...Didn't go so well.

They're right down the road from where I'm stationed, so I thought I had gotten pretty lucky, since I would have a good shop to do all the things I want done to my car.

I went in a couple weeks ago and asked the man for a CAT BACK exhaust for my car. Not being an exhaust pro myself, I told him what I wanted from the exhaust as far as sound, and trusted in him to get me a good product (he said the Mac cat back system would be good, so I agreed).
He charged me $450 for the exhaust, and said the install would run another $40.

So about a week later I get a call saying my exhaust is in. Cool! When I show up, he opens the box and I see an AXLE BACK system. I asked him what was up with that, and he said that they don't make cat backs for the new Mustangs, and this was the same thing. I wasn't too sure about that, but I went ahead with the install, again trusting his expertise.

When I got home that night, I looked up the part number from the box and compared it to his website. They charge $313 for that particular exhaust, with free shipping, to online customers. I'm not sure if my mark up was because I was a walk-in or maybe some kind of Military discount, but I wasn't too happy. I also wasn't too happy to learn that there are many CAT BACK exhaust systems available, like what I had originally asked for, and actually paid for.

I called and left a message with my concerns, but have yet to hear back from them.

 

the mufflers are further back on the 05+ stangs so it is technically an Axle-back now but most people still call it the cat-back, since it is still after the cats. So unless you wanted to change your mid-pipe the shop was correct in calling it an Axle-back. Also, retail places charge a mark-up, that is a fact of life. you will always be hard pressed to find a brick and mortar store with better prices than the internet. 500 installed for a new axle-back isn't a steal, but not outrageous either. It's the trade-off you pay for getting to drink a coke and read a magazine while someone else deals with the hassle.

 

Ouch, 450 bucks for an axleback is STEEP. Sorry man

 

Yeah...cat back and axle back are the same thing on the 05+ models from what I know. It is a super, simple install, BTW. You don't even need a lift or a jack.

 

hey cool someone from EP texas hot rods is extremly over priced u should have just gone to a muffler shop and saved some cash

 

So he didn't really lie to me about the cat/axle back thing? Because I see axle back AND cat back systems online, so I figured there was a difference.

Still ticks me off that he charged me $450 for something he sells online for $313. I can only assume they are making some profit on them at $313 too, so $450 is a bit much.

And it would have been nice if he would have explained the axle/cat back thing before it showed up at the shop.

Anyway, lesson learned, customer lost, life goes on. I just thought I'd share my experience.

So where else in El Paso can I take my car?

 

I would go back return the mufflers and demand a FULL refund. Then I would go buy the pypes mid muffler exhaust
http://www.americanmuscle.com/pypes-...r-catback.html

 

Wait Wait Wait...

You went into a store and bought something, then went home and found it cheaper on the stores website - and now you want the difference refunded to you... am I hearing that correctly ?

Do you do that when you go to the grocery store also? They sell groceries cheaper online AND deliver them in most parts now. How about when you stop in best buy or wal mart - should they refund you the difference between web and internet price also? How about when you bought your GT - because I can pretty much guarantee if you were a "web" customer there was probably a $2,000 or $2,500 discount also...

99.9999999% of the time INTERNET price is INTERNET price. It's another store, its the same as if you left Wal-Mart and went to Target the way most businesses are run. The fact of the matter is that it costs more money to operate a physical location then it does an internet retailer, and also pricing on the internet is MUCH more competitive then it is locally. I'm sure if you had come in and said "I was looking at exhaust on your website and I need a good system" that things would have been different. I have yet to see a business anywhere that would refund the difference in this situation.

I would also venture to say that some of that extra cost (besides the $40) went toward the install, because most shops I know wouldn't bother for much less then $100, I usually charge $125 for solid axle and $100 for IRS catback installs. An axleback would be a bit less..

Now I'm sure we dont know the whole scenario, but I do e-commerce as my business and automotive installs as my passion - so I'm pretty sure I know where your coming from and quite frankly... your wrong brother.

 

No, it's not so much about the price difference, even though it's quite a jump. If you want to sell something online for a cheaper price because you can use your discount, order direct, divert the shipping, and still make a buck, I get that. No problem, we all have to eat.

But when I go to a shop with a brand new car, express interest in many mods, and straight up tell them that I am relying on their expertise, I expect better info. When I ask for one thing and receive another, that's a deal breaker for me, especially from a shop that claims to be Mustang Experts.

I bet if I sent someone in there with this info, like a class member who also has a newer GT, they would get a different price. THAT is what's wrong. The fact that I was told one thing and given another, THAT is wrong.

Point is, I was/am really eager to mod my Mustang, and I have an easy $10K to do it with. They could have been knowledgeable and upfront and made a good customer, but they chose to mark up, play games, and lose me. I don't see where that computes to good business practice.

