Ref: American Muscle, lost a customer here!

[07gtdude]

You should pm AMNick. He should take care of you. I have never had any issues with them. The only exception is that when I ordered the SLP Loudmouths it said my 07 required new hangars. It didnt. They should take that "requirement" off the site...

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[RyanV]

Thanks, I didn't know their representative was on here as a member, I'll try that.

[badass84gt]

Originally Posted by RyanV

Now,

I AM aware that American Muscle is a site sponsor, and that is why I chose to purchase part(s) from them, however, my latest experience will likely be the last money I spend there.

1. While perusing their site for parts, I came upon a set of stainless exhaust hanger brackets, now the site alleges that these brackets are "required" to change your exhaust, and having had the car for a day or two, I was ordering what I "thought" would be necessary to change out my exhaust.

"Applications:

2005-2010 Mustangs All V8 & V6
Required for 2005-2010 V6 with True Dual GT Cat Back Conversion
Required for mid-2007 Axle-Back & Cat-Back Installation*

* Sometime in 2007, Ford changed the style of exhaust hangers used to install the stock exhaust on the 2007 S197 Mustangs. They switched from a "rubber and steel" hanger design to an "all rubber" hanger, which will not work correctly with the after-market cat-back exhaust systems on the market today. Please visually check your exhaust to determine whether or not you need this optional rubber and steel hangar. "

Now I hadn't had the car on a lift yet to look at it, but I trusted the site, BIG $70 mistake. I bought the hangers, and when a week later I took the car to my Dad's shop and starting unbolting the stock exhaust, I noticed that these hangers were not in fact "required" as reusing the stock hangers would work just fine. Now the car came from Michigan, and the underside looked like it had quite a bit of corrosion for a one year old vehicle, so I didn't mind too much changing these hanger brackets,

EXCEPT, to actually replace the brackets I would have had to order TWO sets, come on AM, if you are going to misinform people, why not advise them there are 4 brackets under the car and sell them all four for no reason.

Well, no big deal, I bought a car for 23,000, bought about 2,500 in aftermarket parts in the same week, installed them all, I'm not too unhappy with the little mixup with AM.

I am looking at the rear of the vehicle a week or two later and I decide that on my Black GT, the tail lights are kind of "floating" back there. With the chrome looking GT emblem in the middle of the trunklid and all, maybe those little chrome finish trim pieces for the tail lights would look good there. I know what you're thinking, they are cheesy and I have never put any tape on accesories on any vehicle I've ever owned before but the customer images of these looked decent and I decided to try them, I can always remove them if they dont work out and I'm out 50$, no biggie.

I order a set from AM, they arrive in two days, quick shipping, and when I get the box it looks like someone used it as a jackstand, or maybe a shield while storming Omaha beach in Normandy, you get the idea, the box was crushed, part inside was broken in several places, the part was in the box with no other items like paper, cardboard, peanuts, styrofoam, NADA, like they wanted this fragile little piece to break.

So I go to American Muscle's site and read the following under frequently asked questions in the "Contact Us" portion regarding shipping damage, and I quote:

"My order was damaged when I got it. What do I do?
If you receive a product that was damaged, please call us immediately. Do not install the product on your car. We will determine whether or not it was shipping damage, and file a claim with UPS, if necessary. We will also ship you a replacement immediately."

However, when I call them, I get less than the same information from the representative, who advises I can wait up to five business days for UPS to contact me and retrieve the box, then, once UPS decides if the damage to the box/part occured during shipping, will UPS credit American Muscle, who will, THEN, send me a new piece.

WTF, why bother writing a policy, and posting it on your site when you don't honor it. Anyways, maybe that's what I get for ordering something such as fake chrome trim, but I learned a cheap lesson, $130 not to order anything of substance from American Muscle, lest a real "performance" part show up damaged, incorrect or whatever and then AM refuses to follow the policy that they created.

As for the exhaust hanger issue, the red highlighted area clearly show and tells what should have been done. Mustangs are performance cars and when you mod them you HAVE to read the small print and pay attention to what everything says. Im not trying to be a dick but come on, does someone have to read it to you??

[RyanV]

Well, do you work for AM, or are you just trying to rub it in, haha

The main issue I have is the discrepancy between the stated policy and the action taken, I believe if you read everything I have posted in this thread, you would come to the reasonable conclusion that my concern is the aforementioned, but thanks again for commenting sir, your sarcasm is appreciated!

[RyanV]

Oh and BTW, my vehicle build date is december of 2007, it is a 2008, so I did make an assumption based on the previous text that I would need the bracket, or "hangar" as they so eloquently put it.

[JDWalton]

If they failed to honor there own policy, I would be on the phone with my credit company to file a fraudulent charge. They have a stated policy. They failed to deliver to you a working item AND they didnt honor there own replacement policy. My statment to american muscle would be something along the lines of, "I will tell my card carrier to release the funds once I receive the item I paid for, UPS can come pick this one and you can file your claim."

[badass84gt]

No I dont work for AM but being in the industry I know how it is and it does get to me especially when some things are the shippers fault but the supplier still gets the bad rep for it.

Im not in any way saying this happend but I know alot of times someone with an issue will call and have and attitude about it, that will make who ever is on the other end NOT want to deal with you. Maybe you came accross wrong or you got a new guy that doesnt know. Contact AmNick and Im quite sure he will help you out now and anytime in the future. Dont bash any company untill you give them a chance to make things right, even if the first person doesnt do it, try someone else.

Remember that $50 part + your post might have just cost that them $1000s due to 1 person that might have been new or was just straight having a bad day......We ALL have them once in a while!!

[RyanV]

That is the truth!

Well, I sent a PM to AMNick, I'll be sure to do the right thing and post the end result of this adventure, since I pulled out the big spoon by starting this post.

[alsGT]

Dude,
If that little anoyance is all it takes to ruffle your feathers then you have alot of disappointment headed your way.
I think you're being overly critical of a minor issue. IMO
Al

[Chris07GT]

"Please visually check your exhaust to determine whether or not you need this optional rubber and steel hangar. "