As the Conley's do not hang out on the boards, I thought it would be interesting to hear the other side of the story so I forwarded the post to CPP. I have no comment other than to say that if I had a dispute with someone locally over this amount of money, I would find a way to go see them on Saturday or after five p.m. and get it straight a lot quicker than this was resolved. I know nothing about the two sides of this dispute other than there are always two sides.
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__________________________________________
Hi Steve,
Attached is "MY [LONG] RECOLLECTION of the events.
Please post them in the appropriate place for my rebuttal.
Thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter.
LC
I sincerely hate to launder "STUFF" in this forum but if I don't,
the unhappy and/or dissatisfied customer gets the opportunity to
lambaste w/impunity.
BUT .......... I thought you might like .... "THE REST OF THE STORY".
>I contacted Lawrence Conley about what he recommended and he agreed
that the Fel Pro Bank to Bank Speed Pro would work the best for my car.
- [I recommended a B/B system to the customer in the beginning! -
The customer wanted the Sequential.] [We ordered the "special" seq.
unit per his instructions!]
>Well weeks went by and I didn't hear a word from Conley's Performance
Plus. After about a month without anyone from Conley's calling to even
confirm they received my payment or order I called and no one even
knew about the order.
- [As the customer said ... We did indeed misplaced the check!]
>After several attempts to contact Mr. Conley directly (he works another
job so he is only at the shop after 5:00 P.M.)
- [THE CUSTOMER IS CORRECT! I have maintained a REAL, FULL TIME job
for the 14-15 years that CPP has been in business. I NEED TO EAT TOO!
The customer was aware of this "BEFORE" he came by, "BEFORE" he ordered
and "BEFORE" he sent his money. He was aware that I am available AFTER
5:00PM.]
>Weeks turned into months and every time I would call no one even knew
about my order.
- [He called BEFORE 5:00PM. I was handling the project personally.]
>Weeks turned into months ...
- [The customer was informed personally that the FP conversion BOX was
on back order for parts. He CONTINUALLY stated to me (when he called me
after 5:00PM)that HE WAS IN NO HURRY - THAT THE CAR WAS NOT YET
CONSTRUCTED!]
>... and every time I would call no one even knew about my order. Most
of the time Mr. Conley was at his other job ...
- [He called BEFORE 5:00PM. I STILL have my job and was still handling
the project personally.]
>After about 4 months of me sending in my order and complete payment, I
finally got to talk to Mr. Conley.
- [He finally called AFTER 5:00PM.]
>He told me that my order was taking so long because they were making the
system specifically for my 93 Nissan 300zx TT.
- [A special conversion (black box) was being constructed by FP. The
parts were STILL on BO. HE again stated - "THAT THE CAR WAS NOT YET
CONSTRUCTED"!]
>After two more months and several unanswered phone calls on my part ...
- [He must have been calling BEFORE 5:00PM.]
>Then Mr. Conley said his wife had my bill up front. I almost fell over
right there.... a bill??? I paid $300 over what he told me the system
would cost and I still had a bill?? Well Mrs. Conley proceeded to tell
me I owed an additional $420 on top of the $2500 I had already paid. Being
the stupid person that I am I just agreed and paid all I had in my pocket
which was $220 and told Mrs. Conley I would send her a check for the rest.
- [I was TOTALLY UNAWARE of the customers dissatisfaction with the charges
and did NOT HEAR ABOUT THAT DISSATISFACTION until he called me at a MUCH
LATER date. I was ONLY TWO[2] offices down when he made the payment and
picked up his system. I would have been MORE than happy to revisit and
discuss any billing discrepancy at that time and clear up any
misunderstandings!] [THEN you wouldn't have to read all of this stuff!]
>I got really busy at the shop so the $200 balance slipped my mind and I
left the unopened box that contained my system on the floor.
- [NOTE: He has been calling me for MONTHS for the system, finally gets
it, gets stiffed on the bill, and THEN ... left it on the floor for a couple
of weeks.]
>Well a couple of weeks later I received a bill in the mail from Conley's
Performance Plus reminding me that I owed the $200.
- [REMEMBER ... He would send us the unquestioned balance?]
>Well I then decided to check out the system that was going to cost me a
total of $2920 and see why it was so much since Conley's website shows the
price at $1995 -
- [$1995 is the price of a standard GN/T system. His was to include all
of the sensors, box, injector harness and stuff.]
>Well the system in the box turned out to be a Fel Pro Sequential system
and not the Bank to Bank I had ordered. - [ALREADY ADDRESSED ABOVE.]
>On top of that it contained an injector harness for a LT1 Camaro instead
of a six-cylinder injector harness. Plus.
- [This is the way FP provides the system. TWO[2] Injector wires will
not be used.]
>none of the accessories were in the box to make it work like the MAP
sensor, Water Temp sensor, Ignition Coils, and TPS sensor. - All of
the sensors and hardware were ordered from FP But were forgotten. We
subsequently reordered them and forwarded them to the customer @ NC.
>Well the system in the box turned out to be a Fel Pro Sequential system
and not the Bank to Bank I had ordered. On top of that it contained an
injector harness for a LT1 Camaro instead of a six-cylinder injector
harness. Plus none of the accessories were in the box to make it work like
the MAP sensor, Water Temp sensor, Ignition Coils, and TPS sensor. When Mr.