I have a life-long friend back home who finally broke out and got his own shop because he had to work for a fraud for years and hated it. He is now running a very successful business, and he's doing it honestly.

Best way to make a buck, provide a good product, at a competitive price, and BE HONEST. Really, it works.



I'm not here to run down THR, just to express my feelings as a recent customer. Like it or not, that's the experience I got, and this is where I am. I feel it only appropriate to share experiences with fellow Mustang owners, be they good or bad. I always try to be objective.

 

with 10k you can send your car to Roush and get the Roush stage 1 pack or the sport pack sound good to me. your car would be sweet after that.

 

Ah I understand now, I thought it was the difference in pricing that was an issue...

It would be a GT with rims and groudn effects... It would in effect be slower and IMO uglier. 10k could be spent SO many different ways.

 

Texas Hot Rods are pieces of **** man. I bought my D&D aftermarket suspension from them @ Fun ford Weekend in ennis about 3-4 years back...fawkers took over 6 months to get my stuff from D&D...most of the blame was from D&D for having stuff on back-order..but texas hot rods shouldn't be taking orders for things they don't have in stock...I will never buy from them..

 

90% of the retailers do, its called drop shipping. Usually only the big boys like Summitt and Jegs that can buy in bulk and get discounts like that usually have them in stock unless we are talking smaller items like CAI kits and whatnot.

 

THR buys all of there stuff from upr

 

That may be true now...not 3-4 yrs back..

 

best thing to do is find your stuff online for the good low price, get it shipped to your front door or installer, and then pay them to install it.

in a store you will always pay higher markup.

i just bought a bunch of stuff for stereo system and have most of it done, except need to build a box for my subs. Online everything cost me about $1,000. If I had bought all that crap in a store I'd be sittin around $2000 - $2500.

store markup is how these businesses compete with ebay and online stores. they have it available, and they know you want it right now, and you dont wanna wait for it to be shipped, so they can charge you more and get away from it.

im always happy to wait for something to arrive, because it saves me money in the long run, and anticipation makes it fun anyhow.

sorry to hear about your misfortune, but take it as a lesson learned and move on.

i still wished I had never gotten these blasted Flowmaster mufflers, and had just forked out the extra $30 on top of the flowmaster price, for the SLP LM II's. Not sure how that would have sounded with the factory h-pipe, but it woulda been better than this darned droning bass exhaust i have.

 

I think there is a difference in cat back vs axle back for the 05+ cars.

You can get the cheaper "axle back" which is really just the mufflers and tips and doesn't take much time or effort to change out.

Or you can go with the traditional cat back which gives you new mandrel bent pipes from the back of the factory H pipe to the muffler and then new mufflers.

Both kits are readily available and there's usually $100-$150 difference between the two kits.

Bottom line, if you just want to take your car to a shop and give them free reign, they'll probably try to amke a couple of bucks more. If you walk in having done some research ahead of time, you might be able to save a couple bucks. Do your research in advance, walk in knowing the prices and then you can laugh and walk away when they quote you 20min of work and a $300 part for $500. Then buy the stuff online for $300 and take it to a muffler shop to install for $75.

 

Ya know, you're absolutely right. I normally do my research before I do things like this. Then again, my usual purchases involve firearms, and I have a better background knowledge in that area.

I went in to this shop, admittedly ignorant, with the hopes that they would acknowledge me as a Soldier (most local businesses LOVE Soldiers because we have a reliable pay system, are generally good people, and because we can generate awesome word-of-mouth advertising for them) and a potential future customer with a lot of mods on his mind.

If I were the shop guy/owner, I'd give the best deal I could on the initial sale in order to secure a customer and create a positive image for the shop. I guess they don't see it that way.

A Soldier previously stationed at Ft. Bliss from another forum has given me some leads on other local places to get work done on my car, so I'll be checking them out. There's that Soldier word-of-mouth I was talking about right there. Good stuff.

F. THR.

 

Hey man, are you up on "The Hill" in Ft Bliss?

I was stationed there for AIT for 16P-10 (ADA Chapparal Tank CrewMember) back in '92.

Stay off Dyer Street still the unspoken rule around there?

Thanks for your service and sorry THR screwed you.

 

I'm @ WBAMC, so if that's "the hill", then yeah.

Stay off Dyer, yeah, pretty much still the rule, especially at night.




To be fair with this post about THR, I did post this same thread on another forum, and recently got a response from a THR rep. Here was their reply:


Ok,

Sorry, I didn't see this, and FIRST OF ALL, I want to unequivocably apologize for any issues you may have had. It's not acceptable for you to be unhappy, no matter what. I consider it 100% our fault, no matter what the "excuse" is, because we should have made everything very clear so you would leave satisfied!

