VIP Auto Salon Appreciation Thread
 

So I recently ordered a few things from our good friends at VIP and was so impressed with the quality of service... i wanted to start a thread in their honor!!!.. so here it goes folks.... lets post up our experiences and pix of our mods... ...

i'll go first!!..

MODS that i got from VIP.... lexon rear diffuser... Apexi Throttle Controller... Ventross CF front lip (not pictured :cry:)

LETS REPRESENT VIP GUYS.... MAYBE IF WE GET ENOUGH APPRECIATION.. CLARK/STEVEN WILL HOOK US UP W/ SOME STUFF!!!! :cool::driving::bigthumbu

i recently purchased a set of 19'' staggered f-sport wheels and tires from them, i'm still on the fence on how to give opinion on the purchase experience. let's see if the issue gets resolved in the coming days. so far the communication with Clark has been great, i'll give them that.

They are great people to work with and have always been pleased when ordering through them!

I personally have had great experiences when dealing with VIP Auto Salon. Clark is the man! For example, 2 years ago I left my car at his shop to have my rims installed. It was during a weekday and he didn't hesitate to loan me his car to get back to work. Also I had jdm visors sitting in my car for a month because I was too lazy to install them. When I come back to his shop to pick up my car, he installed the visors for me. I continue to go to Clark for great prices and service. VIP Auto Salon :thumbup:!

VIP Auto Salon has been nothing short of great to me. Clark is very informative and really helpful. He'll drop just about anything to help out a customer, and that's quality service right there. I just met Steven at the Pursuit, and the two of them are really making VIP Auto Salon an even greater name.

VIP Auto Salon communication problem (not a current CL vendor)
 

Anyone order from them before? No joke, I paid for JDM visors in Nov11, and still haven't seen them. After 2 emails and 2 PMs, finally received a reply in March that I would get them sometime this month. Just an apology, no explanation.

Someone there had to know. An email to me in December telling me I would get it in April still would have been appreciated.

I have heard of one other person having the same issue here on CL with these guys. Any Chicago CL folks deal with them before?

That is so irritating. I see so many of these car companies that pull the same BS. I feel for you.

Unbelivably, I still have not received them yet.....wtf!

VIP Auto Salon communication problem
 

Hi all,

I have ordered some brakes and a JoeZ intake for my F a month ago at VIP Auto Salon. The same day, they sent me an email telling me that they will provide me a tracking number since the order was shipped out. I NEVER receive an answer back from them since 1 month and even though I wrote them plenty of messages.

I want to know if you guys have some information about that compagny in regard of shipping or communication problems. I know that this site is not a scam but they don't answer me!!

Regards,

Julien

Happened to me also bud...

Ordered a Fuel Controller.. waited almost 8 weeks for it , (i sent email to them asking for updates almost every week.) there website said they had it in stock .?

then when i did get the item , the instructions were in Japanese, when i emailed them to ask how to fit it ( they had one fitted to a promo car) or if they could source the instructions in English , I'm still waiting for a reply...
Plus i sent them a email and a PM on here requesting some info on the Icode FFM, again still waiting for a reply.

You will get your item, no doubt bout it .. it may take a while, but you will def get your item...
I personally found there stock range excellent... its just a shame the customer service side is ****..

I hear ya...I ordered a number of items from them, left them messages, (as they never seem to answer their phone) and have never received a single call or email back.

Def. not very impressed with their customer service...at all. This will be my last order with them unless in the future they are the only company to carry the item I want.

Thats weird because VIP has been pretty good for me. They have always kept me in the loop and seem to get things out on time.
Zapa

Thanks guys, at least, now I know that im not the only one who have encounter this problem.
On another note, do you know if Carson Tuned have a good customer service and resepctable shipping time??

Yup not impressed either.... Wanted to order a toms cf aero kit asked if its in stock they responded diffuser isn't so I responded asking how long they didn't respond then I emailed again with no response.... Interesting way to do business I mean I was only looking to drop $3300+ I'll find the parts else wear.

Carson Tuned is good customer service. You can actual call and talk to Carlos i think that his name that does the online/ Vendor on hear. But as for the joe z intake it take awhile to get until Joe himself make the batch to ship out. VIP auto doesnt even reply to people on facebook but they post stuff up.

I told myself it was just a matter of time......b/c I can't be the only one who has an issue with this poor/borderline shady business.

