I am documenting this entire mess because after all that's happened, I refuse to be quiet about this. This is a story of my personal experience with Clutchmasters. You form your own opinions on them as a company and decide whether these are people you want to deal with. I am not bashing them, the below is all fact. So take your lawsuits and cram them.

Needing a clutch to handle my new-found torque, I decide on a Clutchmasters FX300 segmented Kevlar unit as suggested by a friend. Arriving a week and half after ordering, we discover that the clutch is the wrong one and does not fit. Unfortunately this discovery is made half-way into the clutch install with my transmission, exhaust, and driveshaft on the floor and the car in the air at my mechanic's house. This was at 9pm so we notified my dealer at that time which in turn notified CM first thing the next morning their time. (We're in FL, they're in CA) CM told the dealer that they would not process anything until my dealer had the wrong clutch in hand (despite the urgency of getting a replacement out). It was currently at my mehcanic's house. We are in desperate need of getting this car running because not only is this my only means to work, my mechanic already has too many cars in front of his house and a Homeowner's Association with a watchful eye. This car needed to be out of there asap. I urgently comply with CM's request to get the original wrong clutch back to the dealer the same day they requested it. I got it there by 3pm their time which allowed plenty of time to ship considering they had since 8am their time (when the dealer called) to ready the shipment.

If they ship on Thursday (day of notification), it can land Friday Next Day Air and I can have this buttoned up during the weekend. Well, not only did they refuse to pay for next day shipping, they refused to ship on Thursday! This completely rules out the weekend to fix this mess because Next Day Air Saturday delivery (the only option on a Friday for weekend delivery) is $130 and I had to pay for it! They were only willing to pay for ground which took 1.5 weeks the first time. That's absolutely unacceptable at this point. After negotiating (why the dealer even had to negotiate this is beyond me), CM agreed to pay for 3 Day Select which lands the clutch on Wednesday of the next week if shipped Friday. Not acceptable. I end up having to pay for 2-Day Air out of MY pocket for THEIR mistake. This lands the clutch on Tuesday (today), which could have been Monday had they shipped on Thursday which was a very reasonable request considering the circumstances. My urgency is not theirs even though the mistake was. I'm hoping it arrives today. If it doesn't, I don't know what rampage I will go on. Keep in mind it's *already* late.

I feel completely shafted. They made a mistake and I have to pay for it in shipping, time, a heavy burden on my mechanic's space, and being without a car and having no way to get anywhere for a week. How do I get compensated here? They shipped a clutch incorrectly and the only person who pays is me. That's not fair at all. I sell things online and if I ever make a mistake, I fix it, ASAP, on MY dime. No questions. The way CM has acted through all this is absurd. They very reasonably could have had a replacement clutch to me by Friday or Saturday. I would have been satisfied and overlooked the fact that they completely screwed up the first time and cost me 2 or 3 days of trouble. Instead it lands 4 days later (!) and I have to pay for expedited shipping. That's 6 days of needless inconvenience which would have been more had I not foot the bill for faster shipping. Haha how does that make sense?

Keep in mind this is a ~$600 clutch shipped off their website. I went through an authorized dealer. The dealer has been nothing less than stellar through this so far.

Clutchmasters is on my ishlist, and I cannot recommend them if you need a clutch. God forbid anything happens and they will shaft you hard while you ride the bus.

Products may be great (I have yet to even try them), but the customer service is offensive.

I will never use or buy any Clutchmasters products again.


Timeline of Events:

7-27-05 Wed. Clutch ordered
8-5-05 Fri. Clutch arrives 1.5 weeks later
8-10-05 Wed. 9pm Clutch install attempt. Wrong clutch discovered. First night car is stranded in street. A friend gives me a ride home.
8-11-05 Thurs. 12 noon (first thing AM Cali time) Clutchmasters notified by dealer. Replacement clutch does not ship despite urgency of my situation. Second night car is in street.
8-12-05 Fri. Clutch ships 2-Day Select at their leisure but at my expense. Third night car is in street.
8-13-05 Sat. Fourth night car is in street.
8-14-05 Sun. Fifth night car is in street.
8-15-05 Mon. Sixth night car is in street.
8-16-05 Tues. Clutch scheduled to arrive 2-Day Select. Install to follow immediately.

