Is BlackTop Racing still in business? We ordered off their website on March 3rd 2016 some switchback front turn lights. Its now almost March 29th & still nothing. We paid with PayPal. My girlfriend has called twice asking where the lights are at but both times it went straight to answering machine. She stated on the machine both times that we have not received the lights we have paid for & left her name & number. Nobody has not returned her call in the past couple of weeks. I figured this might get their attention & get either the lights shipped to me some time this year or get PayPal to give me my $94 back. Horrible customer service! I also have a screenshot of the paid PayPal transaction too.
Did you get a shipping notice? Chris usually calls back, but there are often delays. If you didn't check out as guest, you can check your order status by logging in. I'd have to double-check, but I think I've ordered from them since 3/3. It seems as if they posted on here recently.
Just so you know, he sent me a promised part months later. He had to wait for the vendor to offer it.
Edit: Yes, I ordered on 3/3. Delivered.
[This message has been edited by tshark (edited 03-29-2016).]
Their website just says pending shipment. Would be nice if they called you back or even at the very least shoot you an email telling you what's going on. Instead of making you feel like you getting ripped off. We are going to ask PayPal to step in. Maybe they will respond to PayPal.
On side note, you said you ordered something from them on same day I did & you already got your shipment?
Their website just says pending shipment. Would be nice if they called you back or even at the very least shoot you an email telling you what's going on. Instead of making you feel like you getting ripped off. We are going to ask PayPal to step in. Maybe they will respond to PayPal.
On side note, you said you ordered something from them on same day I did & you already got your shipment?
Sure. I've had it for a while. The communication isn't always the best, but Chris has come through for me. Not all parts are created equal. I have an upholstery item purchased in 2014. I received it a few weeks after ordering, as stated on the web site. It still (as of this morning) shows pending shipment. My point is that some parts are purchased elsewhere, and they have to wait on their vendor for those parts. In the case of my part from 2014, it was shipped directly to me from the vendor.
I also have those switchback front turn lights. I don't remember a delay, but 3 weeks does seem a bit long.
Chris will get you your part or refund you your money--or has in the past. He is a nice guy, once you get to know him.
I purchase a sub box and the speaker adapters several months ago and got them pretty quickly. I recent purchase the door upholstry kiy and the tinted lexan dash trim. I have recieve any kind of shipment notice. Hopefullu they get here soon.
I purchase a sub box and the speaker adapters several months ago and got them pretty quickly. I recent purchase the door upholstry kiy and the tinted lexan dash trim. I have recieve any kind of shipment notice. Hopefullu they get here soon.
Both of these items are custom-made by a third party. Tom, who makes the lexan dash trim, will get them to you. Russ, who makes the door upholstery, is the same guy who made my upholstery. His upholstery takes time to complete. I don't know what the wait time is, but he will get you taken care of. You can PM him oin here. Russ88TTop. I don't remember Tom's profile name.
A note on the lexan bezel. It isn't an exact match to the stock bezel. If you use it in place of the stock ones, be careful about tightening the screws. These bezels crack easily. The cutouts don't line up. Also, if using without the stock bezel, you can see all the edges and everything behind the bezel. Light shines through around the gauges at night.
Is that guy Chris from blacktop a member on here? If so what's his screen name? Maybe he will respond to that? You know if he is waiting on a vendor, you should tell the customer. I know I would. Just don't ignore the customer. I had a little episode with WCF at first but that guy turned out to be a good guy. I ordered poly trans & engine mounts along with a complete dog bone set up for my 3800 SC from WCF. As soon as he charged my card I noticed it was way cheaper than I thought it was going to be. I called him the next day & told him something wasn't right. Turns out he didn't charge me for the dog bone set up ($140), he just charged for the poly dogbone ($55). He had already shipped it & he didn't have any brackets made up at the time. After about a week & a few days I noticed he hadn't charged my card the difference or the shipping. So I was getting a lil irritated that he hadn't made those brackets & shipped them yet. I called up ready to lay into him about it but he told me he shipped them days ago at no charge. So I was like either he is blowing me off or that was really nice of him. I asked him if he had shipping info & he said there was none cuz he paid for it. I was really thinking he forgot and I was getting the run around. So I just said oh OK thank you. Well turns out next day the brackets came. He had shipped them days before. So when I am ready for some other goodies that WCF sells, I will be buying from them again.
Is there nothing in their ad for the product, or fine print, or anything that says this item is shipped when the manufacturer provides it, or something like that? Not estimated ship time or anything? That is unusual. I bought from them before the company changed names and had excellent customer service from Chris.
Well something I have done finally got hold of them. They just sent a message saying that the vendor is out of the bulbs for another week from now. Seems like a long time though for a vendor to be out of bulbs, over a month but hey I will take it. I don't have the feeling I'm being ripped off now since they have communicated to me. Thanks for the help forum guys.
