DSS problem, don't make my mistake

To Brett :

Your invoice appears below paid in full. Unfortunately I misplaced your order in our system and it was just brought to my attention today so work will begin immediately, and I anticipate being able to ship by the end of the month.

If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call. Again it was my fault and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you for your business - we appreciate it very much.


Sincerely,
Nick
D.S.S.,Inc.

ordered my new shortblock on 1/26/2006. Guy told me two weeks to build and 3-4 days to ship. Got this email when I left a message checking up on the progress. Car has been at the shop a week in pieces waiting and shopowner now wants me to tow it home or pay him storage. Either way I'm screwed for another 3 weeks.
Thanks DSS

Never assume things are on schedule, double check every couple of days. I just didn't cause I didn't want to be a pain in the ass, but it sure would have saved me some money this time
 
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Same thing happened with my parts at the machine shop. I called a few times in the past but felt that I was being a pain in the a$$ so I stopped calling. Finally decided to call like 2-3 later and the guys said it got misplaced and forgot about. He made good and quickly got it done that week but I could have saved alot of time if I just kept calling every few days. I am probably about 1 month behind right now.
 
When I got my motor several years ago...I had to wait on afr 185's cuz they were on back order (my short block the "pro bullet" back then, was pre made...I guess they were popular enough that they had them pre-made and ready to go). I was told by dss they would be 3-4 weeks and my heads would be in their next shipment. I told them to give me AFR's phone # and I called them to see when they would have DSS's next shipment out and then told me about the same time. Afer the second week I called AFr twice a week to see if they had shipped them out. When I got a yes from AFR I called DSS every day to see if they had recieved my heads. And sure enough...they got them at the four week mark and they had it assembled in 2days and I picked it up. I was young and impatient then and I'm kinda glad I was. Sorry to hear about what happend to you. I would have them rush your order and or try to get some discount. Complain...tell them your side of the situation and see if you can get anything outta them...it'll only take a couple of minutes on the phone.
 
I can tell you from experience that you'll get a lot more action if you approach them in a calm and professional matter. Simply explain the situation to them and see what they say and see if they offer to do anything first before you start demanding stuff. If you come across all pissed off and demanding things right off the bat they'll get on the defensive as would anyone and give you a harder time. If you call calmly and they give you the run around call back the next day and ask to speak with the manager/head of operations and explain the situation again and see what they have to say. If you still get no action then start demanding things! Hope it all works out.
 
they should have offered to give you a discount or some sort of upgrade for your inconvenience. as paul said, call back and be calm about it. explain that this screw up is now costing you daily for storage of your car at the shop. they should, as a stand up business, either give you an upgrade of some sort, a discount on the motor, or pay the storage fees to the shop. good luck with it. i got lucky with mine i guess. i ordered my nearly complete engine on 1/10/06 from chp. the next contact i had was with the shipping company at the 5 week mark. they had my motor and wanted to deliver it the next day. i was told 4-6 weeks turnaround. let us know how your call goes.
 
Killercanary said:
I can tell you from experience that you'll get a lot more action if you approach them in a calm and professional matter. Simply explain the situation to them and see what they say and see if they offer to do anything first before you start demanding stuff. If you come across all pissed off and demanding things right off the bat they'll get on the defensive as would anyone and give you a harder time. If you call calmly and they give you the run around call back the next day and ask to speak with the manager/head of operations and explain the situation again and see what they have to say. If you still get no action then start demanding things! Hope it all works out.

:stupid:

Definately use the calm route first. He didn't offer any break because no one wants to have to give a discount if you just accept it and go on. So, I definately think you need to call them and explain the situation, that you were given a deadline by them and that it wasn't met and is now costing you money. And definately save that email they sent you for proof later if they try and say they didn't promise you anything. :nice:
 
Nick from DSS called me thursday and told me he talked to the owner of DSS about my problem and their screwup. Nick told me that the owner was going to move my engine up to the front of the line. What a crock. As a business owner, I cringe at treatment like that. If there are no reprecussions for screwups, then you are doomed to repeat them and not care. Well, they just pissed me off. I never yelled or lost my temper in my talks or emails with DSS. I just waited to see what they would do to get a satisfied customer. I didn't want money off. I would have settled for a free upgrade, you know, a main support or windage tray, something that cost them about $30 or $50 bucks. But I got nothing but apologies......I'm sorry don't cut it in business. I will never recommend DSS to anyone and well chime in every time I see their names in the forums I frequent. I went with them cause my shop owner got a 347 long block from them last year, so I know that word of mouth works

Thanks for all the replies and help guys

Brett
 
did you pay with a credit card? if so i would call and cancel. if they give you a hassle dispute the charge with your card company. that is BS. i got my motor from CHP. placed the order on 1/10 and was told there was a 4-6 week turnaround time. on 2-10 they took the rest of the balance off my card so i assume it shipped at that point. the motor was in my garage during the middle of week 5. i never once called to check on the status of my order. i know that vibrantredgt had the exact same experience with them. if it is going to take the same amount of time you might want to give them a call. i would refuse to give my hard earned money to a company that treated me like that.
 
I would be a little frustrated too. But it is a learning experience -- after getting treated like this by better than 50% of everyone I have done business with online, I am now much more proactive.

I also decided a long time ago that any engine work I needed would be done locally. Fortunately 5.0's are so easy & common that there are a number of good choices near where I live.

Dave
 
Green 94 5.0 said:
did you pay with a credit card? if so i would call and cancel. if they give you a hassle dispute the charge with your card company. .t.
I used American Depress (express) when I painted the car. When the paint started flaking and the shop owner gave me a hard time, I threatened to dispute the charge. He said "that's why I dont like to accept credit cards" :lol: Guess it happened to him before....He took care of it though!
RC
 
yobi1kanobi said:
yeah thats why i didnt go the mail order way. Local machine shop is for me.good luck though.

Good advice.I wouldn`t go with a flashy magazine hyped builder like DSS or any other either.
There`s more than a few bad complaints about DSS and shoddy workmanship.

A good local builder is your best bet.