As some of you know, I recently purchased an Aluminum Driveshaft from Extreme Motorsports, which was manufactured by the Driveshaft Shop. You may also remember that I purchased it within a few hours of Extreme announcing it's availability. I immediately called them, paid for it, done deal all the same hour. I waited for a month, nothing. No way, I thought, would it take that long, especially considering the 'Get it now' approach of 'who gets the first one?'. I stepped up and took the chance. "DON'T EVER DO THIS AGAIN" I've recently been telling myself.

The accounting email was sent to me days after my original purchase. Then I waited several weeks for delivery. I called Extreme, they weren't sure what happened but "we'll check". Nothing that day. I called DSS the next day. I said, "I'm getting desparate now. I'm due to be in Wakeman in a week and I need the driveshaft". "Sorry" DSS said, "you'll have to talk to the Vendor, since they're the one who ordered it".
"I did" said I. "They told me that they didn't know what happened and I really need it badly".
"Sorry, you'll still have to talk to them"
"OK, but did they at least order it?"..."I know, 'Sorry, I'll have to talk to them'".

Now, I call Extreme. "Hello, this is Tom and I really really need to get my driveshaft"
"We still don't know what happened, but we'll call and get it straightened out".
"Thanks"
"You're welcome and you'll love the driveshaft"
"I'm sure I will, could you have them send it to Buschur Racing, because now, I have no more waiting time left. I've got to get on the road".
"We'll tell DSS to send it to Wakeman"
"Thanks, I'm outa here".
Due to circumstances of testing the turbos, July 4th holiday, 2 weeks on the road and no time to install it, "Damn".

Now, it's August 2nd and I discover that the 'Kit' wasn't sent with the driveshaft. That being a simple bracket for the carrier, but you NEED it. I PM'd Extreme on Saturday. To Chris's credit, he PM'd me back with his cell phone. I called and found out that they had a fire. "Damn, I really need it though."
"You'll have to call DSS since they're the one who made it and shipped it and we're just finishing our cleanup".
"Uhhh, Ok. I'll have to call Monday, but I really need the bracket. Time's getting tight now. Shootout, blah, blah, ...car's in the air....blah, blah".
Monday: "Hello, DSS......."
DSS: "Ok, I've found where it was ordered. We'll send the bracket to you and you should get it Wednesday."
"Ok, thanks, because I really need it and times tight."
I bend Indy's ear on a few occassions and this one was no different.
INDY on Wednesday: "Hey Tom, did your bracket come in?
"Nope, not yet, I sure hope it get's here because I've still got a lot of other things to complete and I need to be able to run the car".
Thursday: "Hey there Indy, guess what? My wife says I have a package from the Driveshaft Shop" Jubilation breaks out on both ends of the phone. Indy was there every step of this entire fiasco.
I came home a little early tonight to get the driveshaft installed and re-fill the TC. I discover the bracket holes for mounting are too small to fit the body bolts. "No way this has been tested. Oh well, I'll just drill them out, no problem. " Now, I'm under the car, getting ton's of undercoating in my hair, arms, etc and all of a sudden, ...
"Damn it. It's something else now. The drive shaft is too short. It appears to be about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch too short". Nah, now way, it's probably me and I'm not doing something right.
"I know, I'll call Indy, he'll know what to do."
"Tom, no way that lowering the car is going to help that much. Something's wrong."
"Ok Sherlock, I KNOW somethings wrong. Maybe I need to put a comealong on the rearend and .....Nah...J/K . I'll lower the car and crawl back under it to see how close it comes with the car down."
"Jim, it looks like it's going to work, it came closer by about 1/4 inch. See ya, I'm going to see if it'll bolt up because times getting really tight and I've got to....".
Well, it didn't bolt up and the bolt pattern on the mounting plate at the rear diff was not for an Evo. It's still 1/2 inch short and the pattern is wrong. And, yep, you guessed it, Extreme will tell me to call DSS. DSS will want me to send it back and they'll see what's wrong. In the middle of all of this, the customer is the one who get's to 'FIX' what everyone else should have done to begin with, what they were paid to do. I can't tell you how many times this exact scenario has happened to me, or something just as bad and I've refused to complain to the world. I would have refused this time, but....you guessed it...."Time is tight, the shootout is next week and there's not much time to get the problem corrected".
VENDORS, start doing the job that you're paid to do. If it's picking a part, pick the correct one. Save a good customer the hassle of going through this crap.
In the last 2 years, I've spent well in excess of 100,000 dollars and have been a pretty good customer for Evo parts and service. All I ask is to get what I pay for, Nothing More, and Nothing Less.
Any bets on whether or not this is rectified before the Shootout? Consider the fact that I planned WAY ahead to have this installed by now. Part of the problem is spending time testing turbos and not having enough time to discover the 'waiting errors'. But, discovering this earlier would not have kept me from going through the same scenario. I only ask for fair service and parts at a fair price.
I've got other issues that I'm still working on with similar 'Manufacturer/Vendor' problems that "I'm only the customer, have the Vendor call me."
"RIIIGGGGGGHHHT. I'll do that, first thing tomorrow, but in the meantime, I'm the one running out of time and patience".

