47 replies to this topic

[jeffro]

Well you put me off. hope you get it sorted.

[Libby]

Well the latest in my story is I called at lunchtime to ask what was happening and Stuart said he would call back in an hour.

Having heard nothing I called again at 17:30 and he promised to call me back which he did soon afterwards. Stuart tells me that the van will not be ready so someone is going to the garage tomorrow to pick up my seats and be down here for about 17:00 - 18:00 to fit them. Will be a close call with the light!

I will report what happens tomorrow.

Regards

Chris

[Libby]

Hi All,

Well I now give up!

Having been told they would turn up between 17:00 and 18:00 today I called at 15:00 having taken the afternoon off. I got through to the workshop to be told they where building my seats now! But they are supposed to be in the van which is at the garage being repaired! They asked me about the door cards as they had not made them either! They also forgot that I ordered a full carpet set!

Finally to add insult to injury they told me they were building mk II seats as that is what the Picadilly had originally. But when I went to see them at Castle Coombe in September 2009 and paid my £200 deposit the whole point was to get mpi seats made in the same colour scheme as the Picadilly and they even looked at my car and confirmed that would not be a problem!

Oh they also told me they were coming down tomorrow afternoon! I explained that this was not the case as I had arranged with Stuart that they should be here today to fit them!

So I get a call from Stuart who told me they could not get to the van in the dealership so were making a new set of seats and his workers came in at 07:00 this morning to build them! They would also be leaving after the traffic died down and would be with me about 19:00. But it is a five hour journey!

Told Stuart I had had enough and wanted my deposit back. He promised to do this and call me later to make sure he had my card number. No call as of yet!

He also promised to make a set and show me how they could not make the Picadilly colour scheme with the MPI seats and email pictures of them.

I'm afraid I have absolutely no faith in this company whatsoever and have been patient over 7 months of continuous excuses. I therefore cannot recommend them to anyone.

Regards

Chris

[ASHLEY_JAMES_AUTOTRIM]

Well Chris, what can I say about your comment.

When you came to see us at Castle Coombe you asked us to come and have a look at your mini which we did and found that you had fiesta or some other type of non genuine seats in your car. Your request was to take it back to a piccadilly trim but instead of in cloth you wnated the picadilly trim in leather. I have a copy of the original paperwork for the order completed at the show which clearly says Picadilly trim it doesnt say anything about SPi or MPi seats.

You mentioned at the time that you werent in a rush for the interior and were happy to wait until we were next down at a show in your area as the car wasnt used much. We spoke on several occasions about getting your interior to you and tried to arrange a convenient time on two seperate occasions when we were delivering vehicles back to customers in your area. Neither of these times were convenient to you. We then arranged to come to a garage near to were you lived which you are right in your comment we unfortunately got the date wrong. We then arranged to get things sorted at the Sheppton Mallet Classic Car show which we decided not to participate in because it clashed with another show that we do. You were called and informed as such.

Then finally we were both to meet at the Malvern Mini Show. Which we had a stand booked at but our van broke down on our way to the show. This is not our fault, I called you as soon as we had been rescued from the roadside and then several times during the morning as I sat for 6 hours on a motorway service station car park. I apologize that I had other things on my mind beside fitting your interior, the 2 staff with me, the 20k + of stock I had sat in our van and how I was going to get it all back home. Once we were back home I made as much arrangements as I could on the Monday with the Mercedes garage to try and get my stock back. My own staff even offered to come in early to make you a new interior which we did and during all of this I kept you informed. It was only at this point when my fitter was due to come to you that you said you wanted Mpi seats. I tried to explain to you that the style of the Piccadilly seat which has horizontal panels across the entire width of the seat was designed to fit a flat faced seat and not bolstered style Mpi seat, because the wings on the Mpi seat are seperate panels and the horizontal stripes wouldnt line up correctly.

I have offered to make an Mpi style seat for you, which you said was fine and it was also my suggestion that I refund your original deposit and would send you pictures of the new seats once they were done.

I think that we have bent over backwards to try and fullfill your order, which I reiterate we are still happy to complete (despite now having 2 sets of Standard Mini Recliners in leather Picadilly trim).

If anybody is looking for picadilly trim in leather give us a call on 01942 816612 or if you want pictures of the trim drop us an email.

Thanks

Stuart

[MONTYMINI007]

Just wanted to add to this topic as I have done previously.

I ve had 2 interiors from Stuart and the Lads and both have been superb, My Hornet seats are fantastic, they rebuilt the entire rear seat from the frames up. I got new padding and full leather in Matador Red, which is the closest colour match to the original seats. I too was supposed to collect my seats at Malvern but hey *melon* happens. Iam sure we have all broken down at some point in our lives. In the end I made arrangements with them and one of their fitters came down to me and brought me the seats.

