Pro Systems

[concobra]

A conflicting issue as listed in this thread is always disconcerning. I do believe that "ERA 626" sincerly believes the case he has presented on this thread. But, I must, in the interest of fair play come to the defense of Patrick @ Pro systems. I have done business with Patrick for over 5 years and purchased many carbs, at least 10, plus other fuel systems items from him. He has always demonstrated the utmost professional conduct in communication and product quality. His product, given you supply him with accurate information, has dyno proven to be spot on every single time I have tested his products. In any engine build that I do that requires a custom carb., Patrick gets my business.

I respectfully submit to ERA 626 that with cool heads and reopened communication with Patrick that a reasonable solution can be arrived at. I am sure that ERA 626 is a reasonable person and I know Patrick is. Good luck on finding a solution to this issue.

Respectfully
Concobra

[greg schroeder]

Originally Posted by ERA 626

Greg,
I too was very excited to have ProSystems work on my carbs. Even after he said "we no longer have a program for your application" I asked him if I could purchase new ones from him and he said "no" I asked if he could rebuild/re-jet mine and he said "no".

I agree with your statement "It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and just a minute to destroy it.”

I also am a business owner and I treat EVERY customer like they are my best one. Customer service is VERY important in my book.
The response from ProSystems on this thread was a LOT different than the one given to me on the phone and after that I was hung up on...
I sure don’t know what you consider to be good customer service, but I don’t think any one deserves to be hung up on.
It is not my intent to destroy any ones reputation, I am just stating the facts, is that not what this forum is for ? If you would like to know how I really feel send me a PM
It seems to be every time some one posts something on this forum every Tom, Dick & Harry jumps out of the wood work to try and bash the person having the problem instead of being supportive, I don’t get it.
I have lots of friends here on Club Cobra and hope to keep it that way.

I do understand that your perception of interaction is as you explain. Nobody can provide a better account of you how you felt with the given circumstance.

I just wanted to offer my experience as it was perceived on my account.

[jrsheets]

How come I understand this but ERA 626 doesn't? NO PARTS were reserved for him. A year ago they were available. If they told him a mere 3 months ago they could fix his carbs this would mean his carbs did not require those parts. But his date was wrong. It was over a YEAR AGO not 3 months ago.

The parts are gone, so obviously they can't build him new ones either.

He was wrong on his date by a long ways. He was directly told he was calling a techline for sales info and was then told he needed to be correct on his date range if he wanted to ship them as that date range is critical to determining if his carburetors required those no longer available parts. He was not correct on his date and for that he should pay the price or he should've waited to check his facts or called sales when the company was open and have them check his facts for him. His incorrect facts and obviously terrible attitude got him where he is. I own a business and I can tell you no one hangs up on anyone without being excessively provoked or verbally abused and I can tell you ERA 626 is certainly good at
displayings both of those traits.

ERA 626 is a perfect example of a bad customer making a good company look bad.

[ERA 626]

WOW another arrogant responce from them... Let it go.

[The Dreamer]

I own a business and I can tell you no one hangs up on anyone without being excessively provoked or verbally abused and I can tell you ERA 626 is certainly good at displayings both of those traits.

It always amazes me on how people who were not there can tell everyone else definitively how things REALLY happened. I just have to jump in here because when someone on this forum gives a bad report on a vendor that has provided good service in the past, he gets attacked. Thanks Mike for the info. I don't know what happened during the transaction, but Mike's experience is a data point that we all can make of it what we want. I think it is equally important that customers that have had good experience come forward as well and talk about their experience, but that doesn't mean Mike didn't get poor service or should be attacked because he got poor service. All we do when we attack the messenger is deprive ourselves of information. We are all big boys and girls and can make up our own minds if we believe the messenger.

[SACoupe]

I agree with theDreamer.
But if you carefully look at who the attcaks are coming from it makes sense...people with 1 post or very few posts....obviously an attempt at ass-covering as someone posted earlier........
It always seems that a negative post is attacked...... face it folks.....not everyone gets a fair deal from the vendors.... as such they are entitled to post here........isnt that what its for....

[cdnus]

jrsheets,
How come you have more information than has been posted on this thread??
How come your FIRST post on this site is to rag on a long standing member??Are you privy to inside information?
I would strongly suggest you tuck your tail & go away quietly & PRO fix the problem so it goes away. Otherwise many more people are going to read this thread & see them for what they have done & take their business elsewhere.
This BUTT covering crap will only allianate more people.
Most CC members are very intelligent folks & can see right through it.
We all make mistakes!!!! thats why they put erasers on pencils. The smart ones fix them.
Craig

[PRO-SYSTEMS]

Hello,

My name is Patrick James. I am the President of Pro Systems. I don't usually come on these boards as they are typically inflammatory and really tend to hurt business more than help.

Jeremy is not imaginary or made up, he is a real person, he is someone I know as a customer and he contacted me prior to posting. His facts are correct (except that I did not hang up on ERA 626...I don't think...read on).

