Ordering M3 Parts: How Is It That ECS Stays In Business ?

[bigjae46]

Must be that you are close to a warehouse. I’ve never ordered anything from FCP and had it arrive overnight. I do mean never. For me FCP is slower than ECS every single time.

I'm in TX and they all take about a week. So I order locally...I have a guy. The only things he hasn't been able to get when I need it was a power steering pulley and MK60 brake booster. Funny, I overnighted an in stock aftermarket metal pulley from ECS and it arrived a week later. In fact they sent 3 all of which arrived at least a week later. FCP didn't even have the OE pulley in stock.

Sometimes local will be a better option.

[oceansize]

FCP has impeccable customer service, everything I order arrives overnight with free shipping, and the lifetime warranty means I haven’t paid for oil/brakes/etc (even track pads) in years. I can’t think of anything more I could possibly want from a parts seller.

Must be that you are close to a warehouse. I’ve never ordered anything from FCP and had it arrive overnight. I do mean never. For me FCP is slower than ECS every single time.

[ugaexploder]

Any time I've had to deal with FCP customer service, it has been okay at best. I've made 24 orders from them in the past 3 months and I don't think I've ever received overnight free shipping and I'm on the same coast at least.

[Obioban]

Luckily for me, never had an issue with ECS.

Bimmerworld > everyone else

(I’ve used FCP but don’t really understand why everyone loves them so much)

FCP has impeccable customer service, everything I order arrives overnight with free shipping, and the lifetime warranty means I haven’t paid for oil/brakes/etc (even track pads) in years. I can’t think of anything more I could possibly want from a parts seller.

[c watson]

Rock Auto >>> ALL

End thread.

[bigjae46]

Yea it is rather unfortunate for the Turner brand, to be roped into the downward spiral… But they sold the company to ECS willingly, some people cashed out hard, and that’s that.

Everything that’s happened since, including the Turner staff who do care about the brand trying their best to maintain a certain separation of reputation, even if nothing can be done for the Turner branded parts themselves, is completely to be expected.

It’s not like ECS is buying companies to improve them, ECS buys companies to use their earned customers, and ultimately make the other brands puppet extensions of ECS with little or no independence.

I don't think ECS is dishonest or screws people over. They've always made it right but damn...its extra effort vs if they just got it right in the first place.

[Advorsor]

Luckily for me, never had an issue with ECS.

Bimmerworld > everyone else

(I’ve used FCP but don’t really understand why everyone loves them so much)

[Nate047]

Yea it is rather unfortunate for the Turner brand, to be roped into the downward spiral… But they sold the company to ECS willingly, some people cashed out hard, and that’s that.

Everything that’s happened since, including the Turner staff who do care about the brand trying their best to maintain a certain separation of reputation, even if nothing can be done for the Turner branded parts themselves, is completely to be expected.

It’s not like ECS is buying companies to improve them, ECS buys companies to use their earned customers, and ultimately make the other brands puppet extensions of ECS with little or no independence.

[eacmen]

Not looking to do Turner's PR here, but that isn't accurate. You are factually describing FCP.

Turner / ECS has their own internal R&D and they are very active: they are designing a new diff cover for the E46 M3 right now.

Turn14 is a wholesale warehouse distributor and doesn't design nor retail any parts.

The biggest criticism I have highlighted in various calls with ECS is their lack of care for the Turner brand .

The Turner catalogue has become a copy / paste from ECS and there are various products that should be branded under the Turner label that gets put under the ECS name - it' a slow death.

I used to be able to call up Turner and talk to the guy that designed the part. That is very much not the case anymore. You get some idiot customer rep who doesnt know shit. Then they took all the old Turner designs and decided to start making them on the cheap. I personally got a set of 20 wheel studs and there were three separate designs from different foundries in a single “kit”. Not a part you want to fuck around with.

After the sale all the good talent went over to the motorsports side. Will made a good call keeping those two companies separate.

I would not put a single Turner part made since the sale on my car or anyone else's.

[Epoustouflant]

You need to understand what ECS/Turner/Pelican/Bavarian are and what they aren't.

