This week we have been left scratching our heads at the sign of the times here at Mustang Maniac. Do we actually post the following or not, a brave decision was made to be totally transparent about it, so here it is:

News:

It’s no secret that we have moved to an online sales service for an important reason. In the past we had been getting many phone calls regarding how to fit a part, or how to diagnose a problem. Not that we mind that too much if the part was purchased from us, but we draw the line at people who aren’t our customers asking how to fit these parts. They were ordering the parts from elsewhere and then call us wanting our advice and guidance. Lets just put this into perspective for a few scenarios; would a solicitor give you free advice on a legal matter? Would a garden center talk you through how to put up a shed and prepare the ground? Would an electrician talk you through how to install a three way switch in a room? Do you phone amazon asking how to tile a bathroom? The answer is certainly a NO, even more so if you have never been a customer or spoken to them before. So, like mentioned above we said we stopped that service as our time is our money at the end of the day. It was a few that ruined it for the many genuine customers. If you buy the parts from us and want help, email us and we will help you when we get a spare moment.

The situation we find ourselves in is complaints. We can take complaints and we pride ourselves on sorting those rare occasions out very quickly, refunds or replacement parts. We have even replaced parts that the customers have broken at our own expense, just for good customer service.

Complaint 1

We had a customer order some brake parts from us, so we packaged them and sent them out. The next thing we are alerted to is a a social media post of a damaged packaging box, before we were even notified or even had the chance to respond. Here is that post;

Did you know?

There are millions of parcel journeys each day and the average parcel delivery driver in the UK has 250 deliveries per day.

It stands to reason that one or two parcels will not receive the careful attention it either deserves or that has been paid for by Mustang Maniac.

Mustang Maniac only uses the most appropriate packaging – from an environmental, protection and cost perspective and carriers with a good record of performance, but they cannot plan for events like the above.

We don’t want to criticize the van drivers as they have a tough job to do…so we do our best to work within the situations we are faced with.

Mustang Maniac Mantra…….how we work

Mustang Maniac has been a passion of mine for many years and has grown out of my personal hobby and into a thriving professionally managed business.

I have learned a lot over the years about the ownership, repair and restoration of all classic Mustangs and Falcons – and I am still learning, but I think it’s really important to set out exactly how we operate here at Mustang Maniac so there can be absolutely no confusion………

We do know best…….. Over the years we have got to fully understand our business of Mustang and Falcon Parts along with our wide range of other services.

We have made the mistakes we always try to prevent you from making….. we’ve used parts that don’t work or are poorly fitting and we always try to help you avoid them…..but that does require you to seek our advice up front – and then listen to it.

We often provide advice for it to be completely ignored… then, frustratingly we get asked to help in solving the issues that arise from not heeding our advice. It drives us mad!

Often the best and most cost effective solution to a Mustang/Falcon problem does not seem to be the easiest/cheapest option…. In many cases there doesn’t seem to be the budget to “do the job properly” but in most cases the money is found to “put a bad job right the second time around”. It drives us mad – do the job once and do it properly!

Quality comes at a price… we do offer a limited range of budget friendly parts, but our priority is to sell good quality, thoroughly tested parts from our list of respected suppliers. While these parts may appear to be more expensive their quality will provide many years of reliable service. We know that because we use those parts on our own Mustangs and Falcons!

We make our own parts… some of the parts needed to restore or repair Mustangs and Falcons are no longer produced or, if they are, they are not to the high quality standards we demand – so we arrange for them to be made here in the UK by local craftsmen and engineers.

Are our parts expensive?…. in some cases they might appear to be, reflecting the efforts, trouble and expense we have gone to to get them and then shipped to parts warehouse. If it’s the cheapest parts around you are looking for it might save you time and trouble to look elsewhere for them.

We carry the parts in stock…. unlike a number of parts suppliers, we carry all all of the parts we sell ‘in stock’ with the latest stock situation featured on our website. If we say we have it then it’s in one of our parts bins waiting for you. All this stock does come at a price and to carry that stock we have had to buy it from our suppliers, ship it to the UK and pay all freight and duties.

We don’t use the cheapest shippers…. like all of our business, quality and reliability is key to how we operate. We select our delivery agents based on performance and reliability first and then try to get the very best deal possible from them. Our parts are properly wrapped and labelled so you get your parts undamaged and when you expect them. It’s quite simple really!

Our advice is free…. yes we are mostly happy to offer our customers advice on all things Mustang and Falcon, but we do ask you to contact us by email. That way we can deal with the queries when we find the time. If it’s just a bit of advice you want but would rather buy your parts at the cheapest store then we probably aren’t that keen to help you. It’s always best when buying cheap parts to discuss them with those experts who are offering them. We do tend to be a bit reluctant to help after those cheap parts have been bought, fitted and failed!

We strongly believe in the truth – tell it how it is… if it’s the facts about a Mustang or Falcon car, part or process you want then we offer it with as few words as we need. If it’s ‘sales speak’ or a ‘heavy sell ‘ you want then it’s best to look elsewhere. We tell you “what’s true” and not “what you want to hear”. It really is the best way!

We don’t offer discounts…. well, if you are restoring a Mustang or Falcon and talk to us at the start, we will happily supply all the quality parts you need (from our vast stock here in the UK), when you need them and we can talk about prices as well. If we have an honest and open discussion at the start of your project we are happy to support you in any way we can. Having that discussion after you have been let down by other suppliers or you are just buying a single part you can’t get elsewhere won’t help either of us!

I have tried to be as open and honest as I can here with the way I do business.

We are honest and helpful people here at Mustang Maniac and will always do our best in whatever we do.

If you have strong issues with any of the above then it’s very likely you might be happier buying your parts elsewhere….if they genuinely have them in stock.

If, like me you like to understand who you are working with and how the business works then I am sure we will get along just fine and we will be very happy to support you with our parts and services.

Adam Longmore

Mustang Maniac

Enough of all that it’s now time for the cars,

Customer Cars:

We were talking about a a car that needed a water pump and an ungraded braking system. We are nearing the end of the project and here is what Yogi has been up to with the Brakes under the hood.

Webshop

The next exciting part supplier we now have on board is the ACP line of products. They produce and supply us with previously unavailable parts for Falcons as well as Mustangs. We are expanding their lines of stock as we speak to offer more choices.

Things like Falcon chrome rear bumpers, radiators and trims. Our first order arrived and Adam opened most of the boxes to examine the products are as good as we hoped.

We listened to the fact that customers wanted more Falcon parts. We sourced and we stocked. Please vote and let us know what you think. Were these complaints justified, do we need to move with the times, or was this just a random example?

We are not here to put people down, far from it. Any tips or hints to improve our service are always considered, we hope you all understand.