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My experience with Koni

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Old 06-30-2010, 01:23 PM
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Default My experience with Koni

Dished out a few pockets of change to get some nice struts, two front struts... upon arrival, one adjuster is seized, I call Koni started the warranty process, and chose the option to pay 1/2 price and have them send me the replacement strut pronto...

-Two weeks later, nothing, not a word from Koni, or email.
-I call them up, they tell me they are back-ordered for 2 months. (yea, thanks for the heads up...)
-2 months go by, and nothing, not a word, email, letter, not even a ******* carrier pigeon from Koni.
-I email them... they respond next day and say it was shipped the week before. (again, thanks for the follow up...)
-Last night, I got the strut I've waited for!!! So excited, I open the box and guess what? The strut was not secured in the box, the spring cup was loose -it was stroking up and down the strut, just from looking at the all the scratches and paint chips!!

Trust me, I'm no 'queer eye for the camaro guy' ranting about cosmetics.. but just that this **** of service - I just couldn't imagine experiencing from a manufacturer with a reputation like Koni.

I did call them first to complain, trying to be calm and constructive, but I'm just ... they offered to send me a can of spray paint *which made me laugh out loud inside*, and I got that condescending response because I wasn't exactly being calm and professional... except in this case, I was the customer, and the negligence of their error acknowledgement just shows the level of integrity they upkeep.
Old 06-30-2010, 01:34 PM
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That is unacceptable, IMHO. Did they refund your 1/2 price after they received the bad shock? So many companies seem to have QC problems and I think most people never call them on it, largely because performance parts are installed at a shop and the customer is largely unaware of the issues. There is something to be said for doing it yourself! (I have a Borla cat-back QC story you would not believe, and they also seem to have a good reputation too)

Ya should have taken a picture of how it was packed, to send them and post it here.
Old 06-30-2010, 01:51 PM
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Did you order from an odd vendor or through Koni?? I've had a couple bad runs with a couple places but nothing this bad.
Old 06-30-2010, 01:57 PM
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Thats ******* shitty man
Old 06-30-2010, 02:08 PM
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Yea its a big bummer...

I'm shipping the broken one back today, we'll see about the refund - although I do have confidence the transaction part will be more pleasant. They didn't charge me 2 months early for the replacement, and they do respond when you end up following back up with them.

I just REALLY hope this lack of attention to detail hasn't/doesn't spread to the manufacturing plant...

Just looking at the PO: it says "93-99 CAMARO FRNT" ... Mines a 00... Koni confirmed they will fit on the phone call, and said "whats written on there doesn't matter" (????) WOW, so its okay to mess up PO's these days???
Old 06-30-2010, 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by bayer-z28
Did you order from an odd vendor or through Koni?? I've had a couple bad runs with a couple places but nothing this bad.
I actually ordered through Sam - who was excellent, he got the shocks to my door in less than a week. I discussed the issue with the strut with Sam, he did advise to call him again if the process did not go well with Koni warranty... which was awesome of him, but I strongly feel that Koni needs to be accountable for their lifetime guarantee, not Sam.

I paid big bucks for Koni's 'finest quality product...', and I received absolutely nothing in my experience with Koni to back that up. Sam did his part & beyond for my expectations - goes for both in coaching me in my setup, and offering to help with Koni's obvious shortcomings...
Old 06-30-2010, 02:44 PM
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I still think if your a dealer and you sell someones products, instead of the customer having to deal with this, the dealer should be the one who deals with the company. I just believe you should get what you pay for, and shouldnt have to deal with shitty customer service.
Old 06-30-2010, 03:07 PM
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Come to think of it, My buddy had some similar odd shipping issues with Strano springs, no Koni's though. His order sat there for a month before they filled it or even sent him payment confirmation. He may chime in later today about it.
Old 07-06-2010, 10:49 PM
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FWIW:
I have the Koni SA's, and the adjusters also seized up after aprox 2 years.
Finding the receipt will be a trick.
Old 07-07-2010, 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by bayer-z28
Come to think of it, My buddy had some similar odd shipping issues with Strano springs, no Koni's though. His order sat there for a month before they filled it or even sent him payment confirmation. He may chime in later today about it.
First, not sure what that has to do with Koni...

Second, I'm often on backorder on springs. I try to put that on the website, and contact folks telling them so when they order. I probably miss one or two in the process.

Third, I don't charge for the springs until they are here, ready to ship, because I think that's the correct thing to do. But it seems that some thing I should charge for them regardless. I kind of damned if do, damned if I don't sometimes.

Fourth and finally. Why did the person not call me if they had questions?
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Old 07-07-2010, 10:41 AM
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As for Koni warranty: In my experience they have been very, very good. Sometimes they run out of shocks--which makes replacing them a bit difficult. I think they should keep some on hand there just for cases like this, but I'm not ITT/Koni.

The warranty is theirs, it is not mine. I'm happy to try and help if you bought them from me, but I can't magically make them appear any more than your dealer can whip up backordered warranty parts from GM.
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Old 07-07-2010, 10:41 AM
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As for Koni warranty: In my experience they have been very, very good. Sometimes they run out of shocks--which makes replacing them a bit difficult. I think they should keep some on hand there just for cases like this, but I'm not ITT/Koni.

The warranty is theirs, it is not mine. I'm happy to try and help if you bought them from me, but I can't magically make them appear any more than your dealer can whip up backordered warranty parts from GM.
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Old 07-07-2010, 03:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Sam Strano
First, not sure what that has to do with Koni...

Second, I'm often on backorder on springs. I try to put that on the website, and contact folks telling them so when they order. I probably miss one or two in the process.

Third, I don't charge for the springs until they are here, ready to ship, because I think that's the correct thing to do. But it seems that some thing I should charge for them regardless. I kind of damned if do, damned if I don't sometimes.

Fourth and finally. Why did the person not call me if they had questions?
Yeah, some prefer to be billed on processing so the money doesn't sit in their account to protect from it getting spent elsewhere while others would rather hold off until the product is ready to be shipped/in stock so they have the chance to either back out or know that in the case of long delays they aren't out a decent sum of money waiting an unknown amount of time.

Maybe you could tack on an option in the billing to process payment now, or upon restocking of your inventory. Default it to whatever you prefer, but give them the option, that way it basically becomes their responsibility to decide, cut some of the headache when they gripe at you.

OP, I know how you feel.



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