Leaking Hi-spec calipers :(

[audiman]

Had to take the wheels off today to do my gearbox job, only to find that one on the fluid seals on the N/S caliper is leaking fluid!!!!! :mad: Not happy. also some of the other caliper dust boots have come out and the pistons are open to the elements! They will be getting a phone call tomorrow from an unhappy customer!

[A6 AVANT]

Hope they don't try and fob you off with excuses, saying fitted incorrectly,pads too low etc. Some parts people can be awkward just like insurance companies!!
Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[Dr H]

****** 'ell Tom you seem to have all the bad luck.

Hispec now sell seal and piston kits for the calipers. Get them to send you then for nowt. Any ideas how this has happened?

Leigh

[audiman]

They will be sending more than that Leigh!!! I want two brand new calipers out of them and some more Dot 5.1 fluid for Fook all.

They just leaked. When i phoned them after buying them cos the pistons were tight and i couldnt get the pads in, they said that a new bloke has making the calipers and they were having some problems with them. Will use this as ammo. Will have some new calipers before the weekend.

[Dr H]

Sounds like you got a dodgy pair from day one . Good luck and let us know how Hispecs customers service is.

Leigh

[audiman]

Well Hi-spec were very good. First of all the lady there wanted me to send the caliper back fore inspection, but when i told her i was meeting you lot on Monday and didnt have enough time for that, she then said that they would send me down a new caliper and a seal/dustboot kit! But the courier has to take the other one back straight away. Fair enough. Was very pleased with the service offered and they apologised for the problems. At least something good has happened today!
Check the clutch slipping thread

[audiman]

I take it all back! Hi-spec are ****ing useless. I was expecting a new caliper on Wednesday, it never turned up. couldnt get hold of them yesterday, so when i did today, Fiona said she would look into it and phone me back! She never did, so i phoned again(its hard to get hold of them), she says she has been to busy to chase it up and will phone me in 10 minutes. Nothing. I phoned again to find out that they havent sent it yet!!

She says that they have been really busy. I told her that i to am really busy and i have spent most of the day trying to get some answers as to where the hell my faulty caliper replacement is. If its not with me tomorrow then its gonna be trading standards for selling faulty goods/poor quality. Its not good enough. Brakes are very important when running nearly 400bhp!

The car is sat on a ramp at work with no brakes, waiting to fit the new parts. Its been there all week with the clutch crap and now this, im getting so annoyed. told Fiona that i will be warning all previous and potential buyers about the poor aftersales care that i have had this weekend. She sounded as if she couldnt careless.

They will when i phone trading standards!!!

Sorry for the long post but i just thought i would let you all know how poor the service from them has been. Leigh and Jim(?) check your calipers!!

[Dr H]

Tom

Some RS246.com guys run hispecs and they have only good things to say - apart from customer service. I've been to hispec and they are tiny, they are becoming a victim of their own success, far too busy. They need to get it sorted :mad:.

My calipers look fine but I have a sneaking feeling that you hammer yours more than me.

I really hope you get stuff sorted out

Leigh

[Mark Halligan]

Tom,

It makes me ****ing angry when I hear things like this, if it was me I'd be parked outside their place first thing tomorrow (but I do live a lot nearer them than you).

I dont doubt Leigh is probably right that you do hammer your brakes a lot harder than the average bear, but thats not the point.
Brakes are something that cant be compromised upon, and if a company choose to trade under the name HI-SPEC then you would rightly expect their product to be exactly that and to perform under all conditions no matter how arduous, i.e. they should be able to withstand the odd caning without failure.
Of course things things do happen occasionally to the best of products, but to receive the response that you have had is appalling.

Maybe you'll be woken up tomorrow by the courier with a new set, but I doubt it.

Hope you get it sorted.

Rant over,

Mark.

[Dr H]

Originally posted by Mark Halligan
Tom,


I dont doubt Leigh is probably right that you do hammer your brakes a lot harder than the average bear, but thats not the point.
Brakes are something that cant be compromised upon, and if a company choose to trade under the name HI-SPEC then you would rightly expect their product to be exactly that and to perform under all conditions no matter how arduous, i.e. they should be able to withstand the odd caning without failure.

Totally agree! They need to sort out their attitude, they don't seem to realise how important things are to the customer. They offered a solution but didn't deliver - not good :mad: Don't they realise that the customer is king. Good experience = tell 2 or 3 mates, bad experience = tell as many people as possible!

[dan_b]

I feel I ought to come to Hi-Spec's defense here a little - it's very easy on the internet/forums for bad news to spread like a virus!

From what people have said about Hi-Spec, and from my own dealings with them, they are a very small company, turning out low-volume, sophisticated bits of engineering at probably not the biggest profit margins in the world. They've found a niche market, produce a product for a demanding customer, but they're overstretched and are struggling to keep up with demand by the sounds of it. I doubt they deliberately want to give a customer a bad service, and I also doubt they want to produce defective goods.

Good customer service comes from a wealthy company having plenty of spare cash and staff to spend on dealing with unpredicable issues?
If it were Bosch who were giving these problems, it would be a disgrace, but I feel for Hi-Spec, who are afterall a tiny company, it's unfortunate and they deserve our patience?

Having said all that - if their brake kits fall apart under the use for which they're designed, bloody hell that's not good!

Hope it all gets sorted, peace brothers

[audiman]

Well, to my suprise the courier brought me a spanking new caliper!! Im sorry, but i have to agree with Mark on this. They produce calipers for race teams, and im sure they take some abuse! It may just be this was a one off and i really hope so. The product overall doesnt seem bad, but the after service is crap.

[s2driveruk]

Unfortunately service is always down to the person, their moral and their mood on any given day. Its a pain but if you spoke to 3 people you'd probably get at least 3 answers, 3 levels of interest and 3 levels of urgency too.

Specialists i think need to be particularly carefull as its niche and respect = repeat sales and new customers on word of mouth. its great to grow a business fast but you have to drag the headcount along with it to deal with your customer base. In the UK many companies have the dixons' attitude - box shifter only and no interest to provide aftersales.

Hope you get it sorted Tom and you can always try helping them to focus - trading standards is a good way to do it - other is to say if its not arriving with me on x day you will send a courier to them to collect at their cost. Or you can always say for every day later than they say you will expect £50 and a letter explaining why.

David

[Mark Halligan]

Blimey,

well thats better, shame that it took all the phone calls to get it done though.
Hope the new one is OK, just thought, you'd probably make a good product tester Tom, if you can't break it no-one can .

Seriously, though hopefully this was a one off and it probably was.
Perhaps the new bloke that you were told was making the dodgy calipers is now just making the tea .

Mark.

[audiman]

LOL!! I am the king of killing any car product. Next item to test....... Carillo rods! Bet i can make them break!