UGLY: My Pedders Experience

[metgo]

I hate to post bad reviews especially in situations like this where a supporting vendor is evolved but I have to be honest. I think my Pedder's setup is great and the car handles amazing but I had so many issues a long the way that it almost doesn't seem worth it to me now. First off let me say that Pedders and Mid Coast Performance (my local Pedder dealer) have the worst customer service I have ever delt with. It is so bad that it is laughable. Here is how it all went down.

Back on 5-15-08 I found out about a shop in the St. Louis area called Mid Coast Performance from this thread Pedders Day - St. Charles MO , turns out they were having some event called “Pedders Day”. The day after I found out about this shop I called them up to see if they would install a torque converter for me and setup an appointment for Friday 5-30-08.

The next week I ended up going to their Pedders Day on 5-24-08. I had a great time. I got some free food, a 28 point inspection and best of all I got to ride in shop Owner Gene’s Pedderized Charger R/T. I was very impressed with his car and told him I plan on doing some suspension work in the very near future. A few days after on 5-28-08 I called Gene and let him know I wanted to do the Full Track 2 setup. We agreed to have it started on 5-30-08 when I drop my car off for the torque converter install. The next day I found out that I wasn’t going to have my torque converter in time for the install so we agreed to push the appoint back to Monday June 2nd. Gene told me they could get started on the car Monday morning and it was a 2-3 day install with about 14-16 hours of labor. I told him I’d bring the converter up as soon as I got it so they could complete the install and he said that was fine.

On Monday June 2nd I drop my car off with Mid Coast Performance at 7:30 AM. The guy that was working when I dropped it off told me “We'll start working on it right away”. Two days later I finally get my torque converter, I rush it up to MCP and when I got there I noticed my car was parked in their lot in the exact same place I left it on Monday morning. I talk to the owner’s son Kurt who was working at the time. He told me they were waiting on parts and would have them in that afternoon and would start first thing Thursday morning and could possibly have the car done Friday evening or Saturday afternoon at the latest. I received no phone call from them telling me that they were even waiting on parts. I assumed since they were a Pedder’s dealer they should have had the parts especially since I made an appointment almost a week in advance. So I left the torque converter with them and waited.

On Friday June 6th I call them up in the afternoon wanting to know the current status of my car. Once again they tell me they are still waiting on parts and would have them Monday morning and that they would start on the car right away. At this point I got pretty angry. This is when I first contacted Pedders about this matter. I PMed Paul (Hemi4me) with all the details. He apologized for my inconvenience and he even agreed with me that it was totally unacceptable that they had my car with no parts and he told me he called the shop and forwarded my complaint to the shop owner. In a later PM he even told me that MCP mention nothing about having to wait on parts.

On Monday June 9th I received my first phone call from MCP. I was told they finally got the parts and would start working on my car right away.

Tuesday evening I call them up, not expecting my car to be done but just wanting to know how it was going. They said things were going great and the car would be done Wednesday afternoon. Great, I’m finally going to be getting my car back, WRONG!

June 11th, Wednesday afternoon I call them up to see if my car is done yet. They said they were still working on it and would be done by the end of the day and I could pick up the car on Thursday morning.

Thursday June 12th at 12:00 in the afternoon I get a phone call from MCP. They tell me my car still isn’t done and would be done no later than 3:00 PM. 3:00 PM rolls around and I heard nothing from them. I call their shop, no one answer. I tried a few more times with no luck. I then decided to take a ride up there. I get there and no one is even there. Now I was fuming. I went back home and PMed Paul and let him know what was going on. Later that day at 5:30 I call MCP and someone finally answers. I asked the guy if my car was done and he said he wasn’t sure and he would call me right back. A half hour goes by and no call. I then called him back. He tells me that the suspension is done and they will finish the torque converter by the end of the day. I asked him if they ran into any problems and why it took so long. He told me they didn’t run into any problems and with a smart a$$ tone to his voice told me “We just go the parts on Monday”. After this little talk I was wondering why they didn't have the converter done yet. They had the car for a week waiting on suspension parts, they couldn't have done the converter sometime that week? This lead me to believe that they were lying about not having the parts. They just didn't have time for me.

