Customer Reviews

[Swifty1638]

Wow, can't believe i've never posted in here! Here goes:

Chris, Bill, Alex, Kyle, Chris B., etc are all stand up guys. I previously worked with Lil' brown, and knew his work ethic. All of these guys are the same way. Great attention to detail, hire quality people, great inginuity(sp?). Chris's marketing skills, and management background has helped him grow to what they are today. Every time we all turn around they are getting bigger and bigger, selling more and more. I saw a chart with his gross monthly income for sales, and NOT A SINGLE month (atleast that year) did they record a loss! They also grew atleast 25g's each month! THAT'S due to good quality people, and great skillz!

I can say I've known these guys for some time-since the first days of chris's red 2g and helping with tuning back at elite autosport (car was sold ot a friend of mine). Every year they've allowed me to tag along with them on the journey to Ohio for the SO, representing all of us losers here in bi-polar MN. Go on their current list of customer numbers, and I'm number 2. Behind a person I believe who works there. THAT's how long back I go, dealing with these guys, and I CONTINUE to deal with them. Their pricing is hard to beat, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more stand up group. They also give back to us all! Movie night, dyno days, etc. They will go even farther then they already have.

-A. Swift

[v8klla]

Thanks for the kind words sir!

[Swifty1638]

Anything for people that help me out

-A. Swift

[niterydr]

A review from all angles:

I've posted in here a few times, but haven't really given any background for those that aren't "in the old school loop"

My history with Chris and Kyle of Modern Automotive Performance goes back quite a few years. I originally met Kyle with Chris when Chris had brought his vehicle in for some work at my first shop I co-owned, Quick Precision Racing INC. Even then Chris had a great personality and a "do it right" methodology. I was also equally impressed with Kyle's general automotive knowledge and sponge-like attitude towards learning.

We were impressed with Kyle so much that when the opportunity came, we (owners of QPR at the time) hired him on as a tech.

Kyle is the sort of individual that learns quickly. He is eager to share knowledge and willing to learn from someone of they are teaching him something of value, very good qualities to have.

I remember working with chris before he really got bit hard by the modding bug. Helping him tune his old red 2g with a few problems to 400+awhp on RS Motors mustang dyno.. I think it still had the 7 bolt 4g63 in there at time.

As time went QPR came to dissolve the ownership and well...the history is on here of what eventually happened. I started a shop with two other very knowledgeable board members, Ryan and John (LSE Performance).

MAP opened up and was a competitor, but it was always friendly. Chris has done an excellent job of focusing on the important aspects of customer service. Take care of the customer at all costs.

They are also doing quite a few things right. Giving back to the community is a huge thing I like to see. They generate quite a bit of local business, but never forget where they come from, and that is awesome. They are always willing to try out new things, and listen to complaints, concerns, and ideas.

As they continue to expand I get great enjoyment watching them grow and expand. This business has the sort of core values you want to see succeed and grow into an enterprise.

Things did not work out as planned with LSE and we dissolved in 2008. Now that I am no-longer in a competitive or "boss/customer" relationship it is nice to see the respect level is the same. Anytime I need something they are just a quick short call away. That respect goes a long way to generating the all mighty referral.

In Fact, I've also worked hands on with most of the MAP crew. They have are friends and most have been friends or customers (or employees) for a very long time. They are all outstanding community members and only hire people of merit.

So in short, if you haven't used MAP for any of your parts, fabrication, or installation needs, give them a call. You won't be disappointed.

-Josh Swanberg

[v8klla]

Thanks for taking the time to write that Josh, it's been a great journey thusfar and I'm very excited to see what the future holds!

[niterydr]

Originally Posted by v8klla

Thanks for taking the time to write that Josh, it's been a great journey thusfar and I'm very excited to see what the future holds!

It should be good

[Matt D.]

You guys provide for the community like few others do, a huge line of parts, quality craftsmanship, great prices and will basically bend over backwards to help people out. But at the same time I've begun to experience things that make me wonder what the heck you guys are thinking.

First example: I was interested in picking up a Perrin air filter for my Evo. Through forum PMs I was told they are stocked and could just stop by to pick one up, but they were out of stock at the time. I was then told to contact back in a week to see if they were in stock. What? Since when is it up to the customer to check back? So I checked back a week or two later only to find out that they had been sold out again. Ugh... Needless to say I gave up on that game and just ordered one through the site to be shipped to me.

