K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Sorry, we now have something to do with JMS?
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Sorry, we now have something to do with JMS?
Is this similar to when K-Tec made the statement over a year ago that these very same Raceland branded dampers would no longer be available?
Pinch of salt?
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Ok, a quick explanation of the situation to help the more doubtful members of Cliosport.
We were contacted a few weeks ago by the assistant of the gentleman that owns Raceland in Belgium and the USA. She informed us they were closing the Belgium outlet and asked if we would be interested in buying their remaining stock of Clio RS coilover kits. In return for a large order we were promised UK exclusivity on this kit and with this in place we agreed to buy a quantity of kits.
The Ebay seller who was offering the kits in the UK was operating from Belgium and was breaking the terms of our agreement with Raceland. If you look at his details he is based in Hampshire, has a Birmingham postcode and a Belgian VAT number. We are not sure how it was able to offer the kits at the price he was and we can only assume he had something to do with the factory. Raceland have now pulled this listing.
Our retail price reflect our cost of the kits, transportation and the fact we will have to buy some stock to simply sit on the shelves for spare parts. We also have to factor in a profit as well as our operating costs, as any business would do.
Now I am sure that most of you will agree, if you are sold something on a promise that is then broken you will try and do something about it to protect your investment, time and effort.
I will leave you all to make your own minds up about the situtaion, I just wanted to get the facts across as as per usual there is far too much guess work going on.
David.
We were contacted a few weeks ago by the assistant of the gentleman that owns Raceland in Belgium and the USA. She informed us they were closing the Belgium outlet and asked if we would be interested in buying their remaining stock of Clio RS coilover kits. In return for a large order we were promised UK exclusivity on this kit and with this in place we agreed to buy a quantity of kits.
The Ebay seller who was offering the kits in the UK was operating from Belgium and was breaking the terms of our agreement with Raceland. If you look at his details he is based in Hampshire, has a Birmingham postcode and a Belgian VAT number. We are not sure how it was able to offer the kits at the price he was and we can only assume he had something to do with the factory. Raceland have now pulled this listing.
Our retail price reflect our cost of the kits, transportation and the fact we will have to buy some stock to simply sit on the shelves for spare parts. We also have to factor in a profit as well as our operating costs, as any business would do.
Now I am sure that most of you will agree, if you are sold something on a promise that is then broken you will try and do something about it to protect your investment, time and effort.
I will leave you all to make your own minds up about the situtaion, I just wanted to get the facts across as as per usual there is far too much guess work going on.
David.
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K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Is this similar to when K-Tec made the statement over a year ago that these very same Raceland branded dampers would no longer be available?
Pinch of salt?
Maybe, just maybe that is what Raceland told us back then.
David.
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Well we have done well for ourselves taking all that into consideration. 17,000 customers in over 40 countries, 10 years old and still growing. Maybe it is because we do not believe everything we read and instead just get on with trying to do the best job we can.
David.
I don't really want to get involved with this as I've used K-Tec in the past (including sourcing next day a Bilstein kit for me) and they've been fantastic (Sean is one of the best people i've dealt with while building my clio - couldn't have been more helpful) - so I'm not jumping on the K-Tec slagging bandwagon
That being said - I think the reason there are so many enemies now on here is that if you flip the raceland situation on it's head and look at it from a consumer point of view it reads like this...
Raceland used to sell their kit direct or through this company in belgium on ebay - it was cheap and arrived quickly with no problems. Lots of people posted links to the kit but it was shortly pulled from sale
K-Tec then announced they had signed an exclusivity contract which prevented this other company from selling and then upped the price to cover import and spares and warranties
Spares and warranties that I don't believe anybody cared about because at the cheap price they were originally they could be treated as a throw away item
So K-Tec were seen to have ruined a cheap deal for every RS owner just for their own profit
I doubt that was the intention but it is the way that the situation came across
The same thing happened on 106owners where a company developed a very cheap throttle body kit and were discussing selling it direct through my forum - but at the last minute a uk tuning company got an exclusivity contract and doubled the price. That did very little for their reputation too
That being said - I think the reason there are so many enemies now on here is that if you flip the raceland situation on it's head and look at it from a consumer point of view it reads like this...
Raceland used to sell their kit direct or through this company in belgium on ebay - it was cheap and arrived quickly with no problems. Lots of people posted links to the kit but it was shortly pulled from sale
K-Tec then announced they had signed an exclusivity contract which prevented this other company from selling and then upped the price to cover import and spares and warranties
Spares and warranties that I don't believe anybody cared about because at the cheap price they were originally they could be treated as a throw away item
So K-Tec were seen to have ruined a cheap deal for every RS owner just for their own profit
I doubt that was the intention but it is the way that the situation came across
The same thing happened on 106owners where a company developed a very cheap throttle body kit and were discussing selling it direct through my forum - but at the last minute a uk tuning company got an exclusivity contract and doubled the price. That did very little for their reputation too
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Good thing my opinions are based on my personal dealings with ktec and those of people I know who have used you. Maybe you just treat midlanders badly?
I can't afford to treat Midlanders badly, my wife is from Birmingham.
Midlands, you say, now who else do I know up that way?
David.
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Well how about we put 10 sets up as a special Cliosport group buy price to match the previous ebay price? Its not exactly a good idea from a business point of you but at least we would not be guilty of profiteering :rasp:.
David.
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Michael, pleasing the customer is what stays at the top of the agenda in order to become the UKs largest. No business will survive and grow without happy customers. At the same time we have staff and bills to pay so it is a fine balancing act sometimes.
I really wish some of the doubters on CS could come down and pay us a visit sometime to see some of the work we do, as well as hear and read all the positive responses we get from customers all over the world. It really is very different to how it is sometimes depicted on this forum.
