Hey guys,
Well I went over to Ericksen today becuase my dad wanted to buy a new tail light housing (someone tagged his truck when he was inside a store buying stuff [they left a note n’ all so he got money from them already])
We head over to the parts department and ready to get the taillight, and I break out the club car for the discount on parts. The guy starts getting pissy, saying it only works on cars, and that the car club was lying to me about the discount. I thought parts was parts, I told him. Then he gets all pissyer and says what benefit is it to me to give you a discount? I’d have to give everybody a discount. He also says that the discount card is only given to 240’s. It was just wow this guy was just going on and on, saying where else am I suppose to go for parts? I ain’t got no where to go he says. (I’m a driver of a pair of G20’s) Tells me to go to Calgary for my parts. I was amazed at how this guy just kept going and going, some other mechanic was standing around just smirking there. Not sure what he deal was… That same tech worked on one of the G20’s and he was showing me around it before, so I thought he was a good guy. Probably was just standing around and enjoying the show this parts guy was putting on.
Well, my dad didn’t get the taillight either becuase he asked what the return policy was and parts dude said no returns on non-stocked parts. (I thought it was just maybe a %10 restocking fee?) But anyway, so we drove down there for pretty much no reason except for this dude to ‘flex his muscles’ behind the parts counter.
He’s name is Leonard Lever.
I’m not all that chocked up about it… poor customer service, and I guess I’m glad I’ve already paid off my membership with the amount of discounts in parts from the purchases I’ve already made there.
But could anyone clear up there air about this? So this is a 240 club? I sorta’ thought that as a kidding-joke deal. And should I still be trying to buy parts from the parts department there? Is it cuz I’m a small filipino kid? Do I smell funny? I don’t understand?
I thought that we had just went over to Ericksen to confirm their affiliation with the car and the discount.
This is NOT a 240sx club. I repeat, NOT a 240sx club. You should tell that loser to fuck off and you want to talk to Bill, his boss. Bill is the one that knows all about this.
Then tell Bill that his kid is a terd and shouldn’t be working in the customer service business.
Sorry to hear about that experience. I would have just asked for the manager.
So to everyone that runs into some loser behind the parts desk at Ericksen and won’t give you a discount, just ask for the manager.
Man i would snap if they started that crap with me. seriously, that stupid that they said that they would not give it to you cause it was a truck, i have gone there for before i got my other contacts, and the dude a the parts desk was a prick till one of the guys working there recgonized my vehical and he helped me out.
I mean are the parts guys on comission, why do they care so much about discounts?
Bill quit over a month ago. Leonard Lever was his boss. He is the parts manager. He didn’t like Bill ordering JDM parts. Bill and his wife moved to BC. As soon as he calls, I will let people know how he can help get JDM parts.
Holy shit are you misinformed Aaron. The only person named Len in Ericksen’s Parts Department that I know of is the PARTS MANAGER, he is not a “kid”, he is the senior guy there. Bill Money was never a boss of any type, he was just a parts guy – who happened to be an extremely nice guy, and super helpful to car clubs and car enthusiasts. Bill Money has left the dealership and moved to Vancouver Island with his wife. His last day was around the end of June.
The remaining parts staff:
Mark - I don’t know him very well, he’s nice but quiet. I haven’t dealt directly with him much.
Geno - super nice guy. Give him a chance. He worked along side Bill a lot and I sense he likes helping people who know their stuff.
Harvey - another really nice guy. You have to be patient with him, don’t fluster him, but give him a chance and he can be super helpful. Harvey helped me for years with hard to decipher parts #'s, etc. for my Z32 until I discovered Bill.
Paul - new guy. (hired when Bill left persumably). An unknown element. Not too helpful when I first talked to him. But he’s new…
Len - the manager. I can’t explain the bizarre scenario that G20driver experienced. Len’s always been nice to me… but I’ve been dealing with Ericksen for over 7 years, and bought two cars there… shrug
The other important change that has happened recently is that Rick Schumacker, the General Manager has left the dealership. The spot has been filled by someone close within the Ericksen family - son or son-in-law of Mr. Ericksen himself. I can’t speak for NECC’s relationship, but I know from my 7+ years in the Z Club that Rick himself has been the key person that supported the Z Club, its members, and its activities in all that time. It is a major loss to have lost Rick. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the relationship between our two car clubs and Ericksen now… but the dynamics are definately going to change, and are kind of an unknown right now.
Couple things to add (my own negative experiences, not to bash Ericksen, but to paint a picture of possible troubling times ahead for both car clubs):
Event #1: Last year (June 2004 I think) the Z Club’s discount was mysteriously cut one day from the old usual 20% to 10%, no explanation given. The unofficial story I heard was that the Ericksen family decided it (each privately owned dealership controls their own discount structure). I knew deep down this was the beginning of trouble.
