Al Knoch Report Card

Quality                         = A+
Customer Service         = Fail

I recently ordered some custom leather covers on new foam from AK knowing ahead of time they can be slow after contacting other buyers. Since I was not in a hurry and more interested in quality and stitching detail it seemed a better option than one of the Vette specialty stores.

The process started out a little shaky, guess I should have taken the hint.  First I filled out the Special Order form on their web site describing the custom covers I wanted, shortly afterward I received an e-mail reply suggesting I call instead…..okay, got to wonder what the purpose of that form is don’t you?

Oh well, I call and talk to a sales person, as soon as they find out I want something custom they suggest we communicate by e-mail. Now I’m really confused, but hang in there and feel better when they explain they will fax a seat diagram for me to fill out.  Great, with visual reference I feel way more confident they will get the order correct!   They just need to know if I have regular or sport seats in my 93 so I get the correct diagram, I explain the seats are standard.  You guessed it, when the diagram arrives it is for a sport seat, but another call gets the correct diagram faxed back to me.

I fill out the diagram and in the blank space on the side also describe verbally what I want; fax it back with instructions to call me with a quote so I can make my buying decision.   The sales person replies very quickly with a quote but can not tell me how much shipping will cost to my zip code….  WTF, these people are in the business of selling Corvette seats to people all over the country, I don’t get it.  Anyway I am not going to place the order without knowing shipping cost fearing some ridiculous amount so I tell them to figure it out and call me back.  Three days pass with no reply; finally I bite my lip and call them AGAIN.  The sales person can still not quote me on shipping but promises to call back later after consulting with the shipping department.   Fortunately this time they do reply and the order is placed, they indicate my custom order should arrive in about 3 weeks.

Three weeks to the day UPS delivers two large boxes marked Al Knoch Corvette Interiors, hooooray….. you guys know the joy of getting new Vette stuff!  The joy fizzled quickly when I opened the boxes…..inside are very nice quality completely stock seats for a 93…. darn it!   Okay, calm down and call them back, the sales person is shocked when I explain the seats are not correct.  I ask if perhaps they misplaced the seat diagram?   After some checking I am told the seats were custom made to my specifications but the shipping department put the wrong ones in the box by mistake.  They apologize and promise to ship the correct seats out that same day and will include return shipping labels for the incorrect order.  I’m not thrilled but mistakes happen and this seems to be the best I can hope for so I wait.

Normally a UPS delivery from AK’s Texas location to my home in Florida takes 3 to 5 days, 10 days later the seats have not arrived, when my wife returns from work that day she informs me AK charged our Amex card a second time 5 days earlier, now a total approaching $2400!  When I called my sales representative was not available so some other unfortunate soul got to hear my tirade, plus instructions to have the sales person call me when they got in.   I did get a UPS tracking number and quickly determined the seats had been shipped the same day the credit card took hit number two, which proves to me the sales person lied when they told me the seats were complete and would be shipped the same day.

The seats arrived later that day before I got a return call and the second set was correct and the quality is excellent so I was pacified by the time the sales person called back.  When I asked about the second hit to the credit card I was told I would get a credit once the “wrong” set was returned.  While that might sound fair on first thought consider that when you give your credit card information and place your order you trust the seller to actually deliver the goods, yet they do not trust me to return something they shipped by mistake!  I find that insulting, in addition consider that due to billing cycle I will need to pay the $2400 in full long before the seat return credit or incur interest charges on the Amex card.

Sorry this got so long but this was a very annoying experience, sadly when dealing with a company highly regarded in the Vette community.  For the record I sent AK an e-mail very similar to this first and gave them several days to respond before electing to post this, they did not even reply.    Thanks for listening to my rant, consider it when you are ready for those new seats.  One other warning, if you visit other Vette forums you will see this again, so spare yourself the long read, it is the only way I know to make my point.


-AW, edited formatting 4/17/09
Adam Wartell2009-04-17 12:44:19

I can't blame you for being upset.  Sounds like they put you through quite a lot of hassle.  I have not done any business with them so I can't speak about any personal experience.  I have heard a bunch of people tell me they love AK.  I think everyone has horror stories from every vendor out there.

I would suggest you place a call to someone other than a sales rep and explain your story to them over the phone.  If they are smart, they either discount the order and credit you some money back or minimally offer you a discount on a future order.

Let us know if you hear anything further from them  about this. 

Oh, and if it isn't too late, you can call your CC company and tell them what happened and they will put a dispute on the one charge so you won't have to pay it up front before it is credited back by AK.

[QUOTE=Adam Wartell]

Let us know if you hear anything further from them  about this. 

Oh, and if it isn't too late, you can call your CC company and tell them what happened and they will put a dispute on the one charge so you won't have to pay it up front before it is credited back by AK.
[/QUOTE]

For sure inform your CC company...which I am sure you already have, but if you havent, do it.

Keep us updated on their service...if all else fails, put your wife on the phone with them .



Jim

Unreal!  Doesn't seem like it should be that hard.

I had a similar experience. Not nearly as much money, but took about 4 months to get the right stuff, and the appropriate credits issued. Probably 10 20-40 minute phone calls. They never called back, 'that person isn't here', 'you need to talk to', etc.  All I needed was a headliner panel for a C4 roof panel. It was an incredible amount of work on my part for a seemingly simple piece.  No more Al for me.

Update

Credit applied to my Amex card once AK received the first set of seats they shipped by mistake.  Sadly they turned what should have been an easy pleasant experience upgrading my car into a PITA, never did get so much as an apology for the inconvenience. 
As stated earlier no complaints whatsoever concerning the quality, but business today clearly has a different definition of customer service than this old man expects when he makes such a purchase, your mileage may vary.

Happy to hear they didn't screw ya on the refund. Still sux about the "customer service". Even tho the seats you got were great quality, that can't make up for that crappy ordeal to get them. I've hear similar stories about AK from a lot of different folks, but Al himself is supposed to be a great, stand-up guy. I just wonder is he has a clue about his employees and their lack of "people" skills?

Glad to hear this.  My next project is guts for my '80.

If you want to pursue it, you should be able to get to 'Al' himself, or at least his personal assistant.

I went up the "Chili's" Restaurant chain once and managed to get to a corporate VP.  I use them for business all over the US and they really screwed the pooch @ a new store when I took an in-law who had never been there to visit them.  Long shaggy dog but suffice it to say there is a new manager in Broken Arrow Oklahoma and they sent $200 in coupons.  Never got emotional with the higher ups, just stated facts and they bent over backward to help.

Most any company will make it right at higher levels however, like Joel says, they probably don't even know.  Might be worth pursuing.

Mine started over the ultimate fact that they got nasty with us and the manager wouldn't even apologize.

Give 'em a call or an email to a higher up.  Sometimes the "Contact Us" site can get you elevated into the management chain.  You might mention that it is your first, not your last stop as you intend for senior leaders to hear from you (non-threateningly of course, you are leaving an electronic paper trail).

i have heard not too good things about AK too. IMO the quality maybe good but if the customer service is not there and to have an experience like you had the seats are not that good. I guess i got lucky as i put in 86 seats in my 75. bought them used off of ebay and they said they were just recovered. when i got the seats they looked brand new and were very nicely done. really made them seem great as the customer service was excellent. good luck with them.

 you would think in these hard times when people are not spending much money  and companys  are going under that they would bend over backwards for ya just to get your future biz and a good reviews . companys beware we talk  and your reputation is on the line