Turner and Bavarian used to be mostly driven by enthusiasts. They had folks on staff that designed, made, and used the parts they sell.

Not looking to do Turner's PR here, but that isn't accurate. You are factually describing FCP.

Turner / ECS has their own internal R&D and they are very active: they are designing a new diff cover for the E46 M3 right now.

Turn14 is a wholesale warehouse distributor and doesn't design nor retail any parts.

The biggest criticism I have highlighted in various calls with ECS is their lack of care for the Turner brand .

The Turner catalogue has become a copy / paste from ECS and there are various products that should be branded under the Turner label that gets put under the ECS name - it' a slow death.

[usdmej]

Once the investors from ECS started gobbling them up, it became a parts distributor flat out.

with a middleman sourced discount (after paid subscription) if the stars align!

[eacmen]

You need to understand what ECS/Turner/Pelican/Bavarian are and what they aren't.

Turner and Bavarian used to be mostly driven by enthusiasts. They had folks on staff that designed, made, and used the parts they sell.

Once the investors from ECS started gobbling them up, it became a parts distributor flat out. Once you recognize that then the customer experience will make more sense. They are trying to be Turn14 for german imports but doing a shitty job at it.

When you try to merge all these companies/brands into one its very hard to do and what we are experiencing is the downstream effects of that.

Right now I only buy from Bimmerworld, FCP, and BMW. If I needed a factory part and ECS had it in stock and nobody else I might roll the dice.

[usdmej]

Bro send this in an envelope...

my guess is their process has been automated by someone that has convinced someone else that stocking/using envelopes costs more money than shipping with those boxes

imo this situation is better than having it go the other way, like Bimmian, who used to sell decal overlays and charge $7 shipping only to throw them in a stamped envelope

[Gearhead55]

I have had terrible experiences with ECS. One time they said they had a part in stock on the website, then they kept pushing back the ship date because it turned out that they did not have the part and the manufacturer wasn't even producing them anymore. No contact from ECS at all until I contacted them to figure out what was going on.

Most recently I ordered tiny side grille badges and they sent them in a huge box. So much wasted paper and plastic for what could have been sent in an envelope. So stupid. It's indicative that just just have workers that don't give a fuck and no one actually making any decisions over there.



Bro send this in an envelope...

[Epoustouflant]

Name any retailer and you'll find people who dislike them. That is normal. Every business has issues sometimes.

Now, name a retailer where you find literally thousands of horror stories from all makes and models across the spectrum, then you know that retailer has toxic core issues as a company and you should avoid them.

Matt, I understand you have a good working relationship with some of the people over there. I would just be careful about getting too deeply associated with a company that has such a spotty customer service history. I'm not sure what your plan is as far as providing superior service compared to current ECS/Turner customer service (or maybe I misunderstood that comment) but that aspect probably needs to be explained very thoroughly if you want to gain people's confidence to the point of ponying up for a paid membership.

You make great points.

I wish I could have both on board to be honest - and I tried, both pushed back during calls, evidently!

My vantage point is from a mixed perspective of current paying customer and a punctual marketing partner with a vested interest in future partnership.

To be clear, my association with Turner is limited to a wholesale account and an assigned rep. Every products you've seen on my cars from Turner I've bought and never had sponsored - except this 200$ product I haven't offered as of now.

I've had wrong products shipped, delays pushed back, lost by UPS - the usual things. Over the last 3 years, any issues were, if my memory is straight, resolved on the same day, Tyler and James have been great.

Overall, what has made my experience probably above average to what I've heard has been the assigned rep, and I want this to be at the core of what ConnexPlus is. It's been the driving force to what I do with obscure European manufacturers.

I hope I can do the same with ECS / Turner - but it's a different beast, it's part why I've probably pushed back ConnexPlus so many times by now.

The further value I find in Turner is the go-to-source for everything: If I need a cart ranging from spherical arms, Genuine BMW parts, OE replacement part and a ultra niche CSL SKU, I know they'll have it. Heck, they'll even do tire & wheel packages if you ask them, they just have no idea how to market it. This is something I don't see FCP offering because they are catalogue limited by their warranty program.

We'll see how it plays out.