Porscheshop boot seal & service feedback

[ukmastiff]

First to say I have never shopped with them before as they often seem a little overpriced to me ( being polite) ,
however they were cheap on a boot seal and their one comes recommended by folk on here.

Looking at it , it looks very well made and substantial much like the original I took off.

Also , I ordered it one afternoon and it arrived 1st class recorded next morning, so hats off Porscheshop
for quick dispatch as it should be. I do like that when buying online.

I can't check if it has cured the fumes as I am working on the car in my garage but I will know by the end of the weekend.

Cheers

Mas

 

[Hairyarse]

Yep as mentioned before I'd give it and them the thumbs-up. I've ordered a few parts from PS without any issues, speed of delivery always quick

 

[George Elliott]

Mas
when do the fumes occur? as in "at idle waiting for traffic lights" or "when travelling at 40mph steady speed"
the former is likely leaking crush rings on the manifold / crossover pipe / turbo / down-pipe components.
(with the fan on?)
Good luck
George
944t

 

[Diver944]

I replaced my boot seal about 10 years ago to cure an annoying squeak from the tailgate. Stupidly I cut the seal to fit (against advice) and over the years it has shrunk slightly so I now have a 1 inch gap just above the lock that you can see straight through into the boot.

However it does not allow any fumes (or water) into the cabin so I think your fuming issue lies with a mechanical/ gasket issue towards the front of the car []

 

[GlennS]

I hope the new seal fixes your problem. []

With regards to Porsche Shop, I can't share your enthusiasm. My experience with them has been poor customer service, sluggish delivery of parts, poor quality parts and delivery of incorrect parts. Some examples are taking three weeks to deliver a belt-change kit when I'd paid for next day delivery, a cam belt which my mechanic took one look at and said "where did you get this rubbish from, I'm not fitting that!" and delivering two RHS window scraper seals when I'd ordered a left and a right (why would anyone want two RHS window scraper seals?). My calls to have these matters resolved have been fruitless and the people taking the calls borderline rude - maybe I caught them on a bad day but they seem to have them frequently. This (along with the fact that they tend to be expensive) makes Porsche Shop my "supplier of last resort"; I'll try everywhere else first.

 

[andy watson]

Wouldn't catch me using them again!

Replacement steering wheel exchange - the dye was coming of the replacement!
Rear wiper motor - did not work
Bridge spoiler replica - total c*#p took it back to them (as I was working that way)
Haynes manual - even after enquiring it does not cover the 'S'

Although that was all about 9/10 Yeats ago

OPC for me all the way, unless there is a real bargain on eBay

 

[944 man]

Pork Chop are alright if they have what you want and youre happy with the price, and especially; as long as the transaction goes smoothly and you dont end up needing a replacement or a refund.

People in the latter group usually regard them as a shower of ****!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Might have to delete this, so please bear in mind we try to avoid "praise or shame"-type threads for this very reason. [&o]

Those who've spoken to Ian from Porscheshop at any of the numerous events they've attended (and sponsored), will know how open to constructive criticism he is. We've discussed this before, and there are two things that have constantly come up.

Firstly, if you can buy it cheaper then do so. There's a fine line between spending more than you need, and cutting the throat of proper companies through internet wanabees, but if a Porsche Centre is cheaper then go there. Secondly, Porscheshop don't have proportionally more complaints or problems that anyone else. They have a higher number of mistakes, but that's down to the larger number of transactions. Whilst it would be nice if one company could supply all our parts at the lowest cost, and 100% efficiently, this just isn't going to happen.

Every business makes mistakes, the trouble is that the internet makes it easy to get things out of proportion. I'm no apologist for Porscheshop, in fact it got me in to quite a lot of trouble that I raised a number of complaints with them; as Club sponsors there was a view from some that I shouldn't cause problems, but in fact Ian sat down for nearly an hour with me and went through the issues that people had raised one-by-one. His response was to invite everyone to Birmingham (not a great offer, I know [][]), and to go through their systems with us to ask for feedback. It's significant that they have been the first to contact me when there are issues with Porsche not supplying parts for our cars, no-one else has ever done that.