Conley quoted me the $2200 for the system he said it would be complete and
ready
to use and I would not have to buy anything additional.
- [EXCEPT COILS] [The client was ALSO informed in the BEGINNING that there
would be some ENGINEERING OPPORTUNITIES with the wiring BUT that between he
and I that we could interface the FP with his package. NOTHING in Hot
Rodding is EVER a simple bolt on.]
>So in early August of 2001 I started calling Conley's Performance Plus
trying to get a hold of Mr. Conley to inform him that the system I got
was completely the wrong system and was also incomplete. After several
weeks of calling and leaving messages without any response I decided to
type Mr. Conley a letter explaining my system was the wrong system and
that I was asked to pay way in excess of what the system is worth and even
what his own website quotes as the selling price. I faxed the letter to
Conley's Performance Plus and the next day Mr. Conley called me back and
told me he was sorry that I had gotten the wrong system and to send it back
to him and he would replace it with the right system and accessories. So I
sent it back to Conley's Performance Plus and waited.
- [We contacted FP and requested a swap of the special sequential system
the customer did not now want for the standard B/B.]
>After 3 weeks and no phone calls I called to check on it. Of course no one
knew what was going on so I had to leave messages for Mr. Conley.
- [His he STILL really calling BEFORE 5:00PM after SIX[6] months?]
>Another week passed and no phone calls from Mr. Conley so I called when
I figured Mr. Conley would be there. [His finally figured out that I am at
the shop after 5:00PM.]
>He told me that they were working on the correct system but it was not
ready yet.
- [Not discussed to date is that I am at the mercy of my supplier. If
they don't make it and ship it - I cannot deliver it. I called my source
AT LEAST once a week to resolve.]
>So in mid September of 2001(almost 7 months after I ordered and paid for
the system) I decided that enough was enough and I had other things I could
use the money for. -
- [THIS IS WHERE I would not like to call anyone a liar BUT ... The
customer called and stated that he was having significant problems with
his home life and needed to SELL EVERYTHING immediately. He even sent
me (TWICE) a list of components and prices. (I can FAX the list to anyone
who might be in the need of some NISSAN specific performance parts.) He
stated that he was in dire straights and needed the money immediately and
that EVEN A RESTOCKING FEE was acceptable!]
>I called and told Mr. Conley that I wanted to get a refund on the cost of
the unit but being in business myself I told him I would pay whatever
restocking fee as long as I could get some kind of refund. Mr. Conley then
said instead of paying a restocking fee he would have the distributor sell
the system and then he would refund me back 100% of my money.
- [NOT EXACTLY but close ............ I stated that he would get 100% of
the price the system sold for. That CPP would not make a cent on the
resale.]
>I agreed but told him that I needed to get the refund as soon as possible.
Mr. Conley said no problem because the distributor sold these systems all
the time. I waited over three weeks and never received a call from Mr.
Conley. So I called Mr. Conley and he said that the distributor had a
buyer and was waiting for payment. So I waited a few more weeks and never
received a call from Mr. Conley. So I called and was told that the system
still was not sold even though it had been over a month and a half since I
had sent it back.
- TRUE, TRUE, TRUE - We sent the system back to the supplier - His initial
sale fell thru. He was still unable to send me my money - I was unable to
sent the customer his.
>It was now late October 2001(8 months since the system was ordered and
paid for) and I still did not have the correct system nor did I have any
money refunded back to me from Conley's. I called Mr. Conley and told him
to just get the system back to me and I would sell it off on Ebay and at
least get some money out of it. He said OK and then here is the
kicker.......He told me that I was going to have to pay for the shipping
back and forth to his distributor.
- [ALMOST TRUE, TRUE, TRUE - We boxed, packaged and shipped the unit to
the supplier, spent ##### long distance phone calls, and tried to take
care of the customer's dire needs (remember the family problems?] I did
not know what the shipping charges were but did not feel was an
unreasonable request BUT .....................never had an opportunity
for discussion. The customer " Well at that point I cam unglued"-bad
words and things transpired. I told the customer that I would call him
when the system came in.
>Well I called again on October 25th just to see if we could work things
out and Mr. Conley hung the phone up on me before I said more then a dozen
words.
- NOTE: The FIRST TEN[10] WORDS OUT OF HIS MOUTH, after I answered "good
afternoon" [after 5:00PM] WAS ... "Are we going to have to settle this in
court?" There was no opportunity for open discussion.
>So I am going to small claims court to file a lawsuit against Conley's
Performance Plus Inc. and unless you want to get treated like I have I
would stay away from this Business. I hope none of you have to go through
what I have had to go through.
- We at CPP have been in business since 1987. We sincerely try to
successfully satisfy each and every customer with hi-quality parts &
services with a personal touch. We are successful most of the time but
OBVIOUSLY we failed here. There are several reasons for this failure.
You can decide who did what to who. We will try to be cognizant of
deficiencies and address any in the future.
- If you are in business for yourself, I am sure you have learned what we
have come to experience during our 14-15 years of business.
You cannot please everyone all of the time.
NOW ........ the e-net provides the capability for ANYONE to broadcast
"their side of the story". Right or Wrong.
HOWEVER ... We hope you enjoyed ... "THE REST OF THE STORY".
Stay tuned for the sequel and ... PLEASE REMEMBER
I get to the shop after 5:00PM.
Have a nice day,
LC