Success:Coastal Electronic Phone Number My Story...

Can you be more specific?

When did you place the order?

What did you order?

What kind of delivery did you specify?

Have you recieved a UPS delivery notification?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilwckb252 @ Feb 20 2007, 06:45 PM) [snapback]393584[/snapback]</div>

If anyone calls and has any success please post here, in the meantime I suggest you do not do business with this "organization". They do NOT respond and have no customer service. I have made it my job to go through Priuschat and make sure any threads that mention them also point to this thread:

http://priuschat.com/Bad-experience-with-c...ech-t29730.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AnOldHouse @ Feb 20 2007, 05:50 PM) [snapback]393589[/snapback]</div>

Matt,
I have been watching this thread for the last few days. I certainly share your concerns about Coastal, but, I would like to share my story that I hope after today, will have a happy ending.
I purchased the EV mod, the Lockpick 3, and the Valor I-Link. They arrived as scheduled and I was billed correctly. I installed everything per their instructions ( excellent instructions by the way ) and everything worked as advertised except the I-Link. It seemed as though my "generation" of IPOD is in-compatable. I tried calling Coastal several times( their number is usually at the bottom of the page when you click "Prius Acces.)but, no one answered.
A few days later I noticed the message on their web site that they had gone to Vegas for a convention. So, I went out and bought a new 30GB Video IPOD, and guess what, it didn't work either! Then I decided to call Valor, the manufacturer, and deal with them until Coastal was back from Vegas.
To make a long story short, Valor was already aware that the "new generation" IPOD that I had gone out and bought would not work because of Apple's new OS software! They were franticly trying to fix the problem and told me I could download the software fix when it became available. Okay, I start calling Coastal again after their return date and, no answer, no answer,etc. Finally a week later I get a hold of Kelley one of the owners and explain my problem. She said that I could return the I-Link for a full refund no questions. I said that thank you, but, that I was going to give Valor a few weeks to fix the problem. She said that would be fine but, to send her an email putting in writing our discussion so that we could document this, and, because I would go over the 30 day return policy. This way they would still honor the return if that is what I wanted to do.
3 weeks go by and no fix from Valor so I decide instead of a refund that I would like to get the mud flaps, the auto door lock and the powerport mod. I called several times and no anwer. I fowarded my earlier email with my new request and 1 day later I got a response saying "no problem". I boxed up my return and sent it via Fed Ex. The next day I left on a 6 day trip all over Central America. When I returned last night I hoped that my products would be there...they weren't. As I said earlier, I had been following this thread for a few day's so I was a little concerned. This morning I decided to try and call again and they answered the phone on the second ring!!! It was Kelley again, and I explained the situation to her. She put me on hold for a minute or so and came back and said, the return was there and what items did I want I gave her my wish list and it totalled $20 dollars more than my return. I said to go ahead and bill the difference to my credit card. She said no, that they would take care of the difference AND the shipping, and ship it out tomorrow!!!
Now, as most of us know, Coastal's products are great and work as advertised. This is why I think that we have all kind of let their customer support slide because we WANT their product. I truly believe that this thread has made them aware of their short comings in this area and that we should see an improvement. I will update this as soon as I receive my shipment. My advice to Matt and anyone else reading this thread, is, lets give them another chance to get it right. Their products are fantastic and are a good value. Sorry to go on so long!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(G-IVSP Pilot @ Feb 20 2007, 11:32 PM) [snapback]393725[/snapback]</div>

Yes, there are positive experiences reported. But I'm sorry, despite the quality and value of their products, there are simply too many reports of poor service and lack of responsiveness for me to consider doing business with them. Even you had difficulty contacting them.

Their shortcomings are not new. How will these threads make them aware, and why would the threads even make a difference? If Coastal monitors the Prius forums, no one would ever know it. I've never seen a public response to any of these concerns posted here or elsewhere.

I'll either find other sources for their accessories or, for items they alone make, do without.

 

Face it, we have no alternatives. Coastaletech offers great products we cannot get anywhere else and they provide thorough and easy to follow instructions.

