[64speed]

They used to have great Tech Support and you never had to wait on hold. Now you wait forever even if you have your part numbers and god forbid you have a question. I tried calling their old tech line and they will only give support on summit brand products. Oh well another one falls by the wayside. I will still use them of course but the service just isn’t there anymore

[John Milner]

I have a friend who is trying to find headers for his 71 Chevy Nova with angle plug heads on a 350. I looked online on Summit's website and found a set that said they would work with angle plug heads. I gave my friend the part number and told him to order the headers. He called Summit to order the headers. The guy at Summit talked him into another set of their coated Summit name headers. He told my friend that they would work with angle plug heads. They did not, unless you wanted to beat some of the header tubes 1/2 way closed with a hammer. So, he sent them back and ordered the ones that I gave him the part number of. Their tech support is not very good these days it seems. But they do ship very quick if you know what you need.

[77 TRASHCAN]

64,
You are NOT thinking about how current times are different from just 2 years ago. The virus ordeal has changed everything!!! Many companies laid off folks because of the virus, THEN decided NOT to hire them back!!! Paying newbies half the salary they were paying their seasoned veteran employees.
I can't say, this is the case here, or anywhere, BUT it has happened!!!

[64speed]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

64,
You are NOT thinking about how current times are different from just 2 years ago. The virus ordeal has changed everything!!! Many companies laid off folks because of the virus, THEN decided NOT to hire them back!!! Paying newbies half the salary they were paying their seasoned veteran employees.
I can't say, this is the case here, or anywhere, BUT it has happened!!!

I noticed a shift before Covid but not this extreme.

[TAKerry]

Only problem I had with Summit was a few years ago, pre-covid. I ordered a Pypes exhaust system. When ordering, one specifies which mufflers they want. The shop had a heck of a time trying to get things to line up correctly then realized that the mufflers had the wrong inlet/outlet. When I called tech support they were very helpful, however since the system I bought was a 'package deal' I had to send the entire thing back for an exchange! Which was already hooked up under the car. I ended up having to buy a new set of mufflers only. I wasnt too happy about that ordeal but otherwise they have been pretty good.

[4dblnkldude]

I rarely buy from Scummit... I am lucky enough to have an awesome speed shop 1.5 miles from me. I know him very well, do his AC work, and swap my time doing his service and installs for parts! His pricing is the same as Scummit in most cases and less in some. I know dozens of guys that support him religiously.

[389]

I never used tech people.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by 389

I never used tech people.

Similar deal here, am in a total different segment of the Pontiac hobby than those in the Street "builder" crowd.
When I have ordered a part from Summit or Jegs, I knew what I was ordering & have been fortunate have never had to do a return.

[U47]

And Shijune001 has way too much time on his hands.

[64speed]

To hell with tech people I waited 45 mins to get a person to place an order. They are basically forcing you to order online. I tried the text option and they told me to call

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by 64speed

To hell with tech people I waited 45 mins to get a person to place an order. They are basically forcing you to order online. I tried the text option and they told me to call

Why would you call in an order? Much less wait 45 minutes on hold to place an order.

In two minutes, you could have found the part you wanted online and been done. Summit has a great website and it's easy to find what you need 99% of the time.

If it's truly a complicated order or one of those rare times that you can't find your part, in the current employee shortage situation, 45 minutes is unpleasant, but not unexpected.

[dataway]

My tech people are right here on this forum

They are slow as heck and don't speak very good English but they know their stuff

[dhutton]

It’s a shame what they have done to Summit. Of course they didn’t reduce prices along with all the savings they generated getting rid of all their people.

Don

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by dhutton

It’s a shame what they have done to Summit. Of course they didn’t reduce prices along with all the savings they generated getting rid of all their people.

Don

Imports from Taiwan, and shipping now cost more. Notice prices of non car stuff?

[dhcarguy]

Originally Posted by dataway

My tech people are right here on this forum

They are slow as heck and don't speak very good English but they know their stuff

I do agree that my best tech guys are right here on these forums. however ,I don't agree with the slow and English part. I have been helped more times than I can remember on here.
Most of the time guys answer back pretty quickly, and explain in detail how to find or fix my issues.
You WILL NOT find better Pontiac tech anywhere else.

Dave

[bdk1976]

It’s 2021. I’m amazed people are still ordering items over the phone other than from mom and pop operations. Adds more room for error IME.

[Scarebird]

I am actually amazed Summit is able to get out what they do now given our supply chain issues. Companies from as small as us to gorillas like Summit have been experiencing orders up 4 fold compared to pre-Covid.

My guess is to handle this issue Summit has shifted their tech people to handling phone orders; you have more experienced people and can do this task remotely - reducing the chance of spread. We stopped doing tech by phone years ago as it is a huge time waster and suspended phone orders as we have as much as we can handle now just online.

[TAKerry]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

I am actually amazed Summit is able to get out what they do now given our supply chain issues. Companies from as small as us to gorillas like Summit have been experiencing orders up 4 fold compared to pre-Covid.

My guess is to handle this issue Summit has shifted their tech people to handling phone orders; you have more experienced people and can do this task remotely - reducing the chance of spread. We stopped doing tech by phone years ago as it is a huge time waster and suspended phone orders as we have as much as we can handle now just online.

I would imagine this is a large part of the problem. From what I have seen on other forums, auctions, local shops etc. I think Covid gave the auto a hobby a big boost. Lots of people with nothing better to do than work on their cars. Then the govt starts handing out money arbitrarily so there is a boost to the expense account. Coupled with real stores shutting down. They are probably just overwhelmed. I know the last 10 months have been busier for me than the any time period in the previous 5 years.

[TAKerry]

Sounds like after how you described the packaging or lack of on the first order for an hour drive I would have went to pick up the second one. I have driven further for less.

[Formulajones]

If you're busy on the floor with paying customers that are in person, that comes first before the phone. That's pretty much how it works at any store I've been in. They'll answer calls but you'll immediately be put on hold while they deal with the line of paying customers at the counter, and that's how it should be. Every time I've been in Summit, they were pretty busy on the floor.

I don't have any problem with Summit, other than I've noticed a lot of items are out of stock that usually aren't. But that's the case with most places these days anyway.