Thanks for NOTHING HILLBANK!!

[CNGreen]

First off, I know I don't have a lot of posts here. I do lurk almost every day though, and have been building my FFR for > 2yrs.. I'm sorry one of my few posts is a rant. I'm not a troll and the reason I'm posting this here is because I know there are SPF folks here and I want to get off my chest how I was treated by Hillbank.

Brent and Jamo, if you feel this is not warranted, please accept my apology and close the thread. But I have to, like I said, get this off my chest. No one deserves a bait and switch, which is exactly what happened to me today.

A friend turned me on to the degas tank from Superformance listed on ebay for $369. I look it up and, sure enough, there it is. Brand new, in the box. They are in Irvine - which is right around the corner from me - so I call them up.

(paraphrasing)

"Saw your ebay listing. Can I come down tomorrow and pick one up?"

"Sure, no problem. See you tomorrow"

So I take an early lunch, hop on the 405 and head down to pick it up. (Big plans to start my engine this weekend. Big party. Lot's o' people)

I get there and they say, "Sorry, can't let it go for less than $500" They changed the price on the spot!!! I didn't blow up; just declined to pay an extra $130 bucks on the spot and left.

I'm so pissed I can spit! HILLBANK,If you post a price and tell someone you will sell it at that price, HONOR IT!!

Yeah, I'll get flamed, but they were pretty low to Bait-and-Switch me like that.

Sign me,

CNRED


PS
Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/polli...mZ320314999276

It's now listed @ $500. I could have bought it last night @$369 but, like I said, I'm (still, with another tank, hopefully) planning a start party this weekend. Hence, the pickup.

[Silverback51]

They changed the price on the link.

[convincor]

probably realized they were selling them to cheap and they could get more for them..
from the feedback he sold one back in August for $365..

[1985 CCX]

I would opt for an actoncustom aluminum or SS tank:

[kayakjack]

Did Hillbank ever tell you on the phone, on a price sheet, on the web or any other place that the price was $369? When you spoke with them on the phone, was there a meeting of the minds that the price was $369? The link you have to the auction says the starting price is $500. Even if they bumped the starting price from $369 to $500 (did they do that?), it doesn't mean it would sell for the starting price. It is an auction. I don't see a "Buy it Now" price on the auction.

If there was a meeting of the minds about the price before you drove to Hillbank, lets talk. If you saw a starting price on an auction and assumed that was a selling price, your post is unfair to Hillbank.

Jack

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by kayakjack

Did Hillbank ever tell you on the phone, on a price sheet, on the web or any other place that the price was $369? When you spoke with them on the phone, was there a meeting of the minds that the price was $369? The link you have to the auction says the starting price is $500. Even if they bumped the starting price from $369 to $500 (did they do that?), it doesn't mean it would sell for the starting price. It is an auction. I don't see a "Buy it Now" price on the auction.

If there was a meeting of the minds about the price before you drove to Hillbank, lets talk. If you saw a starting price on an auction and assumed that was a selling price, your post is unfair to Hillbank.

Jack

It was listed on ebay for $369 with no reserve. He told them he saw the auction on ebay and wanted to buy the item. If only one person bid on it, then they'd pay $369. Knowing that he was referring to the $369 ebay auction, Hillbank should have told him via phone that it would be $500 if he came down, and if he wanted to try to get it for $369, he should try to win the auction.

I agree it's pretty crappy what they did.

[convincor]

the listing was revised today.. Just before lunch
The seller has revised the following item information:
DateTime Revised Information

Nov-05-08 11:24:21 PST Shipping Terms Minimum Bid Price

[CNGreen]

Sal, good summation.

They confirmed the price before telling me to come down.

It was a really cruddy thing to do but hey, I had to move on and ordered alternate bits and pieces for the upper rad today.

I am really disappointed though. My engine bay is all polished aluminum and that burp tank sitting on the Boss 302 would look absolutely killer!

When they took it out of the box to show it to me I inspected it and it's a really nice piece.

...which led me to be really flabbergasted when he flipped the price of me. I decided to get out of there before I lost it.

Looking back I wish I had pleaded with them more but that's not my style. I just left...

I did get a communication from another forum friend about some in Arizona available through E-bay and they were even less expensive but missing the spacer pieces. Since I'm in a bit of a hurry this week I had to pass. If anyone else is looking for this piece I can post the link, but it's on ebay if you search for it.