Ive reccomended them to several other members some of which have ordered their interiors from them. Stuart was even polite enough to give me a call to thank me for one particular recomendation who is now having her car restored by them.

Stop judging a company on what they cant do and start judgingthem on what they can!!

In my opionion and for what its worth from a 56year old mini owner, you will not find a better quality trim supplier anywhere. I have had trim from Newton, from Dave at Minitrimmings and from several local companies and none of them compare to the quality and the value for money you get from Stuart and the lads at Ashley James.

Keep up the good works lads. 'Lilly' the Lamm is almost ready for her refit so I will be in touch.

George.

[Davethepioneer]

I have placed an order with this company which is local to me. I have asked for MPI seats in the Mini 40 red leather with matching door cards and top and bottom dash rails..

I spoke to Stuart on the phone and told him that my interior was the wrong year for my car and that it had I think a Mini 30 interior....Half leather black/red and that I wanted the MPI style seats with the side boulsters I think there called. He said no problem as long as he gets seats in exchange then this is fine. Stuart even said I could take my Mini to there place and they would fit it all for free......Cant argue with that.

I had to contact Stuart again because my card had been cloned (nothing to do with this company) and I wanted to make him aware of this just incase my bank contacted him, Ive paid for my interior in full which is'nt like me but from what I have seen and heard of this company I trust them.

I needed my receipt and samples of the leather for my own records and even though it took a while to get them I totally understand this because at the end of the day they are a company who are busy and probably have lots to retrim.

My interior should be nearly ready and I really do not forsee any problems arising with me getting it, I will post again on here once its in the car and give a personal reference to the work they have carried out no doubt to a very high standard.

I do agree with MONINI007 that you should judge a company on what they can do and not on what they cant and if you have a grievance then there are routes to go down, its all to easy to ruin a built up reputation with a few chosen words on a open forum.

So far my dealings with Stuart have been good and if my interior turns out half as good as I expect it will then I will be telling people on here and at shows to definatly use them.

[embracetheataris]

For what its worth - I've just ordered a complete interior for my soon to be restored mini..including new dash, carpets/insulating/mats, head-lining, full leather seats/interior, rear parcel shelf, boot lining kit, door cards, speaker board, centre console, gator cover and probably a few bits more.... From the quality of the work I've seen from various photographs it appears to be a very good standard...and the deal i was given seemed very reasonable!

Stuart spent over 30mins explaining all the options to me which I had in regard to the interior and was very helpful... I guess the proof is in the pudding and I'll see how their customer service is from start to finish - but at this point I'm pleased.

I would suggest the reason why their customer service/response times have been questioned is simply because they have so much work on. Personally speaking - time is not a big issue for me so I figure this won't be an problem...what i'm concerned with is the quality of their work, which i'm quietly confident is very good and worth waiting for!

I'll report back with my whole experience once the restoration is complete!

P

[Shifty]

My experience with MAD has been very positive so far and I'd recommend them to anyone.

Last year I bought some trim from them that for various reasons I didn't use, spoke to Stuart and he's happy to exchange for trim parts for my van.

In my book thats excellent customer service and I look forward to using them again.

[Libby]

Well, well, what a load of twaddle!

Stuart not only did you know I wanted mpi seats it even says so on the paperwork! Your colleague came over and saw my Mini and accepted that it had Fiesta seats recovered and was very happy with the arrangements.

What on earth would be the point of going back to the original Picadilly seats if they were changed due to hurting my back to Fiesta seats.

On no occasion did I mention there was no hurry! You had no idea what show you were going to and kept going on about Shepton Mallet but after I booked you told me you weren't going. Strange that, when I contacted the organiser you had never booked in to that show either!

The only other occasion you were supposed to come down to my garage and fit them you did not turn up and did not have the courtesy to tell me. Having cancelled another weekend away for you to do this job on the Sunday you did not answer your phone until Monday!

As to breaking down at Malvern I would suggest that we the public and your customers should be very important to you. So why did you not answer my calls which started at 09:00 on that day?

If you bent over backwards I would be praising you know. However, you have no idea how to look after customers nor do you understand what it is to fulfil an order.

It was so strange at Malvern as I spoke to several 'friends' of yours and boy did I get some stories. They told me that this happens all the time and you and your company are an embarrassment! The show organisers had no idea where your stand was and could not find you on the list of exhibitors!

Please do not try to lecture me on judging a company by what they cannot do rather than what they do. It is the very same thing. If a company promise something they should fulfil it in full or have an explanation as to why it cannot be done. Not wait for the customer to keep phoning up and asking. I have over 15,000 customer and if I treated one like you have then I would soon have as bad a reputation as you have.