I will keep you posted as to what happens today. The clutch should arrive. If not. Oh boy...

 

Damn...sorry to hear about your mess. Let's hope the product performs better than anything else out there at least! Good luck with whatever goes on today, and with the install

 

CleanSC - You're a buddy of mine on this forum and I respect you a lot. I mean no disrespect in any way bro. I was reading up on your thing and honestly, I don't think that you should be that upset. I can see why you are upset because of the urgency problem. However, coming from a third person's POV. I don't see any wrong doing on CM's part. I know... I'm sorry bro, don't hate me. Here is why.

They screwed up, they were willing to ship another one out back to you right away.... not next day air or whatever... but willing to ship another one out to you. Well, they don't know your situation of how urgently needed this clutch is right? So technically, it is not their problem. They were willing to solve the issue, but you needed it now now now. I'm not defending them and I think they could have met you halfway.

Now if CM did NOT want to even exchange your clutch at all, then I can really see a problem with them.

 

Haha no worries, dude. Yea, it was relayed to them that is was a pretty urgent situation. I understand that it's not their problem but it was their mistake so you'd expect them to at least try to fix it as quick as possible. Or at least work with me. This did not happen. I feel like I am fighting against them.

They weren't willing to ship it out as quick as you think... Remember, they waited a day to actually ship it. And it was to be ground. That took 1.5 weeks the first time... Do you consider that good customer service? I mean if that's the industry standard then some kid in his garage (me) is doing a better job taking care of his customers and will revolutionize the world.

I understand mistakes are made and that part I'm not even too peeved on. It happens all the time. But after you fugg it up, fix it -- quick.

I know I do when I make a mistake with a customer. I broke a customer's antenna once on a Supra TT. You think I told him yea come back in 2 weeks, I'll look at it? Hell no. It was my mistake, I bought a replacement THAT DAY and got it in. No questions, no expense to him. He wasn't even upset after that.

I would think this is the same situation especially with a reputable company like Clutchmasters. Unfortunately for me, it's not. But hey, that's life, right? Just like it's life that I won't buy a CM product again.

And like I said, just my story. Draw your own conclusions even if I'm a more pissed than I should be. I'm usually calm about these situations. It really does happen a lot in the automotive parts industry and you'd be surprised how some suppliers bend over backwards to help me. Just didn't happen this time.

Let's hope the rest goes smoothly.

 

I just want to see your finished product!

 

LOL me too, bro. Considering how close we are this clutch crap isn't helping the nerves!

 

You've forgotten the laws of working with Toyotas. **** will always go wrong on top of what you already know will go wrong. That's the way it is with Toyota vehicles, it's murphys law with v-tec added. They're cursed mechanically and spiritually. If the parts don't fail you, the people will. If the people don't fail you, some external things will happen so they'll fail you. The only cure is to have plenty of time and money set aside, get the most reliable and emotionally stable mechanic you can find for the job. But more important, have an additional vehicle to use so when **** happens so you don't have to sweat so much.

No offense, but this is just illpreparation on your part. If you had a Honda, none of this would happen. You should've done what I did, call them to varify the part numbers before tearing your car apart or setin up an appointment with your mechanic, record the rep who's verifying the parts if you have to(you'll have a stronger case if you need to bust some azzes). I do this to all special order items that I know will cause me alot of headache to install and uninstall. My local Toyota parts department hate me, but I don't care cuz they're not the one who'll suffer when **** happens. To make sure the first fool isn't slacking off on me, I even call another dealer for a second verification. It's a bit a hardcore, but the american service industry is generally filled with slackers. Things are rarely done right the first time, that's why we came up with the phrase "want the job done right, do it yourself".

Good luck on your next adventure.

