A Positive Saleen customer service post !

unclemilti · 11-11-2006, 12:20 PM

OK- since we have been jumping on Saleen about QC and customer service, and that includes me-its only fair that I update my call to Saleen I placed on Thursday.

I called in to Bill Vaughn's extension Thursday, late afternoon. Yesterday, at 3 pm my time, he called back. Very friendly, very much a car guy. I told him some of my issues, and how Patti wanted me to take my car back to my dealer, which is hours away.

No problem, he replied- neither he nor Saleen would expect that for the issues I have. He 3 day Select UPS'd my parts to me, and said if I had any other problems or concerns, don't hesitate to call him. He also expressed dissappointment in the issues I had, and clearly was not happy I was told to take my car back to the selling dealer without someone contacting him or a higher up in Saleen.

He also highly recommended I upgrade the car to S/C'ed status, and said there would be no hit in value over a "factory" S/C car if I used Saleen parts, and did a professional job with everything. He also added that is a "budget" way of getting into a S/C car and that he has numbers of people who do it.

All in all- a very good experience,, and Bill was a great guy.

I really couldn't ask for much else in service from him.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

sowaxeman · 11-11-2006, 01:08 PM

Very nice to hear. I knew there were other positive experiences out there other than just me

However I disagree with his vantage point on adding a SC. It may not hurt the TYPICAL resale value over the early years - but it will definitely hurt the value 20+ years down the road in a collectors eyes. Collectors want the car to have exactly what the build sheet/window sticker say - any varience means a hit in value as they will consider it a "restoration project" to get it back to factory original.

For example - I know a guy that just bought an 89 Fox that was in pretty good condition (only needs a repaint on the front air damn) but the previous owner added an o/r Mac exhaust set up (and did NOT keep the original), added a s/c, and did not keep all the factory papers (munaul, window sticker, Saleen packet, etc...) As a result this car was bought for WELL under NADA value.

So whatever you do to the car, make sure it can be put back to stock easily (and w/o hack evidence) and keep EVERYTHING that came with the car when new. Unless of course you are only concerned with today and have no concern about future value.

AmyVCTexas · 11-11-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: unclemilti

OK- since we have been jumping on Saleen about QC and customer service, and that includes me-its only fair that I update my call to Saleen I placed on Thursday.

I called in to Bill Vaughn's extension Thursday, late afternoon. Yesterday, at 3 pm my time, he called back. Very friendly, very much a car guy. I told him some of my issues, and how Patti wanted me to take my car back to my dealer, which is hours away.

No problem, he replied- neither he nor Saleen would expect that for the issues I have. He 3 day Select UPS'd my parts to me, and said if I had any other problems or concerns, don't hesitate to call him. He also expressed dissappointment in the issues I had, and clearly was not happy I was told to take my car back to the selling dealer without someone contacting him or a higher up in Saleen.

He also highly recommended I upgrade the car to S/C'ed status, and said there would be no hit in value over a "factory" S/C car if I used Saleen parts, and did a professional job with everything. He also added that is a "budget" way of getting into a S/C car and that he has numbers of people who do it.

All in all- a very good experience,, and Bill was a great guy.

I really couldn't ask for much else in service from him.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

That's fantastic, unclemilti. The lesson I learned was to get hold of someone in a management position at Saleen, and then things will happen. This really isn't that different from many other companies, though it's not the ideal. I think Patti is a good person but she is clearly overwhelmed (this was confirmed in a conversation I had with someone there). As a result she is an "implementer" rather than an owner of decisions. Those above her on the org chart have more flexibility and are better equipped to handle disgruntled customers. Again, nothing new in American business culture but not the ideal.

+1 to Sowax's comments if you are looking for resale in several years. If you just want to drive it and have fun with it now and aren't worried about resale, the SC upgrade may be a good thing. I considered it myself because it appears that those who upgraded to an SC are having fewer "issues" than those who buy one stock. But the "collector" aspect is important to me so I've opted to keep it N/A (for now).

Again, congrats on the ++ experience and thanks for sharing.

unclemilti · 11-11-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: AmyVCTexas

Quote:

ORIGINAL: unclemilti

OK- since we have been jumping on Saleen about QC and customer service, and that includes me-its only fair that I update my call to Saleen I placed on Thursday.

I called in to Bill Vaughn's extension Thursday, late afternoon. Yesterday, at 3 pm my time, he called back. Very friendly, very much a car guy. I told him some of my issues, and how Patti wanted me to take my car back to my dealer, which is hours away.

No problem, he replied- neither he nor Saleen would expect that for the issues I have. He 3 day Select UPS'd my parts to me, and said if I had any other problems or concerns, don't hesitate to call him. He also expressed dissappointment in the issues I had, and clearly was not happy I was told to take my car back to the selling dealer without someone contacting him or a higher up in Saleen.

He also highly recommended I upgrade the car to S/C'ed status, and said there would be no hit in value over a "factory" S/C car if I used Saleen parts, and did a professional job with everything. He also added that is a "budget" way of getting into a S/C car and that he has numbers of people who do it.

All in all- a very good experience,, and Bill was a great guy.

I really couldn't ask for much else in service from him.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

That's fantastic, unclemilti. The lesson I learned was to get hold of someone in a management position at Saleen, and then things will happen. This really isn't that different from many other companies, though it's not the ideal. I think Patti is a good person but she is clearly overwhelmed (this was confirmed in a conversation I had with someone there). As a result she is an "implementer" rather than an owner of decisions. Those above her on the org chart have more flexibility and are better equipped to handle disgruntled customers. Again, nothing new in American business culture but not the ideal.

+1 to Sowax's comments if you are looking for resale in several years. If you just want to drive it and have fun with it now and aren't worried about resale, the SC upgrade may be a good thing. I considered it myself because it appears that those who upgraded to an SC are having fewer "issues" than those who buy one stock. But the "collector" aspect is important to me so I've opted to keep it N/A (for now).

Again, congrats on the ++ experience and thanks for sharing.

Ebay and private party sale numbers are not showing a hit on upgraded cars- at least over the last year or so.

Plus- not only do I not plan on keeping the car for 20 years, I also am not real concerned about resale simply because the newer Saleens probably won't see the typical resale values they have enjoyed over the years. Larger production, more niche cars (Roush, Shelby, Foose) means more cars to choose from, and less value.

Plus, if you can upgrade the car for 10,000 versus 18,000 if you paid for one from Saleen...what are you losing?

I feel like its a win win situation.

dotbomb · 11-11-2006, 02:23 PM

I dealt with Bill directly for my latest round of issues. He's a good guy and working hard there to correct problems. The issue is they just have too many layers of BS between the dealers and lower people on the totem pole. I would imagine they are working to iron it out. When I contacted Saleen directly last time and told them the dealers dropped the ball both he and Carlos said "Yeah, but we won't drop it" and they didn't.

I also agree with his comments regarding putting an SC in your car. It is a cheap way to get it done. You can buy them from Haneymotorsport.com (Casey is great) bundled with the 475 kit.

It is up to you of course.