Anyway, I went to Summit and picked out a nice Mezzier overflow tank and CSR t-filler.

Not as nice but I really want to start it this weekend.

[LMH]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
One small glimer that might help though; I have known of a couple of FFR owners who have used tanks similar to that one, only to have the filler cap hit the hood when closed. The tank they should have used has the filler cap on the oppisite side from the radiator hose and not the same side. That way, it places the cap more in the center of the engine where there's more space under the hood.
So you might have spent the money only to have it not work.
HTH,
Larry

[Jamo]

Moved to Consumer Watch.

Hillbank can respond and assplain their side of the story if it differs from the facts stated above.

[SPF2008]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to explain our side of the story. This part was indeed listed on e-bay for $369.00. This was below our cost on the part. I offered this part to the customer at $ 500.00 once I found the mistake on the price which is still a very good deal on this part. The normal retail on is $716.10. I was in no way trying to bait and switch anyone. I have never done that in my life and would not start now. I was just trying not to get in trouble for selling a part at cost and trying to make a deal with the customer at the same time hoping everone would win. I offer my Sincerest appologies and hope this customer will accept it. I would also like to offer you this header tank at no charge because of the confusion and hassle you have gone through.

Originally Posted by CNGreen

First off, I know I don't have a lot of posts here. I do lurk almost every day though, and have been building my FFR for > 2yrs.. I'm sorry one of my few posts is a rant. I'm not a troll and the reason I'm posting this here is because I know there are SPF folks here and I want to get off my chest how I was treated by Hillbank.

Brent and Jamo, if you feel this is not warranted, please accept my apology and close the thread. But I have to, like I said, get this off my chest. No one deserves a bait and switch, which is exactly what happened to me today.

A friend turned me on to the degas tank from Superformance listed on ebay for $369. I look it up and, sure enough, there it is. Brand new, in the box. They are in Irvine - which is right around the corner from me - so I call them up.

(paraphrasing)

"Saw your ebay listing. Can I come down tomorrow and pick one up?"

"Sure, no problem. See you tomorrow"

So I take an early lunch, hop on the 405 and head down to pick it up. (Big plans to start my engine this weekend. Big party. Lot's o' people)

I get there and they say, "Sorry, can't let it go for less than $500" They changed the price on the spot!!! I didn't blow up; just declined to pay an extra $130 bucks on the spot and left.

I'm so pissed I can spit! HILLBANK,If you post a price and tell someone you will sell it at that price, HONOR IT!!

Yeah, I'll get flamed, but they were pretty low to Bait-and-Switch me like that.

Sign me,

CNRED


PS
Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/polli...mZ320314999276

It's now listed @ $500. I could have bought it last night @$369 but, like I said, I'm (still, with another tank, hopefully) planning a start party this weekend. Hence, the pickup.

[SPF2008]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to explain my side of the story. This part was indeed listed on E-Bay for $369.00. This price was below our cost on the part. When i found out about this i told the customer i would be able to sell it to him at $500.00. This was still a great deal. It is normally $716.10. I would never try to bait and switch anyone. That is totally against my morals. I was just trying to not get myself in trouble by selling parts below our cost and i was trying to give the customer some type of deal at the same time. I do offer my sincerest appologies. I would also like to offer the header tank to you at no charge because of this headache and hassle. Please trust me i would never intentionally post something at such a low price and then switch the price.

Originally Posted by CNGreen

First off, I know I don't have a lot of posts here. I do lurk almost every day though, and have been building my FFR for > 2yrs.. I'm sorry one of my few posts is a rant. I'm not a troll and the reason I'm posting this here is because I know there are SPF folks here and I want to get off my chest how I was treated by Hillbank.

Brent and Jamo, if you feel this is not warranted, please accept my apology and close the thread. But I have to, like I said, get this off my chest. No one deserves a bait and switch, which is exactly what happened to me today.

A friend turned me on to the degas tank from Superformance listed on ebay for $369. I look it up and, sure enough, there it is. Brand new, in the box. They are in Irvine - which is right around the corner from me - so I call them up.

(paraphrasing)

"Saw your ebay listing. Can I come down tomorrow and pick one up?"

"Sure, no problem. See you tomorrow"

So I take an early lunch, hop on the 405 and head down to pick it up. (Big plans to start my engine this weekend. Big party. Lot's o' people)

I get there and they say, "Sorry, can't let it go for less than $500" They changed the price on the spot!!! I didn't blow up; just declined to pay an extra $130 bucks on the spot and left.

