Terrible Customer Service from Andy @ A&A Corvette

[Stangkiller]

What's your oppinion regarding an issue I am having with Andy at A&A Corvettes. I purchased a bracket in September of 2008 from this thread: New A&A Procharger brackets are done! - Corvette Forum I have been working for 2 years now on finishing up my corvette, this week we finally got the car back on the road. We have been performing break in procedures on the motor, with a total run time of 4 hours & 7 miles. In that short period of time one of the bearings inside a pulley walked out of place. The pulley he used was poorly designed with no c-clip holding the bearing in place, which is why it walked.

I called Andy to discuss a replacement pulley, not for the reimbursement for towing or other costs I have incurred as a result of the failed part. Andy said since it was nearly 2 years ago I was on my own, he asked if I tried to return an unused faulty part to sears after 2 years would they take it back, I replied likely yes, which is when Andy said he didn’t like my “****ing attitude”. All Andy is willing to do at this time is to give me his “cost” on the new pulley. Andy is now using a different vendor who has resolved this design flaw.

If the part had gone bad due to the age of the part, I could understand, where he’s coming from. However the truth is, this part failed due to a very poorly designed pulley. All I want is the correct pulley from Andy, I do not feel this is too much to ask from him. I paid full price for a working bracket; I do not see how the age of the kit is relevant when it involves poorly designed pieces.

Pictures of the pulley are posted below.

I have had other shipping problems with Andy in the past however to his credit he has resolved the other issues, like sending the wrong kit the first time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Dropping the F-Bomb to a customer who was just left stranded due to a poorly designed product is just uncalled for.

Thanks

Damage to the bracket.


The bearing was spinning inside the pulley.


The walked bearing

[Munch]

I would think he would have jumped at the opportunity to send you a new pulley seen as how he knows original supply was bad and you're probably not the first person to have the same problem. I would assume he replaced a bunch when they first started failing. I don't see how 2 years later matters especially under the circumstances.

[Y2Kvert4me]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

Andy is now using a different vendor who has resolved this design flaw.

It's a pretty sh!tty excuse to walk out on, especially if he was well aware of the design flaw and has since switched suppliers because of it.

He's standing behind his terms, and you are probably sh!t outta luck due to the timeframe involved, but that's contract vs compassion.
You're apparently just not a good enough customer of his to warrant any extraordinary treatment. Welcome to the business world, that's how they think when considering taking a hit to the profits.

Don't hear of many problems with Andy, but then again, he falls under the CF protection program, so nothing bad about him could ever be stated there.

Bummer situation. Good luck.

[Stangkiller]

Thanks, I am working with Jesse now to begin an unresolved dispute on the CF.

I am also researching my CC to see if I can dispute the costs to repair the damaged piece.

[Y2Kvert4me]

If you manage to get it posted on CF with blessing, I'm sure you'll get a quick resolve.

[Y2Kvert4me]

And FWIW, a C-clip or retaining ring won't ever prevent a bearing from spinning in it's bore. Only correct bore sizing can fix that.

No matter, you still received a bad product.

[Stangkiller]

The part that really gets me is the fact that there's a lot of people like me that work on our cars when we have the time and money available. Doesthis mean Andy won't stand behind any of his products when Installed in a scenario like mine!? Had I known that I certainly would NOT have given him my business.

[DropTheTop]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

The part that really gets me is the fact that there's a lot of people like me that work on our cars when we have the time and money available. Doesthis mean Andy won't stand behind any of his products when Installed in a scenario like mine!? Had I known that I certainly would NOT have given him my business.

Very true, and I don't think it's fair him trying to compare this situation or his business with Sears! It amazes me when I see these stories. Send him back the bad parts, along with a list of people that will never buy from him. I'll sign it.

Quoted from their site:
"No other manufacturer pays this much attention to detail in their bracketry. We use double bearing pulleys with stainless inserts to support the bearings. Others just stick a bolt and washer through the pulley with no regard to properly supporting the bearing."

[bcar]

Sorry to ask this in the middle of your problem thread but do you have the old bracket that bolts to the block? UPS lost mine so I have a kit I cannot use and really dont have the $599 that he wants for the new bracket.

[MYSCZ06]

Originally Posted by bcar

Sorry to ask this in the middle of your problem thread but do you have the old bracket that bolts to the block? UPS lost mine so I have a kit I cannot use and really dont have the $599 that he wants for the new bracket.

Bcar If he doesnt I might be able to help out...once I receive my house hold shipment in from Texas in the next couple weeks I have my old bracket and such...


to the OP I say he needs to replace the part immediately no questions asked
GL with it man!

[Cobra4B]

That's some bull****.... and I thought Andy was one of the good guys. Not sure who these people in the automotive performance aftermarket business have such a hard time w/ customer service.

I mean you have to be one of those blank check customers to get the super service these days. We went through the same thing when building up our Panoz. The bill came in at 3x the estimate.... when we called them on it they were very quick to come to a negotiated price, but of course now we're on their black list as for future work. We were very civil about it all, but since we're not "blank check" customers we're not the type they like.

Shops like rich people who don't know crap about cars or how to fix them themselves. The educated customer who normally does their own work, but just doesn't have the time is the worst.... because we actually check things over and understand what we're looking at.