Event #2: I had my Sentra in for service sometime last fall, I forget what for, but I hit a brick wall with the guy at the service counter. He was refusing the parts discount for some stuff on my sentra. My reaction of course: WTF? He said flatly our discount was only for Z’s. (which was down right wrong, especially since our club’s bylaws allow more than just Z’s… we’re open to all Nissans). Anyway, I couldn’t get past this hurdle until I got Rick (the GM) to intervene, but even still they left me with the impression they were only doing me a favor “because its me”. ?? Anyway that never sat well with me.
Event #3: I ordered a very expensive part for my Z through Ericksen recently, which had to be ordered from Japan. I was told initially I had to give a 100% downpayment. Of course I objected. I was told it wasn’t a Nissan Canada policy, but an Ericksen corp. policy. Anyway, Len stepped in to help me. Said I’d have to pay something… anyway he took my credit card #, but in the end I didn’t end up getting charged until I picked the part up. (that was a big whew!). I considered myself lucky in that one instance, but other people I know who’ve also ordered parts recently did have to pay 100% downpayment, so this is not an issue that’s likely to go away.
I don’t know what else to say… other than to give these guys a chance. Its too early to say whether in the absence of Bill and Rick if our relationship between the two clubs and Ericksen is going all to hell, or not.
PS - Mills Nissan still provides 15% parts discount to Z Club members. NECC may want to explore that option too. (and incidently the Calgary Z Club gets discounts at FIVE Nissan dealerships in Calgary, but the discount varies from 10-20% depending which ones).
Jason
VP - Edmonton Z Car Club
NECC - member at large
No, I wasn’t misinformed, cause I was never informed in the first place. lol. I like to make assumptions, I’m good at that
I assumed he was a kid by the way his attitude and comments were explained. Definitely sounded childish to me and unprofessional.
So I retract previous statement, do not talk to manager, talk to other people
With the sounds of things, with Rick and Bill gone, is there anyone that is in management there that is an actual enthusiast? May have to take Jason up on his suggestion and hit up Mills.
Another option to explore may be West End Nissan - I dropped in there to inquire about a few miscellaneous parts and they couldn’t have been friendlier. I can’t remember the guy’s name offhand, but I do have his card around somewhere.
I actually noticed last time I went into Ericksen that their parts guys just weren’t very helpful at all. I asked one dude (Likely Harvey - was extremely easily flustered) the price of Altima SE-R aluminum pedals, which are apparently slip ons for the Spec V guys. He told me, after searching on it for about 10 mins that he couldn’t really find a price for them, but he’d estimate the price. After he quoted me the price, he told me that he would hesitate to sell me the pedals due to “liability issues”, meaning that the pedals might slip off and cause a crash.
The way he explained it though, it wasn’t clear what he meant. So I said, what you are telling me is that you won’t sell them to me, correct? Yep.
So anyway, I remember Ericksen two years ago when my parents got their car there, last year for mine, and my experiences this year lead me to believe that not all is well inside Ericksen. We all, as Nissan enthusiasts, need a dealership that will stand up and take care of the enthusiast community. I mean, hell, how many of us would use OEM Nissan if the prices were reasonable and one got a discount on them - surely someone in these dealerships must understand the bottom line…
I’ll say it again here… Fulblown can get OEM parts. I’m hoping if the admin and myself can convince Josh the market is good… we can get him to purchase a sponsorship. He just wasnt too eager to fork over $200 for a club of what… 50 official members now?
Tell him he’d make the money back pretty quickly - members have needed a lot of miscellaneous parts lately. After all, 240’s/z31/z32’s are not brand new cars, many of their parts are starting to wear and need replacement. If his prices are good, there’s no real reason most people would choose a used/wrecked part.
We have almost 70 official members Jeff, and the sponsorship isn’t geared towards just those 70 people. Having names on flyers, on a forum with almost 500 users, and having their representation at our events that have many people aside from the 70 official members are all part of the deal.
I will visit Ericksen, West End and Mills and offer them the same package we offer every other company. If they agree to it we will have a written contract and hopefully we can avoid any further problems.
I have a guy named steve at Abbotsford Nissan who will order jdm parts for us. He is able to cross reference as well supposedly. Or at least that what he said.
I’ll find his card.
This was the same guy who brought the r34 into Washinton(sp) which appeared at DTP.
The only problem is that Mills and West end can not order in Infinity parts.
When i was looking around for an ignitor Mills and west end could not get access to it becasue the part crossed over to an infinity vehicle. However when i phoned Erickson they said they had one at their warehouse and it would only take 1 day to get it.
Its is a tough situation but if Fulblown can get in the OEM parts for a simmilar price as Erickson in a simmilar time what is the big deal.
I would not recommend West End Nissan. Of the 4 local dealerships, that’s the last place I would go. In the Z Club’s 15 years of existence, West End Nissan has never been helpful to car clubs and there is a reason we don’t do business with them.
NECC should explore Mills Nissan and Sherwood Nissan as alternatives.
