I need to do something I have never done before.

I just got off the phone with a company that goes by the name "Pirate Jack" about a brake booster/MC/Combo Valve setup for my '57. What a waste of time!

The lady on the phone, while very polite, didn't have a clue. She was more concerned on what engine was in the "car" than anything else. She was quoting prices before she even asked about what type of vehicle she was dealing with. She started to ask about me looking up what I wanted from their web site. When I informed her that I had read her website and was calling for "Additional technical support" as stated on the web site she said she needed to switch web pages before we could go any further. If she couldn't read it she didn't know it was the feeling I got.

It took several tries to get through her head I wasn't looking for a stock replacement, bolt on, off the shelf deal and was doing something that wasn't stock. She didn't have a clue as to fitment or sizes. When I mentioned it would bolt on the firewall and I wanted to use my stock mounts and pedal and would she have the adaptor to do that, she wanted to switch to an 8" booster from her previously recommended 7" size. When I asked why she finally went to the 8" booster I asked for to begin with, she said it was because it bolted to a firewall. Huh? Did I want chrome? That was important right in the middle of my questioning her logic.

I will give her credit for one thing. When I told her I wasn't comfortable with her answers and her lack of questions, I didn't feel her technical support was something I was comfortable with, she stayed very polite and referred me to another vendor.

I have since called the other vendor and his questions were straight forward. I'll report back when I get my parts. Hopefully here by this weekend and going on sometime next week. Keep ya posted.

Anyone else had dealings with this company? Their prices are very good but I think the technical support was severely lacking. I could just envision getting a pile of mismatched parts and trying to get some tech help after the sale. NOT!

SPark

 

Most of the "Parts" (Some of these places are just a warehouse or a pass through service.) houses use Call Centers to deal with their catalog sales. The people use the same screens as you do when they place the order. They also have more/less a FAQ section that is their "Tech" help.
Some of the people are handeling several Companies at a time.
Just be glad you got someone that you could understand, that way it was quicker that they had no clue.

 

I have bought a few things from Pirate Jack but they were all listed on ebay with fairly good descriptions. The products I bought were made by MBM, if you know the MBM part you need then it is possible that you can give them that number and get a pretty good price. It seems to be somewhat of a trend these days, the more info and service you want, the more you pay. I guess it's kinda like self-service at the gas pump...do it yourself and save money.