In a separate post I’ve written of vendors that I have dealt with that took care of issues that cropped up in the course of business in a positive manner. I’ve also written about my experience with Palo Uber and the antenna. In this post I intend on detailing my experience with Mini Works. I am singling them out as the worst experience I have had in dealing with any vendor to date in regards to creating my vision of a Mini.

On February 2, 2007 Mini Works posted list of items in the For Sale section of NAM. “Huge Garage Sale, items priced to move”. From that I bought the following:
2 Schroth Quickfit harnesses
1 M7 2% Crank Pulley
2 Momo RSGT2(sic) seats black/grey suede

These were all listed as New Parts. I called and spoke to Victor also ordering the seat bracket and sliders for the installation of the seats. The brackets and sliders were not in stock but I was assured would be obtained and sent to me quickly. I paid for all the items, including the brackets and sliders and requested tracking numbers. A few days later I called again, on my dime, Mini Works has no toll free line, and was told everything was shipped and they would email my tracking info. A few days later, all of the parts except the brackets/sliders arrived. I knew they were coming from another place and would not be in the initial shipment. So far so good, no tracking info was ever sent but I got over that very fast. All the parts were there and seemed to be in good order but no invoices.

I called Victor again and we spoke at length, again on my dive, about my modding plans. Over the next few weeks I proceeded to purchase multiple items from Mini Works. Most were drop shipped from other locations, that’s not an issue with me. I had to keep calling Mini Works on an almost daily basis to ask for invoices and tracking info. Often times I would receive the parts before the tracking numbers. Invoices were mailed after asking multiple times. Always from my insistence and always with me calling them.

One item I purchased, a Safety Devices rollbar, was the most problematic. We had multiple conversations about the bar and it’s options. I checked out the Safety Devices website and noted while they did make a specific model for US Mini’s there was no mention of a sunroof vs. non sunroof fitment. When queried Victor assured me the roll bar was designed for a sunroof equipped Mini. I ordered the bar with the optional bolt in diagonal and harness bar. Again it took a few calls to obtain tracking info. Once I had the tracking number I checked the trucking companies site and found it was sitting in a warehouse in Ohio. I called the trucking company and found the bar had come off it’s pallet and needed to be re-palletized. They informed me that due to the options chosen by the shipper that it was very low priority. Seems the shipper had specified that it go by the least expensive method and that was as room was available on a truck going towards the final destination. It took two weeks for it move from New Jersey to Dallas. When I asked the shipper how much more it would have been to handle it as normal freight I was told it was less then $5 more. So much for informing Victor I was on a bit of time squeeze and needed it soon. The roll bar did arrive, but to late for the planned install before AMVIV. Later when we did go to install the bar the shop found it was too big. The legs were 1.5 inches to long. So much for it fitting into a sunroof equipped Mini. Multiple calls and emails to Mini Works went unanswered. The interior was completely disassembled, and a track date was looming. I had consulted with the tech and he was comfortable about cutting and re-welding the feet. After not hearing back from Mini Works for 2 days I had the shop do what they needed to do to install. Finally I heard from Victor and he told me he would check with Safety Devices and get right back to me. This was a Thursday at about 11am central. Safety Devices is in the UK. Allowing for time differences I had hoped to hear back from Mini Works within 24 hours. I called the next Monday and was told we must have been installing it wrong because it would fit. It’s a shame I didn’t take pictures as how Victor told me it was to be installed bordered on comical. I was told that a box section that was to be welded to inside floor should now be welded to the outside. This box section is 3 sides of a box, the top and two sides, that is welded onto the floor on the two side with the top welded to the front face of the rear seat and “B” pillar. The top is threaded and has nuts welded to the underside where the foot of the main hoop is bolted, or course with the carpet and underlying matting removed. To tell me to weld it upside down to the underside was a farce. Since we had already installed the roll bar I informed Victor how many extra hours of labor I had to pay for. I was told he would contact Safety Devices and see if I could be accommodated. Multiple calls and emails to Mini Works have gone unanswered. Nothing so much as an I’m sorry we cannot do anything.

Remember those seat brackets and sliders I didn’t have yet… That was another fiasco. I was told they were shipped to Mini Works by mistake and as soon as they arrived they would send them to me. Then I was told Momo drop shipped but to the wrong address. Then they became a custom order item that would now take an additional 8-10 weeks. I took me less then 10 minutes to find another Momo distributor, that happened to be in the same city as Mini Works, that had brackets and sliders in stock. They shipped the same day and two days later, regular UPS ground, they were delivered, and at a lower cost. I contacted Mini Works, again calling on my dime and again making multiple calls, and had them refund the cost of the brackets and sliders that I paid for 2 months earlier.

That “new” M7 2% pulley. It turns out when my Tech went to install it he found it had been installed before and had spun. I was out of town and he contacted M7, they overnighted a new one to him. I only found out about it later.

I have found that once they have your money Mini Works could care less about you. I can not recommend that anyone even consider Mini Works as a source. They are by far and away the worst vendor I have dealt with to date.

 

Gosh! What's with all the formatting tags?

 

I wrote it in Word for the spell check ability, noticed them after I posted. Came back and hand removed them all, they should be gone now.

 

We are not going to get into a pissing match,

But in case some of you want to know what the real facts are,
where is our side of the story:

Regarding Gnaster first purchase,
the items were new, never installed and had only been out of the box for display purposes,
The prices offered reflected that condition,
schroth quick fit harnesses were sold for $175 each, regular price $229
momo Rsgt seats, sold for $400 each, regular price over $600
M7 crank puley $120, regular price $149

Regarding the brackets, we get our parts from one source only, the manufacturer, in this case, it was MOMO, when momo is out of stock, we have no other choice then to wait for Momo to get their parts in, if the customer cannot wait, we understand if he chooses to purchase from another momo dealer who might have them in stock.

As per the safety devices roll bar, we were told by the importer of this roll bar that the bar fits both the coupe with sunroof and without sunroof.
We do not manufacture the part, if there is a fitment issue, this needs to be addressed with the manufacturer prior to making any modifications to the product.
Because of the size, the roll bar was dropshipped directly from the importer to the customer, we can not be responsible for the packing.
We have personnally installed over 20 safety devices cages, we have never encountered these problems. We cannot be responsible for others installers lack of knowledge or experience.

Gnaster, also forgot to mention the other parts we sold him,
like the spec clutch and the Quaife differential, apparently we do not deserve any credit when things are right.

We have no other comment at this time,

We believe that the NAM member is smart enough to make his own judgment and not believe everything posted on the web.

Victor





Victor

 

Way to go Victor

You continue to impress. Seems you hand your internet customers just as well as the locals

FWIW, MINI Works has a wonderful history of failing to meet stated goals, deadlines, and agreements. It always comes back to being the customers fault, not theirs.

Please take lessons from Fireballed, M7, Detroit Tuned, or Helix. The customer is ALWAYS right. It isn't about "pissing" matches. It's about pleasing the guy keeping your lights on.....

 

I don't feel so slighted now, here I thought I was the only one. It's great to know you are consistently showing a high level of poor service for all.

 

WOW. i am new to the mini scene and it looks like i learn something new every day. i guess i'll look around elsewhere for parts.

 

Me Too!