I do want to address some issues....

1) PHONES
In terms of all the phone issues, we have had NOTHING but phone problems since moving to Packet8 VOIP about last July. I have had NEVER ending complaints about lost messages, missed calls, not being able to get a hold of someone.

Believe me, when it comes to phones, we WANT to be able to take care of our customers! It is SO MUCH easier to take care of a customer and get them happy the first time!

So in the past 3 weeks we installed a COMPLETELY new phone system (Vocalocity) which INCLUDES a call que (you listen to music as you wait for the next available agent) so we don't miss ANY calls or Voicemails. For anyone who tried to call in the past week it has been a nightmare because the NEW phones weren't working either (problems with the DSL), so we brought in a phone consultant and SBC until it finally got corrected. So for TWO whole days we seem to have functioning phones, which makes us THRILLED because it's not really worth much to have a 2 page ad in Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords when you can't answer the phone!!!

Our phones are now manned 9am-6 pm M-F for customer service, and sales calls are taken from 9am - 9:30 pm MST the entire week (thanks to Mitch!)....

2) Pricing
I have no idea why you would be priced that for the 05-08 Axle Back, but if you did get a MAC-TK2546 and get priced that then it was absolutely wrong and I'm happy to refund you the difference immediately!! Please email me liz@texashotrods.com with your name / Work Order # so I can fix this immediately! If it was a different brand / part # then that may be the issue.

Most people who come in to the store check out the website, so it would be idiotic for us to try to pull wool over your eyes for $125. Word of mouth is the most important thing, and trying to get an extra $125 from someone is SO not worth it!!! Like you said, it was your "first" mod with THR, it's absolutely NOT worth it to me to make a little more on your first mod and then it be your last!!!

Again, if we did make a mistake it's 100% our fault and we'll fix it! Please call me or Perla 915-613-5280 (Liz) / 915-613-5283 (Perla) so we can get this taken care of right away!

3) Procharger....
Procharger's are custom made to order. And although we trust everyone completely, circumstances change. And we've learned the hard way, as we currently have a Procharger in our shop that's been there for a year and half from a customer who made a deposit on it. We do have to pay Procharger upfront in order to get your Procharger, and we can't just resell it to the next guy down the road, so unfortunately YES we have to have full payment before it ships.

4) Customer Service...
I quit my job last year and started working at THR full time to focus entirely on improving the customer experience. We completely restructured our customer service department, added a return policy, clarified all the policies on the website, the toll free #, and a satisfaction and low price guarantee in order to improve that service. We've added staff strictly to take care of customers (Perla and Me!). So of course I'm VERY dismayed to see you had a bad experience, because in the end it reflects on our company but on me personally because it's my job to make sure you're happy!! In the end, it doesn't matter what we've changed because what really matters is that YOU were happy with your experience!

We are absolutely human and make PLENTY of mistakes, but we honestly have the best of intentions. When we do make a mistake, we certainly want to hear about it and we really appreciate your feedback! Beyond that, we want to FIX IT! We're not a big company, we're not a middle sized company, we're a SMALL company that appreciates and needs each and every customer we get!

Please give us a call, talk to Perla or me, Liz (I'm out of town in Phoenix this week but will be back on Monday), and we'll do the best we can to get you taken care of!

Again, I am VERY SORRY and want to make it up to you!

Thanks!

Lizzie Metzger
liz@texashotrods.com

Link to thread: http://www.mustangforums.com/m_4095182/mpage_2/tm.htm

I'll be sending them an email, and hopefully I'll get the difference refunded.

 

Wow...lot going on here. At a professional Marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company, I can tell you that companies often times develop multiple makets for their products all the time. It happens every dam day. There are more examples that I could list if I had nothing but a week to type.

With the internet, it is very common for brick and motor comanies to compete in two different markets. When do so, they have to be careful to not damage their brand-cost reputation. This gives these companies a few options:

1 - Always keep prices consistent between internet shop and brick and motor.

2 - Limit what products you price differently in a manner in which the customer understands. For example, a special internet-only sale on a specific products that are short-lived. Customers generally understand this and won't punnish a business.

3 - Offer exceptional customer service in the store. This allows you to set prices a bit higher in the store and divides your customer base between those that value and are willing to pay for the help and those that do not need it.

4 - Place disclaimers on cheaper products found on-line. For example, limited or removed warranties, open-box items, slight-used stuff etc...

5 - Vertically extend your brand for the lower-priced items on-line. In other words, call it something else without hiding the original brand. People might think it is a bit inferior then and will be worth the lower price even if it is the same item.

In the case of the shop, you might have been willing to pay a difference, but got upset because the range was too much. After-all, you got service, the item installed and the labor was also probably warrantied.

 

THR's FTL!!