I had a so-so initial purchase from BlackTop Racing, after speaking with Chris he made things right due to the misunderstanding, & I have happily ordered from them since. Had nothing but good interactions! Hopefully things get resolved for you.
I don't KNOW, but I suspect that it's another update. There have been several iterations of this product. This has provided mixed results over the years. Apparently, when problems occur, they make small tweaks. In this case, the tweaks have been to the bulbs themselves, although they do offer the ballasts. I've been able to run without the ballasts, but prior users reported different results. Sometimes the bulbs haven't fit properly, and one user reported some inconsistencies with the functionality. Since this last was very recent, I'm guessing that it may have triggered another update. The vendor is probably out of stock on the new bulbs, because they haven't been made yet. YMMV.
I had an issue last year with some bulbs. Chris told me that they'd be in stock in the Spring (months later). Come late Spring, my bulbs arrived. I think I sent the others back, but don't remember. I, uh, hope I sent them back. IIRC, Chris also sent me a bulb for something, free of charge. He called me because of something with my order. I also wanted a bulb not listed. I didn't want to pay extra for a separate shipment. He didn't charge me extra, at all. I had to wait an extra week or something.
Hello folks! One of our friends alerted me of this post so I wanted to come here and address it personally. I believe the original poster is Edgar from the information gathered (am I correct??).
Edgar, we dropped the ball on this one and I'm really sorry about it but I hope you can understand how/why after this brief explanation: The vendor was out of all of the different styles of Switchback LED bulbs that we needed (for many cars, not just Fiero) and we have been waiting on them since the end of February. Depending on the time of year the wait time could be 10 days, or the wait time could be 40 days unfortunately. Honestly we didn't expect to sell out of the Fiero style LED bulbs but we were surprised by a surge of Fiero parts orders early on in February.
The new switchback bulbs were supposed to arrive on March 24th and we got them... all except for the Fiero style bulbs. Our first mistake was not updating the website to show that they were out of stock at all (we didn't expect them to have such a long delay). Our second mistake was not contacting you about the extended delay.
We have been incredibly swamped over here the phones literally ring 100 times a day and we are not a huge operation. We have 3-4 people that answer the phone depending on the day and we miss many phone calls due to already being on the line with a customer. We also get hundreds of emails a day. It's our goal to respond to emails or voice mails within 24 hours or less. If we did not do that for you I apologize. I see that your order was refunded already at your own request, and that we have been in contact with you via email within the last 7 days.
Sorry if this experience was less than ideal for you. Our goal is to make it work for everyone but as our little company grows it has proven to be a challenge to keep up some weeks!
We will do our best to fix these issues and hopefully with our new website that will show real-time inventory numbers (launching in 2 weeks), headaches like this will all but go away.
Sincerely, Chris Nelson
------------------ www.BlackTop.Racing For 2-seat Rear Wheel Drive Sports Car lighting, accessories and performance parts.
Thanks for the info. guys. I may have to re-think my purchase vendor, but I'm having a hard time finding the mirror covers (bras) in vinyl to match my nose bra and BTR seems to be the only other person besides Russ TTop that makes them. I E-mailed Russ last week and as yet not received a response, consequently I looked to Black Top for the item. Rich
Yes I seen a guy on here that makes all kinds of stuff like that. Like he said I believe his name was Russ. But as for update on BTR, I believe my front switchback lights will be here tomorrow after a month & 1/2 ago. I really hope they will be worth this long of a wait.
Also Chris from BTR my name is not Edgar. Its Kevin. Yes an update after I ordered them a long time ago would have been nice. I might have just canceled my order & just waited for you to have them in stock. But to dish out the money & receive no product & no word from you makes me feel like I was getting ripped off or something. Like those guys that ordered new GT taillight covers from that guy slam or whatever his name is. He got them good.
Kevin, again sorry for the trouble. It was not intentional. Like I said above we messed up and made some mistakes a few weeks ago. We're always trying to do better and we have hired a new person since that time who's sole job it is to keep the website better updated and keep in contact with customers about these sort of delays.
Thanks for the info. guys. I may have to re-think my purchase vendor, but I'm having a hard time finding the mirror covers (bras) in vinyl to match my nose bra and BTR seems to be the only other person besides Russ TTop that makes them. I E-mailed Russ last week and as yet not received a response, consequently I looked to Black Top for the item. Rich
Also Chris from BTR my name is not Edgar. Its Kevin. Yes an update after I ordered them a long time ago would have been nice. I might have just canceled my order & just waited for you to have them in stock. But to dish out the money & receive no product & no word from you makes me feel like I was getting ripped off or something.
biggest issue I see is the right now world we live in.. most of the vendors for these cars, it's not their bread and butter.. so getting replies instantly doesn't happen.. They are small businesses and when one person is out, sick/vaca/etc work backs up.. only so many hours in the day.. never mind having to spend time at events showing off the goods instead of producing them.. We are so used to companies with a dept. that does nothing but reply to emails, and phone calls.. that we've gotten spoiled..