BTW: I also use CM for my turbo mr2. It's rated to handle 600crank HP, but it feels softer than stock. If you went from a stock clutch to a CM, it'll almost feel like the CM vehicle had no clutch. Had it for almsot 4 yrs of hard driving and still strong with no signs of slip. For my next Clucth, it'll be an ACT. I like how they feel, they're also a bit more responsive.

 

LOL seems your modding doesn't go very smoothly, eh?

Actually considering everything I've done to this car (and my past 4 Toyotas) since I bought it bone stock to now in turbo form, everything has gone quite smoothly. Which is INCREDIBLE considering the dozens of transactions since I bought it. I mean body kits that take 2.5 months from Japan, wheels that took longer, custom paint, new interior, big brakes, complete suspension down to every last rubber bushing. It's all gone rather well. And I agree with the do it yourself mantra. It's something I live by and just about every mod on my car from the turbo kit to the LED tails is all DIY...

Problem is I can't make a clutch in my garage. And this is no fancy special order clutch. They had one in stock both times we called. I can't see how else I could have made this go any smoother short of having 2 clutches on hand. I ordered thru a local authorized dealer that specializes in Toyotas. Everything is done face to face. All they had to do what ship the right deal and it's done.

As for the next adventure, the turbo was the last major project. There's simply nothing left to do on the car. Time to drive and enjoy the thing. As soon as I get a clutch, that is.

 

Jose:

I'm making an assumption here.........when speaking to customer service, did you only speak with a rep? I only ask this because I would think management in the customer service would be more responsive to your situation. If that is the case, and you spoke only with a rep, perhaps they were that customer service we all love to hate because the term "service" should NOT be in their job title, and they were giving you a hard time. Did you ask to speak with a manager/supervisor/superior? Or was this something that could only be handled through the dealer?

 

My local authorized dealer (the owner) is handling everything direct with them. I ordered the clutch from the dealer so he is handling all of that and is doing a great job as well. If it was me as a "mere consumer" I would imagine (this is just an assumption) it would be much worse...

Like the problems people are having direct with HRE but when they go through D2, there's no issues.

 

My bad! I do agree with you though and feel that if the order was mispacked by them, they should be responsible for resolving the issue ASAP! If that means overnight delivery, so be it!!

Good Luck Clean!! I hope all goes well with the rest of the install after this mess!

 

I think we all suffer a bit before we learn. I'd also went thru the same thing you've just experienced. The tranny on my rx7 needed a $5 bearing, but the part was only available in Japan and took 3 months to get it, when it got here, the service shop didn't bother to check and tore my car apart, then finds out it's the wrong part. Took another month for the new part and it was still wrong. All in all, it took almost half a year to do a simple tranny fix. The RX7 was my only car at the time, so I ended up buying a second car because the rentals were costing more. That second vehicle saved my azz big time when I found out that Turbo rotaries don't last more than 60K and Mazda dealers don't really know what they're doing.

 

For over 30 years we have built our business around customer service, which is why we have been in business for over 30 years. We truly appreciate you choosing our quality clutch kit and your friend's recommendation.

The facts are:
Your clutch was ordered by part number from your local distributor. We simply sent the part number that was ordered. Obviously a mistake was made, and despite the fact it was not on our end, we have gone above and beyond by absorbing the additional fees to correct this mistake. We actually shipped the correct kit 2nd day air and originally agreed to split the cost. As a further gesture of goodwill, we are covering the entire cost of shipping and stand by our distributors.

We are confident that you will enjoy the performance of your new clutch system and again, appreciate your business!

 

off topic

but you have a beautiful SC

send me some pics PLEASE

 

Not trying to hate or anything, but have you thought that maybe the part you guys sent WAS wrong? Mistakes happen in retail, I've had wrong parts sent to me many times, even when I specifically ordered a particular part number. Mistakes happen while processing and packing, just saying that It could have been a mistake either by the authorized dealer, or by CM, nobody knows for sure in the context we have here.