But admittedly, they've never returned my voice mails or emails. When... they are there to answer the phone, or aren't on the phone dealing with an impatient customer, they have always dealt with me in a professional and expedient manner.

Clearly it is a small family run operation. And, sometimes they have to wait on back orders. The key with them is patience and perseverance. If you lack patience, please do not do business with this company and stop clogging up this board with your useless rants.

I have placed orders with no problems and other times had small problems. My last order had a couple of mix ups but was finally sent on its way several weeks after placing an order over the internet. Late the very same day UPS said it would be delivered, UPS declared the shipment was damaged in transit and UPS duly referred me back to the vendor. Talk about being frustrated! And, it clearly was no fault of Coastal.

Apparently the shipping vendor has the responsibility to file a claim with UPS for reimbursement. Fearing I might have to wait until it was sorted out, I fired off an email to Coastaletech. No surprise; no answer. After reading this board, I have no doubt they didn't have time to answer me because they were too busy dealing with impatient and unreasonable customers.

After just a few calls over a couple of days, Kelly finally answered, and I gave my story. She responded, "didn't you get my email?" I didn't belabor the point. Kelly indicated her alleged email explained that they had sent another shipment and they would sort it out with UPS later. Two days later my shipment (Ultimate Lockpick3 and Receiver Hitch) arrived--complete with the now anticipated clear instructions, and of course the infamous Jelly Bellys.

I'd do business with them again in a heartbeat and I'd recommend them to others, but with a word of caution to be patient and use a major credit card that will immediately reverse charges and ask questions about the dispute later. That may get your money back, but not get you the unique toy you truly covet.

No reply to this post is necessary or warranted. Regardless, no further response from me will be forthcoming. D.L.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RaleighMatt @ Feb 20 2007, 07:33 PM) [snapback]393675[/snapback]</div>

Dude, get a life.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(driverlee @ Feb 26 2007, 12:07 AM) [snapback]396545[/snapback]</div>

Well, I will respond anyway. It's not up to you to judge whether a response to your rant is warranted, and I suggest you not judge others' rants. I for one don't consider them "useless." Though the tone of some leaves a little to be desired, the message is clear and consistent -- and helps me make an informed decision.

Which is (as you suggest): I will not do business with Coastal. That's my alternative. It's not so much a matter of patience; it's the unfulfilled expectation of a certain level of good business practices that many have suffered through. Frustration from undelivered merchandise, unreturned phone calls, and unanswered e-mails is not just impatience, and it's more than understandable. If you can deal with all that, then God bless you. I choose not to.

 

I've bought three times from Coastal without any problems regarding customer service. I've always ordered using ground shipping. Perhaps my patience and politeness with a small mom and pop company has paid off.

September 2005: Bought EV mode, door locks, mud guards and original nav/bluetooth override kit. I was aware that the nav/bt kit was back ordered. Everything else came in within a week. nav/bt kit arrived in January 2006 when the product was released.

July 2006: Bought EV mode, door locks and mud guards in anticipation of getting a new Prius. Everything came in within a week.

February 2007: Bought the Ultimate LockPick 3 Plus. Came in within a week.

February 2007: The EV mode and door lock kits I bought in July 2006 fail to function on installation at my dealer. Both items replaced within 10 days after a polite exchange of phone messages and emails between both my dealer and Coastal and between me and Coastal.

Yes, I've seen a few negative stories here, but they are frequently repeated. I've also seen how immaturely impatient people are, how they demand instant gratification and then are outraged when they don't get their way after sending Coastal nasty emails and voicemails.

RalieghMatt is a classic case in point. He alone has posted 22 times and every single one of them was to slam Coastal based on his one experience. An experience that, in my opinion, his obvious immaturity and impatience CAUSED. He has yet to contribute to PriusChat in any other way. Why should I give any credibility to this nonsense? Far too often, I see where the disgruntled customer got nasty with Coastal way before ever giving them an opportunity to even respond to their first communication.