I meant that the complaint was weeks ago, BTR replied, and weeks later the OP was back. Perhaps the communication delay isn't one-sided.
No problem with a delay. As I've said before, BTR told me it'd be months until my bulbs came in. The bulbs came in, more or less on time. All good. Some of the products on their site say x weeks. No problem, as long as something happens within x weeks in the form of communication or product/service.
I have a product out to a vendor now, with an open (within reason) timeframe. The deal was established on that basis. This isn't my first such deal with this vendor. It could be a year. I haven't been keeping track. Periodically, there is communication with the vendor.
The point is communication. Before, but if necessary during and after a sale. There are certain expectations. I'm trying now to deal with a vendor recommended by NIFE in FOCUS. About a month ago, he said give him a week. I waited a week, then called. He said he'd call me in a few hours. The next day, I called, and got his voicemail. The next day, I got a busy. I finally reached him, he said to give him another week. A week passed, no call. A few days later, he did call, and said to give him a week. I called him yesterday, and he said he'd call back a little later. I called after a few hours, and got his voicemail. This is his full-time job, and he is the owner. I'm glad he's so busy he's turning off customers. The thing is expectations. If a vendor he says he'll call, in a week, call in a week. If the vendor doesn't want the business, or can't communicate in a timely fashion, just say so. Don't set expectations you can't meet.
The reason for pulse on my side is I finally heard from him & he said he was waiting on bulbs so that's that. I got them today & installed them. I'm having all kinds of issues. The driver's side doesn't light up clear/white at all, only yellow. Turn signals won't blink. 4 ways work sometimes. Yes I put the blink thing in under passenger side dash. I swapped the bulbs with same results in same spots. So it isn't the bulbs. I called BTR & they said I have a bad socket. I don't think its that, I think I have a not so good ground on the driver's side. I'm about to go clean both grounds on both sides up. See what I get then.
The reason for pulse on my side is I finally heard from him & he said he was waiting on bulbs so that's that. I got them today & installed them. I'm having all kinds of issues. The driver's side doesn't light up clear/white at all, only yellow. Turn signals won't blink. 4 ways work sometimes. Yes I put the blink thing in under passenger side dash. I swapped the bulbs with same results in same spots. So it isn't the bulbs. I called BTR & they said I have a bad socket. I don't think its that, I think I have a not so good ground on the driver's side. I'm about to go clean both grounds on both sides up. See what I get then.
I had the same issue, turned out to be a ground on the passenger side socket.
I remember your issue, bonaduce. Yes, a bad ground will cause all sorts of issues, and is the most common problem I've seen reported.
The electrical relay you should be replacing is the one by the steering colimn, I believe. The passenger-side one is for the hazards. I replaced both of mine.
IIRC, it clips to the bezel under the dash, next to the steering column. Not by the fuse box. My current Fiero had the wiring messed up, and both were on the passenger side, so the location is where I put it.
Edit: Make sure to use the relay with a ground wire and ground it. Mine is grounded to the steering column, I believe.
Oddly, mine blinks again after the blinkers are off.
[This message has been edited by tshark (edited 04-20-2016).]
Well I got it finally. I went & bought a new turn signal light socket from AutoZone ($5) & a side marker light socket from Carquest ($7.50). I installed them & it was still screwed up. I thought well the factory wire colors on turn signal were blue, brown & black. The aftermarket one from AutoZone was yellow, brown & black. Well using common sense you would figure OK black & brown match up & just hook blue to yellow. Nope! Blue goes to brown & brown goes to yellow. But even after I swapped them it wasn't right. Then I fiddled with side marker bulb in the new socket then from no where the yellow went out & the clear came on. I have no clue as to why. I was real careful putting it all back together so I didnt unfiddle it. Works great now. Nice & bright. Now my headlights look yellow & horrible compared to the clear turn signal lights. I guess that will be my next project. I would like to get the dual high beam/ low beam setup that does not pop up as high as the factory headlights. I guess they are hid round bulbs or projectors. I have to research more. I want bright white ones like the switchbacks turn signals. Also I found that turn signal blinker thing on the column & swapped it the right way. I put the factory 4 way blinker back in on passenger side dash. Thanks for everyone's help. If anyone knows of a good headlight setup like I was talking about please feel free to post your suggestions or pm me. Thanks again.
Do not go with hairballrm/projectorretrofit. It's been an unresolved saga for over 2 years. It took 5 months to get the temp set. They look terrible. Still no replacement. He's a nice guy, but the excuses and delays never end.
I went with embrace (doublc4) headlights, love them but they completely replace the pop up system. Check with Danyl, I believe he is doing a modded low pop up system.