Second example: I found out that MAP could get seat lowering brackets for my car that I couldn't find anywhere else, was told who to contact through AIM to get them ordered, so I did just that. On May 5th I placed the order, sent money through Paypal, provided my phone number as requested and was told I would be called when they arrive. Two quick weeks go by and realized I didn't have the brackets yet so I contacted the person through AIM again.

Me: Guy at MAP, can you give me a status on the seat lowering brackets I ordered on May 5th?
Guy at MAP: they have been in stock.
Guy at MAP: I had (non-MAP employee) try to call ya.

What the...? I can't even comprehend an explanation for this. It completely blows my mind that it is continually up to the customer to check on parts or the status of their order. I have worked in a service-oriented industry for over 10 years, and not once have I expected it to be up to the customer to check on the status of things. I understand that things can get busy, buried and forgotten about, but this is a trend and it's going in the wrong direction.

On the upside, when I wanted suspension parts last year I had great service. I explained what I wanted, went there in person to pay for everything, and was told about a week later when it came in. That's how it should be and I was very happy with that transaction.

On top of all this I have a part I'd like to return and exchange for something else, but on the other hand I'm about ready to sell it and take my business elsewhere.

[Matt D.]

Chris, thanks for making everything right. Please do what it takes to make sure your guys understand that it's their job to stay in touch with the customer, not the other way around.

[v8klla]

No problem sir, as I said over the phone this was a fluke situation in which we had the following names in our system and your latest order just so happened to be put under the one that doesn't have a phone number listed, thus why we reached out to (non-MAP employee) to let you know the parts had arrived

Matt D.
Matt D. 2
Matthew D.

[A//// Guy]

Just put him in the system as The Matt D. lol

[v8klla]

You know what sucks about Quickbooks (and I'm not trying to make excuses at all, don't get me wrong) you have to be in what's called "Single user mode" to be able to combine customer names. That means I have to kick everyone else out of the system while I make this simple change lol, just ridiculous.

[DoughtCom]

Now that I have my parts I can honestly write a legitimate review based on my transactions and the quality of work. The reason I went with MAP is because Chris has always been a really cool guy to work with, the shop is local, the prices on parts and labor are awesome and after seeing Bob's porting work... well it's flawless. The work I had done was a "stage 3" ported head and a "stage 2" ported/coated intake manifold, along with buying quite a few parts like cams/springs, etc.. But was really excited to see Bob's work on my IM/Head.

Sitting down with them on 5/15/09, we talked about parts and what I wanted, this went fairly well. I was then quoted about 2-3 weeks, which I was ok with since it was an expensive job and I didn't have the funds quite yet. I left my cores with them and with a quote that was about $200 cheaper because they misquoted me Evo VIII FP4R's. Bill then IMed me a few hours later to let me know that I was misquoted and then corrected the problem and cut me a small deal on the cams. At this point I was still a fairly happy customer, Bill has always been a great person to deal with and enjoy doing business with him. It was good that he caught the mistake, shows that he's really dedicated to his job and on the ball.

3 1/2 - 4 weeks went by without me really bothering MAP, but then I started worrying. So I went in on 6/18/09 or so and paid about 70% (even though Chris said I didn't need to) what I owed since it wasn't done and talked to them to find out it was another 2-2 1/2 weeks out. This I was understanding of, however extremely disappointed, upset with the lack of communication and felt like a customer that wasn't cared for. I then on 6/22/09 find that another customer was bumped up before me and write them an e-mail explaining my concern with this. Chris e-mailed me back within the hour or so and explained that my head was being worked on then and that it would be done Thursday.

At this point I had already paid off my insurance ahead of time since I had to wait 2 weeks anyway so I didn't have the funds anymore to pay them what I owed. I explained that to them and Chris said I could pickup my parts ahead of time. It was critical to have it by the weekend because a friend was going out of town that was helping me put it together and both of us were trying to get it running for their upcoming Brainerd event.

Thursday (6/25) rolls by and I find that it won't be done until Friday. Friday (6/26) rolls by and I find it won't be done until Saturday and have to remind Bob that I have an Intake Manifold that needs porting/coating as well. Saturday (6/27) rolls by and I get a call at around 3-4PM that it's at the machine shop and they aren't returning MAP's calls. So now that weekend is shot. Monday (6/29) comes along and it's done at 5:30PM. I pick it up WITHOUT the intake manifold. Bob then tells me that the intake manifold will be done at 9PM but could be until 12AM. I get a call at 12:30 AM or so saying it'll be done in 50 minutes or so. I ended up picking it up at 2AM. With that said, however Bob offered to drop it off AT MY HOUSE at 2AM, which was nice of him.