If all we want to do is find a complaint about every Porsche supplier then that would be easy. Whether that makes a balanced discussion is something different, and I'd rather people did a bit of research themselves, bought wisely, and raised complaints with the owners of businesses directly if something goes wrong, instead of complaining anonymously on a fairly limited forum. If you have an issue with someone and really can't get any resolution then why not come to me? I'm happy to be the 944 equivalent of Offcom for members, and use our collective buying power to deal with suppliers directly. []

 

[andy watson]

Hi Paul,

I would like to think that my post was frank, honest and it also benefited from implying that things may have changed in the last few years!

I speak as I find, that should not offend anyone, also my reason for buying mostly genuine Porsche parts other than quality is that if they have lasted this long first time round they should see my driving days out!! []

Also my forum name is not an anonymous one, so they know who I am [][]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I speak as I find, that should not offend anyone, also my reason for buying mostly genuine Porsche parts other than quality is that if they have lasted this long first time round they should see my driving days out!!

Can't disagree with that. I knock my head in to a wall every day in the hope that people will both buy Porsche parts first, and through a Porsche Centre unless there's a very good reason not to.

Where it all changes is if the parts supply dries up. I've had a wake-up with the sills becoming NLA, although I've been given some contacts to try to clarify future supply. If parts are no longer manufactured by Porsche, we either have pattern parts that could well cost more, and not last 20-plus years, or rely on used parts that might well be as wornm out as the ones that we need to replace. Any aftermarket suplier who steps in to the gap is a benefit, as Alasdair hass with replacement clocks. That's where PS have always wanted to find a niche; for them it's a potential source of profit of course, but if it helps us out then we have to keep the group buying-power we currently have through PCGB and Tipec. Preferably together, although that's sadly changed recently. [&o]

 

[Copperman05]

Not my first port of call but I've used them in the past and had no problem with them. Although it does puzzle me why a club would want to protect its own business interests over that of its members?


Edd

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Although it does puzzle me why a club would want to protect its own business interests over that of its members?

Which was exactly why I ended up sitting down with Ian, and why we worked together on the complaints he'd had, and why we've continued to work together on events.

There's always going to be the situation where volunteers take on Director roles, and are wary of upsetting sponsors. In fact, the sponsors tend to work through boards regardless of who is in the role at the time, as they know that the members are pretty much a constant (I.E. a constant source of customers), but that the directors come and go.

You can appreciate, however, that each new director looks at the sponsors, and is wary of losing money from sposorship. That's not to say that there's ever been a single situation in my experience where the Club has put a supplier over the needs of the members. No supplier has tried to abuse that relationship IMO, and even Porsche have only been allowed to stretch the relationship through their trying to pay the Club to hold too many major events.

Again, if any supplier is making mistakes then internet fora aren't the first place to moan IMO. If you don't get a satisfactory answer fom the supplier in the rare event of a complaint, and they are a proper supplier trying to maintain a long-term relationship with the owners, then that's why we have a Club; it's my responsibility to forward issues to them, and to try to help everyone. It's obviously a bit awkward for me, as we've had a happy customer's thread arguably hijacked by people who've never come to me because their complaints have not been dealt with by Porscheshop. The whole "name and shame" thing is a nightmare on forums, but if people want to change supplier's working practices then let's do it outside of the forum. They might, if you tried, be willing to learn from their mistakes!

 

[colin944]

I feel that I need to make a couple of points here.I do so as a member of PCGB and as a fan of all things Porsche.

If Porsche Shop want to sponsor events or other things in the club then fine.However if they withdraw their sponsorship due to complaints re service and quality of their parts and company then maybe they should look at the reasons for the complaints.
I am sure that they have as many satisfied customers as they do people who will not use them.I'm also sure that every other supplier out there has the same.
The Club should in my opionion show no favours to any supplier of parts other than Porsche.
For Paul as a club representative to post any kind of support for a supplier and to ask us not to complain about said supplier is quite frankly not acceptable. We are part of a club,we are united and bound by a love of Porsches, not suppliers of parts.
If we take away our ability to chat and discuss suppliers,products ,and problems then you might as well just close this forum down.
If Porsche Shop dont like it then its up to them to fix it.

