Coastaltech in business?

they are, but they're EXTREMLEY slow with their orders...


Yea, it sucks


*currently is awaiting the NAV kit add on thingy*

 

I ordered in March and I'm waiting too. You're in good company. A very large pool of it.

 

yup, I got an email on Monday from them, telling me my 2" hitch receiver kit was on the way, and they charged my credit card yesterday. UPS tracking shows will arrive tomorrow. I had ordered back in late April, and they were out of stock at the time.

RPM

 

I also ordered a few things from them a month or so. No confirmation of my order, and no merchandise. I've emailed them and called them, but no reply. They aren't the kind of business/people I want my hard earned money to go to - even if they do make neat stuff!

 

I ordered an XM kit and EV Mode Kit. I got them both in a timely manner (I was waiting on the order until they had more of the one year of XM service gift cards available).

I had a question about the EV kit after receiving my shipment. E-mailed them, and got a response within about half a day. Responded to their response, and they again responded within about half a business day.

I can only give my experience... Maybe I'm in the minority because I was asking a tech question, and not asking for my merchandise!

 

I received an XM, EV and power lock after about a month of ordering. This past weekend I installed everything with out any inconvinience, and All the Kits worked perfectly.
Called about the month delay/waiting and have a person in the other side of the Phone line ( after several tries) with the right answer, the merchandise will leave such date and it did.
Thank you CoastalETech.
A Happy customer B)

 

The stuff they have they have. The other stuff is in development. My understanding of the Nav Mod is that the connectors are the hang up. It is proprietary to the Toyota and they have problems getting these. Not an excuse. I think they have good intentions but the capability of developing the products. So we wait. What else can we do?

 

Coastal has a bad attitude.

I ordered the video device a few months ago and as with what I have seen in this thread I have gotten no response. I decided to get the EV switch too. I called them to add it to my order to my order so I would not have to pay shipping twice. The woman I spoke to was downright rude to begin with but when I asked her when she thought the unit would be shipped she basically told me to buy it or don't you can't get this stuff anywhere else.

Is it true? You can't get this stuff anywhere else? I would even pay more not to have to deal with these folks.

 

It depends on what you want. The XM and the A/V input can be gotten somewhere else. There's instructions on this site on how to make your own EV switch (although Coastal makes installation very easy) or get it from another place. Nobody else makes the auto door lock or the NAV override. Of course with the latter you can use the trick so that isn't so bad.

 

I'm working on an auto door look mod which will be triggered by shifting out of "Park" vs. the Coastal "seatbelt" method, although it will actually be reasonably easy to switch the input to pretty much any trigger you want: imagine, auto door locks triggered by your windshield wipers! You can sync them to the motion of the wipers- lock-unlock-lock-unlock.. Ok, just kidding.. I will not be building the mod for sale, but I will make the schematics available for free so anyone can implement it...

 

What years would this be for? One the 2004-2005 model it works when the car reaches 15mph. The earlier one is the seatbelt method.

 

I think you guys are all throwing Coastal Tech a bad bone. This is a small family run company that has been overwhelmed with popularity because of the things they wanted to do for their fellow Prius owners. You all have to give them a break and stop talking about them like they're animals. They started their business because they wanted to help people. They're not millionaires. You guys may have had negative experiences with them, but you have to understand that THEY are not the bad guys. Just their backed up company. They cannot answer 100s of phone calls and emails a day. They're supposed to be working on orders and research for crying out loud! Don't put them down for not being able to respond and reply to everyone! Don't be so selfish! UGH

 

We are not being selfish, and we understand that this is just a sideline to their regular jobs. But if they cannot answer the "100s of phone calls and emails," then why not hire a temp to do just that? Or change their web site so it explains some of the delays? Some people have ordered stuff months ago and can't find out why it hasn't come yet. We'd understand if a part was unavailable, but if we don't know there aren't many options, except wait in silence.

They don't charge your credit card until shipped which is good. And it's true that they aren't the bad guys. I've heard that they are wonderful people who want to make the Prius better. But they are the ones in charge of their "backed up company." It's time for expansion. Looking at their site, they have a lot of items "Coming Soon," so they'll have to do something to make the company prosper.

 

I'm not throwing them a bad bone. They gave us the bad bone. They have EARNED their bad reputation. If they're such good people, why did I have to complain to the Florida Attorney General and the Florida Better Business Bureau before I received a refund for the items I PAID for and NEVER received? (Check out the thread regarding the Better Business Bureau Response) If they cannot handle their volume, a RESPONSIBLE business owner would either find a way to handle it (i.e., hiring help or quitting their "day" job), or do something to discourage business a bit like raising their prices. And by the way, no they shouldn't have to respond to everyone, but they should respond to a paying customer if they have a question.

I will telly everyone I can NOT to order from them. They are not a reputable company these days. They may have been at one time, but those days are long gone. I spend my money elsewhere these days and am much happier because of it.

 

It doesn't help that the eye of Hurricane Wilma just ran over their home (Indialantic, FL). They will have further delays I'm sure.
PS I got my stuff last Thursday after 3 weeks (mud flaps, EV harness, oil filter)

 

It'd be so easy for them to avoid most of the criticism by just maintaining a web page with what items are in stock and what aren't, and sending a bulk email saying "if your order is for one of the items listed on our page, it's backordered and you can check the page for updates."

The fact that they haven't done such a thing I think shows a fundamental problem in the way they approach customer service.

 

I agree. A simple web site update with "Hey, you guys. Sorry, but we just can't seem to get these things manufactured." would be great. I ordered the A/V back the week it came out on the site--what was that? February? No word, no nothing. Still the same old "6 to 8 weeks" on the website.

Obviously, it's WAY PAST 6 to 8 weeks now. Not a problem--they didn't charge my card (and I've since cancelled that card)--but COME ON! Dave's gotta know how excited we are for the bits, just tell us what's going on. Even bad news is better than NO news.

 

Ordered the EV kit a few weeks ago and received it yesterday. So yes they are in business.