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MG MGA - Moss Motors USA

Does anyone else have a problem with service at Moss USA? I have sent four emails over the past 2 weeks, without a single response. Three were sent to "Parts", and one to "Customer Service"!? I had a simple question as to parts availability. I know that one of their staff reads these threads, and perhaps someone should get a swift kick up....
Gary Lock

Gary,

Frankly no. The service at Moss has been no less then stellar in the 20 some years I've been a customer. What is possible is a high Holiday shopping volume over the phones. I do know their computer system crashed just after Thanksgiving (11/26) here and they were taking orders by hand so it could just be bad timing.

And I don't think anyone at Moss deserves a swift kick...from my persective there's nothing left to kick because they'ved worked it off--at least for me!

Good luck
Paul Hanley

Gary,
I agree with Paul's comments. Moss USA has always been very responsive to my requests. However I have always contacted them either by phone or through the website, never by e-mail. Perhaps there's a weak link there. There is an overseas number, 805-681-3400, maybe that's worth a try.
Bill
Bill Boorse

I work through a local Moss dealer, who buffers the situation quite well. His name is Skip Kelsey (Shadetree Motors), and can be reached at (925) 846-1309. I was just speaking with him yesterday, and he mentioned that he is doing quite a bit with an Australian MG Club. You might do well to speak with him.
Tom Balutis

To all concerned,
My experiences in dealing with Moss have been first rate. They have been helpful and on occasion have provided advice that actually reduced my bill. Also shipping has been very prompt and again their people have recommended ways to save on freight charges and have split my order between the east and west coast with no problems at all.
I usually order by internet and follow up with a phone call.

Safety Fast!
Jimbo6
1953 MGTD
J. M. Haskins

Hi Gary. I live in Ontario, Canada. Last year, I purchased some Moss Motors parts through Little British Car Company, (Michigan USA) who are an independent British car part supplier, and who rely heavily on Moss supplied parts. When I got some defective Moss parts through LBC co, LBC asked that I return the parts directly to Moss Motors in Goleta Ca. I sent Moss the defective parts, several detailed letters and emails regarding the nature of the parts failures, but received no response back from Moss Motors. After venting my frustration on this forum, I was advised that parts not DIRECTLY purchased through Moss Motors were essentiallly considered to be the Vendor's responsibility to deal with in terms of responses to complaints about defective parts. I finally spoke with Kelvin Dodd, at Moss Motors about the entire issue, and got the Moss Motors "perspective" on the difficulties involved in dealing with defective parts, that are manufactured all over the world, by various suppliers. The upshot is that while Moss sells British Car Parts, they are often manufactured by someone other than Moss Motors. This puts Moss in the unenviable position of having to guarantee parts quality, when they dont have direct control over the quality of the parts being manufactured for them. Moss simply CANNOT quality check each and every part out of the huge volumes (millions) it imports, so failures do occur. When there are failures, Moss is forced to address the defects at the manufacturing level, and this often takes a considerable amount of time and effort. As mentioned in the previous posts, perhaps you should phone Moss Motors, and see if you can get a quicker response and resolution to your problem. While I now understand the difficulties that Moss has to deal with, I still personally believe that Moss could improve it's customer relations regarding defective parts, by immediately acknowledging receipt of defective parts, or complaints about same. Moss seems to feel that doing this would take considerable man power, and would contribute to price increases. Good luck resolving your parts problems. Glenn
Glenn

Hi again Gary. I re read your post, and then noticed that your complaint is in regard to a question about part availability, and not parts quality. Sorry for the rant about parts quality. I suspect that Moss probably gets large quantities of email regarding technical questions, installation assistance, defective parts, parts availability, employment opportunities etc. Again, I suspect that Moss would likely need considerable manpower to respond to each and every letter or email it receives. Perhaps contacting Moss directly by telephone will yield better results. Good luck. Glenn
Glenn

Gary;; Try sending it to a sales person such as Britt Barrick. He works in the wholesale division but I have had fantastic service with him .. barrick@mossmotors.com. If he cannot help I am certain he will pass it on to whomever it need to get to
conrad sanders

MOSS MOTORS: If you read this...it would be EXTREMELY HELPFUL if you had a dynamic ordering system. I won't give all the reasons why, but I'd feel better knowing parts are in-stock. I DON'T like having to accept items on back-order...not knowing until the shipment arrives without the part...that it could be another month to receive the part. Oh well...maybe it's best to quit while behind? Perhaps a dynamic stock system would fail miserably...