 

[j4mou]

ORIGINAL: colin944

I feel that I need to make a couple of points here.I do so as a member of PCGB and as a fan of all things Porsche.

If Porsche Shop want to sponsor events or other things in the club then fine.However if they withdraw their sponsorship due to complaints re service and quality of their parts and company then maybe they should look at the reasons for the complaints.
I am sure that they have as many satisfied customers as they do people who will not use them.I'm also sure that every other supplier out there has the same.
The Club should in my opionion show no favours to any supplier of parts other than Porsche.
For Paul  as a club representative to post any kind of support for a supplier and to ask us not to complain about said supplier is quite frankly not acceptable. We are part of a club,we are united and bound by a love of Porsches, not suppliers of parts.
If we take away our ability to chat and discuss suppliers,products ,and problems then you might as well just close this forum down.
If Porsche Shop dont like it then its up to them to fix it.

Exactly what I wanted to say.

 

[GlennS]

Being able to get other member's honest opinion on suppliers, vendors and other service offerings like bodyshops and mechanic services is an essential role of any car club. Curtailing the ability to do so further reduces the relevance of PCGB to its members. Please remember that it is OUR club here to service our needs and not those of suppliers, sponsors or commercial partners.

 

[GlennS]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
Again, if any supplier is making mistakes then internet fora aren't the first place to moan IMO.

We disagree then, the internet is a great place to air genuine grievances and doing so has been proven to have a positive effect on the the performance of many companies.

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
If you don't get a satisfactory answer fom the supplier in the rare event of a complaint...

What basis do you have for suggesting that complaints are rare? Who's figures are you using to establish that? If you discourage comments on the forum how are you ever going to know? Three out of five orders I have had with this supplier have been screwed up in one way or another. Is that "rare" in your book?

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

that's why we have a Club; it's my responsibility to forward issues to them, and to try to help everyone.

No, it's not your responsibility to talk to them. I never approached you because I purchase items from the supplier using a different code from another club. I did address the issues through that club without satisfactory response even though they have a closer relationship with the supplier than PCGB.

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
It's obviously a bit awkward for me, as we've had a happy customer's thread arguably hijacked by people

Hijacked? Not at all but if you allow a positive comment to be posted about a supplier then you must also allow people to share a negative experience too. Otherwise the club is showing bias and not serving the interests of its members.

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
The whole "name and shame" thing is a nightmare on forums,

No, frankly it isn't. I've managed and moderated many camera forums, some of them orders of magnitude bigger than PCGB, where the technique has been very successful in improving the performance of suppliers. Even to the extent where we now have representatives of the suppliers openly posting on the forums as customer ambassadors and working with us to resolve issues. It has become a win/win situation both for our members and the suppliers. If we had not allowed airing of complaints that would never have happened and yes, we had commercial sponsorship relationships with some of those suppliers but we still allowed the complaints to be aired because we were working for our members.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

If Porsche Shop want to sponsor events or other things in the club then fine.However if they withdraw their sponsorship due to complaints re service and quality of their parts and company then maybe they should look at the reasons for the complaints.
I am sure that they have as many satisfied customers as they do people who will not use them.I'm also sure that every other supplier out there has the same.
The Club should in my opionion show no favours to any supplier of parts other than Porsche.

I actually said there were directors who were wary of losing sponsors at the time (this is several years ago), but Geoff Ives helped set up a meeting with Porscheshop and me because there were what seemed like a "large" number of complaints. In fact, there are more complaints when you send out many more orders than others, just as British Gas have a higher number of complaints than my local plumber, but proportionally not more. That's the important thing. There's certainly no instance I've ever seen where a sponsor has been shown favour if they've been getting something wrong, and if you read the long threads on water-cooled 911 engine issues you'd see it's true even of Porsche themselves.

It is part of the Club's role to work with suppliers IMO, as it benefits everyone if businesses learn from mistakes and get it right next time. If I take ten people's issues along to a business owner, that might well have more effect than ten people talking individually to a telesales employee.