David.
I really wish some of the doubters on CS could come down and pay us a visit sometime to see some of the work we do, as well as hear and read all the positive responses we get from customers all over the world. It really is very different to how it is sometimes depicted on this forum.
David.
That's fair enough - and what I'd guessed had happened. It's preferable to have a reseller rather than deal with customers direct.
I just think most of the people on here viewed you guys as the evil monster in the whole scenario lol
Pleasing the customer obviously goes out the window when you become the UKs largest. I'm sure theres a real person in there somewhere beneath all the paper work and signatures
This is exactly the opposite of my experience
I bough a bilstein kit from kamracing on their website - it said in stock
I then got an email saying it wasn't in stock and they'd let me know
As I needed the kit ASAP for a track day I rang them and got a very grumpy "I'm trying to get Bilstein to make us more but don't know when that will happen" answer - so I asked for a refund
Just want to say I've always used Kam and this is the first time I've ever had a grumpy response - I guess they were just stressed they couldn't get the kit
So I rang K-Tec and spoke to Sean - there was a kit on the shelf. Explained I was waiting for a refund so offered them a very small deposit and he said that was fine.
Rang up 2 days later when the refund had cleared and paid the rest - they sent out same day and they arrived with me 9am the next day
Brilliant service
I also bought a set of solid top mounts from them which turned out the manufacturers had made wrong so they didn't fit properly
K-Tec identified the problem quickly - had a whole batch remade and sent out the replacement part for free
I've honestly never had anything but top quality service from them!
Fact of the matter is David, the ebay seller was retailing these units for £160 delivered (best offer price). I very much doubt he would have been doing so at a loss and that the asking price would have presumably factored in a 'reasonable' margin. A near 35% differential hardly seems particularly reasonable in my humble opinion.
Evo 5 RS
I jest (mostly) with their mail order service. They are very good at what they do in that respect. Although some of their products are of a questionable quality and should never of been sold in the first place..to the point it's easier for a member of staff to deny there is a problem and not investigate it. KTR may be sort-of a different division to K-Tec, but I won't buy anything from them on principle. Where as I can respect K-Tec and what they've achieved in the last 3 years, what not god himself can't even comprehend is why a certain member of staff still works there.
Things like this just add fuel to the fire imo
Things like this just add fuel to the fire imo
My experience was they couldnt even do the mail order parts right
Placed an order and paid for said order and was told part would be with me within two weeks. A month later no contact and no parts. Chase them up and just over a week later get a response saying they still dont have stock!
Placed an order and paid for said order and was told part would be with me within two weeks. A month later no contact and no parts. Chase them up and just over a week later get a response saying they still dont have stock!
Our site does not stock manage so customers can actually buy items when not in stock. Thats why you were contacted straight away.
Grumpy? I'm not sure theres a positive spin to be had on the fact we cannot supply you quickly so of course we are not happy with the situation. There will not be a jovial discussion when we loose a sale and a customer does not get the service we aim to give. You got your refund nice an quick so I find it hard to see this in a bad light? I'm glad Ktec could sort you out.
No I know it's not a good situation to be in - but the response I got was "maybe this week or next" and in reality it was over 3 months before you had any more to sell
With that sort of long-term stock outage I would have pulled it from the site. Stock levels on websites (or even just a delivery time) always help
As I said I spent many years promoting you guys on 106owners and still think your service and pricing is impossible to beat
I was just using this as an example that all companies have down sides and in my experience K-Tec have always been superb. I have no idea why they get such bad press
No I know it's not a good situation to be in - but the response I got was "maybe this week or next" and in reality it was over 3 months before you had any more to sell
With that sort of long-term stock outage I would have pulled it from the site. Stock levels on websites (or even just a delivery time) always help
As I said I spent many years promoting you guys on 106owners and still think your service and pricing is impossible to beat
I was just using this as an example that all companies have down sides and in my experience K-Tec have always been superb. I have no idea why they get such bad press
We were at that time unaware that Bilstein were stopping dealings with their distributor to the UK and taking it in house. We only know what information they want us to hear. Now we buy direct from Bilstein but we were well and truly pissed off to find out later that our orders basically had been cancelled.
I would make the assuption that its not the mail order side of the business that people have a problem with, more the tuning side, i.e. the bit that was bought it a few years back, from near Peterborough ...
Now, i've never bought anything from Ktec (as im tight & buy 2nd hand), so cannot comment on their service levels, but i have broken a Redline featured 182 with K-Tec ITB's. Personally, i though the loom on that was frankly disgusting, & the filter of death had sucked more small children into the engine than i had fingers to count
K-Tec Racing
ClioSport Trader
172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
I would make the assuption that its not the mail order side of the business that people have a problem with, more the tuning side, i.e. the bit that was bought it a few years back, from near Peterborough ...
Now, i've never bought anything from Ktec (as im tight & buy 2nd hand), so cannot comment on their service levels, but i have broken a Redline featured 182 with K-Tec ITB's. Personally, i though the loom on that was frankly disgusting, & the filter of death had sucked more small children into the engine than i had fingers to count
Thankfully a lot has changed since then. Parts have evolved and Omex looms are no longer needed.
David.
Evo 5 RS
What about electrical tape? Still use that? Going by the way you left my car you must go through about 5 rolls a day..
We all hate wires but jesus christ...
Evo 5 RS
Nah they're alright tbh, does the job. They just need to learn (or maybe someones had a little telling off since then) to make things tidy... makes things a lot easier to diagnose...
Evo 5 RS
You two are like a double act
Like I said, no more looms needed.
David.
Like I said, I need a loom please. Because your monkey fcuked it up. Dave sometimes I think you're blind to it but you'd have to be a complete idiot, which for the record I don't think you are..
Business as usual
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