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