TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:32 am

Does anyone do business with SoCalAutoParts.com? I just wondered because their site has been down for a week. I order all my non-critical parts (like brakes) from here.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:18 am

I have done business with them a couple times. Not very happy with there products or customer service. I had gotten some chrome hubcaps from them and the very first snowfall, they pitted and rusted. OK no problem there. I learned a lesson. You order cheap shit and you get cheap shit. Shortly thereafter, I placed another small order and they sent me something that I didn't order. Only a $15 part. So I called to return the part. After some time on the phone and 3 people latter, they insisted that I had ordered that part and that if I wanted to return it I would have to pay a restock fee. So I told the guy that I would just keep his $15 part and do my business elsewhere. His response was "fine" and hung up on me. The next day I e-mailed their customer service to explain the situation and had gotten no response. Now I order most of my misc. VW parts from CIP 1 and have been pretty happy with their parts and service. Just remember that If you want good quality parts, you'll have to pay for it. In my opinion, socalparts can not provide that.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:36 am

After seeing their ads in magazines I tried to access their site, to no avail!
Maybe someone in So Cal can go by and see if they are still in business.

Wed Apr 20, 2005 5:48 pm

'becca, i consider my brakes critical.

Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:40 pm

I'm not happy with SoCal or Cip1.

I had some problems with returns at SoCal and through advice on TheSamba I was directed to ask for the owner "Jim" (I think) and he was able to make things right. It just sucks that I had to push and fight so hard for a simple transaction.

Cip1 has their online parts numbers and pictures all messed up so I ordered some wiper shaft nuts and received the wrong ones and it took for ever to get the right ones.
The solution was to "re-order" (and pay :shock: ) for both types of nuts so that I would be sure to get th right ones... lol :lol:

Both of these places are focused on high volume cheap parts
with "Jack in the Box" service.

-Mark

Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:17 pm

I bought the rebuilt link-king pin spindle assembly that they advertise in Hot VW's. Their ad shows a picture of all the components that they said went with the kit. They sent me the rebuilds, but didn't include the seals and retainers for the link pins. When I called they said that they would look for some and get back to me. I call a week later and the guy says, "Sorry, I can't find any. I don't know what to tell you except to run without them."

It's only a few bucks in parts at the most, but I'm not happy with the advice I got or the fact that their ad shows a picture of parts that they don't include.

Thanks for shorting me parts, false advertising, bad advice, and the 2 week delay in my project.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 10:10 pm

The reason you did not get the o rings and plates with the rebuilt king/link set is because they use the real cheapo link pin sets (wholesale price is about $5 less than the good sets).Nothing wrong with the quality of the bushings,but the pins are cheaper material,and of course no plates and o rings.

Tue Sep 19, 2006 6:53 pm

i recently did $1000 worth of business in small parts on a phone order and was satisfied with the results.
other places would have done terrible, but they walked through a lot of $5.00 parts and paid attention to the details.
i used them because of this and they were cheapest to buy from on all the parts i researched and ordered.
fair shipping and good packing too.
haas

Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:56 am

So I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of California about the misleading Ads that So-Cal runs in Hot VW's mag and the fact that they didn't send me the parts that were advertised. Here's the response I got from them:

11/6/2006

Mike Niederhauser
xxxx Baja Lane
Henderson, NV 89012

Re: Complaint #98141392 - Southern California Imports

Although we have tried to obtain a response to your complaint form the company in the hope of reaching a mutually acceptable resolution, they have ignored our requests. We are, therefore, closing this complaint.

Your unanswered complaint will become part of the information we report to the public on this company for the next three (3) years. Also, should any government agency request our files on this company, your complaint will be included.

If you have worked out a settlement directly with this company, would you please send us a note by email to or fax at (909) 825-6246 or by mail. Please tell us about the resolution and any other comments you may have. Your help in doing this is extremely important to ensure that our reports to the public on this company is accurate.

Thank you for contacting us about this complaint.

The Better Business Bureau

It sucks that they don't care enough about their customers to even respond. I guess my next step is to send a letter to Hot VW's to complain about the false ads, but they run GEX ads so I don't know what good that will do. Maybe I'll have to spend a weekend with a picket sign in front of their store. If they won't do what's right, the least I could do is save some other VeeDub'er from falling into the same trap.

Mike

Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:12 pm

I had very good service from SoCal when I placed a brake parts order ($300+). They were very helpful with technical questions I had on two separate occasions.

Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:51 pm

has anybody tried there floor pans are they any good thanks

Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:28 am

Does anybody know how to contact the owner of SoCal directly? I recently placed an order with them and would like to deliver my feedback directly to someone in charge in case they are interested in actually trying to improve.

Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:29 pm

engineerorange wrote: Does anybody know how to contact the owner of SoCal directly? I recently placed an order with them and would like to deliver my feedback directly to someone in charge in case they are interested in actually trying to improve.

Call them and ask for andy...He's the owner... I'm sure, he would like to know.. whats going on...

Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:59 am

The last order I placed with them came up short by a complete set of brake hoses (all 4 were missing). I called and was told that their tracking showed the parts had been packed(what??...of course! :roll: ). I responded that as far as I could tell the box showed no damage, but the brake hoses were not in the box. The guy I spoke to sounded real suspicious and said they would send out replacements but it might take a while to get them sent out....that was well over a month ago. Sorry, but if I'm ordering hundreds of dollars of parts from them, I'm not going to lie about a crumby $20 worth of parts that didn't show up. Anyway, it's not worth the hassle to call yet again to try to get my parts. For obvious reasons, I don't see myself ordering parts from them in the future. I'd rather order parts from a company (i.e. pay a little more) and work with a company that will do the right thing and send parts that they obviously forgot to pack in the first place than deal with SoCalImports again. I'm glad Hot V-Dubs Magazine has lots of vendors listed, gives me options.

Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:06 am

Placed a $230 order got a confirmation and a charge to my visa. Ordered bumpers and a few small parts ( two to be exact). Three weeks later I get a shipping notification they are just going out. When contacted its whoops sorry but it is on its way.
I usually order from CIP1. If I order in the morning before noon it takes about a day and a half to see my parts. I guess thats what happens when you try to save acouple of bucks

Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:58 am

Choose another vendor.
First of all I dont expect to be catered to even though Im the customer. What i do expect is a cheery disposition when they answer the phone, answer technical questions if they can, and get the part i order in a timely manner. I dont expect this to be too much. So cal imports has the worst customer service I have experienced yet. My first order was a decent sized one about 500.00 in just products if i recall. After waiting a couple weeks for their site to show me a tracking info, i finally stepped up and called them to find out whats going on. I find out they are out of a specific part that was a special on their home page! Well i guess it can happen being a hot item. Thanks for letting me know! Conveniently, since i had them on the phone; i was told they would let me know via email when the part was in stock to be shipped. It took almost a month and a half to finally get my parts delivered. Well I didnt learn my lesson. Out of haste they had a part that i required , in stock, and i ordered it on the phone to XX employee. I could deal with the part price and more than double the shipping fee of the actual cost of the part ( i really needed it). But boy, its sad when you have specific questions and all XX employee sounds like is to want to get you off the phone, rush you, and speak condenscending. Companies would gain more customers being civil and using USPS services imo. Andy ( if your the owner) if you ever choose to read this, bring in a specialist to teach your workforce customer service. I will no longer use So cal no matter how bad i need a part from now on. Everyone else if you want great customer service, timely shipping, cheaper shipping, and a company who will work to satisfy your needs, use BrothersVW or Carcraft Inc. Good day.

Fri Jun 04, 2010 5:26 pm

Ordered a brake rebuild kit for a '65/'66 Beetle. Got pre '57 front wheel cylinders. Called and customer service wasn't real nice but says they will have Felix call me...

We'll see.

Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:09 pm

Tick Tock... {STILL} Nothing from Felix, nothing from socalautoparts.com... I am plainly convinced that they don't care that they shipped out the wrong $#1T. Autozone stocks front wheel cylinders for a '65 and they can get it right...

Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:33 pm

45 days down the road Felix called me. Thanks, Felix! -

Here's the whole story... Ordered brake rebuild kit... started putting it on about 35 days later and found the wheel cylinders didn't match up. Called SoCalAutoParts.com that afternoon (4:45pm or later) and the guy who answered the phone gave me the impression he was ready to leave for the day and that since they don't take stuff back after 30 days my call was unimportant and fruitless.

As I told Felix on the phone today I relayed that the early wheel cylinders were more expensive and I'd gladly send 'em back or swap 'em. Guy said he'd leave Felix a note.

Felix says that he never got the note. He was decent on the phone but reiterated that they don't take stuff back after 30 days. [I don't care-- when I unwrapped the cylinders half that stuff was on my '65 so I wouldn't have wanted to return the kit anyway... just see about swapping the cylinders.....]

Bottom line, like many businesses it may just boil down to who you talk with. Sadly I couldn't remember the name of the fellow who answered the phone. SoCal Imports may have been looking for more info today when they called, maybe to take steps to improve the situation, maybe not.

One final thought... Felix recommended that, should I give them another shot, I ask for a specific sales rep.... If you're having to point your customers to ONE SPECIFIC REP, maybe you ought to put a Help Wanted ad in the paper.....

Tue Sep 28, 2010 8:06 am

So here is the story I bought a set of heads from them on the 8th of September I called on the 13th to ask if they had been shipped they had not. So I called again on the 15th they said they were going to ship them on the 16th. I still had not received a tracking number so I called again on the 21st the guy there said they still had not gone out. So thinking this was ridiculous I asked for a refund on my purchase they said I would see my refund in 24 to 48 hours. Then on Friday the 24th (72 hours later) I called about my refund why I had not received it and the refunds department said it was going to be processed that day. Needless to say it is now Tuesday the 28th and I still don't have my money back. Do not order from so cal auto parts they will lie to you too!