AZ BS Thread 4²0

Happy B-Day @Rextinkleton93

 

Going home tomorrow! WOOHOO! Haven't been home since November 20th surgery. I can try out my left side gas pedal for reals instead of practice.

 

Dude that is so rocking!

Good luck with your PT!

 

I don't know what interaction you had with the sales staff to feel like we don't want to help you or answer your questions, but that is not how we want you to feel or how we want you to perceive us. Our job is to help you with your questions, not make you feel like you can't ask us questions.

Please email, call or stop by when you have a chance. Our operations manager wants to get to the bottom of this and would like to hear what happened so she can make sure she can make the changes needed to stop it from happening again. Her contact info - Serena@sdhqoffroad.com or her direct line is 480-525-8116

 

I'm glad you were happy with the parts and turn around, but not so happy that we made you feel like we gave you the "stink eye." As mentioned before, we are proactive in making changes for the better, and we will have more salespeople in the new, larger location this summer. At times we can feel overwhelmed with the amount of work on our plate at the sales counter, we do try our best not to let that show when we are helping customers, but we are human, and sometimes our stress shows. I am sorry that that happened and next time you are in the area, swing by and say hi and let us get you some SDHQ swag on the house.

 

SDHQ back to active on TW?

I remember the old days when Jason and the old crew would be around.. before this place went safe.
Those days we could get some serious technical knowledge passed around and fast!


Regardless it's nice of you guys to step in here, I agree that your reputation as an Elite Premium Off-road shop has stopped a lot of us from coming in anymore. Whether it be due to the "stink eye" for looking like we can't afford to drop 10k on IVD or the lack of getting an answer on a product.

I hope your new shop will bring that back to life.

 

I've been to SDHQ a few times. Bought UCA's and rear springs.
I had no issues with anyone in there.

 

Same here. Gone in got my questions answed. Felt welcomed an I didn't spend more than $50

 

Honestly, we have tried to stay off the new "safe place" forums with other than new product updates for quite a bit now. We do our best when it comes to the technical knowledge that we share on here. These days there are way too many keyboard warriors who don't take our shop's 19 years of being in business, experience, knowledge, and know-how as a valid source but would rather follow what google or a forum thought was right and it just isn't worth the fight for us.

We try and treat everyone with the same amount of respect and having a big budget or no budget shouldn't change that. It doesn't matter if you want Icon, King, Fox suspension or if you just want to level using Bilstein or Eibach shocks, we stock them and install all of it. There are tons things that we won't offer/install, i.e. spacers, partial wear items replacement, customer supplied parts, wiring not to our standards, etc. Sometimes people do leave with a bad taste about us because of these things, but we would rather them leave unhappy with no work done than dissatisfied with the work we did do six months down the line because of issues.

Without sounding too Elitest or Premium, we do want to be the best off-road shop out there, we all come to work knowing that we are offering the best, doing the best and working in the best place. We are much different than a lot of the other shops. We have been in business for almost 20 years. We have a family of 26 people working here, with many of the management team being here 12+ years. We offer a wide array of services that no other shops that I know of do under one roof. We try and stock everything we sell, so there is no or very little lead time. We are always on the search for new quality parts. We are continually expanding our production product line. We don't look at the margin on products but rather the quilty and function of the product itself. Our relationships with the manufacturers we deal with are based on their product not on personal relationships. We have gone from being in the top 3 of retailers worldwide of a certain mfg to not even on the radar because other mfg's stepped up their offerings and surpassed them in quality. Finally, we are always growing, evolving and learning. If we can do something better, we will. If we can offer a superior service or product, we will. If we need better or new equipment to make the customer's end result better, we will get it. Our product pricing is typically the same as you will find online or cheaper than other brick and motor shops and we probably have it on the shelf. Our hourly installation rate of $105 per hour is well worth the value of what you are getting. If someone tells us we messed up; we listen, and management gets to the bottom of the issue and makes the changes needed to better us.

So are we an Elite or Premium shop? I'd say we are different than 99.9% of the other retailers out there and we don't want to be just another offroad shop or one you have to worry about being around in a few months or a few years. Lots of rambling but hopefully it makes some sense.

The new shop will be giving us twice the square footage, basically giving us double of everything we have now, ie. showroom, offices, installation area, fabrication area, production area, stocking space etc. We will be able to streamline a lot of our in-house production and have more room so we can expand our team and be able to help more customers.

 

Where is the new shop at?

 

300 yards south of our current location. Should be breaking ground any day now.

 

Stickers are free in the shop.

