FT86 SpeedFactory --- Bad Experience

[NoHaveMSG]

To preface this. I have a weekend long event at a track I have never been to on 5/11-5/12. They require that you are solo qualified, or can show you have reasonable experience at that track. I do not have either, so I signed up for an HPDE school on 5/8 running with their novice group since that was all that was open before then.

On 5/5 I pull apart my car to replace the clutch and I find my driveshaft is notchy. No bueno. A brief look around the internet shows that FT86SF has Driveshaft Shop aluminum drive lines in stock and on sale, perfect. Monday, 5/6 I place the order for one, overnight priority shipping at 7:33am PST. I try calling because I want to let them know I really need this, overnight shipping gets it to me Tuesday and I can pop it in the car and be ready to go the following day. I get an automated message, and after almost emailing their CS I decided I am sure they can handle it and I don't want to be "that guy." I am sure they get plenty of that on small standard orders already.

In the afternoon I receive shipping confirmation on my order out of KY. I know they are in Iowa, but whatever. They likely drop shipped even though it shows in stock. Not all that uncommon and I personally drop ship things I have in stock sometimes as well for various reasons. The problem is that it shows delivery on Wednesday, not going to work and I paid $300.51 in shipping already. I email their CS form, since that is the only way to get ahold of them at 1:55pm my time(3:55pm cst). They are supposedly open till 5pm central. No response.

I check tracking when I get home that night and it now shows delivery Friday. What the heck. I email their CS again requesting a call in the morning. 5/7 I receive an email or course. They offer to refund the shipping only, or I can cancel the order. Normally I would consider this a reasonable offer, but I am committed to a weekend event, and had to pay $595 for an HPDE school to run it that is non refundable. So my choice is now, either skip both events and loose the $595 not to mention letting some people down, or pay an extra $600 to rent a car for the 8th.

Long story short. Have had plenty of good orders with FT86SF. But when it comes to needing something on time I would not use them. They will never be getting my business again. Not going to call them a "non reputable retailer," as there is plenty of evidence they do pretty well, but I am still out 600 bucks

[Joveen]

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[BigTuna]

What do you mean by the driveshaft being "notchy"?

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

What do you mean by the driveshaft being "notchy"?

Like a knuckle crack, but not audible as it moves through it's range. Yes I understand it does not move that far when the drivetrain flexes. I just don't trust driving the car at triple digit speeds that way 3.5 hours from home.

[mav1178]

in the case of DSS, either the seller has it in stock, DSS or a distributor (Motovicity or Turn 14) has it in stock, or it is coming via another source.

The problem is that most sellers that buy direct from DSS usually post a lower sell price online, but they can't get that same lower cost when trying to get the same product via EDI fulfillment to Turn or Moto.

This is a constant problem because many sellers try to "buy direct" but also rely on a large distributor to help show items as being "in stock"... the two offer vastly different prices. Direct may be anywhere from same cost to as much as 20% lower than a large distributor... it's all about your working relationship with your suppliers.

As for the rest of your post, someone probably put in the wrong shipping method, or they changed the order in an attempt to lower their cost to not lose money.

[finch1750]

If I ever need something by a set date that is soon, I always call and confirm it's possible before ordering for this reason.

[chickunfut]

It's a good idea to not start a big project like a clutch change so close to a trackday. You risk the chance of not having parts available to complete the work, not having adequate time to break in or shake down the car, or have any time to correct any new issues that come up from doing the work.

I think your expectations were not realistic and laying blame on FT86SF is just,,,,,,,,, not cool bro.

I hope you get your car together and have a great trackday. If not, you can always beg and plead with the organizer to let you reschedule for another day. I'm sure they've dealt with others in your same situation.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by chickunfut

It's a good idea to not start a big project like a clutch change so close to a trackday. You risk the chance of not having parts available to complete the work, not having adequate time to break in or shake down the car, or have any time to correct any new issues that come up from doing the work.

I think your expectations were not realistic and laying blame on FT86SF is just,,,,,,,,, not cool bro.

I hope you get your car together and have a great trackday. If not, you can always beg and plead with the organizer to let you reschedule for another day. I'm sure they've dealt with others in your same situation.

I agree about not starting a project before an event but I didn't really have a choice in this situation. And it was a clutch, not really that hard except I had to do it by myself with no transmission jack. The biggest mistake I think I made as pointed out by finch1750, is placing an urgent order with someone I couldn't speak to on the phone.