WTF happened to FCPEuro customer service?

[evanr614]

I ordered a lifetime replacement water pump for M3 in November and didn’t get around to installing it until yesterday. Realized I forgot to grind down the casting that notoriously rubs on the pulley on these aftermarket pumps. It made bad noises on the first start and appears to have a very slight amount of play in the shaft now. Reviews are showing people with the same issue, I knew about the fitment issues, it has just been a few years and I forgot. Things an OE GEBA pump. Assuming the pump is bad I called in to get a defective replacement so that I can have my money back rather than the store credit BS they’ve switched to. I was told it was past 90 days and to kick rocks essentially. I’ve probably spent $10k in parts with them over the past 10 years or so and to be treated like that was hilarious. I think that was the last straw for me and FCPEuro.

I’ll be buying another GEBA pump with my initial lifetime replacement credit, returning the old as defective all to get my money back that I deserve. From what I see they don’t even have their phone number on the site anymore. What a joke. End rant. Fuck FCPEuro

[PetrolM3]

No offence but I don't see any issue with their response here. Parts quality and FCP lifetime policy have definitely changed for the worse (for customers) but not sure why you expect them to make an exception here, the rules are clear and we are way outside the grace period. Most of us complained but still buy from FCP so there's that...

[evanr614]

They should be removing those pumps from their site. They are knowingly selling defective parts essentially in this situation. It’s not like I got 1 defective part, to my understanding they are all produced that way simply do not fit right…

[Slideways]

That has been their policy for a while now and many companies prefer you use the chat feature, which is why the phone number is not listed all over their website anymore. If you explain that the aftermarket pump has a problem, they might be willing to exchange for the OE pump plus the difference in cost.

Someone recently posted that they were easily able to grind off a small bit of casting on their waterpump to make it 100% functional, so there is that option - https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...023#post262023

[evanr614]

That has been their policy for a while now and many companies prefer you use the chat feature, which is why the phone number is not listed all over their website anymore. If you explain that the aftermarket pump has a problem, they might be willing to exchange for the OE pump plus the difference in cost.

Someone recently posted that they were easily able to grind off a small bit of casting on their waterpump to make it 100% functional, so there is that option - https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...023#post262023

They weren’t interested in dealing with me at all. The gentleman was actually quite rude. I know the casting needs be grinded down, just simply forgot. Not exactly a direct OE fit…I would do so and reinstall but the shaft has a little bit of play now so I’d prefer not to reinstall it.

[Slideways]

They weren’t interested in dealing with me at all. The gentleman was actually quite rude. I know the casting needs be grinded down, just simply forgot. Not exactly a direct OE fit…I would do so and reinstall but the shaft has a little bit of play now so I’d prefer not to reinstall it.

Even the factory pump will develop a small amount of play after a few miles. As long as it is not excessive play, rattling or leaking, the pump should still be usable.

[evanr614]

Even the factory pump will develop a small amount of play after a few miles. As long as it is not excessive play, rattling or leaking, the pump should still be usable.

Appreciate that. I will consider reinstalling

[evanr614]

Even the factory pump will develop a small amount of play after a few miles. As long as it is not excessive play, rattling or leaking, the pump should still be usable.

For what it’s worth though the Saleri pump I pulled out after 4 years has no shaft play

[George Hill]

They weren’t interested in dealing with me at all. The gentleman was actually quite rude.

Care to share the chat log? They email it to you after its ended.

[evanr614]

Care to share the chat log? They email it to you after its ended.

It was a phone call.

Here are some photos that are a good reference if anyone out there doesn’t know about the issue with these pumps. The older Saleri pump is showed and did not need grinding to the casting. GEBA is showed to just barely miss clearance of the pulley. Carnage to the pulley is shown. Really not sure why it’s not viewed as a bigger issue on their end. This will happen to anybody who doesn’t know you need to grind on a brand new made in Germany part after you buy it. They referred me to GEBA’s manufacturer warranty, which is great and all but I’d like to get my car back in the road and the only option through them was an email contact form.

I should add after inspecting further tonight the Saleri pump has absolutely 0 play while the brand new one does, I will not be reinstalling it.

[bavarian3]

FCP still has far better service than others in my recent experience. They've taken care of issues on my end without any fuss typically which is why I buy from them anytime I can.

[nextelbuddy]

I've also had good experiences with them. Never called, always emailed them my issues.

I have had many over the last year with my wagon build. Many times I ordered things left them in boxes for months until I was ready and then found out things like:

- Bag that had 4 smooshed valve stem seals (they sent me entire new bag over night)
- missing power steering hose in my order of all PS hoses (sent me the missing one)
- crumpled up diff cover paper gasket (they send me 3 crumpled up ones before I got the good one)
- lemforder non M rear sway bar end link in the M3 box ,(they send me 4 of these before I got a correct M3 link, must have been a supplier issue)
- rear X5 air spring sent sport spring instead of comfort spring (they sent out proper part)
- ordered 3 itb o-ring gaskets and only got 3 (they sent thr missing 3 gaskets)


All in one year and all separate orders lol

Super annoying but they took care of it all no questions asked

Meanwhile I've also sent back over $1500 in returns for lifetime replacement for things like radiators, o-rings, gaskets, fuel filters, insulation, Vanos parts etc...

And have had 0 issues or questions asked

Ove definitely been happy with FCP overall


Again I always emailed not called.

I suppose calling, they were probably super annoyed you even found a phone number to call them instead of just emailing. No one likes phone calls any more... nobody

[evanr614]

I think maybe I had bad luck with the first individual I spoke with. Took some escalating past the customer service manager but they reached out to me and are making it right. They also removed the GEBA pumps from the catalog for now

[0-60motorsports]

I think maybe I had bad luck with the first individual I spoke with. Took some escalating past the customer service manager but they reached out to me and are making it right.

Glad it's sorted. 😉

[Will]

I think maybe I had bad luck with the first individual I spoke with. Took some escalating past the customer service manager but they reached out to me and are making it right. They also removed the GEBA pumps from the catalog for now

Good to hear they took care of you. And good to hear they took action on your feedback for the GEBA pump. Hope the bring back the Mahle OX187 filters soon.

I've had good experiences with them, and I hope they resist the temptation to sell to a private equity company because I've noticed customer service quickly declines afterwards. I had a bottle of D4ATF that was leaking upon arrival and they sent out a replacement quickly. The customer service, via email, was courteous and prompt.