I thought a while before posting this, but I feel that I need to get this off my chest. I do not want to turn this into a trash talking thread either, but after receiving screwed up info and parts several times, I felt that my story had to be told.

My experience with Alta started about three months ago when I purchased my 05 MCS. I spoke with a sales rep (won't mention any names here) and ordered their 15% pulley, belt, and colder plugs according to their recommendations. I also rented one of their pulley removal tools. I installed everything with the help of a professional and found out later that month during a dyno run that the belt was slipping because it was too long for the reduced pulley and that the spark plugs made my car miss-fire. I contacted Alta, but they did not seem to care too much about my problem nore did they offer to replace the parts. I went to a local auto parts store, purchased another belt and plugs and spent several hours fixing this problem.

2 months after my initial purchase, I still did not receive a refund for the pulley rental tool. I contacted Alta several times. At first they stated that they did not receive the pulley tool back from me, but I was able to provide tracking info and they agreed to reimburse me. Several weeks later I still did not receive a refund even though I was told that it had been submitted serveral times. I finally gave up and told them to send me a pair of springs for the money they owed me.

Before I installed the springs, I contacted their tech line to find out exaclty what I would need to remove the OEM springs and they told me that it could be done with one person and no spring compression tool was required. I discovered after I removed the front springs that there was no way to remove the springs without a spring compression tool and had to make arrangement to borrow one which was a huge inconvenience. I finally got the springs installed and they seem fine.

Again, I don't want to turn this into a trash talking thread, and I do have to say that their products seem to be pretty good quality. I am just very disappointed in their customer service and tech support. Their mis-information has cost me additional money and work.

Due to this, I will not be ordereing Alta parts anymore and will not recommend them to any MINI owner in the area. There are plenty of other, quality vendors out there that want our business.

 

Wow, sorry to hear everything went so bad. It took me ~ 6 weeks to receive my refund on the pulley tool (they got it back 4/10 and my refund posted 5/23)... and that was after they forgot to include the puller with the tool!

They seem like great people, I hope they acknowledge the challenges and bring the business up to snuff otherwise competition is going to hurt them.

 

I agree. They all seem very friendly, but things just don't get done right. Not sure if they are just too big for their own good now or if they don't know what they are doing.

 

Where is the problem here so bad that this needed to be posted?
OK, slow with refund but it seems that you came to an agreement by getting springs.
They told you that you could remove the springs by yourself without a tool, and that happens to be true. Not sure why you had such a problem with this.

Really, this is such an unnecessary post.

 

he ordered parts that were incorrect such as the belt not fitting; wires that were missfiring his motor(dunno if this is mechanical or if this is defected wires). Also they tried to say they did not recieve the tool when he verified they did with a tracking #. Just wondering if you read his whole post. but that seems shaddy to me.

Also wondering when you asked tech if you need a compressor did you also ask how to take them off with out a compressor? Sorry to hear what you went through but i think you made up for it with the springs.

 

I don't think he read the whole thread. About the springs...Alta owed me $199 for the pulley tool rental and the Alta H&R Springs were only $179...so I actually lost money.

 

pay $200 to rent a tool and have to wait for 1 month and a half or don't even recieve the refund and then decide to spend that money in the company because they don't refund that money is not something to post it here?
I think IT IS.

If someone pay 200 to rent something, and that people return it in time and good shape, then the money has to be returned in time too. that is the rule for business

 

Thank you! That is my point. And that is just the straw that broke the camel's back. The belt and plugs is what started it all.

 

Your correct, ... not sure how I missed the first part.

 

Sorry to hear about your few hiccups Tampa MCS.

Did they send you a long long belt or just a stock belt?

What was making your car misfire??? One defective spark plug?

At least you know to do independant research on what tools you'll need for your next upgrades. I think that's a valuable lesson you learned there.

Thankfully, I have not had any problems with any of the vendors here on NAM.

Jeremy

 

Jeremy,

They sent me a Napa belt that was too long. The misfire was coming from a bad plug I believe. I changed over to the NGK's and the problem was gone. The plugs Alta sent me were Brisk plugs. I have had not problems with any other vendors on NAM and plan on using the vendors on NAM in the future...minus Alta. I understand that mistakes happen, but every ineraction with them has resulted in some sort of problem.

 

Hmmm never heard of Brisk spark plugs before. I'm running the NGK JCW plugs now and they seem top notch to me so far this spring.

Remember you can always buy ALTA products through other vendors.

At least your MINI is running good now right?!?!

