dave calls the specialty store and then calls Kenny back who then needs to talk to his manager and will call back. A few hours pass and he hasn't heard anything back from Kenny. He goes online and see's that the price had gone up at the specialty store to what Stillen was selling the sway bars for. He calls Kenny up and says wth why did they make them change the price. The manager, Jeff, and Kenny were both very rude and unprofessional about the whole thing. This isn't anything I would have expected from a company which depends on a niche market to support their brand. I understand price control but the story with the manufacturer of the plenum spacer, also a very big name, is the exactly the opposite.
Has anyone else encountered something like this with Stillen? I am surprised and will definitely not be buying anything from Stillen.
Has anyone else encountered something like this with Stillen? I am surprised and will definitely not be buying anything from Stillen.
08-10-2011, 08:06 PM
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OP......consider yourself lucky!!!!!....Stillen's stuff ain't all that great; and it's overpriced!!!! If GF's dad wants a good set of swaybars tell him to go with CUSCO. Motordyne (iirc) has a decent spacer. Point is you have options that may be even better for you!!
08-10-2011, 08:26 PM
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Good to know...not very good cust service. The independent vendor should have at least honored the price for you and bit the loss...
I always saw stillen as middle of the line stuff tho I do own some of their products....
I always saw stillen as middle of the line stuff tho I do own some of their products....
08-10-2011, 08:28 PM
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08-11-2011, 03:02 AM
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In defense of Stillen (although I've never used their products), when a manufacturer allows companies to distribute their products, they must sign a contract with the manufacturer. In the contract, it outlines the rules of selling their products. In that contract, there's always a couple things.
#1: MSRP - The amount you "should" ask for the product. Both manufacturers and vendors alike know that they'll never sell them for that much, it's just an advertising ploy, pretty much.
#2: Sets the MINIMUM sale price for each item. This is the "NO B.S." pricing. Typically, it's a tad lower than you see them advertised for daily, more like a "sale price". This is set in stone in the contract. That's why when shopping for parts and especially audio through valid vendors (not ebay), the pricing is usually the same on each product from different vendors. Manufacturers do this to preserve their brand name, and to keep it from being diluted by shady sellers who will move large quantities for super low prices.
That vendor was probably violating it's Terms of Agreement with Stillen, and Stillen reacted on the contract it has with it's vendors. It's not poor customer service, or them being mean or anything. They're just ensuring their contracts with their vendors are being abided by.
#1: MSRP - The amount you "should" ask for the product. Both manufacturers and vendors alike know that they'll never sell them for that much, it's just an advertising ploy, pretty much.
#2: Sets the MINIMUM sale price for each item. This is the "NO B.S." pricing. Typically, it's a tad lower than you see them advertised for daily, more like a "sale price". This is set in stone in the contract. That's why when shopping for parts and especially audio through valid vendors (not ebay), the pricing is usually the same on each product from different vendors. Manufacturers do this to preserve their brand name, and to keep it from being diluted by shady sellers who will move large quantities for super low prices.
That vendor was probably violating it's Terms of Agreement with Stillen, and Stillen reacted on the contract it has with it's vendors. It's not poor customer service, or them being mean or anything. They're just ensuring their contracts with their vendors are being abided by.
Last edited by Bullitt5339; 08-11-2011 at 03:28 AM.
08-11-2011, 07:04 AM
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In defense of Stillen (although I've never used their products), when a manufacturer allows companies to distribute their products, they must sign a contract with the manufacturer. In the contract, it outlines the rules of selling their products. In that contract, there's always a couple things.
#1: MSRP - The amount you "should" ask for the product. Both manufacturers and vendors alike know that they'll never sell them for that much, it's just an advertising ploy, pretty much.
#2: Sets the MINIMUM sale price for each item. This is the "NO B.S." pricing. Typically, it's a tad lower than you see them advertised for daily, more like a "sale price". This is set in stone in the contract. That's why when shopping for parts and especially audio through valid vendors (not ebay), the pricing is usually the same on each product from different vendors. Manufacturers do this to preserve their brand name, and to keep it from being diluted by shady sellers who will move large quantities for super low prices.
That vendor was probably violating it's Terms of Agreement with Stillen, and Stillen reacted on the contract it has with it's vendors. It's not poor customer service, or them being mean or anything. They're just ensuring their contracts with their vendors are being abided by.
#1: MSRP - The amount you "should" ask for the product. Both manufacturers and vendors alike know that they'll never sell them for that much, it's just an advertising ploy, pretty much.
#2: Sets the MINIMUM sale price for each item. This is the "NO B.S." pricing. Typically, it's a tad lower than you see them advertised for daily, more like a "sale price". This is set in stone in the contract. That's why when shopping for parts and especially audio through valid vendors (not ebay), the pricing is usually the same on each product from different vendors. Manufacturers do this to preserve their brand name, and to keep it from being diluted by shady sellers who will move large quantities for super low prices.
