Threxx

I've had two seperate purchases from them and both turned out to be frustratingly difficult and one-sided. Almost like I was begging them to be their customer.

The first time I tried to call to order but nobody answered. Left a message on their answering machine PLUS sent an email. Never once heard back after days of waiting. Then after the third time I called I finally got somebody, they really didn't know much about what I wanted to order, so they said they'd have somebody who did call me back (They gave me his name too). I never got a call from this person, so I finally called them myself and got ahold of them the first time and placed my order. Well 3 weeks after I placed my order with the items being all "in stock", I still had heard nothing about it. So I called back. Same deal... left a message, never heard back, so I called again and got somebody. They informed me that my part was on backorder from Japan. Well they said before that it was in stock... I understand mistakes with inventory happen, but they could have at least called me and told me this. Then again from a company who has yet to call me back once, what do I expect? I think I finally got the parts after over 2 months of waiting, never ONCE getting call back, and just hearing a lot of dates that fell through. I actually ordered several parts, but they were holding on to my order because of the one missing part (I guess they wanted to save on shipping?)

I understand some parts are hard to come by, but please at least call me and keep me informed when you have over a thousand dollars of my money and I have no parts. I shouldn't have to call every few days to see if anything has changed in the status, but that's what I ended up having to do because I knew they'd never call me and let me know (even though they always said they would).

So as if I hadn't learned my lesson, I knew they were the only ones with the -20004 OEM oil filters left that I could find, so I went ahead and placed my order. They marked the price up because there weren't many left, but whatever... I guess that's supply and demand for you. But here it is 2 weeks later and I checked my credit card and it has not even been charged, nor have I seen or heard anything about my oil filters.

I have since called them twice and told them they had apparently not placed my order, leaving messages with two different people. The last call was 2 days ago. I haven't heard anything back from them at all.

Arghhh.

I don't understand how some of you guys have apparently had such good luck with them?

Lvangundy

I can't speak for your indicidual case, but I've learned to just be patient with their parts department.

I believe there are only 2 or 3 people handling the orders, and they deal with many people a day. Nearly every time I call, I'm put on hold, and when I go in there there's always someone in line.

This isn't a complaint (Steve) , but general as I said they are pretty busy people!

Otherwise, Carson Toyota has good deals and good people in the parts department.

Threxx

Busy isn't what I'd call it from what I can tell. Not returning a single message I've ever left for them, nor calling me back when they promised they would... that's not just busy. That's bad service.

morris

iTrader: (2)

Forget that if there that busy that they cant return a customers phone call they need to hire some people to help out. But then thats there problem not the customers.

As far as I'm concerned there is no room for poor customer service.
And a good deal is only a deal if you get your product wehn it is promised.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

sorry to hear that.

I can say what few email correspondances I have had were returned within 12 hours.

steviej

GS4DOUGIE

iTrader: (6)

Use email as steviej suggests-

Responses are much quicker and information gets directly to the "Man". Never had a problem here. BTW Carson is PST, West Coast.

D

TLW

the only thing i have ever ordered from them was a TTE lip

and got that pretty much within the timeframe that was quoted

but for your situation

i understand not being treated well

i think if you bring this to his attention directly

he'll hook you up

VSsc400

iTrader: (1)

yeah, I don't know what happened with you case.

once my fuel pump failed and I ordered a walbro pump and told them that i needed it overnighted(over an email) and they called me within 1 hour and told me that they didn't have it but if I wanted, he would call his friend's shop and have one sent from there. I got it the very next day.

so far I've had 7 dealings with them, a few times they even called me (on top of the emails) to let me know that they were shipped and gave me tracking numbers.

I'm sure there is a good reason for what's happened. But being busy is no reason for poor customer service.

good luck

tommyGS3

iTrader: (4)

i had a problem with them awhile back. I was ****-off for awhile, but everything turn out alright.
Wish they take care of the customers better.

tytgs300

i thought calson's customer service is excellent when they call me back on my cell and provided me with a tracking number for the order i placed the day before.

LXOGOOD

Threxx: I'm sorry you are having a bad experience with Carson Toyota. 98% of the time, they are on the ball with everyone's orders and follow up calls/ emails. Let me help clarify what has happened over the holidays that may be causing the slow delays and the lack of communication.

Around Thanksgiving, Steve received notice from his main parts guy that he was leaving for another job. Steve was given a 2 week notice to replace him and that's it... His guy left in the middle of group buys and the up coming holidays. That time is a very busy time of the year with inventory to be done and closing out the year... After his guy left, Steve had to clean up a lot of loose ends/transactions that his guy was involved in plus do inventory for all Toyota, Lexus and Scion parts. Yes, there were many mistakes that had to be cleaned up.

Steve is still interviewing for the job opening and is having a hard time finding an experienced Bilingual parts tech to fill the void. In the mean time, his two other parts techs are trying to do the job of 3 which is why you are now seeing communication problems. They are overwhelmed to say the least... between walk-in's, phone calls and internet orders, it just never ends... Is this an excuse for poor customer service. NO WAY!.... But things happened at a very bad time for Steve.
Will things get better... YES. If anyone knows Steve, customer service is a huge priority for him. He wants everyone happy which is hard to do in a service industry.. Steve has proven to us here on CL that he is a reliable vendor and will go out of his way to make things right.

At this moment right now, Steve is on a plane to Japan to conduct business there with his JDM vendors. He will visit the Tokyo Auto Salon and hopefully find new vendors for our Toyota/Lexus cars. This is why I'm posting this reply now. Steve will be gone for several days and won't get a chance to reply to this thread until he get's back. In the mean time, please keep in mind that Lexus is only one piece of the pie that Steve and his guys have to deal with on a daily basis. Because they are a Toyota Dealership, they still have to run the day to day operations of a Parts Department serving customers for Toyota and Scion.

If you have an order placed with Carson Toyota, contact Steve via email so he can personally follow up on it. If you're looking for any simple Lexus items like air filters and oil filters, you may be better off contacting your local Lexus dealership during this time. If anyone has questions, feel free to contact me via PM...

Threxx: Hopefully things work out for you. It has to get better at some point...

Ken
GS Forum Moderator

ARISTO*7

sorry to hear about your bad expriences with them. i only order twice from them and everytime they were pretty helpful.. they would call me back with tracking numbers and all.

Threxx

Thanks for the info Ken. That may explain the situation when I ordered these oil filters, but the other much bigger order was at least a year ago.

SC300Es

It takes a while for Steve to reply to emails sometimes, but he does. A few times I dealt with them, Gordon called to give me the tracking numbers when the items shipped.

Ed

Threxx

I don't think I've ever talked to Steve before... if I did talk to him I didn't realize it. I always talked to Gordon or somebody else that worked there (can't remember now).