Air Ride Technologies

[XXL]

I've been an extremely loyal ART customer for about 5 1/2 years (even taking regular abuse from the "they're stuff's overpriced" crowd). But I gave up long ago on the "Wal-Mart" low-price-is-all-that-matters philosophy. For me, while I certainly want a good price, I'm willing to pay more for the value-add of customer service.

Well... my most recent experiences with Air Ride Technologies seem to indicate that they're no longer into that whole customer service thing... and that they've simply become "overpriced stuff."

I patiently waited for months on end for their much-anticipated Strong Arm control arms for my '69. They kept making commitment after commitment for when the product would be available (at least they didn't take money up front)... and kept failing to meet them. Finally the product was ready for sale. I ordered my set, paying full retail directly to ART (it turns out I could have saved a bundle buying them from Suicide Doors ). When they arrived, I was quickly impressed at how beefy they seemed to be. I passed off the upside down (on one side, at least) ART stickers as no big deal since I wasn't going to leave them on anyway. When time came to install them, I dropped the truck off at slammed67's house and waited for the end result.

Well... the "kit" was missing lower shock mounts. and the lower ball joint dust covers wouldn't stay on. So I called ART and spoke with Jason (not the same Jason as slammed67). He came off as an arrogant and argumentative guy when insisted that 1) the kit would NOT have been shipped without these parts, and 2) that he had "been in the business for xx years" and he knew that the dust covers fit just fine. I got a little fed up and laid into the guy... reminding him that I'm not some 13 year old pimply-faced tire-kicker asking for prices (no offense to the 13 year old pimply-faced tire-kickers out there asking for prices ) and that I wanted him to send the rest of the kit, including the dust covers that he claimed would fit the lowers. I told him he needed to send them overnight, and gave him slammed67's address. He agreed. Three days later my parts had not arrived. Jason insisted that he had sent them but the tracking number he provided indicated that they were en route to MY HOUSE! I reminded him that they were supposed to have been send elsewhere AND overnight. He tried to blame the error on the "guys in the shipping department" until I reminded him that they only send things where and how they're told... that they don't just make things up. I then told him he needed to resend the parts TO THE CORRECT ADDRESS and OVERNIGHT this time. Parts arrived next day and they were installed. Funny thing is that I got the first "overnight" shipment the day after and it didn't have the dust covers in it. *sigh*

</rant off... or so I thought>

It turns out now that all 4 control arms are missing some other minor parts. I thought it was just the design that had raw rubber bushings on each cross shaft, but it turns out that they're supposed to include washers and bolts. *sigh again* I'm contemplating whether I should even bother to call them back. I'm sure they'll insist that they never send these kits without these parts either.

So much for customer service. Anyone from ART who reads the board, feel free to respond. I'd love to hear from you.

Kenneth

[lolife99]

I wondered why there were no washers and nuts, in the pics that Slammed67 posted. I would call them and send them a few of your pics.

[PRUNEDA]

I would call them in a heartbeat. You paid retail on that kit and it should come complete, no questions asked. I hope you get everything you need to complete install. Good Luck..

[Hart_Rod]

I ordered the same set, the boxes arrived fairly quickly. A week or two later I started going through the boxes looking at everything and realized that the lower control arms weren't even in the box! Called them up and they sent me the lower arms. A couple of weeks later, I started to get ready to install them and noticed that one of the bushings on the lower control arm was mushroomed and not pushed in all the way allowing for 3/8 inch slop in the cross shaft. Called them again on a FRI (spoke to "Jason") told him that I wanted them to send me another good lower arm and then I would send back the defective arm. A week later, no arm, called them up (Jason again) told him I hadn't received the arm yet. He told me that I was supposed to send the other arm back first. I told him to send me another arm (again) and I would then send the defective arm back. He said OK, well a week later, still no ARM. So, I'm with XXL, quality is starting to suck, service is starting to suck and prices have always sucked. I think I will buy elsewhere for my next set of bags.

Rob

[SCOTI]

Dang guys . . .... I think I'll sort through my stuff again & double check that all the required bracketry is actually attached & that the hardware is accounted for!

I'll admit I was getting frustrated w/them about the delays in getting these production ready..... then again when they overlooked my order (I was one of the first names on the 'list' of buyers). But once they came, the error they made was in my favor so I can't excessively complain .

[nosto]

This post is about 3 years overdue, but I too had a bit of a hassle getting what I ordered from ART. Seems there's a big disconnect between the 'techies' (the Jasons), the shipping department and billing. Way back, I ordered the front and rear air bag 'kits' for my '67. I requested the MaxFlow (or whatever they called it then) with the 3/8" fittings for 1/2" lines. Of course, they sent front bags with 1/4" fittings. They told me the only way to fix "my problem" was for me to first BUY the CORRECT bags, then RETURN the INCORRECT ones they sent, and then wait for them to refund my credit card. I got the correct bags in about 2 weeks, but three months later I was still waiting for them to credit me for the 2nd set I was forced to but to fix THEIR MISTAKE.

It seems like just a minor PITA now, but when you're anxiously waiting for that big brown truck every day, it sorta gets on your nerves to get the wrong stuff. And, remember, this was 3 years ago.

Nice to see some things haven't changed @#^%&*

[Rodder4hire]

Having worked in the largest Lincoln mail order parts biz place in the world, I can tell you that the return policy you speak of is VERY common in mail order parts (by far THE most common), although it sucks hugely for you waiting there for Mr Brown - If you've actually got a part in your hand most places won't send the replacement until the wrong/damaged/not as expected part is back in their hand - In their defense 9 times out of 10 it never comes back otherwise.

Think about it - how fast do you mail your cores out?

Unfortunately, if you need the replacement fast - rebuying is the only way out. It truly sucks and I feel your pain.

[XXL]

14 months since making this post, and yesterday I received the missing parts. This was by virtue of a superb example of customer service... by Porterbuilt... to whom I've never even spent a penny with! He picked up on my grumblings in another thread (that pointed back to this one), and communicated with both me and ART to resolve the issue.

Thanks very much to Porterbuilt for his intervention.

[hotrodhomi]

dang, what a guy.
Good lookin out Porterbuilt!

[LUV2XCLR8]

Sheesh, I think I will reconsider ordering my stuff in the spring

[krue]

Dang, 14 months, they're all over it.

[shifty]

So, does this mean we should order from Porterbuilt instead of direct from ART?

[XXL]

Originally Posted by shifty

So, does this mean we should order from Porterbuilt instead of direct from ART?

I believe so... but probably for many more reasons than simply his handling of this situation (which, and I want to be clear to everyone... he wasn't even responsible for in any way). He just saw an unhappy customer of one of his vendors and stepped in to help.

(PB, go ahead and put that payoff money on account for me ).

[XXL]

Originally Posted by XXL

It turns out now that all 4 control arms are missing some other minor parts. I thought it was just the design that had raw rubber bushings on each cross shaft, but it turns out that they're supposed to include washers and bolts. *sigh again* I'm contemplating whether I should even bother to call them back. I'm sure they'll insist that they never send these kits without these parts either.

One small follow-up to the above parts. After Porterbuilt got involved, the parts arrived reasonably quick (discounting the 14+ months prior ). From my end, I've been my usual 'too busy' to work on the truck, and so only this morning got a chance to install the hardware... only to find that 1 of the 8 jamb nuts is the wrong size. Instead of being .75-10, it was M20x2.5. Well... at least I got 7/8 of the hardware they owe me. To put things into "perspective," .400 is considered a superb batting average in baseball.