Finally it is Friday. MCP at this point has had my car for 11 days and I should finally be getting it back. I was really hoping that they would get my car done because I would be making a trip to Columbus that weekend. I call them up in the afternoon and they tell me they are still working on the torque converter and tranny cooler and it would be done by 5:00 PM. 5:00 PM rolls around and I call them and OMG it is actually done. I hurry up there. I write them a check for the job and prepare to leave. Before I left they told me that when they took the car for a test drive they could hear the exhaust clanking up against the car when they went over bumps because they couldn’t get the exhaust lined back up properly.

I drive the car home. The whole way home I hear the clank that they were telling me about. I would have made them fix the exhaust but I didn't have another 11 days for them to fix it so I decided to do it my self. I pull my car up on ramps when I got home. The first thing I noticed was all the clamps on the exhaust were loose. I re-aligned the exhaust and tightened everything down. I go to take the car for a test drive. I get about half way down my street and start hearing the clanking sound again coming from the rear of the car. I turn around and get my car back on ramps for further inspection. While checking the exhaust again I notice this,





A bolt without a nut on it. And Pedders is always saying how dangerous the OEM bushings are on these cars. Now this is dangerous. First I tried to call MCP but they were already gone. I then called Paul at Pedders. He told me he was sorry for all the trouble and told me I'd be better off talking to Pete. I let him know I'd PM Pete and try to talk to him in person if I was able to make the trip to Columbus. I then had to drive up to the hardware store to buy a washer and a nut. I get home and put the new nut on. While I was under the car I decided to check all the other bolts because I was preparing for a long trip to Columbus and I want to make sure my car was safe before I drove it that far. To my surprise, I ended up finding 2 more loose bolts that I had to tighten down. Words couldn't even describe how angry I was at this point.

In the end, I was able to make my trip to Columbus. When I first saw Pete, I went over to him and told him about what happened. He apologized a few times but would always change the subject and start telling me about how great the guys are over at MCP. IMO he didn't seem to think my issue was a big deal at all. Even after Columbus we went back and forth on some PMs and I still got the sense from him that he didn't really care.

While in Columbus I asked Pete if he'd inspect my car to make sure I wasn't having any other issues. He had his guys get under my car and check everything out. They found yet another loose bolt and even worse they notice I'm leaking tranny fluid. We traced the source of the leak and it was coming from the tranny cooler. They didn't tighten the clamps on the hoses that go into the tranny cooler. We tighten the clamps up as much as we could. The next day Eric (hemi31) was nice enough to check my tranny fluid for me. He said I was probably at least a quart low. So I ended up having to add another quart. Later when I got home I actually found out that I was still a 1.5 quarts low.

I thought all my troubles were finally fixed, wrong again. About 2 weeks ago I started hearing another clanking sound, this time from the front. I couldn't figure out what it was so I decided to let MCP take a look at it. I call them up on a Wednesday afternoon and tell about my issues. Once again they still didn't seem that concerned and acted like this is all normal. I told them I need them to look at my car ASAP. I told them I'd be available on Friday or Saturday. They told me I could drop my car off early Friday morning and they'd have it fixed by Saturday. I'm like wait just a minute, you don't even know what is wrong with my car and you are already telling me you'll need it for 2 days? This to me sounded like they don't care about me and they just want me to drop it off so they can work on it when it is convenient for them. I told them how about I bring the car in and look at it with you and if it is an easy fix we'll fix it right away. If it is something worse, I'll leave the car with them. They agreed to this. I brought the car up there first thing Friday morning. We get it up on the left and they re-tighten every bolt on the car. We saw the front sway bar move a little when we tightened up one of the bolts, so we suspect that was the culprit. Now the car is acting fine...... for now. Lets hope it stays that way.

In conclusion to my big review I must say that even to this day I am still extremely angry with both Pedder's and MCP. Because of them, I feel risked my life driving my car with faulty suspension and because of them I almost destroyed my tranny and my car. They cost me a ton of time, money and head aches. They can try and sugar coat this all they want but what I have said actually happened to me and is 100% true. Although I mostly blame MCP for all of this, I think Pedders deserves a little credit too because their lack of efforts to resolve my issues and the fact that they brag so much about their highly trained Pedder's dealers. It's not even like I'm the first LX they have worked on, they've done about 3 or 4 LXs and at least 1 Track 2 before mine. Till this day, I still have yet to get an apology from MCP, they seem to care less about my issues than Pedders does. Pedders and MCP both make out like this isn't a big deal well IMO this is a huge deal. I don't care how complex the Pedders system is, when I am paying someone $5k+ for a job I want it done right. MCP knew there was clanking coming from the car when they gave it back to me because they told me about it. This is totally unacceptable.

