Chirco Performance - [email protected]

[buggygal]

My husband placed an order with Chirco on June 13th and was given a total of $609. Before putting it on his credit card he wanted to get the total so he called & asked about the shipping charges and was told the shipping would run about $120. He “SPECIFICALLY” asked if that was the total for everything, because he was ordering a Baja kit also. He was told yes, that was the total he would be charged. He was also told that he would receive an e-mail with the tracking number for his order and the total billed to his credit card. He never received this information so he had to call back for the tracking number two days later and at this time they were still not able to give him the total price of the order. The day before the order is scheduled to arrive I checked the credit card and noticed that he was billed $747.81 on June 13th and then charged an extra $50 to the card 3 days after the order, on June 16th. He called Chirco (Joe) and Joe said that this is a “boxing” fee that didn’t get charged with the original order, even though my husband SPECIFICALLY asked about all the fees when placing the order and now Joe tells him that he must have “misunderstood” him. Plus they shipped the items in a USED seat box with no padding/support inside the boxes. Not only do I consider this bad-business to charge a customers credit card an extra fee 3 days after an order but their web site CLEARLY states that “We will notify you by phone or e-mail if any of these charges do apply” (Referring to the charges that may INCREASE the cost of shipping due to large or multiple boxes). We received neither a phone call nor e-mail. So, I was expecting to receive a charge of about $730 and I am now looking at $797.81.
After receiving his order my husband noticed everything was not there. He then called and was told that there were 2 more boxes being shipped but they were unable to give a tracking number or any other information. He also had an item that was on backorder that was, of course, cancelled ‘per their policy”.
So in the end they "overcharged" him on items because his total should have been for everything "including the items Chirco cancelled". His shipping was more than was quoted and they charged him an extra $50!
I'm just wondering if anyone else has had problems with Chirco? I know that this was our 1st and ONLY experience with them. And we won't recommend them to anyone either. My husband builds at least 1 buggy a year as a hobby and we a have numerous friends who have buggies.

[jumpmaster]

Wow...that story alone is enough to make me rethink them as a parts source.

[buggygal]

I don't like to talk about bad people and I believe in giving everyone a chance. But my husband called Joe a couple of times and he really was very uncooperative. In the end his resolution was to give us a refund of $14.87. So, I called my credit card company and disputed the $50 charge because we weren't notified about it and we didn't agree to it. I just felt that it was sneaky charging me 3 days later. When my husband placed his order online it stated that if you had any questions call before paying for it. The website didn't give the shipping price or this extra "boxing" fee he charged to us and when my husband called for the total he was told about $730. I was shocked when I figured it up and it was $797. Their answer was we gave you an "approximate"...well I could have lived with $730-$750 but not almost $800 that to me is not an "approximate".
Their website says "We will notify you by phone or e-mail if any of these charges do apply" referring to shipping charges, it also says "When you complete your profile you will be able to see what your shipping rates will be"....that didn't happen. They couldn't even give us that when we called!

I just don't want anyone else to have the same experience we did. I'm not saying that anyone will have the same experience we did because we have a friend that ordered something last year from Joe and it was fine. But I just wanted people to know about our experience and the way that Joe handled it. I just feel that as a business owner it wasn't handled very professionally. He kept telling my husband on the phone "you don't sound very happy" my husband replied "No I'm not! I have been way over-charged for something I could have ordered locally". So, this is a live & learn lesson for us.

[jumpmaster]

Well, I can certainly agree with that. One of my pet peeves is tacking on fees after the fact. I do everything possible to get an exact quote before they ship anything (as you did) and it would piss me off to no end if they started making extra charges after the fact.

If they won't give me a quote before the order ships, I don't buy from them...they know how much the stuff weighs and they have my zip code. I would have initiated a CC chargeback on your situation if I were you as well.

[Low_Slow]

Ive had experience with Chirco, HIGH SHIPPING PRICES!

[buggygal]

I wish now that I had asked anyone on here about their "experience" with Chirco. But, now we know and hopefully someone else will learn from "our experience".

[turboblue]

[buggygal]

We are in Florida. Yes, he builds about 1 Fiberglass buggy a year. We have a friend building a railbuggy right now. We actually have a Baja project we are getting ready to start and another fiberglass buggy we are going to re-build. So, we will be needing to order more parts.

We are in NE Florida - Jacksonville/Gainesville area so if anyone has any places to recommend or even other places to order online I'm "all ears". I appreciate ALL recommendations!

