Frank,

I have not really seen or heard much since I sent you my check for $1400 with you cashed quickly.(shows cleared from my account on 7-10-08) I feel I have been more then patient, as well as being very nice each and every time I called left a message and never got a call back. I paid in full and am starting to feel like I have been taken advantage of. I got one small update from you since I sent my check to say you were wrapping things up with it, but that was almost month ago!!!

When I sent you the money you said you were backed up about 3 weeks. As of right now I have been waiting about 2 months from the initial point I spoke to you. When I first spoke(around 6-24-08) to you since you had the core there you said you would get started on it right away. I feel this is more then a little excessive. I expect to hear from you very shortly or I will have to resort to other means. Being slow on things is fine, being very busy on stuff is also fine, but when people have thousands of dollars tied up on a company that doesn't return calls or messages that is just bad business.. Please understand that communication is key....

-John

P.S. I am sorry I had to post this here. I do feel you are a good guy, but you have money of mine and owe me a transmission. All other attemps have failed to communicate with you, thus I am resorting to this at this point....

 

John,
I've tried returning your calls several times! I talked to you a few weeks ago with an update. I explained that we had your core apart, and were starting the build. The reason your transmission is being held up is because the core my teardown guy pulled for you was a '96 unit. I realized this when I started the build. I've got a '95 core on it's way back to me, which I'm going to use the pump, valve body, and plate off of for yours.
I have your transmission built up to the pump, but can't finish it until the other core comes in. My other option is to buy all the '95 parts from my supplier, but you told me that you weren't rushed for this transmission because you still had your original in the car. Many other shops would've just sold you the '96 and told you it was the right one. I won't sell you the wrong transmission for your car, just because it's what I had around. I've got to sell you a '95 transmission for your '95 car.
I haven't contacted you in the past 2 weeks because I haven't had any new news. I've been hoping this core would come in any day. BTW, It HAS NOT been 2 months since I got the check from you! That was our initial conversation. I can't start a transmission just from a phone call. I get people promising to send me money / transmissions all the time. I only start the job when payment has been made. As you stated, that was a little over a month ago, but I can't simply sell you the wrong transmission. I appologise for the delay. If you're in a hurry now, I'll order all the parts from my supplier to finish it up. We're a small shop. I try to keep overhead low, and It'll cost me more to order all the parts than I'm paying for the core that's on it's way. But hey, I'll do whatever I can to make the customer happy.
*NOTE* This has nothing to do with us being behind anymore. We've got all the work caught up now. This is strictly a parts issue.

Frank
CPT

 

Frank, I don't want to argue with you about the non returned phone calls, but I assure you my VM is working just fine and I have not gotten VM from you let alone a missed call.

To be 100% honest with you I am not in a huge hurry.... Sure having the trans here would be really nice so I can get my car going in more then 1st and 2nd gear, but it is not by any means my only mode of transportation. I don't want you to have to order the parts special for this. Can you just maybe throw in a hardened output shaft to go along with the steel forward piston I ordered? That would put a smile on my face more then just having the thing on my doorstep in a week.

I do not think of myself is a pain in the butt person, I feel I have been more then patient with this and completely understand a small shop. However you have to understand you had $1400 of my money that was cleared on my account since 7-10-08, meaning you cashed it way before this date. When I called multiple times and got nothing this is when I started to get worried.

I really appreciate you getting back to me and explaining what is going on. Everything you just told me is 100% new news to me. This update tells me everything I needed to know. I would like to keep my eye on the prize and move forward with this. I am going to PM you my phone number just so you have another copy of it.

I really didn't want to have to post this up here at all, but I figured it was my last ditch attempt at getting a hold of you aside from driving all the way to DE....

 

ie, to speak on ackman behalf, i had the same experience with non-returned calls.. I wanted to buy a trans from cpt.I called and left 3-4 messages.. and never heard back.. I ended up going elsewhere.

