I've dealt with Scott on several occasions, and am a current owner of one of his products. I have also had the pleasure of just hanging around a campfire with him and shooting the breeze.
The product that I purchased from Addicted came at a discount thanks to the fact that I had a winning ticket for a raffle at the Addicted Jamboree in CO (which is a whole other discussion, but basically every year Addicted puts on an awesome family event that requires a lot of effort and time on their part, and does so just for the sake of bringing customers and enthusiasts together).
The lead time on my product was longer than estimated, but I didn't complain, being that I was getting a healthy discount. Nonetheless, my bumper arrived with a considerable flaw, and I contacted Scott to work it out. To sum it up, Scott was the model of accountability. He took care of me just as he would somebody who paid full price for the bumper.
You can also see evidence of that accountability in his responses to this thread.
will admit, that my email and phone response was very lacking during the last month or so. Its been hard to get to every email and phone call. However, that is all on me. I won't bore you with semantics or excuses. What I will do, and have always done, is deliver on every bumper/slider/order that we have. We have been running behind on turn times, that is obvious. We are in the process of cutting turn times asap.
FWIW, this isn't an excuse, as I should have been able to juggle all of it. People don't care about this stuff when they were told a turn time and its over that time. They just want their bumper, and I understand........
Needless to say, Ryder is somewhat right about our customer service during the last few months. Its has been definitely lacking, but I will get that sorted out immediately as I will now have more time to spend in the shop again.
So, if you want a plate bumper or tube bumper, you have my word that I will get it done ASAP. But, just so you know: There are times where I will turn the ringer off on my phone during the day as well. Otherwise, I will never be able to get anything done in the shop. The days of 10 calls in a day are over. We receive 50+ calls a day, easily. So, some days you will need to leave a voicemail and be patient for a day until I can get back to you.
What more can you ask from the guy?
He's a human being and he makes mistakes, but he always OWNS those mistakes. When there is a problem with a product, I can promise you that Scott is every bit as upset about it as the customer who received it. The man is all about quality control and making sure that the products with his name on them are up to a certain standard. Sometimes that complicates the process. For me, it brings to mind the old saying about good, cheap, and fast.
I have dealt with other companies, also run by humans, who made mistakes in building the products that I purchased from them. One in particular is a direct competitor to Addicted, and that company certainly did not own their mistakes. They essentially told me to "deal with it".
That mistake cost them any and all future business from me, and has resulted in an ongoing stream of negative references from me to anyone who asks me about the company.
To wrap this up... I think every that every one of these fab shops experiences the same challenges (materials sourcing, personnel, quality control, managing delays from outsourced processes, etc.). The difference is in how they deal with those problems, and whether they remain accountable to their customers.
It may take him awhile, but I've never seen or heard of Scott leaving somebody hanging. You never see a thread where he told someone to "deal with it". He always gets it fixed, be it sooner or later. To me, that's accountability, that's follow through, and that's doing the best you can with the tools and resources that you have.