As a customer, this has NOT been a smooth transaction. I also have not been offered a discount or anything to make up for it, other than the small one on the cams. All I was offered was multiple dates/times that couldn't be met which only upsets the customer more.

With all of this said after everything is said and done, Bob is an AMAZING porter and he takes his time with his porting. It's obvious why he's having to push back times and it's definitely worth the money to get his porting work done. Would I do it again? Hell no, not unless I have a core or mentally prepare myself that it's going to be about twice as long as quoted. I think they need to be honest with their customers and or fix the issue of not being able to quote proper times. I also think that they should be more concerned with keeping the customer happy. By either cutting them a little break or giving them store credit or ANYTHING to help motivate their customers with returning knowing that the timeline they're quoted isn't remotely accurate.

[v8klla]

It really upsets me to see comments like this from you. I know that the wait period for your head was longer than anyone anticipated, and I can't apologize enough, but I have to point out that we put your work in front of other customers (yes there are people waiting more than 7 weeks at this point), we let you take the head without full payment, and Bob busted his ass to get this done for you (unless you think working until midnight is normal) and then delivered it to your house. We greatly value your business and the lines of communication were always open in regards to the status of your project. I'm not sure what we could have done differently to make this situation better other than greatly exaggerate the estimated time frame to cover unforeseen circumstances that may arise. I guess we will be taking that route in the future.

[DoughtCom]

Honestly... that's not the reply I was looking for. But I will conclude with this. Bob busted his ass on my stuff, you're right. I've worked 120 hours to get my job done (slept under my desk 3 nights in a row that week) so I take my work serious as apparently Bob does.

I was fairly reasonable in my review and if you read it, it's MOSTLY praise. You can take it how you want and be upset but considering the circumstances I would be happy it's a laid back person writing the review. I've already contacted Bill and told him I'm paying the full amount today, even before you replied to this.

[At-Least-It's-An-Evo]

Originally Posted by v8klla

I guess we will be taking that route in the future.

Sometimes you just have to do it. That's the only way to not have unhappy Kranky customers who will only come back and talk shit.

There seems to be quite a number of 400 DD/Mustang dyno Evos around here.... Wonder who's fastest. MN EVO Shootout at Brainerd?

[v8klla]

It's a balancing act that we just haven't gotten right as of yet as we are still getting used to having Bob on our team while at the same time experiencing a huge increase in demand. We can quote an exaggerated time frame and risk losing the business or quote what it should take and risk a review like this if we aren't able to meet the dead line.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by v8klla

I'm not sure what we could have done differently to make this situation better other than greatly exaggerate the estimated time frame to cover unforeseen circumstances that may arise. I guess we will be taking that route in the future.

I think this may be the best route for you to take until you're able to get planning/scheduling down more accurately. Missed deadlines seems to be a continuing problem; its always better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa.

[DoughtCom]

Originally Posted by Kracka

I think this may be the best route for you to take until you're able to get planning/scheduling down more accurately. Missed deadlines seems to be a continuing problem; its always better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa.

Agreed, which is honestly all I was trying to say. Like I said I'm extremely happy with the quality of the work and Bob's efforts that night. I have always liked working with Chris and especially Bill I just was disappointed with the last transaction. Just need to figure out the scheduling and over quote time, it's something I've had to learn throughout my years as a programmer.

[Jakey]

Originally Posted by v8klla

It's a balancing act that we just haven't gotten right as of yet as we are still getting used to having Bob on our team while at the same time experiencing a huge increase in demand. We can quote an exaggerated time frame and risk losing the business or quote what it should take and risk a review like this if we aren't able to meet the dead line.

You must quote an exaggerated timeline. Even though the economy still is in the shitter, I have yet to find a supplier with a shorter leadtime than before the economy shit. Business is business and if you do not meet deadlines, you're fucked. You're better off coming in early than late. It is critical that customers are properly briefed that quality has a leadtime, junk is fast.

[Mike Neal!]

Thanks MAP for comin thru with the hook up on the oil feed line!!