That vendor was probably violating it's Terms of Agreement with Stillen, and Stillen reacted on the contract it has with it's vendors. It's not poor customer service, or them being mean or anything. They're just ensuring their contracts with their vendors are being abided by.
Seems like they have lost a lot of customers due to their customer service. Sad, but there are plenty of competitors that I will give my business to.
08-11-2011, 07:11 AM
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Yeah, like I said, I'm not a Stillen supporter by any means, but the vendor was more than likely violating the set terms in their agreement, which is a quick way to get yanked as a vendor. You just got to see it first hand, typically vendors and manufacturers keep that kind of stuff out of the public eye.
08-11-2011, 08:13 AM
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yep, 800 dollars for a set of upper a arms.. um, are you fawking high?
I used to buy all stillen for my z32 back in like 1997.. f that tho..i ofund out the hard way that they are quantum over priced...and mad shady.
sounds exactly like stillen, and exactly like KENNY as well.
Hes very fast talking which i hate, and btw they love to look you up before they answer any of your questions.. as if they want to see if you actually buy parts when you call or if you just ask questions.. F them.. Im glad this thread came up.. and i rarely agree w vendor bashing.. i post against it alot, but in this case, totally deserved as no one supports them in the 350z community anyways.. and i doubt anyone who bought thier POS supercharger even bought it from them...
I used to buy all stillen for my z32 back in like 1997.. f that tho..i ofund out the hard way that they are quantum over priced...and mad shady.
sounds exactly like stillen, and exactly like KENNY as well.
Hes very fast talking which i hate, and btw they love to look you up before they answer any of your questions.. as if they want to see if you actually buy parts when you call or if you just ask questions.. F them.. Im glad this thread came up.. and i rarely agree w vendor bashing.. i post against it alot, but in this case, totally deserved as no one supports them in the 350z community anyways.. and i doubt anyone who bought thier POS supercharger even bought it from them...
08-11-2011, 09:00 AM
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good lord, Good thing i do my research before buying parts, I was Going to buy their exhaust, HFC and gen III cai. Instead Im going now with invidia gemeni TD, injen long tube CAI, but i still dont know which HFC to go with.
08-11-2011, 11:09 AM
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Stillen traction/camber arms -> only Stillen parts on my car. I can't knock them because I love how they work and I got them at an awesome price. Without that price, I'd have never purchased them though.
Side note -> Hotchkis sways are awesome.
Side note -> Hotchkis sways are awesome.
08-11-2011, 12:09 PM
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yep, they do sell good parts.
And i agree about the contract pricing schedule thing.. still.. dont like em.
Sounds like everyone else concurs.
Moral of the story: good thing you posted, we reacted, and now you will shop elsewhere w, hmm.. maybe a site sponsor.
all is now well.
And i agree about the contract pricing schedule thing.. still.. dont like em.
Sounds like everyone else concurs.
Moral of the story: good thing you posted, we reacted, and now you will shop elsewhere w, hmm.. maybe a site sponsor.
all is now well.
08-11-2011, 01:30 PM
#18
Get this. My girlfriend's dad has a Z and yesterday he was looking to buy a plenum spacer and Stillen sway bars. He found a great deal from a local specialty parts store selling the sway bars and called Stillen to ask why he should buy those sway bars over a competitor and also see what kind of price he can get on them if he bought directly from Stillen. He has a Stillen exhaust and intake already so he is familiar with the brand. While conversing with a guy at Stillen, Kenny, he mentions the price he found and Kenny then says to hold on a second, he needs to talk to his manager. Kenny comes back and asks if he could call the guy to verify the price. Dave calls the specialty store and then calls Kenny back who then needs to talk to his manager and will call back. A few hours pass and he hasn't heard anything back from Kenny. He goes online and see's that the price had gone up at the specialty store to what Stillen was selling the sway bars for. He calls Kenny up and says wth why did they make them change the price. The manager, Jeff, and Kenny were both very rude and unprofessional about the whole thing. This isn't anything I would have expected from a company which depends on a niche market to support their brand. I understand price control but the story with the manufacturer of the plenum spacer, also a very big name, is the exactly the opposite.
Has anyone else encountered something like this with Stillen? I am surprised and will definitely not be buying anything from Stillen.
Has anyone else encountered something like this with Stillen? I am surprised and will definitely not be buying anything from Stillen.
I'm sorry we didn't meet the expectations of your girlfriend's dad, and I'll do my best to explain my understanding of this, so that readers are on the same page, and hear both sides. We do our best to provide an extremely high level of service, and have thousands and thousands of happy customers over our 25-years in this industry, we're enthusiasts just like yourself.
