Customer insisted I order the OEM bulb

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bdcardinal

bdcardinal

Joined
Jun 3, 2005
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Location
Santa Barbara, CA
Had a customer come in and order a headlight bulb for a 1990 Miata. We didnt stock it, as sales are too low and I told him that it was a 6024 sealed beam bulb and if I ordered it from Mazda i gave it 1:1 odds of being a Sylvania / Osram / Phillips bulb with a Mazda parts sticker on it. Customer insisted on ordering the "OEM Mazda" bulb because it was "specific to Mazda" per his owners forum.

So fast forward to today and literally this came out of the box from Mazda.

0517011525.jpg
 
I would love to see the look on his face when he gets a look at it.
smile.gif
What was the mark up for that sticker being on it?
 
I forget the price since I just talked to him on the phone, and then another counter guy took the payment. I saw him when he picked it up and he had this look of just being mad at himself.

Another Miata owner ordered an OEM BBS center cap with the center-lock style lock. They got a chuckle out of the Mazda bag saying "Made in Japan" but the actual part saying "W Germany".
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
You already charged him for that right? No takebacks on special order, either, am I right?


All special orders are prepaid. I even offered when the guy asked me on the phone to call the O'Reileys down the street and tell them it was cool to give him our shop discount. I swear its hard to help people. Worst part was this came in today and due to Mazda's substandard parts distribution system, the order was placed Friday, and their warehouse is in Irvine, CA. The Ford warehouse in Rancho Cucamunga gets the stuff to us overnight.
 
I have to laugh as my brother in law got a headlight bulb from the Toyota dealer (Made in Japan!) for his Highlander and it was $36. Not installed.

I mentioned he could get TWO Sylvania/GE/Philips at Kmart for $9! A 9007.

It was very nice of you to suggest aftermarket (same product!).

I thought that the Ford dealer here was super fast on parts for my Ranger.
 
Originally Posted By: ffracer
I thought that the Ford dealer here was super fast on parts for my Ranger.


Ford has a really well though out parts distribution system. They have a center in Memphis and everything is shipped FedEx over night. Parts from our facing depot in Rancho Cucamunga (about 3 miles away from Cal Speedway for the race fans) get to our dealer at around 0300. The Memphis order gets here around 1030. Anything Motorcraft I can same day if I know before 1330, and its real Motorcraft, not white box knock offs.
 
He got what he wished for... paid extra for a Mazda sticker.

Advise him on some "OEM Mazda" spark plugs, oil, and oil filters.

Some people just have too much money to burn.
 
I had the same situation with a customer on a Ford Escort. she insisted that I use a Genuine Ford OEM headlight bulb. when you remove the factory bulb it was OSRAM.... !!! then two weeks later she returned saying that I burned out her trunk light - even saying it was my fault for using that "non-Ford" headlight. lolol
 
Off topic. Bdcardinal, do you have a large Motorcraft battery BXT-49 for 2000 MB E430 in stock ? I checked online 4-5 Ford dealers around Irvine for the last 2-3 weeks and none has it. I'm not going to drive on the way to Santa Barbara to pick it up if you have it, just like to know if this large battery is rarely stock because not many vehicles use it.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Off topic. Bdcardinal, do you have a large Motorcraft battery BXT-49 for 2000 MB E430 in stock ? I checked online 4-5 Ford dealers around Irvine for the last 2-3 weeks and none has it. I'm not going to drive on the way to Santa Barbara to pick it up if you have it, just like to know if this large battery is rarely stock because not many vehicles use it.


no we dont. There is no Ford product that I know of that uses that battery in the US Market. They make it mostly for when someone brings a BMW or Mercedes into a dealer for a battery. Its a biggun though. When I worked at Sears I sold a lot of those batteries. Check to see if one of your local dealers can get it from their local FAD. Be forewarned, it might be old, since its not a fast mover for Ford.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Off topic. Bdcardinal, do you have a large Motorcraft battery BXT-49 for 2000 MB E430 in stock ? I checked online 4-5 Ford dealers around Irvine for the last 2-3 weeks and none has it. I'm not going to drive on the way to Santa Barbara to pick it up if you have it, just like to know if this large battery is rarely stock because not many vehicles use it.


Firestone's website says its only 99.99 but that price is obviously wrong. But you should see if they'd honor it.
lol.gif
 
The Santa Magarita Ford dealer website listed it at $93.xx, but they don't have it in stock. I checked Firestone's website and it didn't have any battery listed, it directed me to contact local Firestone store in Laguna Hills.
 
Originally Posted By: ffracer
I have to laugh as my brother in law got a headlight bulb from the Toyota dealer (Made in Japan!) for his Highlander and it was $36. Not installed.

I mentioned he could get TWO Sylvania/GE/Philips at Kmart for $9! A 9007.

Unlike Mazda there is a difference with TOYOTA bulbs. In my Camry the headlight bulb went out after ~10 years. So I got a Walmart replacement set. Both of those failed in around a year. I'm back to OEM (they did cost close to $20 each).

On my Land Cruiser I'm at 13 years and 170k with original bulbs.
 
I learned a long time ago to give the customer exactly what they want, smile, and take their money. I try once to save a person money, if they refuse my help, I take their money smile, then have a good laugh.
 
Quote:
They got a chuckle out of the Mazda bag saying "Made in Japan" but the actual part saying "W Germany".


That part had to be at least 21 years old. How old is this Mazda?
Before 1949 and after 1990 it would just be marked "Germany".
Nice if you can find modern style tools with W Germany on them though,they were great quality.
 
Last edited:
Certainly is difficult for some people to understand, because many think the automaker makes these parts themselves.

Having said that, with Mitsubishi I have found their bulbs to last for quite long. I remember having a brake light bulb out, which I replaced after 11 years and 200,000 miles, but the replacement Osram only lasted a year. The OE supplier was Sylvania, but the bulb came in a Mitsubishi box and the only place I found "Sylvania" embossed was the back of the bulb.

I'm not sure if OE bulbs have to meet tougher standards. However, if it came in a box like that with just the manufacturer's part number stuck on it, I would just go out and buy the same part elsewhere for cheaper - without the automaker's part number on it!
 
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