I'm so pissed I can spit! HILLBANK,If you post a price and tell someone you will sell it at that price, HONOR IT!!

Yeah, I'll get flamed, but they were pretty low to Bait-and-Switch me like that.

Sign me,

CNRED


PS
Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/polli...mZ320314999276

It's now listed @ $500. I could have bought it last night @$369 but, like I said, I'm (still, with another tank, hopefully) planning a start party this weekend. Hence, the pickup.

[PANAVIA]

it also could have been a Mistake- or they had a price hike from the factory ;

inflation + transport cost + exchange rate = screwed up pricing. yes a $130 jab is not fun but if they got surprised by a cost increase on the wholesale end this could explain a lot. ---Steve

[CNGreen]

Steve, did you read my post?? Mistake?? They were aware of the price when I was told to come down and get it. It wasn't until I got there that they switched the price on me.

Whatever. If Hillbank had something to say I'm sure they would have said it already. I've already moved on and found an another solution.

I've dealt with Hillbank exactly two times. The first time was in their old location near the airport, before I bought my FFR. The salesman ripped FFR 3 ways to Sunday. It was a real turn off. Now this. Obviously I won't be back, and I'm sure they don't care.

[CNGreen]

Hmm.

I got an email dated Sat 12/13/08 7:50 AM that a reply was posted. I look and the post above from SPF2008 appears to have been posted 11-26-2008, 12:32 PM ?!?

It wasn't there before, how does that happen?

Now it looks like they posted before me, and that's simply NOT the case. Otherwise I wouldn't have written the last post...

Weird...

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by CNGreen

I got an email dated Sat 12/13/08 7:50 AM that a reply was posted. I look and the post above from SPF2008 appears to have been posted 11-26-2008, 12:32 PM ?!?

It wasn't there before, how does that happen?

I can explain.

The post by SPF2008 was caught by our spam trapping software because of certain formatting, and was held in limbo until a moderator checked it out and released it.

I saw it and gave it the green light. Since it was days old, it still appears in date-sequence in the thread now, even though it only became visible to the forum after it was cleared as a legit post.

I got an email dated Sat 12/13/08 7:50 AM

That would be a correct date and time when I did a spam purging session.

ron
ClubCobra Moderator

[CNGreen]

Thanks Ron. That makes sense.

[RedBarchetta]

A fair question.

So now that you've flamed Hillbank publicly, and according to the written thread, never made an attempt to walk this one up the ladder to Barry or even owner Lance to resolve it amicably, and the company subsequently made an effort (via this thread) to rectify the situation and GIVE YOU the part for your trouble, how do you feel now?

-Dean

[Jamo]

A damn fair question.

[CNGreen]

Dean (and Jamo),

Fair question indeed.

I don't know who it was I talked to but assume it was a higher-up. The guy who up'd the price was going over the head of the first guy I spoke with. I also don't know who the poster is on page one. With only 2 posts (both on this thread) I'm ASSUMING it's someone at Hillbank. At this point I appreciate the offer of the part for free but would not feel good about taking it. I've gotten over the experience and don't have any desire to have them take a further hit. I also feel that their response was reasonable. Generous even. If I hadn't invested $$$ in an alternate solution I might even take them up on the offer, but I'd ask only that they sell it to me at the agreed-to price.

I started the thread when I got back from their place and I was pretty hot at the time. I think, reasonably so. I feel they deserved to be called out for it. Now? Well, I hope they would consider honoring a listed - and agreed to - price for their customers in the future. Also, I hope that the english guy I spoke to when they were still by the airport realizes that bashing the competition doesn't work, at least with me. I've been around a while and I've learned a thing or two about sales. One thing I learned is, sell on your merit, not by dressing down the competition.

One thing: For the record. SPF makes an outstanding product. I've never bashed them, here or anywhere else.

Hillbank? Well, I'm sure they don't like me very much but I hold no grudges. Someone posted just today asking where they could find the same part. I posted that they could find it on ebay. No bashing. No references to this thread.

So how do I feel now? It's over. If they'd like, Jamo or Ron can edit the title to ADD the word "resolved". I try not to edit anything here, as I've seen Jamo doesn't like it.

So no hard feelings Hillbank; just stick to the deal, that's all I ask.

Fair enough?