Hey everyone.

I just wanted to pass along a bad experience so others can be forewarned. I ordered a Rostra cruise control kit from RedLineMotive.com . I got an invoice from StatRacing.com and received the cruise control kit. After 6 months of use the switch went bad. After two months of playing telephone tag with a tech at Rostra they agreed the switch was bad. I contacted STAT racing for the warranty, and they sent me an RMA number, and I shipped it at my expense.

It's been 7 weeks now and I have not gotten a refund, I have not gotten a replacement unit, and I have been lied to on several occasions.

I just wanted to warn everyone. If whatever you buy doesn't break down, then their prices are good and delivery was quick, but if you ever get into a warranty return issue you may be out the total price of what you bought, plus shipping, plus shipping back to them. I won't even talk about how much time and how many phone calls I have had to make to try to get this resolved.

 

I posted an inquiry on both websites and quoted your post. Maybe they will get serious with you knowing that you posted on a public forum.

 

Hi GapRunr,

I'm sorry for your negative experience with us. Can you please send me a PM with your full name, and email address, so I can check into your order to find out what is going on and make sure you are taken care of?

I don't know your personal order, but I wanted to let you know that once we issue you an RMA number, which looks like you received, we need to send the item back to the manufacture (Rostra) to determine that is in infact a bad part, so they can issue credit to us, and we issue credit to you. Unfortuntely, Rostra is quick to tell customers that they will receive a refund, but when they receive the item back, they tell us it can take up to 90 days to actually process the return. 90 days is an awfully long time! We told them several times to not promise customers any returns because of cases like this.

I'm sorry no one told you of this delayed process, but I will make sure I can get this processed for you as quickly as possible one you let me know your info via a PM.
Also, let me know if you want the replacement unit or a refund, both do take the same amount of processing time, unfortunately, due to Rostra's delay.

Sorry for your trouble, and I hope to make this better for you. Thanks for your understanding.

I'll wait for your PM.

Thanks,
Mark

 

Hello Mark,

I can appreciate your desire to get involved at this stage, now that it has become more public. I'm sure the fact that I received a refund within 8 minutes of your post on here is purely coincidental.

You mention that one of the delays involved was that Rostra has to determine if the part is bad. The RMA process began AFTER Rostra determined the part was bad. I had been dealing with tech support at Rostra who advised me after a few tests that the switch was bad and that I should return it for an immediate replacement.

I requested an RMA number and received it several days later after multiple requests. An RMA should take minutes, not days. I was not told that there was a normal 90-120 day processing time for returns, warranty replacements, or refunds. Of course, this could have been easily avoided by actually posting your return policy on your web site but it is not there. With your unpublished return policy, a customer finds themselves without the item and without the funds for 3-6 months. I'd be okay with one or the other, but both? I did access the forums section of your web site and posted a comment and question about the return policy or lack thereof, but instead of receiving a productive response my question was deleted from your forum. No wonder the posts all seemed positive. Negative ones are deleted.

I'm still leery of the fact that I ordered the item from one company, I got invoiced from a different company, and then when I had to return it I had to wait for an RMA from a third company. None of these companies was the manufacturer either. Who knows... maybe these three companies are just one transparent ordering process made to look like several large companies with impressive photos of warehouses full of inventory. In the background it could just be a bunch of code and some electronic orders going to an actual distributor. This would explain the lack of any mention of addresses or locations on your web sites. It would appear you do not have an actual physical warehouse. This would also explain your inability to provide proper and timely customer service by sending out a replacement unit. Hard to do when you don't actually have inventory and your corporate address is in a strip mall between a "Dickeys Pit BBQ" and a Food Market in Livermore.

I am thankful that after this long and arduous process I finally have my refund. Had I known at the onset that I would have to go through such a convoluted process to obtain a refund, I wouldn't have been swayed by the $10 savings compared to your competitors who actually have inventory and would have been able to provide a timely replacement. The amount of frustration with this whole process wasn't worth $10.

I can appreciate that I am a difficult customer. I own a business with several retail locations and an online web store. I expect to be treated the same way I treat my customers. I expect the same level of customer service that I provide. When one of our customers calls about a defective item they have received, we provide them a prepaid UPS call tag packaged in the box with the replacement we send them. It's quick, efficient, and is one of the many reasons why we have such a high percentage of repeat customers.

Your concern is admirable and would have been a great asset to this issue had it been expressed proactively instead of reactively. I truly wish you could have gotten involved sooner.

Sincerely,

a non repeat customer.

 

Here's the reply from statracing.com

05Dakota,

Thank you for pointing this out to us. I have forwarded this to my manager, and he has sent a reply to the person posting.

Thanks again,

Brian