 

Wow, I guess Frank should just raise his prices to pay someone to man the phones all day then. I think I have gotten some of the best customer Service from Frank, Tim, or anyone else at CPT...

I know they are busy some times, and would rather have them working on a trans that is owed to me (or someone else) then jumping for the phone every time it rings. Just call, and if you don't get right through, leave a message, be detailed about what you are looking for and leave a good return number, and be patient. Just remember you are not the only one calling, and after a long day in the shop I know Frank tries to get back to people but that gets hard, and takes time sometimes a few days. Just because you think if you call every few hours that you think you should get a response right away your wrong. It just adds to messages he has to check before he can get back to anyone...

We should all try and keep that in mind when calling, and this is one of the reasons that email, PM's, and other forms of contact can also help.

 

Dude... Obviously you have not read anything I just posted above.

Trust me I was not anywhere near a pain calling every few hours. I called on average once a week and left a very nice message with what I was looking for and left my phone number clearly twice each time I called. Never got any call back... I tried email, nothing. I also tried PM's and got one reply once about a month ago as stated, that is it..

I am not here to bash Frank by any means. He knows his stuff. I just feel for me he could have done a little better on trying to contact me for an update. That is all I am saying... You put yourself in my shoes with $1400 out and tell me you wouldn't be pissed nobody could call, email or PM you back with an update for almost a 2 month period except for once... Come on...

 

ackman - My response was not directed at you, and I didn't want to single out the other guy so I tried to make a general post for all. But since people get defensive, let me restate it a little more ignorantly. I hate when people jump into a thread they don't belong in to post crap they don't know anything about. If brahm had ever talked to or dealt with Frank then he would not have made the dumb choice to go elsewhere and more then likely pay more and get less. Trust me I read your post, and it was covered by Frank, it's just there was no need for a bonehead newbe to jump into a thread and talk smack on a board sponsor. This was the point of my post, again nothing about you, just making a general statement backing up Frank since this other guy jumped in backing you up. Just look out for who speaks for you, and I know who will speak for Frank...

 

Sounds about like what happened to me when I sent my transmission to CPT. About a 2 month turn around time, with little to no customer service. Truth is Frank runs CPT from a garage at his home durring his spare time. I tried to get ahold of him many times and he turned it around on me like I was the bad guy.I think Frank should quit his day job and do cpt full time. My tranny kicks *** and I am happy with it but I do think it is starting to slip already? I can hear a loud screach on the 2-3 shift that was not there when I first installed it. OH well, when it blows I will throw it in the trash and go th350.

 

...Man.. The Kettle calling the pot black... You sure are making a lot of assumptions about me, and what I did in an effort to get a hold of CPT a business.. You really need to get your head out of your ***, before you talk **** about me, you don't know the facts. Your just some random, if you care so much why don't you volunteer to answer cpt's phones..

It's quite obvious you know nothing about me, or the basics when it comes running a business.... especially a business that looks for sales via an online medium.

I've been building and racing cars for 14 years.. The last motor I desinged and put together put a car deep into the 8's. Who are you calling a newb...You think just because I signed on to CamaroZ28 recently and only and have a couple posts this is my first car or project.. Over the years I've dealt with a lot of different shops..and I don't care how great of a builder you are I'm not going to trust you with my money if you can't return a simple phone call. I've had enough issues with local shops, to think I'm going to trust some online guy thousands of miles from me with 1000's of dollars without a clear channel of communication available to me.. Your crazy.

I don't owe Frank, or CPT ****. Me as a new customer, should not have to jump threw hoops to receive the privilege of giving CPT my money. I called, and emailed frank several times over the course of month with very detailed questions, and return numbers. He has still yet to return my call, or email. How am I as a new customer going to have any confidence in a business whom before I even hand him my money, can't return my calls.