[V6nside]

That's an insane story for sure. I would be looking for my money back on the labor at a minimum.

The only time I had to wait on parts and leave my car an extra week in the shop, my shop got me a rental, and instead of charging me 1200 for parts and labor only charged me 750 an were very apologetic. The car was not in warranty and the delay in parts wasn't even there fault. (VW dealership, Audi car)

[Orange Crush 375]

That's just terrible. I would expect that a company (Pedders) would have some choice words for the installer shop. It's unfortunate you had such a bad experience. Hopefully, as time passes, the improved handling of your Charger will outpace the nastiness you experienced in getting it installed. This convinces me more than ever that if I'm going to throw $5 or $6000 more into my car, I'll just buy an SRT8. Congrats on seeing it through though, your patience and understanding make mine pale in comparision.

[OLJustice]

I can't wait to hear Pedders response to this one.

[TheBeastMaster]

It's just as much Pedders fault as MCP. They chose MCP to represent them. If MCP is this bad, Pedders should never have contracted with them. It's up to Pedders to insure that their installers know what they're doing, or it's going to reflect badly on Pedders. I was thinking of buying some Pedders upgrades, but how do I know that the authorized Georgia Pedders installers aren't just as inept? I think I'll wait a bit to see how Pedders responds.

[Motor]

well, ain't that nice.
this makes me feel better about my eibach kit

[thewagon]

You have a lot more patience than I would have had.

First off, I pay everything by credit card (yes, charge me tax, but I'm protected) and would have denied payment by calling the CC up. You drop $5k and get that runaround? And on top of it, all the after effect headaches?

Hope the car has been perfect since the last correction.

[TxSwimDad]

It's just as much Pedders fault as MCP. They chose MCP to represent them. If MCP is this bad, Pedders should never have contracted with them. It's up to Pedders to insure that their installers know what they're doing, or it's going to reflect badly on Pedders. I was thinking of buying some Pedders upgrades, but how do I know that the authorized Georgia Pedders installers aren't just as inept? I think I'll wait a bit to see how Pedders responds.

I tend to agree, though not entirely. More than 25 years of service industry experience comes into play here.

How Pedders responds (both privately and publicly) to this issue will obviously reflect on their character as a company and how seriously they are about protecting their own reputation and the reputations of all authorized dealers in their network. If they do not deal with this swiftly, it could cast a negative view of the other dealers and affect their businesses. If a manufacturer recommends an installer, they are showing their confidence in the general way that dealer conducts business.

What would I think is the "right thing" to do for Pedders?
Deal with this dealer firmly by including phone call surveys to MCP's customers for the next few months. Any sign of poor customer satisfaction should result in loss of dealership. With as many loose/missing parts as were discovered, there may be structural issues with what was installed. It might be good to get an expert inspection (not by MCP) on that car and replace any suspect parts at MCP's expense, just to avoid possible liability arguements in the future.

What would I think is the "right thing" to do for MCP?
Step up and provide your side of the story and keep it simple.

MCP should at least compensate the customer for all those extra days that they had the car and did nothing with it. I say this since there were no unexpected repairs. All of it was planned accordingly. If the parts were delayed, then they should have had the customer wait to bring it in. They knew the car was coming and they were not prepared. The equivelent of a comparable rental car expenses would be a start for those days beyond the schedule was promised. That to me would be the minimum acceptable compensation for this issue.

Additional compensation would really show the sincerity of MCP in resolving this issue. It should not be in the form of labor, since that was obviously an issue & I would expect trust issues in this area. Parts or refunds come to mind.


What should METGO do now?
Document all interactions (receipts, dates, time, participants) with MCP & Pedders right now, while they are still fresh on your mind. Keep these in a safe place. Do your best to have all communications with MCP & Pedders in print, not verbal. Honest businesses have no issue with this when working to resolve a customer satisfaction issue, so I would expect no pushback on that approach.

Give MCP & Pedders 30 days to make you smile again. If that doesn't happen, start thinking about a lawyer. I really hate going to that extent, but occasionally it takes it.

I have only had a few service run-ins and once you engage the right mgt, they usually get resolved. I've been on both sides of issues.