On the other hand, I also continue to see far more signatures, quietly proclaiming a laundry list of Coastal mods from obviously very happy customers, like me. That says much more to me than a few disproportionately very noisy disgruntled customers that caused the problem themselves.

I will absolutely not hesitate to order again from Coastal as soon as they come out with some additional item I want to add to my Prius.

All comments to my rant, of course, are welcome.

 

:lol: QUOTE: "No reply to this post is necessary or warranted. Regardless, no further response from me will be forthcoming. D.L."

That's worth a :lol:

Open forum... Instructed to *NOT* respond or comment... As I commented :lol: :lol:

Have a great day, D.L.

 

Sadly, right now I am in the list of the disappointed - I have phoned and emailed them 3 days running wth no response - I am now trying to figure out how to cancel my order and ship back the part that was delivered

 

When I first got the Prius I started looking at toys, I found Coastal. I phoned them with a couple of questions that I had, and surprise, they answred the phone explained the questions to my satisfaction, and I placed my order. ALL 3 units showed up in a very timely manor, The instructions were easy to understand, and the installation went smoothly!

I have absolutly no complaints with Coastal Tech.

I like their products, they were professional in my case, and I would be happy to do buisness again with them.

73 de Pat KK6PD

 

I take that back. Although the delivery was slow, it got to me. Apparently their call cnetre had not conveyed the message that my item needed to be amended, so when I receievd it, it was the wrong item. Anyway, I followed the retun instructions and sent the item back on Friday.

Here is my tracking status based on the email I received on Monday:

JACKSONVILLE,
FL, US 09/24/2008 9:16 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
09/24/2008 12:11 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN MELBOURNE,
FL, US 09/23/2008 8:10 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
09/23/2008 7:49 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
09/23/2008 6:28 P.M. PICKUP SCAN US 09/23/2008 8:16 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Guess they're doing their best and their aftersales is spot on.

I'll keep you all posted.op2:

 

I have made a few purchases from Coastal Tech and though it took longer than I would have liked, I did receive their promised merchandise and it worked fine.

If you are having trouble, you can express that by spending your money elsewhere. As far as I am concerned, that is the best way to demonstrate your satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, they seem to be the only game in town. Hopefully, since the popularity of the Prius has just exploded we will see other tuner shops making cool things for our little cars.
Vote with your money!

 

I orderered the EV Mod, the LockPick 3+ and an always-on 12 volt accessory upgrade from CoastalETech. Only one week from order to delivery (using the cheapest shipping available). Installed the EV Mod in 10 minutes using their very clear instructions. Installed the first half of the LockPick (under the driver's seat portion) in 5 minutes.
Both work great and were easier than I anticipated.
I will have no second thoughts about ordering from them in the future.

 

Have now fitted the CoastaleTech lockpick and it works fine except that the Nav override won;t function (though I suspect this is because my car is a European one which also won;t accept the manual override by screen sequence . . .)

I made a mistake on my order and once they had shipped the oncorrect one (after quite some while) I managed to get ot sent back and replaced without any problems.

All in all I am happy with my purchase . . .as I mainly bought it to play my mp3s through the stero . . but a little gutted that the nav override is dependent on the scrren shortcut which does not work on my version of the prius. Ah well. I guess I'll have to do the speedwire override!

 

I too had a terrible experience with Coastal, and will never do business with them again.

Not only did they ship the wrong product, but I ended up having to pay to ship back the wrong product, and eventually was able to cancel my order because of the terrible customer service.

When I waited weeks before finally being able to get someone to contact me, I was told it was because they had lots of orders.

Not from me they won't!

 

I would believe that it if the exact thing hadn't happened to me. In my case, their confusing website caused a mistake in the order, which I immediately (within 5 minutes) called them about and asked that my order be changed.

Two weeks later I received the wrong item, after they totally ignored my phone call--I have a serious problem with anyone who blames a call center these days. If they are having trouble receiving messages, they should either get a better call center to do their processing, or get out of business.

After waiting for the wrong item to arrive, I then had to pay to send it back, and cancelled my order. I will never do business with a company like this. Terrible customer service? No, nonexistent customer service.