Really man.. Where the **** do you get off telling me I don't have the right to post here., and how can you bust my ***** saying "If brahm had ever talked to or dealt with Frank then he would not have made the dumb choice to go elsewhere and more then likely pay more and get less" I attempted to talk to frank, I tried to deal with him, to no fault of my own my efforts to communicate were not returned. If you were in my situation what would you do? Wait 2 months? 3 months? 4? How long Should I wait for CPT to return my call, while my car sits with a busted trans to be worthy of parting with my money.

Here are the facts you can slice it any way you want.

1) I wanted to buy a 4l60e
2) I read good things about CPTs work, not so many hot things about customer service..but I did read some good things and figured I'd give him a shot.
3) I attempted to contact CPT several times by various methods over the course of a month
4) Never once was a phone picked up, or a call/email returned.
5) I took my business elsewhere.

That's it plain a simple.. nothing more nothing less.. Don't let your personal feelings for a friend cloud your judgment. You have no right to sit here and belittle me..I did nothing wrong.. I'm just a guy who wanted to buy a trans and had a bad experience attempting to purchasing one from a sponsor. The facts are the facts, and before you go calling people newbs just remember post count != experience.

Oh and to answer your question.

Should he hire somebody to answer the phones?.. Well thats not for me to decide, but the lack of some one, resulted in him loosing my business.

 

Tone down the personal attacks, or there's going to be some consequences.

 

My spare time? Dude, I have no spare time. I'm in my shop from 5:00 till 9:00 every evening, and all day on Saturdays.
So then I can raise my prices to cover that? I build a 4L60E for $1000 less (atleast) than any other with the same level parts.
I'm sorry. I'm confused. Are you praising me or bashing me? Shouldn't you be certain it's "starting to slip" before you make such a bold statement? The screach you hear is most likely your serpentine belt slipping.


Frank
CPT

 

John,
You are completely right. I should've kept in better contact with you. I appologise for not. The truth is, I've always claimed to build the best 4L60E's...I've never claimed to be the best buisness man. Unfortunately, I get a little lax in returning some calls, if there's no new news. I sometimes hate to be "the bearer of bad news".
I'm handling alot of responsibility right now. I only have help with a small part of it. The main goal is to build the best 4L60E's we can. I'm sorry I've let the "customer service" part slip. Because of this whole ordeal, I'll make certain that I try to put a little more effort into keeping in closer contact with my customers.

Thank You,
Frank
CPT

 

Per Fred's request I will do my best to respond in a civil tongue/type.

You are correct I did refered to you as a newb based on your limited time on this site and post count. What you have done in the past has no bearing on being new to a community, and that is what these forums are. So if you moved into a new housing development, where there is a housing association, and community meetings would you think that since you have owned other houses for 30 years you should not be considered the new guy? Hey, I'm glad you have such good experiances, hopefully you will be able to share it with the rest of the community. But I still don't see a reason for you, or anyone jumping into a post that is being handled by the 2 responsible parties, just to take an additional stab at one of them. That won't work in any community or business for that matter, I can't see you going into work and seeing a vender and a coworker working out their differences just so you can take the phone and put a few jabs in on the vendor, your @$$ would be fired, right?

The quote of mine that you didn't like holds true, you have not spoken to Frank, by your own admission, and you made the choice to go elsewhere, and as a result you will more then likely get less for the money, and this is the truth (a fact if you will). I was in no way busting your *****, just stating a fact. I admit the word dumb should not have been added, but I wanted to drive home the worth of getting a hold of Frank. But the statement still stands, if you had talked to Frank then you would not have made the choice to go elsewhere, more then likely resulting in paying more to get less out of it.