Was there a particular item, items or a service that you felt we were expensive on when you were shopping with us? Or is there an experience that you were unhappy about?

If you don't want to discuss it with me, please email, call or stop by when you have a chance. Our operations manager will be happy to hear you out and see what can be done to fix whatever the issue is. Her contact info - Serena@sdhqoffroad.com or her direct line is 480-525-8116

 

Well thought out response sir or madam.

I'd love to agree with everything you stated but there are some things that would change the overall experience of SDHQ and could probably win a lot of us back. We all run into customer "service" issues, it's how we deal with them is what sets us apart.

Also, It shouldn't always be send them to Serena for problems, cause that's all I see when the keyboard roasting starts. As a salesperson, own your responsibilities even after the commission is paid. Poor Serena, I hope she's not the only person that deals with the shit, cause that would suck.

For what it's worth i'd like to see your sales people be fully versed in knowledge again. Not just sell IVD, Method or BD because it has the best margins. Truly educate your customers in all options like Camburg, Total Chaos, King and IVD for example. If there is a guy looking for rebuild parts, leave the counter and go check on them.
Don't make customers feel like they have to go, but really want to come in and feel respected. You guys did that well at one time years ago.

I used to love coming into the shop for a tour of what's cooking in back, now I'm like shit they are my only option on the east side for uniballs.

That's my 2c and I hope this new shop makes these things happen.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond and to help us understand your feelings.

We are always open for a dialog to help improve a customers experience and the overall feel of SDHQ.

We don't work on any commissions here; we are in it as a team. If we have upset customers, we always try and handle the issue on our own, but like in this case, the people who have grips on here about us didn't interact or come to us with the issue that I know of. I am sending them to the top so there could be some productive dialog about whatever is the issue.

We do a lot of training on all the MFG that we carry, and we vet every potential mfg that we are thinking of carrying. We do our best to listen to the customer and understand what they are trying to achieve before we suggest a particular brand or package.

I hear you about coming from behind the counter, we always try and engage the customer, but we need to do a better job of coming out from behind the counter to do that. I don't think it will take us to move into the new shop to help with some of the users here on TW with complaints, I'm hoping to make changes by reaching out and getting to the bottom of the issues now.

We stock all the MFG that you suggested and I did touch above on why we choose what we do, it is not the margin as you suggested. We have carried Camburg for some 17 + years now; we also stock Total Chaos, King, Fox, Vision X, Rigid, to name a few others.

Just to give you an idea of a some of the suspension options we typically have in stock for a newer Taco owner-

Coil Overs -
King w/ adjusters
Fox w/ adjusters
Icon standard travel
Icon ext travel
Icon standard travel rr
Icon ext travel rr
Icon standard travel w/ adjusters
Icon ext travel w/ adjusters
700lb options for all the Icons
700lb Eibach coils in stock for the Fox or King

Upper Arms-
Total Chaos bushing
Total Chaos heim
Camburg
Camburg Billet
Icon
Icon delta joint
Icon Billet
Icon Billet Delta joint

Rear shocks-
King 2.5" w/ adjusters
Fox 2.5" w/ adjuster
Icon 2.0
Icon 2.0RR
Icon 2.5RR
Icon 2.5 w/ adjusters
Icon 2.5" bypass
Icon 2.5 RXT
Icon 2.5 RXT w/ clickers
Icon 2.5 RXT Bypass

Rear springs
Icon add a pack
Icon RXT
Deaver Sprung under

Other in stock items
Camburg sprung under kit
Camburg 4x4 spindles - already on order
Camburg lower arms - already on order
Camburg bed cage
Total Chaos race lowers
Total Chaos gussets
Icon UCA bushing kits
Camburg UCA bushing kits
Total Chaos UCA bushing kits
Delta joints for Icon Arms
Delta Joints for Total Chaos arms

So we have a ton of options on the shelf, it just sounds like we need to do a better job of pointing them all out at times.

Is there anything you feel like we are missing from the above?

Just to give you an insight into how we look at the upper control arm options. If a customer comes in and asks about a UCA for their Tacoma, the Icon tubular Delta Joint is a no-brainer for us. If the customer wants heim'ed UCA, then the Icon Billet Delta Joint is our first choice. $100 upgrade to run the Delta Joint is an easy choice for us, and it should be for the customer when everything is explained. That doesn't mean we only sell those arms, we have six other choices on the shelf if the customer wants to pick something different.

We will do our best to keep the uniballs and delta joints in stock as well as work on our behind the counter staff interaction with you if you need help. We also do our best to give tours to end user customers when time permits but we do not offer them to people that work at other offroad shops.