We've had the "praise and shame" debate so many times it's not worth going over it again; it's part of this forum's rules and it's part of the way we try to keep this forum different from others. If it were just another PH then it would serve little purpose. As I've said before, we've had suppliers signing on anonymously in order to "praise" their own company, and we've had horror stories that have turned out to be greatly exagerrated or even completely false. Whilst I agree totally with Glenn that the forum could, and should, improve companies performance, in practice the anonymous nature of it can lead to unfair damage being caused instead. I'd think it better that a business had a personal relationship with it's customers rather than an anonymous keyboard discussion, and you can easily talk face-to-face with suppliers at events if you want to, or through the Club.

It's not meant to stifle debate, it's about ensuring that debate is honest, open and that all sides have a right to reply. Businesses can't really get involved on a forum discussion about a problem; as is seen sometimes on PH they just get a load of abuse from people who aren't even involved. We've managed to avoid that here for many years, and I hope it continues! []

 

[chrisjcoe]

Businesses can't really get involved on a forum discussion about a problem; as is seen sometimes on PH they just get a load of abuse from people who aren't even involved.

Got to agree with that, I've been surprised by the level of abuse on PH in general, I won't even bother posting there! But I would like to think that Porsche owners are a lot more intelligent and sophisticated than your chavy PH members! []

I have used forums where companies reply to grievances, and generally those companies are held in very high regard. It is a lot of effort for the company involved though, and you usually don't see that from smaller or niche companies for that very reason.

 

[colin944]

I totally agree with what you are saying Paul.I just want to point out that I am not making any references to good or bad service from PS .Everyone has their preferred supplier,I for one always favor my local OPC as they give me great service and fantastic prices.
What annoyed me was they way your post was asking us to not say anything bad about PS due to their sponsorship of the club.
We would all agree that we don't want to turn this forum into a mud throwing exercise. I do however think that we are entitled to say what we feel without reprimand. As long as any discussion is factual rather than hearsay and gossip.And also stops when the point has been made rather than being carried on for ever.
I have spent around £20 with PS and what I bought was good and delivered quickly without problem.I choose not to use them as I like to use my OPC thats all.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

What annoyed me was they way your post was asking us to not say anything bad about PS due to their sponsorship of the club.

Hi Colin,

I don't know if I worded it badly, but what I said was expressly the opposite of that; despite some people at the time not wanting to cause trouble, Geoff set up a meeting with Ian from Porscheshop and me to discuss what was wrong, what could be done about it, and what was just the unavoidable mistakes that sometimes happen with any business. With the sheer number of orders going out compared to others, PS do tend to get more than most of the last category, although I'm sure they would be open to feedback when things go wrong. The issue is getting to the top in a larger operation, and that's where going through the Club, where we have a relationship with suppliers, helps. If you call to complain direct there's a chance that you get filed to the wastebin by someone who doesn't care.

I'm certainly not asking for you to avoid criticising anyone, sponsors of the club included. Just asking that you respect the tighter rules, and the spirit of the rules, that this forum has, in order to keep it a more welcoming place; especially for those who are less experienced in the online community and hate the aggressive, anonymous style of posts seen sometimes on other fora. It's horses for courses, but this is supposed to be somewhere that actively encourages the admin to crack down on spam advertising, swearing etc. The whole "praise or shame" thing is a minefield; the official rule is not to name companies if you're accusing them of fraud or malpractice, obviously this doesn't apply to a mixed-up order or late delivery, and isn't the case here. It's more about keeping the attack-dog mentality off of this forum, and again that's not aimed at anyone here, but trying to steer things gently away from that ever happening.

What I guess I don't like is when one post with a fairly minor criticism, or mundane good experience, starts a long series of people bashing the company, often with people joining in without any genuine experience to contribute. Witness the Hendon Way Motors threads on PH; for all I know they are a company I should avoid, but this gets lost in the vitriol that's spouted by people who've never used them. Often amusing, but ultimately not the sort of thing anyone needs here IMO.

So. If you've a genuine problem with a supplier that you can't get resolved, then why not take it up through the Club you're a member of? It should get your issue to the top instantly, and I know that if a supplier refused to help if PCGB were involved it would send a message very quickly that they were to be avoided. There are people missing from the 944 faqs for that reason, for example.

As always, thanks for all the comments. This forum is a bit of a supertanker when it comes to changing direction, but the admin team really do welcome suggestions about how we can improve it.