How dare you lie in so many ways even to suggest that you offered me my deposit back.

May I suggest you cut the nonsense out of your pathetic arguments and try to run your business properly. You have annoyed and upset too many people to defend yourself on this occasion.


Chris

[dazzul]

Seems to be a few unhappy customers.


but hey they say you only hear the negatives. but there are some bad ones on here.

Shame. lets hope they can turn it around.

[ASHLEY_JAMES_AUTOTRIM]

Chris

Thankyou for your reply

My comment is not twaddle at all. From the converstion you had with my colleague you were changing the fiesta seats because they were not original mini seats and you wanted mini picadilly trim back in the vehicle. If you liked the Fiesta seats so much and that they had been changed as they were comfier than the mini seats then why did we not just trim those for you in the Picadilly trim? You also told us that you werent in a hurry for them as the car was not used over the winter and was dry stored during the winter months.

As for the Sheppton Malet show we had looked into participating at this show back in 2009 and were going to attend the show, however it clashed with a local show we had been asked to participate in. As for Malvern, we had booked a stand as we have done with each of Andrews Mini shows for the last 3 years. We are a regular at the Malvern Show and have the same stand every year against the back wall in the lower exhibition hall. Funny how you managed to park your car on our stand, yet the show organisers couldnt find it!

As for the 'friends' you mention, I assume you spoke to some of our competition. Unfortunately we have upset a number of the other traders at the shows simply because we were a new face on the scene and the items we supply are better quality and are lower priced than those they were selling. We cannot help the fact that for many years some traders have been charging in our opinion 'over the odds' for items they produce. Prior to us becoming more open and prominent on the mini scene; forums like this have complained about numerous other suppliers. People will allways find some excuses to complain about suppliers, goods dont arrive, deliver is slow, postage charge is to high, its the wrong colour, the wrong size, not the same as the picture etc ect the lsit can go on and on. You can search on the internet for any of the main mini parts suppliers and you will find negative and adverse comments about them all, usually in the forums such as this one.

Most people dont understand or appreciate what goes into running a business and supplying them with the items they want. For example last year we manufactured over 2000 interiors of which just over 500 were mini interiors for customers all over the world and yes I will hold my hand up not all of them have gone smoothly. However of the 2000 + interiors we manufactured last year less than 1% of the customers were negative about what they recieved. In fact quite the opposite, we have letters, emails and photographs for 100s of happy customers. The same customers who let us exhibit their cars on our stands at the many shows we participate in.

I do not like to have unhappy customers, my family has been in business over 45 years and Iam a 3rd generation member of the family to come into the business. Our parent company is one of the largest manufacturers of automotive carpet sets in the UK. The Mini trim side is small part of the family business, but it is not any less important to us than any of the other sectors we supply. Myself and my staff will allways try our best to rectify any situation or problem that we may have caused and leave the customer feeling satisfied, however sometimes this just simply cant be done as Iam sure you are more than aware you just cant please everybody all of the time.

If you or any other customer has any issues they can allways contact us or visit our premises as we offer an open door policy; we welcome all customers and encourage them to visit us if they get the chance.

To sum up, I apologize again for any inconvenience we may have caused you and we will happily manufacture your interior as quickly as we can.

Thanks

Stuart

[ASHLEY_JAMES_AUTOTRIM]

Seems to be a few unhappy customers.


but hey they say you only hear the negatives. but there are some bad ones on here.

Shame. lets hope they can turn it around.

Dazzul.

Theres plenty of happy ones on here as well.

Anyway can you give me a call as ive just noticed your printing offer and Iam looking to have some printing done.

Cheers

Stuart

[Libby]

Hi Stuart,

I think that you may be imagining the conversation that took place or perhaps getting me mixed up with someone else!

I came to your stand at Castle Coombe and saw the Mini you had fitted out and asked if you could fit the MPI seats in my Mini. On no occasion did I say I wanted to return the Mini to it's original Picadilly state, nor did I say it is dry stored! In fact it probably gets more use on dry winter days than in the summer when I have to travel further afield.

Your friends were indeed your friends and at least two of them were very apologetic on your behalf and stated that you always do this and they are always having to apologise. Strange but they were not selling seats or carpets!

Fortunately for me one of those friends told me were you normally go at Malvern, hence I was by default in the right place. The organiser who was directing traffic could not find you anywhere on Her sheet!