 

Alright, story time. Thought I’d share a recent story. As many are aware, my taco was a moderate accident. Truck was gone for 5 weeks or so, finally got it back. I asked the repair shop if they wanted the instructions for the after market parts in case they took anything off. I get the “It’s AZ. We see this stuff all the time. We know what to do with it.” Makes sense to me, so I don’t pursue it. Flash forward about two weeks ago I take it on its first dirt road since the accident. Nothing crazy, no rock crawling, just dirt roads in Unit 18b, familiarizing myself with the area before the spring Javelina Hunt. Anyways, spent a few hours on dirt, heading back to pavement when I notice I am clipping rocks I should be passing over. I stop, go around the front to see what’s up, and see my skid plate hanging by one bolt. Tap it with my boot and it drops off. Threads are all ok, so I don’t know what could have loosened up all the bolts other then they weren’t tightened down. I’m lucky it didn’t fall off on pavement with other drivers around.

 

Fuckers.

 

A few years ago I was lay and took my truck for an oil change at Jacksons. the next time I went off road and engaged 4x4 loud noises and dripping oil. They had put the old filter somewhere in the front and it got caught up in the driveline. I change my oil myself now. MF

 

@SDHQ OFFROAD has done a lot of work on my truck. I am not sure what the experience was like before, in the past or in the more recent past. I can only speak to the experiences I've had. They broke the rules for me. I think I told one of the guys there that I wouldn't mention this, but since it seems like a few people have had some comments on their "less than stellar" experiences, I will add my take on it. I bought my suspension from another retailer. SDHQ has a policy of not installing products which are not purchased from them, which I understand. There is a liability there. On a later visit to pick up some wire loom, as I was walking to my truck, one of the guys ran out after me. He told me that if I wanted to have them install my lift, they would be happy to do it. That's when he may or may not have asked me not to say anything. (I'm sorry I had to). It's not that I couldn't do it. It was not that I felt a professional could do a better job than I could, (I am amazing at everything I do. Ask my girlfriend...wait, don't, we got into a couple's fight yesterday) I just didn't have the time. Shit, I even have access to a lift, but 6 days a week I leave my house at 3 am to be at work by 4 and I don't get home until around 6pm. So having them do this, and not charging an unfair rate was huge, especially because they made an exception to their own policy to do it.

Further, I did not make the process easy for them. I scheduled a time to have my gearing done and the last pieces to my suspension arrived in multiple shipments with some parts being delayed. Right as they were finishing up my re-gear, I had everything for my suspension. I called them and they said not to worry and to bring everything by and they would find a way to squeeze me in and take care of it. No extra charge, they didn't even let out an dramatic sigh to make me feel bad. They just did it.

They called me to remind me about my retorque. Everything they did was clean and has been any time I've brought the truck to them. When I was looking for a rear bumper, Bryce went through every possible option with me, listed the pros and cons and even gave me some of the feedback he'd received on the products they'd sold to folks in the past. The first time I was in the shop, I bought sliders (still have not installed these), and they gave me a tour of the shop on a Saturday. They showed me where they were working on fabricating the chase rack for the Tacoma. They even loaned me a set of tie downs to keep my slidERS from slidING in the bed of my truck on the way home. They gave me a dual battery setup before they were technically for sale. The list goes on.

I have never had a bad experience there. They are always nice and they seem happy to help out and even deal with my indecisiveness. As I said, I have been going these since May, so I can't speak to the experiences before that. However, as someone who owns and operates a small business and who practices a solidly mediocre sales experience, I think I am pretty good at identifying when someone isn't performing to my expectations. In those case, I typically badmouth those businesses to everyone I know, and hope for their business to go South (reference any of my anti-Tesla, anti-Oregano's, anti-Centurylink rants.)

One last thing I will mention, I was lucky enough to receive my Pelfreybilt order in it's entirety. I have not heard of anyone receiving their complete orders after me. Go back and look at how SDHQ handled that situation. They stood behind their customers. That was a good display of decency in my book.

 

Alright, I'll do my best to recap the last 24 hours. A few people bashed on SDHQ, they showed up and professional said they are dealing with it. A few showed up and said they have a good experience with them. We all almost hugged.

Now, It's december, only 14 days until Christmas! I was properly rewarded for searching "christmas boobs" this morning, you should too.

But here is good tidings to you while you drink your coffee.

 

Thank You for bringing back some of the spark we've lost. RIP to our fallen comrades