Wilwood Customer Service

[Simon]

Anyone had any luck getting a customer service reply from Wilwood brakes? I have been try to email them for over a week regarding some calipers I want to buy and they continue to ignore emails.

I want to get.
120-10188 (2 required)
120-6818 : (1 required)

Is there a minimum order requirment before they will even speak to you or something? Seems like their customer service could do with some work.

[Wyattboche]

try here.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=120-10188%20&dds=1
http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=120-6818&dds=1

[fabr]

Simon,why would you try to buy direct? Many many years ago I used to buy lots of stuff directly from manufacturers. Most ,way back then, would give "racers net" pricing that was pretty decent and in those days parts could be hard to get unless you were willing to wait extended times. Those days are gone,gone,gone. Best supply time and prices generally come from retailers today. Still no excuse for not answering emails but I bet they get a load of nonsense ones. Have you tried picking up a phone if you REALLY need to talk to them?

[Simon]

To be honest, I never even though to check through other suppliers. I wanted Wilwoods so I though the best place to go would be Wilwoods themselves. Look like I was wrong, the site Wyattboche has posted has got them slightly cheaper. I though they would be more expensive because they would add their 10-15%.

The main reason I was trying to email Wilwoods was because they don't have an online buying facility.

Its all good, by the time I buy the calipers and pads, Wilwood will miss out on about a $500 sale. Definitely not a huge amount, but for the sake of an email.........

Thanks for the links.   

[fabr]

Most manufacturers won't sell at a discount. 99.9% of the time ,even if they will sell direct, you will pay full list price if they sell direct. If that weren't the case there would be no retailers to compete and provide the lowest possible selling price. I'll guarantee you that Summit,Jegs, and all the others are marking the items up way more than you realize. No matter where you buy the Wilwoods ,Wilwood gets the sale. That's how it works.

[fabr]

Riddle me this. What happens when all sales are direct from the manufacturer and the resellers are removed from the equation?

[fabr]

Answer. All competition is removed from the supply side and the cost to US is inevitably higher due to no competition for the customers (US).

[Carlriddle]

+1  Are there any Aussie Wildwood dealers.  Most any race shop/dirt track place should have/be able to order. 

[dsrace]

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Wilwood-Billet-Dynapro-Single-Calipers,7524.html

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Wilwood-Forged-Dynalite-Caliper,24197.html

[Simon]

Masterfabr, I'm not trying to get into an argument about it, I just wanted to by some calipers and I would have bought some Wilwoods direct from the manufacturer had the they bothered to return emails. I'm not upset about the cost, just the shitty customer service.

Its my experience that the resellers of genuine parts are dearer because they have to mark them up a percentage from what they buy them from the manufacturer. I don't see how what your saying works as Wilwood have to sell them to the reseller who then sell them to people like me and you. Wilwood could charge the reseller whatever they wanted and those price would then flow back down to the consumer as well.

 I understand your logic when applied to the following scenario.

Company A. Sells Wilwood Calipers
Company B. Sells similar quality, "x" brand calipers at a low price, consequently forcing Wilwood to remain competitive or risk losing market share to the cheaper alternative.

Am I missing something simple here?

I buy a lot of spares through my job, and it has also been my experience that a product can be brought cheaper from the manufacturer than the reseller.

Carriddle - Here is an example of the markup buy Australian suppliers.

http://www.highperformanceworld.com.au/store/wilwood_disc_brakes/2/

With Aus and US dollar roughly a parity, it is more cost effective for me to order them direct from the US -even with postage costs. 

[fabr]

I'm not trying to argue. I also understand that you don't understand and never will. Yes you are missing something. A lesson in how business really works so that we all have jobs. Direct to consumer marketing cuts out the middle men but it will not reduce prices. Competition(middle men) reduce prices. Remove middle men/competition from the equation and we will all pay much higher prices in the end. The products you buy from the manufacturer are not mass produced items I'm willing to bet. I do the same when I can but I also realize when it isn't gonna happen. Did you go ahead and buy wilwood stuff? I bet so. Wilwood and many,many other companies also realize that without companies like Jegs and Summit mass selling their products their overall sales will fall. They HAVE to protect those mass sellers by not selling direct or if so at the highest prices published.

[Carlriddle]

Crap thats a lot of diff in price.  Pick 'em up from speedway great company, US economy could use the biz anyway.

[fabr]

BTW,buy American,not direct.    We apparently have enough competition/middle men here willing to beat each other up  keeping the prices as low as they're going to get and Australia doesn't. Not knocking Oz  ,just pointing out that lack of competition is not good for the consumer.   FWIW,I'm as guilty as the next guy(likely worse) trying to deal direct if possible but I also realize that it's usually cheaper to buy anything aftermarket automotive from a mass reseller. Just the way it is.

[Carlriddle]

4000/month vs 4/ever  makes a difference.

[fabr]

4000/month vs 4 /ever  makes a difference.

Yup,sure does.