 

Man sorry to hear this, hopefully they will jump on it quick. Imagine if you did not keep on top of it or waited a few days/week to put it on.

No matter how much planning the uncontrollables always throw you a stone.

They need to do it right the first time (now they have to waste extra time/money to get the issue fixed for the customer).
Eventually it will cost them more money and maybe a few customers before they get it right if they ever do.

Sounds like the part picker did not check /double check to make sure you got the correct part.

I will be optimistic and hope you will have it before the shootout.

 

Can I get a big H E L L YEA!

Also I'd love to hear realistic deadlines for stuff that's on backorder. If that date is not met by the manufacturer, I believe chargebacks are in order if delivery dates are not met. Everyone else in the world does it, why can't we?

Thank you for speaking out on this 9sec9, it seems to be a growing problem.

 

Man sorry to hear this Tom

I want to say that I have been sponsored by Frank at The Driveshaft Shop for years with my Evo and also they helped be out with my Subaru STI

Frank has always been a real stand up guy and a honorable and fair person to deal with

While there is no excuse for what happened to you, I know that Frank at the DSS will resolve this to your satisfaction

Tomorrow AM ask fo Frank and explain the situation to him and I am sure he will work it out

I am hoping to get my pile of bolts up and running for the shootout myself and hope to be there again this year for my 6th year in a row

 

Thanks Al. A few years ago, I think I dealt with Frank when they were moving their office. I had an axle break on the Beetle and he immediately took care of it. Somehow, the big announcement of the Evo driveshaft didn't translate into a smooth sale/delivery. I know the quality of what they normally do is great. I think my level 5axles came from them on the Panda. I'm fairly certain that someone 'picked' the wrong steel shaft and paired it up with the Evo Aluminum part. Anyway, I'm stuck with running down the problem. As Scheides said, it's getting worse and it should be addressed by the Vendors, not by the customer later. Not only is it a hassle to not be able to complete a job, it's a hassle to have to re-ship the item to them and wait again. Now, instead of logging road time and dialing in the tune, I still have the car on stands and taking another shower before Saturday night.

 

sorry to hear about that. Hope everything gets worked out.

 

I will be sure to contact Frank on your behalf first thing in the AM

I have known him for a long time and found him to be one of the few manufacturers who actually cares and listens to racers

Make sure you deal with Frank directly and not one of his staff who are very busy this time of year - believe me they are BUSY - I need a new axel for my Subaru and now need to wait 8 - 10 days lead time as they are that busy

I am sure that the fire situation has had a huge impact on Extreme so lets hope they pull through a difficult situation as well

PS - is there any way to go back to teh stock drive shaft until you get this sorted out so you can do yout tuning or have you already broken that ?

 

Al, I just got off of the phone with Frank at the DriveShaft Shop. Very nice man and understood the situation. Evidently, the driveshaft was announced a little earlier than he was prepared for and the 'Kit' wasn't completed. The Kit consisted of not only the Bracket which was recently sent to me, but also a mounting plate at the rear end which adapts the driveshaft to the housing. He is going to overnight it to me so I can have it by tomorrow. Now that's service and correcting an honest mistake. It appears that the announcement of the Aluminum shaft was just a little earlier than they were prepared for. Thanks very much to Frank, owner of The DriveShaft Shop.

 

glad to hear it

Frank is one of the good guys for sure 100%

 

9sec9 - why did you choose to go with this driveshaft over the DEVO one? Especially after Buschur's review of the DEVO shaft?

 

I ordered this just before the other shaft was tested. Also, I liked the fact that it was Aluminum which will/should allow for a certain level of shock control. The DEVO unit is also a very good one, but it wasn't reviewed at that point in time. I looked at CF but was concerned about surface imperfections caused by rocks on return roads, etc. I feel that anything to absorb the shock of a 7000 RPM launch can't be a bad thing.

 

Tom do you want me to call Adam @ DEVO and see if I can have a DS for you next week?

 

should have got the DEVO DS. its lighter and cheeper. i have it in my car and its AWESOME. and its stronger too. heheh. sorry DSS and extreme ''dushed'' you. you seem to be a good guy. call sunny up at DEVO. he will help you out no problem .

 

Thanks guys, but the Drive Shaft Shop really has taken care of me in the past and I'm at least going to give it a try. I also really like the characteristics of the Aluminum, but that's not to say I wouldn't have liked using the DEVO unit either. I'm not too sure that either one is a loser. Frank at DSS was very nice and took care of the problem, so I at least owe his company the favor of running his product, even if it DID cost me twice as much as the DEVO unit.

 

Damn what a mess Tom.. Im suprprised you really didnt go with the CF driveshaft.. I have had mine for almost a year with plenty of street duty and i havent had issue as if yet.. You car is pretty much dedicated to the track and i know you always go for the best of the best.. I would consider it down the road.. It made a significant difference in my car the way it launched and came up on power.. Good luck!!