My understanding we received a call on the sway bars, referencing an eBay listing from one of our dealer customers with a very low price, and was looking for us to undercut the dealer and beat that eBay price. We told the customer that the pricing looked incorrect, but if the dealer was willing to sell at that price, he should call them and purchase them.
The sales representative brought the information to the sales manager, verified the listing, and for our customers sake (and it sounds like the pricing in his system was off, and would have potentially lost money on that sale) we informed them of the low price, including the MAP policy we do have on our products in regards to what they can be advertised for (has nothing to do what individual dealers can sell them for). The dealer then updated the pricing on eBay after looking at his cost and our policies.
We received a call back (I'm assuming by your post after he had seen the pricing change) from this very upset gentleman who honestly spent 40 minutes berating the sales representative and sales manager, being abusive and screaming and yelling.
In the end, you've stated that the dealer who had the pricing up honored the deal, so I guess he got the deal in the end.
08-11-2011, 02:16 PM
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^^^yeah, that didnt come across well did it? heh heh..
awesome, sounds good, guess ill start shopping at Stillen again haha.. ah no.
either way....like i said before, i paid my dues w my Z32.. a stillen engine, headers, JWT LWFW, etc etc..and pretty much all Z32 parts they made.. and in the end my car never ran right.. was just an expensive debochle. Nissan dealer installed too.
Didnt ever hold it against them until Sean ( cant recall, its been 10 years.. i think he went over to HKS USA) stopped working there and my service went downhill.. and there was no berating or ebay price wars in my situation.. i paid full price. was just aHe was a little quirky, but took my calls and answered my questions over and over... and in the end i gave him my $.
Lately, its jsut a general.. "uh, nevermind then... ok thanks for no information..click." type of thing.
"Thanks for calling Stillen.. can i get your phone number first.... oooh.. just one moment...let me get you to your salesperson... "
PPl dont like that ish man. Just call me the guy whos letting you know. The only time thats good is if the salesperson remembers me, gives me the time of day, etc etc.. aint no relationships being built tho... might wana bring that up at the next quarterly meetings. Dunno.
While it is good to jump in and post your side of the coin ( which sounds ultra valid i must say), the prices Stillen commands versus what is delivered do not match, and subsequently, the community (on this forum at least) appears to chose to go elsewhere. Apparently others have also had equally undesired service, whether it be Stillens fault or not.... dunno mayn.
This customer may have been in the wrong, but I know i wasnt, and my $ has surely gone elsewhere. I believe i had spent about 8k at that time with Stillen, and just spent 20k locally this time. This is why my 2 cents was thrown in.
I just like being a punk on the forums when i can because work is boring often lately.. haha. Wasnt trying to be inflamatory either.. well a little i guess.
fact is, im no longer a stillen fan .... as others clearly are no longer as well.
Hope that makes more sense.. sorry for the read.
awesome, sounds good, guess ill start shopping at Stillen again haha.. ah no.
either way....like i said before, i paid my dues w my Z32.. a stillen engine, headers, JWT LWFW, etc etc..and pretty much all Z32 parts they made.. and in the end my car never ran right.. was just an expensive debochle. Nissan dealer installed too.
Didnt ever hold it against them until Sean ( cant recall, its been 10 years.. i think he went over to HKS USA) stopped working there and my service went downhill.. and there was no berating or ebay price wars in my situation.. i paid full price. was just aHe was a little quirky, but took my calls and answered my questions over and over... and in the end i gave him my $.
Lately, its jsut a general.. "uh, nevermind then... ok thanks for no information..click." type of thing.
"Thanks for calling Stillen.. can i get your phone number first.... oooh.. just one moment...let me get you to your salesperson... "
PPl dont like that ish man. Just call me the guy whos letting you know. The only time thats good is if the salesperson remembers me, gives me the time of day, etc etc.. aint no relationships being built tho... might wana bring that up at the next quarterly meetings. Dunno.
While it is good to jump in and post your side of the coin ( which sounds ultra valid i must say), the prices Stillen commands versus what is delivered do not match, and subsequently, the community (on this forum at least) appears to chose to go elsewhere. Apparently others have also had equally undesired service, whether it be Stillens fault or not.... dunno mayn.
This customer may have been in the wrong, but I know i wasnt, and my $ has surely gone elsewhere. I believe i had spent about 8k at that time with Stillen, and just spent 20k locally this time. This is why my 2 cents was thrown in.
I just like being a punk on the forums when i can because work is boring often lately.. haha. Wasnt trying to be inflamatory either.. well a little i guess.
fact is, im no longer a stillen fan .... as others clearly are no longer as well.
Hope that makes more sense.. sorry for the read.
Last edited by bmccann101; 08-11-2011 at 02:17 PM.