There seems to be a lot of current activity on Facebook from VIP Auto Salon, but just not much activity to the actual customers. Sure I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe the web shop guy is totally independent from the PR guy? The PR guy that post in here and Facebook seems very legit. Here's my story...

I sent them the below email on 3/5/12:

I made an order for JDM window visors for my Lexus IS-F on 11/1/2011. I have not heard a word on them and it is now 3/5/2012. Please reply to this email.

Regards,

Then they reply 3/7/12

Our apologies for the late update status of your order. Lexus Japan had been back ordered on this particular item of which we recently checked and have a firm lead time of a mid march availability. Because you have waited this long already we are going to opt to have your window visors airfreighted opposed to a consoladated ocean freight which will significantly cut down on shipping time.


We do apologize again for the lengthiness of your order.

Please feel free to reply back to this email with any questions or concerns.


It is now 5/9/2012, still no jdm visors or any update. Oh an in regards to the friendly gesture of "Please feel free to reply back to this email with any questions or concerns," I decided to forgive them and asked for a quote on an iCode CF hood, and you guessed it, no reply.

It seems their web-based business is not very important to them. I say “web-based” b/c didn't I see some positive stories from members here on their actual shop? Like I said, there must be 2 entities to VIP AUTO SALON. 1 - PR based (Good) and 1 - Web based (Very SHADY!). The web-based is beyond SHADY at this point now that I see more blatant experiences from others!!!!!!

Communication is the key. I rather they send me an email once a month, even if I don’t see my paid jdm visors until 1 year after I bought them.

Wow.. I hope that my parts will not take 1 years to ship.. This is completely non-sense.

im still waiting on my wald spoiler

they said it was due to arrive to them last week and they would notify me when it came in. Still no word yet.

im sure i will get as i already got my swift springs from them. Guess they have follow up issues

Yea I own my own business and without proper customer support they will fail after time. Hopefully they shape up and get someone that responds much faster then whomever thy are using now.

All I know is I will try and find alternate routes to purchase my Jdm supplies

Here is Clark at Vipautosalon his cell 310-606-0729 and 714-333-5028 , He will take care u guys, i work like 5 minutes from them, Just calling him directly and place an order. I just talked to him yesterday when i ordered my Tom's side skirt.

This exactly why I.didn't order.the Wald.front before I.decided.to.sell my f...seems.like a nightmare to.have stuff shipped from.japan

Mucho thanks for putting up his cell and direct line, but sadly it shouldnt have to get to that ,

Just seems that they are quick to take your money, but not to quick on providing and supporting there customers..., maybe they need to be reminded that without there customers, and especially after several customers bad wording there business on a public forum, they might not be in business much long...

"Look after your customers, or someone else will."

Alright ! i'll talk to them about all the mishaps and not good customers service. It shouldnt come to this :sad: , Clark was in surgery for a while maybe that the reason y the shop was in mayhem ? i'll talk to him tomorrow to result some issues with all the orders. :p

I've always had great experiences from VIP Auto Salon, especially with Clark. I know there were some personal issues that needed to be taken care of. He's a good businessman and an even greater friend. I'm having some items shipped to the shop soon to be installed, but I haven't been able to get any progress on those items yet. I know he and the business are very busy, but I've always stood by the personal nature by which they do business. Hopefully things will get resolved soon.

^^^ So what's your point again?

Especially this one, "He can be busy at times for personal and business reasons but he will get things done."

If I interpret that correctly, you're basically saying that what VIP had done to me and other customers is okay BECAUSE "he can be busy at times........" Holy Sh_t, are you kidding me???? At least the other supporters of VIP in this thread recognized there's an issue. But you.... OMFG! Are you serious dude? Really? So I should just shut the hell up and wait another 5 months when he is not so busy??????

Again mate , and i think i speak on behalf of everyone on here who has had a drama with them,
Many thanks...

I still want more info on the Icode FFM.... :)

I have had issues with them regarding my Tom's diffuser and swift springs. I threatened to cancel my order and only then did they work on it. I think this company is disorganized and has bad customer service. I think the members here who support them are mainly based in the same state where they can drive to VIP. But not all of them are. It is unfair to us who live outside of CA who are provided crappy service. To use the reason of being busy is flimsy because that means a disregard to the very people who support your business. I have taken my business elsewhere.

wow.. after reading all these post is now making me think twice about ordering my Wald spoiler thru them.. I was somewhat hesitant to begin with only because i call them numerous time and also left messages but has yet to receive a call back nor did they ever pick up the phone, but i did receive a PM.