I have placed four parts orders in the last three months. The first three of those orders went through Victoria British. Their website shows in-stock or out of stock when checking, but you need their catalog for their part numbers. Parts arrive in ~1-week, which is worth a few $s more.
My latest order went through LBC, who relies heavily on Moss parts. Unfortunately...it takes ~2 weeks to get shipment. This last time out, the shipment from Moss to LBC was "lost in transit"...so it'll be 3 weeks for this delivery. I like to spread purchase out to support those that support us, but the 2-week+ bit gets old. Unless something changes dramatically...I'm pretty much looking at VB and SF for supplies.
Jon Bachelor

Jon,

When you order parts from Moss Motors on-line, you're given the option not to accept a 'back-order'. You'll know as soon as they send the email that they've shipped your order which parts were unavailable that way.
Gene Gillam

I think it varies tremendously which part of Moss you deal with. I just had a long horror story with Moss London, which I could only solve by cancelling the order and getting a forced refund from Mastercard (one advantage of using a Credit card). The same parts ordered by phone from Moss Darlington arrived in no time at all - just that one proved to be out of spec and had to be returned, but this was a much less painful process that dealing with the London branch.

I have been dealing with Darlington since 1989, and can only say that the staff there have been consistently more helpful and knowledgeable on the MGA that ALL the other branches. If you really need something, send them a mail or make a phone call, and I am sure you will experience the same great service I have received for years.

Also great (by the way) is Moto-Build in London.
dominic clancy

Gary:

Sorry to say it, but Moss does get overwhelmed with e-mail requests, and sometimes the requests end up getting bounced around and not handled correctly. Please accept our apologies.

If you think that a parts request get's ignored, be happy that you don't have a tech request. There are 4 people valiantly plugging away at those, but the mound ( an e-mail mound??) keeps on getting deeper.

On November 26th, we did implement new software which will allow a lot more flexibility for ordering and information flow.

Jon: Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. We have been looking at a more dynamic system for the web, but are not satisfied with the In Stock/Out of Stock system which is inherently inaccurate. A true dynamic system has huge liabilities, that require some careful consideration. We will continue to work on updating the ordering system as we come up with viable systems.

I'm a little unsure of why you are ordering all over the US when if you are in California, Moss Motors should be able to supply you directly within at most 3 days. I hope any possible savings in sales tax cover your shipment costs and delays. It seems a bit ridiculous to blame Moss Motors for delays caused by a shipping company, on a package being sent back and forth across the country.

Kelvin

note, I'm not on the clock....
KJ Dodd

Just out of curiosity,
How many of us work for a company that is constantly critiqued by its customers on a bbs system?
I have been reading for quite some time, and have come across duplicate complaints from the same people several times. If the situation was handled, I think that it would be fair to acknowledge that also, or to quit bringing up the same items.
sfelipesan

Thanks everyone, my Moss enquiry has now been answered by Jennifer at Moss.
Gary Lock

G,day Gary,

I have had a similar problem, in that I placed an order for parts on the 2nd October and had not received them to date. They do not answer order tracking emails. I emailed them on 4 occasions. My son, out of my sheer frustration had to telephone them yesterday from Australia and was put on hold for ten minutes to get a result. Finally a Jennifer agreed to help us out, so I may get my bits after 2 1/2 months!! I am sure that they are doing their best but their email response system is failing them

Maurie Prior Australia
maurie prior

If you want to buy parts etc from Moss USA you are best dealing with Jeff Zorn from the Little British Car Co as he is one of their resellers. He seems to be competitive pricewise and will answer emails, generally within a day. He sometimes has an advert on the top of this page.

Cheers

Tony
Tony Todd

I am refreshing this thread because of my disappoinment with Moss USA. I have emailed a K J Dodd at Moss (a contributor above)without success and then in frustration, resorted to phoning from Australia, finally got onto a Jennifer who promised the world and has delivered absolutely nothing. After 2 1/2 months I think I am being treated very shabbily. I intend to keep this on the boil until I get some satisfaction
maurie prior

This subject is also on the B threads but I will also stick my bit in here. Moss look after the US and euro customers but smaller populations like Australia do not exist. I have NEVER had a reply from Moss and have tried many times. I have bought thousands of $ of Moss parts over the years but through other firms. Denis
DENIS

Denis. I have made my comments on the "MGB General" BBS. They may be worth reading and considering for people located outside of the US/UK areas. Les
Les Bengtson

Gary

Try the guys at Darlington - +441325281343 www.moss-europe.com, look for Darlington. Your problem will be solved.
dominic clancy

Les and everyone thanks for your help it sounds like things might improve. Merry XMas Denis
DENIS

Happy Christmas to all,
Looks like some action at last! I am now in communication with one of the head honcho's, and the parts are now on their way! (I hope)
Cheers from OZ
maurie prior

Why can't Moss set up a dealership here in OZ? I am sure that there would be enough business to warrant it.We in Oz end up paying quite a premium by purchasing Moss products through all the local agents, as they have to add their percentages on of course. Anyone there in "Moss Land", how about looking at it.
Gary Lock

Gary

Maybe what OZ needs is someone there who will set up the distributorship, like Jeff Zorn of the Little British Car Co. or other vendors here in the US. I would suspect that Moss didn't solicit them, but rather that they came to Moss with some sort of business offer.

Just my 2 cents worth

Larry
Larry Hallanger

This thread was discussed between 10/12/2004 and 23/12/2004

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