You talk about your competitors not providing a service and yet what service have you supplied me? Seven months is a joke you must admit. Bizarre that you can call that customer service when it was me who had to continually phone you up. I gave you every chance to sort the problem out and every time you kicked me in the teeth. I even have your text message and my reply giving you one last chance to fit on the Thursday. Yet when I phoned up, your staff told me they were coming on the Friday! That is inexcusable for a business to act in this way after I explained I would be away that weekend from the Friday. You then said they would get to me between 16:00 and 17:00 on the Thursday and that was at 15:00 and I live 4 to 5 hours away! What on earth was that about?

As to having complaints and customers should contact you to discuss. How many times do you want people to complain before you do something! In my book once is enough. If a customer has a problem I would do anything to solve that problem with no thought of cost. You on the other hand kept making new excuses every time. First my seats were made then you did not have the MPI seats then you were going to a show then not. Then coming down to me then not. etc etc. There comes a time Stuart when even the calmest of customers says enough is enough and I should have done that a long time ago, but kept giving you the benefit of the doubt.

How could I trust you to make my interior when you failed miserably so many times before?

I admit that I have met a few of your happy customers, but have met a lot more unhappy ones at shows I have been to. I would struggle to see that you are a succesful business man with the attitude you have to your customers. There seems to be no cohesion in your company from your workers to you. But at the end of the day it is you who is responsible if you are the owner and it is irresponsible of you to deal with customers in this way. Having trained many business men and turned many companies around as a consultant I would strongly suggest that you sit down and work out what went wrong with me and the many other complainants I have heard about. You owe this to your staff and any shareholders you may have.

Good luck in trying to do this and I mean this genuinely, but I will have no more part in being a customer of your company until it has happened.


Regards

Chris

Edited by Libby, 04 May 2010 - 09:22 AM.

[Davethepioneer]

I wanted to give a quick update about my experience with this company and all I can say is what a fantastic bunch of friendly lads who made my wife and me very welcome when we popped in today.

I had ordered my interior from Stuart at the end of March which consisted of front and rear seats (mpi style) front and rear door cards, top and bottom dash rail and handbrake and gear stick gaitor all in burgandy leather with cream stitching. He told me on the phone that it would be 4-5 weeks for them to be completed and if I wanted because I am local to his shop that I could drive up in the mini and he would fit it all, part of the companys conditions are that you exchange your seats for the ones you get so he has rolling stock or you pay a surcharge I think if you want to keep hold of your old seats.

Stuart phoned me last week to tell me that the seats were completed, unfortunatly I had to tell him that Id striped my mini to give it a little uick flash over with paint to tidy it up a bit, he said no problem I wil box it up untill I am ready for him to fit it but if I wanted to and if I had the time I could pop up and see it.

As you can guess I went there today, and as I have already said you could not meet a nicer bunch of fellas! Stuart was very polite and honest with any questions that I asked and even showed us around the workshop looking at all the different materials etc it is quite interesting too see what work goes into the interior side of things. And as for my interior well its exactly what I asked for and they will be fitting it very soon once I get my mini back on the road.

Just to let you know that they are expanding there buisness and moving to a bigger building and that they dont just do interiors but they do full restorations and paint and they are more than happy for anyone to pop up for a chat if your not to far away.

So thats my experience with Ashley James and Stuart.....Very positive and very proffessional, I will update again once the seats are in!

[mini_stella]

Ashley James has provided all my interior for my mini, front and back seats,dash, top and bottom dash rails, center console, arm rest, front and rear door cards, full carpet inculding underlay and over mats, full boot liner, speaker board for under the rear seats and full headlinner all done in black and cream leather



Here are the lovelys front seats



Here are the lovely back seats



And here is the dash.

You will have to forgive the poor picture taking, I took them when I had just unpacked the huge box that every thing came in (and I must add in reasonable time considering that this is a newly trimmed full interior) so I was excited to show them off.

My mini will be finshed in Sept after a full nut and bolt re-build, and should be back on the mini scene again after more than 5yrs out of it!! Although time hasn't been an issue with me I must add that every thing has been compleated and that they have alway been at the shows that they said they would be. Stuart has been a pleasure to deal with and trust me when I say that I can be fussy!!!! He has even allowed me to change my over mats again to anther colour without any fuss!!!

I would be more than happy to suggest him to other people but you must always bear in mind that he can be very busy at times and that although alot of care and attention goes into you interior, he doesnt just do interiors for minis, but for other types of cars as well and as for the break down, things happen even to the best of us, just think how annoyed poor Stuart must have felt as well!!

All in all, my experience have been extremly good. and I totally agree, you never hear enough of the good experiences only the bad, hence why I thought I would post up my experience.

My other half is even thinking of getting his interior fro m Ashley James too and he can be fussy!!!