Jeremy

 

We've been nagging Alta to revise their belt sizing recommendations for quite awhile now...

 

Sorry to hear ALTA wasn't quick on the draw with your refund, but to be fair that's all they did wrong IMO. The rest of the info regarding choosing parts and doing installs are here on NAM.

ALTA's belt recommendations are definitely wrong, as HighLife stated:

*15% pulley, you need NAPA 060535
*plugs for 15% pulley, R53 JCW OEM or NGK Iridium BKR7EIX
*Lowering springs are an easy job with basic tools, but sometimes you need ratchet straps/spring compressors to help

 

When I order a part from a vendor I don't think I should have to do additional research to find out if they are selling the correct parts. In addition, it should not take several months to refund money for a tool rental. Like I said before, there are plenty of other vendors out there that have quality parts and customer service.

 

We all must do our due diligence with regards to aftermarket parts before we go and remove our stock parts. I second what Ryephile said, NAM is a great resource when you use the search tab or just ask a question in a new thread.

Jeremy

 

my roomate who had a subaru and ordered something from their perrin division had a much worse problem with alta than this and this isn't a terribly minor problem.

maybe i'll have him post about it. this is no good.

 

I'd like to hear what happend. Maybe we can use this thread to help them improve their services. Like I said before, I think they have some decent products, but the human factor is what needs some attention.

 

I agree with you the refund timeliness is poor business practice in terms of trying to woo your repeat business. It's easy to say however that it's "buyer beware" when it comes to the automotive aftermarket, where proof isn't common and facts are scarce. There are products out there that are poorly manufactured, made of poorly selected materials, and flat out are marketing gimmicks. The people that have bit the bullet and tested them often find they do nothing beneficial other than lighten your wallet. All I'm trying to say is it's not the vendors fault for the customer not doing their homework. This is one reason OEM's keep aftermarket away with a 10 foot pole; because there is so little real expertise.

 

Even though I finally got a reply...I had customer support issues that led to me posting a thread on it here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=alta

 

I've had a terrible experience with Perrin for parts on my Subaru. They blamed me, they blamed my car. They never would take responsibility that they might have flubbed the design (no Adam and Jeff, swaybars should NOT hit the control arm). I was able to collect info from five other owners showing the same issues and still they wouldn't admit responsibility. It took threatening legal action to get things moving.

Some might say Perrin != Alta. Alas, I was berated by Adam on the phone and he's the guy we deal with for Alta here on NAM. I'm not sure if Alta = Adam and Perrin = Jeff Perrin, but there's a ton of overlap at least in my case.

In the end, I got a replacement set of bars which I sold at a lower price than I paid as they refused to refund me. One reason I refuse to have any Alta parts on either of the MINI's we've owned. Vote with your wallet.

 

Sorry to hear you went through all this trouble and you can be assured that I will vote with my wallet. The mod bug got a hold of me and I have some fun things planned. The funny thing is that I've been contacted by other vendors stating that they are having the same problem with Alta. A good measure of good customer service is if a company stands behind their product and and will make things right if you run into a problem with one of their products.

 

To Tampa_MCS and any other client that has had or will have an issue. We try VERY hard to help every client in every situation. Suffice it to say that anything less than 100% satisfaction is less than ideal, but being realistic it will never happen. Just the unfortunate nature of business.

With that being said my apologies for any one that we miss that 100% mark on! Without paying and loyal clients we simply wouldn't be where we are today.

I won't throw rocks back at clients or "other vendors" but this is certainly an isolated incident and not a common problem. BUT and this is a BIG BUTT...PLEASE E-MAIL or PM ME DIRECTLY IN ANY CASE OF AN ISSUE!!!!!! Many of you have my personal cell phone# and find that I DO answer the call on Sundays and afterhours! I participate here as an enthusiast and a vendor. I LOVE helping clients with good and bad stuff. So give me the opportunity to help!!!!!!!

I don't think this necessitated this post, but at the same time if it helps ALTA grow any level of our customer service then it is worthwhile. I can sleep soundly knowing that we do make excellent parts, and have the highest levels of customer service in the biz although we will always miss that 100% mark by as few percentage points as possible!

Questions? Comments? Ring me, e-mail or pm!

 

Adam,

You have a good thing going and a terrific attitude, check your PM for some suggestions on turning these hurdles into business accelerators.

 

The funny thing is that I did email you about the plugs and belt, but you just stated that it was kind of strange and left it at that (if it helps I can post the email). This post and the replies I received are proof that this is NOT an isolated case and I was really hoping that you would use this info to better things.