sj sports cars

[GT Andy]

Has any one got a contact number for sj,s

[markw996]

01363 777790

 

That's the number on the website...

[GT Andy]

It's permanently engaged all last week. Have l just been unlucky?

Edited November 3, 2013 by GT Andy

[Nelly]

Steve is pretty good at replying to e-mails, although the replies will be short and sharp!

[markw996]

Sorry I can't help, I've only ever bought from them online.

[dodge1979]

Really. .i emailed 3 months ago..still waiting! Short and sharp is true...not the most personable person on the planet...

[Bibs]

I've never used them, really didn't accept his attitude to customers.

[dodge1979]

Grumpy and your wrong do you mean...

[red vtec]

He does have the odd bargain, I bought a front sport 300 lip very cheap and bought some other parts the other week, all turned up promptly.

[mdw]

He may be a grumpy  bloke but he does have a reasonable website with pics and details of what you are ordering.  he probably had £4000 out of me over the last few years for that reason alone.  I want to be able to order at 11.30 at night or 6 in the morning.  I want to see what I am buying  and know the price.  I don't want to wait 6 months for a reply to an email  when the supplier feels like it. I don't want to enter into a 30 minute chat and I don't want a painful process finding out the price for items.   20 years ago Rimmers had £5k out of me  ( when £5k was a lot of money) simply because they had a catalogue with exploded parts diagram prices and parts nos.  At the time other suppliers were photocopying  part nos and prices.  Provide what the punters want  and make it easy for them to spend their cash  and you get the sale.  Its not rocket science. 

[Vanya]

Good point Malcolm - I've never had issues with Steve personally but the bulk of my orders have come from SJ precisely because they have a smooth internet ordering system. The only bad experience I've had was a dud aftermarket O2 sensor but other than that they've been good to deal with.

 

I have however found that orders are processed MUCH faster if one simply calls them up - that way the slap together a list and send you a payment link within minutes and not days.

 

Having said that I'm currently trying out Lotusbits for a change too see how that goes.

[mdw]

 

Having said that I'm currently trying out Lotusbits for a change too see how that goes

Oddly I have had a quick reply to emails regarding problems with items bought from them but no reply to enquirys about buying the items in the first place which is why Sjs got 90% of it.   I do think a company operating like we expect other business sectors to do could clean up.  I wonder if the problem is most of these businesses are riding 2 horses at the same time, parts parts supply and garage services. 

[johnpwalsh]

Strange, I have been using Steve at SJ for the last couple of months after getting duff engines from the other supplier who are well known for lotus bits who by the way NEVER reply to emails. Steve has been first class on the phone, admittedly always sharp on the phone but courteous and the parts are here in a matter of days. For me that's first class and of course he has that handy price list.

[Lex Templar]

Very good from my experience, got a new starter motor out within a week to Aus, have ordered a new bumper for my car.

[rogerch]

Another vote for SJ, I,ve bought 90% of my stuff from Steve, mostly it's here (Australia) within the week. Never been let down, & his knowledge and advice, excellent.

[LOTUSMAN33]

Once you get used to Steve he is fine, best to give as good as you get, he does swear but working in an engineering environment I'm totally used to it. I have spent tens of thousands with him and more...

I got hold of him twice last week so you were probably just unlucky, for me he is less than an hour away and if you visit he can be quite a good laugh provided you don't mind a bit of banter....

[Escape]

I have bought all my parts from SJ, and so far I have been happy with both the quality and service. On occasion I had to wait some time, and had to ask for the reasons myself. However, Steve always gave me a good explanation, offering to send the parts in stock immediately while waiting for the rest to come in.

So I will continue using him. As said the excellent webshop makes it easy to find the right pieces, I get all the advice I ask and the prices are quite good too.

 

Filip 

[Loose Cannon]

Once you get used to Steve he is fine, best to give as good as you get

 

This is the way forward. The Lotus spares business is full of "strong characters" that you just have to deal with as it's such a small community.