ERA 626 was probably one of the shortest tempered customers I had ever known in the 30 seconds we spoke on the phone. He had just received my e mail informing him of his incorrectly supplied information and now he was aware he had shipping fees (see below) so he was already mad when he got on the phone. But he should've been mad at himself. I did not raise my voice to him, I did not act arrogant. I simply informed him of the facts that are very clear and because he realized that I could not fix his carburetors he was then attempting to bully me into fixing them, when that did not work he demanded I return them at my cost as it was my fault he sent them or else he would spread horrible rumors about our company and he did.

If ERA 626 was a kinder person I would have certainly paid for these small shipping fees. But I elected to fight his terrorism and not buckle to his demands. For that my company is getting a bunch of press. However, like they say apparently there is no such thing as bad press and as a result of this thread, quite a few members have contacted us for work as they see the facts and can make decisions for themselves.

ERA 626's last words to me were "Well its been nice doing business with you" I replied "Alright, Good enough" and there was silence so I hung up assuming he was done with his tantrum (I was in the car with my very young daughters and his voice was coming through very clearly).

There was no yelling on my side and I did not act arrogant in any way. I also did not state we don't do "small jobs". Small jobs is what we do.

Unfortunately, he either just does not understand the way things went down, he doesn't listen or he is continuing his terrorism to prove a point that bullying people does get results.

Apparently it does with some of the folks. But terrorism is not the proper way to go through your life and get what you want. A little kindness goes a long way and if you know me you'll know I am probably one of the nicest guys in the business. I was shown zero kindness only bullying tactics and threats after he found out that I could not fix his carbs. His first thought was if they were on the way there then I would be forced to fix them. But I no longer have the custom Super Stock plates we need to do the job right and I am not going to take money from someone if I can't do the job right.

I know that the folks that have attacked our company and me just don't know me or they are the competition as we are 100 percent in the right on this. All that facts support my explanation of the situation. If I had the parts I would take the job. I don't so I can't. I e mailed him the moment I got back to the shop (7 pm that evening) to tell him his facts were incorrect and that I could not fix the carbs and NOT to send them. But he already had. Thats all I can do. What else should I have done? The offer still stands to ship them back at my cost but only if he agrees to my statements as being true (this is to negate the effects of his terrorist tactics). These employed tactics are regularly used on the internet and someone has to take a stand. I'll take the first one, hopefully others will follow.


I am deleting Club Cobra from my favorites and I will no longer be returning. This event has cost me a lot of lost sleep (If I don't read it, I don't think about it) as I care about what people think of me and its very disheartening when you know you are in the right. But I can't buckle to terrorism. Its a moral decision.

Here is a copy of the E mails I have sent him that same Saturday he contacted me to ship the carbs (I went to the shop to review his facts and e mailed him right away. Here are also the e mails from the following Sunday. I am sure people who really want to can somehow find an angle to twist these into evil, but I can assure you they were sent to inform the customer and be sympathetic to his situation. In no correspondence was I ever arrogant or uncaring.


Sat, 18 Mar 2006 19:01:15 -0800 (PST)
From: "Patrick James" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: RE:
To: mlagrone@pacbell.net

Hi Michael,

I thought I was correct and that I could no longer
work on those type of carbs. We talked in February of
last year. As of this year, I no longer have any of
the plates available that I use to repair your
condition. They were all purchased by the Super stock
racers. So do not send the carbs in as I cannot
repair them.

Please e back that you received this E mail.

(Michael then E mailed me back infomring me that he sent them and asking me to do the work anyway or build him new ones. I will not reprint his mail without his permission)


Sun, 19 Mar 2006 04:58:20 -0800 (PST)
From: "Patrick James" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: RE:
To: "Michael LaGrone"

Sorry Michael,

I do not have the plates. They were a custom run of
CNC plates and they were all used up by the Super
stock guys. If call becomes high enough to do antoher
run (its very pricey and requires you to build about
100 plates to justify the setup time at the cost of
about $8,000). At that point I can do them.

However, please when referencing E mails include the
fact that we talked over a year ago as when you call
the after hours tech support line for sales
information I am at your mercy for data concerning
programs and conversations.

This avoids this situation.

(In Michaels next E mail he still does not understand why we cannot put our program in his carbs and he is aware that his carb will be returned to him)

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 08:11:59 -0800 (PST)
From: "Patrick James" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: RE:
To: "Michael LaGrone"

Hi Michael,

We no longer have an available program for you, so
they will be returned to you.

Your best bet is to get your tracking number and
contact your shipper to return them to you.

If in the future we offer these plates again I can add
you to the list of Super stock racers that are
requesting them. They could be available next year.

Club Cobra members.

This is all the correspondence we had other than the 30 second phone conversation we had which was a venting release for him on me.

Thats all I have to say.Thank you.

Patrick James
President Pro Systems


Oh and...thanks to some of you for the blind faith that you exhibited in me and my company.

[ERA 626]

Lies....The guy was rude and arrogant I guess I am used to dealing with people like ERA & George Anderson over at Gessford Machine who actually care about making EVERY customer happy. This will be my last post on this. I have let it go until I saw the last post from Patrick James full of lies about me.
The worst decision I have made since I have owned my cobra was to try and do business with this guy. Since this mess happened I have spoke with several different vendors about my carbs and every one of them have been eager to help and a pleasure to speak with. Patrick James was the exact opposite.