my problem with thunder is not that parts are on backorder, but that they have been very ineffective at communicating with me.IF they respond to my email, it takes more than a couple days. I also asked them to keep me updated and they assured me it wouldn't be a problem, but that hasn't been done. the point of my post was that as so far they have failed to meet the high expectations i held for them based on commentary from this board.

 

It's as simple as this: If you don't like how a place treats you, go somewhere else. That's why there is more than one place to buy the same items.

 

Usually when I can't get a very specific fbody part from Summit, I turn to Thunder. I bought my subframes, Motive 4.11's and Comp R lifters from them. With no problems at all. However when I went to go buy my clutch and they did not have it "in stock" I ordered it from Tbyrne. But for the most part I only order from Summit unless they just don't have the part available.
Summit so far, has gone was past my expectations as far as customer service. Most recently they warrantied my fuel pump even though the warranty was 2 months expired.

But overall, I believe Thunder is good to deal with.

 

In addition to shoebox's excellent advice, I have the following to add...

If you need your part right now, find a speed shop in your area that has it in stock, then drive there and buy it right now. You'll probably pay full list or MSRP, plus sales tax, but you'll have your part right now.

If you don't need it right this minute, but want to be sure it's in stock and it will ship in a timely manner, go with one of the big vendors like Jegs or Summit that have huge inventories and dozens (if not hundreds) of employees to handle the details of your order. If the part is backordered, you'll get a call with an estimate on when it will be in because they can afford employees whose sole purpose is to hold the customer's hand.

But... if you're shopping for bargain basement prices and aren't necessarily in a hurry and you aren't a "high maintenance" customer, go with a smaller mail or net-order shop. You'll get a good price, but there is no guarantee the part will be in stock because they can't carry the inventory of the big boys. If a part is backordered, the facts of life are that they probably won't receive priority on a part they're waiting on like a bigger vendor that does thousands of dollars in business each month would. They probably don't have people manning the phones, so don't expect a lot of hand-holding with your order. If you call, they'll likely be more than happy to try to find out the status of your order, but that probably means you're holding up other people's orders, because the same guy talking to you would normally be boxing things up for shipment or something else. And bottom line, people forget things like calling back a customer when they're one of only a few people handling everything related to the business. That's the reality of dealing with a smaller shop.

I wonder what kind of reviews some of the people who complain about service would get if they had to run a growing mail and net-order business with just a couple employees. I'm not making excuses for them, but you have to be realistic. There's a difference between going with the company with a 60,000+ square foot warehouse, several million dollars in inventory, and dozens of employees and one in a 3,500 square foot suite with a couple hundred thousand dollars in inventory, and two or three employees. If you want the best chance of a part being in stock and need a lot of reassurance during your buying experience, you know where to go.

 

i love thunder racing they are in my opinion the best place to buy parts.i needed my comp pro magnum nsa roller rockers by friday,i ordered them on monday they were at my house on wednesday that is awesome!!!!!!!!

 

off topic sorry but holy **** there selling the air temp resistor for like 172 bucks!!! stay away.

david

 

with all do respect, its amazing how defensive some of you are because of your allegiances. furthermore, you are missing the point once again! it isn't the amount of time it takes that is the problem! it is being told something time and time again without a follow through! if a company says they'll do something for the customer, and they don't do it, there is a problem. if they say that the request to be updated is unreasonable than my expectations wouldn't have been skewed one way or the other. also, i never stated that Thunder is soooooo bad, and that i hate them sooo much. if you recall, the first thread i made stated that this is probably not consistent with others encounters. stop being so defensive!!!!!

 

So they said they'd call you back and they didn't.....big deal. Don't know of a company that actually does that...if your so fed up cancel your order and go elsewhere...why cray about it? what did you order anyway?

 

where is the crying??once again, everyone is veerrryyyy defensive. all i stated was that i expected more from such a reputable company. reading comprehension owns you!
um, no ****. big deal they didn't respond to my emails, call me back. i am not going to cancel my order because i have to wait, never implied i would.

 

if my observation is unjustified why does this post (http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...hreadid=223791) exist?

 

Man, relax. Nobody is being defensive, we are just relaying our experiences like you asked.

If they aren't being responsive to email, then pick up the phone and call them.

 

i do need to call them again, but do realize that part of the problem is that nothing i have been told has come to fruition. that's where my frustration lies.

 

Then be sure to politely explain your story and voice your opinion to the customer rep over the phone. That is the only way that TR will realize that they need to improve if a problem exists.

 

be sure that i will.

 

It exists because someone wanted it to. It's great that people share their experiences so that others will know. It helps everyone.

On the flip side, if everyone posted when they had a good experience with any vendor, there would be no room for anything else. My point is, people are more apt to express their displeasure than satisfaction.