[UncleBob]

[clearsurf2001]

Give us a general idea of what you need (parts wise) and the forum can make recommendations on sources that have been good to us in the past. Your Chirco experience is not cool at all. I'm with jumpmaster on this one ... dispute those charges with your CC company. Tacking on fees after the fact is bad business.
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Get ready for the injection

[buggygal]

[Isn't there an 'Eastern Imports' over in Gainesville? There's one in Jacksonville I visit sometimes, but I usually can order something out of my Hot-VW's (+ pay shipping) for less than I can get it at 'Eastern'. I only use them (or Hilltop Motors) for 'must-haves'. ]
*******

We have used Eastern Imports in Gainesville but the guy that we like has left the company and the other 2 in the store are not as "knowledgable". We have used Hilltop Motors and they are great but they are just so far out of the way for us.

[/quote]

[Joey072]

I HAD A SIMULAR EXPERIENCE W/ CHIRCO I WAS TRYING TO ORDER A RAGTOP COVER FOR MY CAR. I CALLED FOR A SHIPPING PRICE AND WAS TOLD APX 30 DOLLARS ( I LIVE IN THE SAME STATE). I WANTED AN EXACT AMOUNT I GAVE THEM MY ADDRESS AND THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME A NUMBER. THE WHOLE TIME THE GUY I SPOKE TO COULD HARDLY SPEAK ENGLISH (NOT THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM BUT WOULD HELP IF WE COULD UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER) WAS COMPLETELY RUDE, I INTURN DECIDED NOT TO ORDER FROM THEM.
JUST WANTED TO SHARE MY STORY.
THANKS JOEY

[buggygal]

It just seems like "bad business" when you can't give a customer the price on shipping. Especially when you can online and figure it up by the weight. I actually did that with the items we ordered and it wasn't anywhere NEAR the amount we were charged.

[timsvw]

I placed an order with Joe at Chirco Performance and Restoration on April 16. He said the parts would go out that day. He charged my credit card the next day.

On April 24th I called him back when I hadn't received the parts. He said that he couldn't ship my parts because he was waiting for them to arrive from his supplier. I asked him a question about the part and he said he had to "go get one off the shelf" and look at it. He got the part and answered my question.

I cancelled the order and he said he would issue a credit for the charge he made to my credit card.

I would avoid doing business with this company.

[fatalifeaten]

Huh. I've been buying parts from Chirco for years. Never had an issue with them, in fact, my experiences have been the exact opposite. I needed a trans for my '66 and everyone in Phx was backordered. Joe had 3 in stock, so I Ordered one and a bunch of other small parts I needed to address 40 years of "occasional maintenance". Since I was in a hurry, I drove the 100 miles or so down to Chirco the next morning and all my parts were boxed and waiting for me to pick up. I'd never swapped a transmission before so Joe's counter staff gave me a 10 minute run through on what to watch out for and a direct number to call if I got stuck. I couldn't have been happier

On another occasion, my car was vandalized and I needed driver side glass. Again, no one in the valley had any. One local place said they'd custom cut some for me for a hundred bucks (!). I called Chirco and got a used driver window shipped up. Glass was not perfect, but it was in better condition than the piece that got smashed so I was happy. In the end, all Joe charged me was the 5 dollars shipping to get it up here, and it was packed like it was a shipment of nitroglycerine.

I've had very positive results from Chirco and will continue doing business with them.
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Daily Driven Dubz. Phoenix Family

"I want to know God's thoughts. The rest are details"
--Albert Einstein

'66 Beetle
'63 Beetle

[salty dog]

I have done several buiness transactions with Chirco and have never been disappointed. Joe is a stand up guy and will go the extra mile for everyone. Don also is one of the nicest and most helpful guys you could ever meet. I will continue to do business with them and also refer them to anyone who is in need.
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If you argue with an idiot for more than 5 minutes, who's the real idiot?

67 Fastback RIP 3-1-11
62 Panel/Sub-Hatch/Camper
69 Single Cab

[TimGud]

I've never had any problems with VW parts ordered from Chircos, strange charges on my card, or issues with shipping. Been buying parts from them for close to 20 years too.

[Paul Wilson]

I have been doing business with Chirco's for years. No problems at all. I also will continue to do business with Joe.
Paul
(uglyoffroader)

[FireBug1966]

[neanders]

I'm with FIE: Almost everything I've ordered for my bug has gone through Chirco. I've never had a problem getting either Don or Joe on the phone, getting my questions answered, and getting the parts I need. Are they the cheapest? Not always, but I've always found the service worth the extra $$. And, when I was having problems with my Progressive, I got Jon on the phone 3 times in one afternoon helping me through it. They return my calls, my emails, and respond to questions posted to their forums. They are my supplier of choice for VW parts.

Neil
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It's mine now and I want a BAJA!!!