As for your comments towards me, I will brush them off because you know even less about me then you think. But I will say in response to your paragraph following the list of facts, I am not letting my personal feelings for a friend cloud anything, let alone my judgement. I didn't just sit there and belitle you, and if you felt that way they there may be a bit of a guilty concience going on, and as such you probably feel you did do something wrong. You made the choices you had to, and if there were many others in your shoes they too could have done the same thing, and since it was your choice, then be happy with that choice. Although it does not appear that you are happy with the choice of going elsewhere or why when people are working out there differences did you feel it was need to throw out another jab like some school kid trying to provoke a fight? This was a post made to get in contact with Frank and for the 2 parties to work out any issues, not a lets all jump on Frank post. So here is where my friendship comes in, you can do whatever you want with your car and money, it's yours, have fun with it. But if your a newb, which you are to the community, and jump into something like this to start flaming someone, other people will jump in to get their back and the topic goes way off course just as this one did. I am glad Frank and John can work out these issues, and glad that Frank realizes his deficiencies in dealing with communication to his customers, but was all this other stuff needed, was there a reason to jump into this post to attack Frank when the issues were being settled? The simple answer is, NO, and this is more then likely why you have the guilty concience and got all upset in the comments above, defending your actions...



Hey Fred, how about closing this since the main topic appears to be resolved???

 

I'm saying the tranny shifts real hard, I like that but I dont like the screach wich is the tranny. I took my serp belt off and it still makes the noise. Just like my old tranny did. I only have 300 miles on it as well.

I'm sorry. I'm confused. Are you praising me or bashing me? Shouldn't you be certain it's "starting to slip" before you make such a bold statement? The screach you hear is most likely your serpentine belt slipping.


Frank
CPT[/QUOTE]

 

Ok so lets clear somethings up here..I'm glad to see you toned it down, and are doing your best to keeping the personal attacks to a min.. So we already established why I had a right to complain in my previous post. Now lets go over why I made the choice to post in this particular thread, as it appears this is what you are taking issue to, but before we do let me touch on one point. Please don't attempt to "school" me in forum etiquette, once again here you know very little about me. This isn't my first BBS, or post. I've been running, moderating, and posting on forums for years, and am well aware of how to conduct myself accordingly (or at least how far to push things before crossing that line).. as one of the ole admins of sdr/sdsr.com which used to be hands down one of the largest car enthusiasts forum of it's time.. I might have an inkling in regards to what I'm doing.

So I had 2 reasons as to why I made the choice to post in this thread.

1) To give the original poster some legitimacy. He was speaking up about a negative experience with a popular forum vendor when this happens very often (as did here) a fan of such vendor will jump on the thread attempting to take the legitimacy away from the consumer. I mean how can it be (insert favorite vendor here) fault.. Customer X must be doing something wrong.. By me posting having a similar experience, it gives the original poster some legitimacy so others can see he isn't the only one having this issue As a result of this a responsible forum vendor (as in this case..mostly (see below)) will respond to the thread, quickly and promptly attempting to clear things up and save face..resulting in a good experience in the end for everybody.

2) To get a hold of Frank for myself. Yes, I did attempt to call/email him over the course of a month. Yes I had a deadline as to when I needed my car going by. No I didn't have any luck getting ahold of him. So in turn what I did is a bought a used trans, from a fellow cz28 forum member. Is it the end all be all trans for my car.. nope. Will it get me to Antique Drags next month, Fall Colours, and get my car back up and running correctly...yup.

It was quite obvious that by all other methods of communication I failed to get the attention of CPT/Frank, but it was obvious that he was aware of this thread, as he had responded to it. I was hoping that by tagging along, and posting my similar experience I would also elicit a response from CPT/Frank.. something along the lines of "Sorry for not being able to get back to you.. "insert reason here" I'd be happy to help you out with all your future trans needs ect ect." With that out of the way, and contact made I'd be able to start talking to frank about what I'm looking for down the road. I have had a HELL of hard time finding a competent trans shop to help me with my 4l60e blues. Heck I asked the same question to 4 different shops and received 4 different answers when trying to figure out what I needed to do, don't even get me started on the plethora of random information I ended up with when asking the same question on various forums. (my swap to 1st gen was a bit complicated), but instead of a cordial response from CPT/Frank I got flamed by you, and was put on the defensive.. You let your emotions get the best of you and in the end really made CPT/Frank look bad.