 

The only real issue I have ever had with SJ is the packaging, which mostly involves chucking everything in a jiffy bag no matter how fragile, so you'll get a big cast iron thingy rolling around with your chrome window trims. It does seem a  shame that they go to the effort of storing this stuff for years then risk trashing it for the sake of a cardboard box.

[Freemason]

I've bought several parts from SJS and never had a problem. Steve is always helpful and responds promptly to emails, even when I'm asking the dumbest questions.

Lotusbits on the other hand never answer emails. Why provide an email address on your website if it's not going to be used?

[Vanya]

Hahaha they do however read emails Antonio - it's quite funny, I've now started mailing them a day before I call them, as when I do they know exactly who I am and what I'm looking for whereupon they promptly help me out. Hunting Esprit parts is definitely a "telephone" business...

[Jacques]

Being new to Lotus (had it for 6 weeks), I am a bit puzzled to talk long talks on the phone, precisely because it's clearly stated, or after waiting days for an answer, then making a deal on their own terms, just to find out that they sold the same parts to someone else afterwards, so nothing left for me.

That REALLY pisses me off!

That actually means I am not able to drive the car, as I for example need a pair of front wheels to be able to get tires that are made today.

I think that the lesson for them is to get real and into 21'st century and run buisness accordingly.

I have no high hopes for this though...   Well, maybe it doesn't matter really.

Out of 5 orders from various dealers, only one came through without problems, and two I am still waiting for after all this time. Not exactly a very high success rate

Patience Jacques, patience

 

This post in not meant at anyone in particular, but in general.

 

Also, I am being told all kinds of excuses of why this and that's never being sent to me. New excuses or new dates all the time. I mean, why not say it in the first place? Or even state that this and this we cannot sell, because we are not able to deliver? At least we would know.

Again all over the line of dealers.

Even the official dealer local to me, does this. Very very bad service, worse than other European countries incl. the UK.

 

So, I question myself: Are my money not good enough?

Or is it maybe because they've been into this for so many years, that they lost touch?

 

Okay, I am nobody and buisness is really small amounts of money, so maybe that's an explanation. I mean say 1500 GBP is a small amount for an order. Or sometimes much less. But still it's a principle.

 

Okay, rants off

 

On the positive side, they are all in general willing to answer questions when called per telephone. On the other hand this also help their sales. Still, nice touch.

 

I am not expecting parts to arrive with me in 5 minutes, or alike. I don't need a megabig organisation that supply parts from say South of Germany within 6 hours like vw does here where I live. Not at all, but something in between would make a much better impression.

And I would like Lotus to start making parts Again. It's not only for old models, but also Elise, that parts are running out.

 

Also having a Corrado G60 I know that parts can be really hard to get, but I thought (optimistically I admit), that Lotus parts were easy to get. Well ... not.

It's not that I cannot wait, but just tell me the truth.

As a perspective on this, I've been driving Laverda (the smallest Italian motorcycle brand at all, and closed since 1995) for many years, and I cannot always get what i want for them, but dealers are never rude or telling that they have this and this, and shows up having nil, zero, nothing. Never.

The ones I have dealt with, speaking Laverda, are from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, UK, Australia, Holland and Italy.

When I met Pierro Laverda himself, I also met  a very open friendly warm wellcoming very polite gentleman.

 

Am I the only one experiencing this?

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Jacques

[espritmania]

Always bought parts from S/J sportcars for the past 20years,yes he can be short,I like to think straight to the point.Knows his stuff,always had good service.10/10.Paul G.

[mr.oogieboogie]

Never had an issue always on time

[PhilW]

I spoke to s.j.  last week.  Got some advice willingly and will be ordering some parts shortly.  Never bought much previously but have been fine.   Lotus Bits......................Don't bother!

[Jacques]

Hmmm, maybe i should give him a call on a set of frontwheels to match my AWI monoblock?

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.