Good luck to MCP, Pedders & METGO on working this out without the lawyers. How you work through the problems is sometimes more valuable than not having the problems to begin with. Seems strange, but many customer service surveys show that it is true.

[sdcarguy]

They have his money why would they care at this point...If they cared Pete would have taken care of him when he spoke to him personally. If anything happens because of this its because they wont like the bad publicity they are getting here. I for one still feel that their stuff is nice but way way over priced! Just my 2 cents.

[CoolVanilla]

Yup. Sure sounds to me like you're owed a very large chunk (if not all) of the labor back, as well as funds to have your car inspected by another qualified shop. And it should be Pedders that cuts you the check. Its their job to work out the details with MCP, not yours.

Good luck. Looking forward to reading your resolution.

Edit: After the evolution of this thread, reading good posts on possible solutions, and thinking about the business ramifications of those solutions I'm not certain cutting a check back is the right call. Certainly a completely independent inspection and retorque at no cost to Metgo is... a compromise I guess.

[MattRobertson]

If a manufacturer recommends an installer, they are showing their confidence in the general way that dealer conducts business.

To be clear, we aren't just talking about a recommended installer. Its a Pedders-certified shop. Pedders goes to great lengths to send staff out to the facility to train the local techs (That happened here, right?). Given the number of loose bolts etc., it looks like despite this training the shop has a generally shoddy work ethic. It wasn't just the suspension that was screwed up. They botched every aspect of the job.

A full Pedders install like that involves a full tear-down and reassembly of the entire suspension. My Pedders install was done right, is track-tested and I am counting on it. But damn... if you can't say for sure if the pieces were put together safely you've got a 4400 lb paperweight there. Has everyone noted the job that pictured, unsecured bolt does? Looks to me like it holds the shock onto the lower suspension. Not exactly a trivial mistake.

So Pedders checked this thing out thoroughly in Columbus? You've got that part nailed down? Cuz I sure as hell wouldn't stand for the installer's word on the subject.

[rwalshphoto]

Wow, this was worth every minute to read through but so incredibly frustrating. I feel for you. You are much more patient than I would've been. I hope someone steps up and makes this right.

[Cam]

Well Met, that's a hell of a story. Far to often around here we never hear the truth when it comes to issues like your. As much as Pedders defends their product and services, this should be interesting to say the least. Your story is exactly why I don't let just anyone work on my ride, "factory trained" or not.

[MikeEast]

I sure hope that PeddersUSA stands up and does the right thing here, but I'll be holding my breath on that one. I have the PeddersUSA's owners email address on my pc at home - here's hoping he stands up and does the right thing on this one.

My personal opinion here is that not nearly enough 'certification' has been done to become a 'certified' Pedders dealer. Sure, they may be able to install 'bushes' correctly, up to whatever passes for standards that Pedders has, but the rest of it, the 'customer service' thing I feel hasn't been addressed well enough.

While my Pedders experience pales in comparison to this one, it left a bad taste and I'll not ever return to the 'certified' shop in Cumming, Georgia for anything, ever.

I had two additional requests for them to do while my car sat there and I don't think either happened. I know the alignment is off - which they supposedly did, and they sure as hell didn't put the exhaust back to what I wanted. I made several requests for that to happen and even told the owner to pad the bill by an hour or two to cover it.

Never happened.

This is yet another fine example of 'perception being reality' - I know have the perception that Vengeance Racing is just another gm shop who charges corvette owners a ton of money to put aftermarket stuff on their cars, and doesn't really give two sh!ts about whether the job is done right or not.

As far as Pedders and their inventory - I still think I was given a line about my parts and I still think they had to fly some in from down under. Yes, the product seems worthwhile, my car handles a ton better than it did before, but if I ever have another car that I want to tinker with, I'll probably not put any Pedders parts on it.

That's MY opinion, yours may vary, but this one is mine...

Mike

[Arch Stanton]

WOW

How on Earth can a shop that supposedly specializes in such work not only do such shoddy half arsed workmanship, but have no QC to catch even the most basic errors? My guess is that they'll claim that they were rushed by the customer and try and put it off on him.

A lot of folks never would have looked at any of it and assumed that it was done right in the first place. Its a blessing that their leaving the exhaust unbolted caused you to look under the car to see what was causing it. Apparently it didn't occur to them to do the same. Unreal.