Hi Guys, this is Clark Ishihara President and CEO of Vip Auto Salon, Inc. This thread has been brought to my attention by one of the CL moderators. I first must apologize as I am not currently active on this forum and have missed a bunch of these concerns.*
It wasn't long ago that we launched the e commerce portion of our site for the reason of making all the brand partnerships we have made over the years available in easy to use shopping cart. As this is still a relatively new median for us we are still learning and improving upon how the site can be run more efficiently and effectively.
For those who's orders have been neglected I personally do apologize and will make sure with the help of our staff that those orders are rectified.*
We have created a new email pr@vipautosalon.com for the sole purpose of being a resource for us to get information from you guys our consumers on how we can better serve you. Please email us your suggestions and concerns from products we should be carrying, improvements to the e shop, and even input on our Corporate project Vehicles.*
We will be working diligently in the up coming months to make sure that every experience that you have with us is a excellent one.*

Clark Ishihara*
President and CEO*
Vip Auto Salon, Inc.*

Thanks to VIP for answering me today !

Oh yea, I'm glad I am not the only one here. My order was placed in November 2011. As of today, nothing. I've also tried calling and emailing them numerous time. Many of which go on unanswered. There is just no excuse for not replying back to your customers. I don't care what it is. I own my own business. If you are not available, you better make sure someone else is taking care of it. My order is going on to 6 months now and still no commitment on when I'll be getting it. This kind of customer service is just sad.

IMO, you shouldnt implement a new procedure for orders while people are not trained to use it, or if there are bugs to work out. You are putting the customers orders at risk, and your own business. There are methods to test web based processes that do not involve using customers (that are unaware).

My girlfriend and myself have both also had very below par experiences with VIP Autosalon. See page 2, post 20: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sit...tosalon-2.html It seems very hit and miss between customer experiences, regardless of when the orders were placed. For these reasons, i would have to not recommend people use them as a vendor because ordering from any kind of company that has multiple threads/posts where people have clearly expressed problems, is not a place you should try to order from. Sadly though, they are one of the only ones that carry a lot of parts we want. Hopefully they are trying, and will soon solve the numerous communication and shipping issues an abundance of us have had.

Well guys I've emailed there other address stated by Clark in there above response ,asking about the Icode FFM, so i will report back when i get a answer, and see how it it takes to get a reply.

I'm glad I read this thread before placing an order for a Joe Z exhaust through them. Probably going to try Carson Toyota now after seeing all this.

dayam I didn't know that there were this many people having issues with VIP autosalon. I ordered a lip kit from Clark back in March 2011 paid in full. its been over a year and still have not received anything. All i get is the run around on it takes 10 days for this and 10 days for that. ***** i still haven't receieved anything. Now he doesn't want to return or answer any of my phone calls. This is total bull*****. i made a thread awhile back and he wanted me to take it down and when i said no he asked one of the moderator that he knows to take it down. thats total bs.

Incorrect. Your thread is right here, better get your facts straight before you make statements like that.

Doesn't sound like there is any excuse for you not having your kit yet, especially 5 months after that last thread (I'd have demanded a refund or called my credit card company months before)... but don't accuse the moderator team of the BS you did above. For your last thread - just like this one - we drew the vendors attention to it as soon as we saw it to try to help.

Whoa .... I wasn't trying to start anything, i may be wrong when i said that he might of asked one of the moderator's to take down the thread but the thread was closed or taken down and then put back up.

[QUOTE=heyarms;6878848]The previous thread was closed on VIP Auto Salon, and this is not a general bashing thread.

No worries, just please be a bit more tactful when you make accusatory or sweeping statements like that please. Your thread was closed only briefly when it was being moved to the right spot but never once was 'taken down'.

We do really try to always act on our members behalf when there appears to be a valid concern or issue, especially when handled in a well documented, polite and mature manner.

A year and you still haven't received it yet? Wow, I thought my +5 months was aweful. I don't know why I just don't take Dave's advice and demand a refund already.

It's pathetic that I'm thinking anyday now, VIP will update me and tell me my jdm visors have arrived and is leaving the store the next day.....wow, just wow!

Man... Demand a refund. I and so many others have had problems with them. I really don't know how they are a vendor for CL with this much negative feedback....:sad: