I just had a horrible experience and wanted to warn you folks. I understand your experience may vary, but this has just been mine. Best of luck!
Just wanted to warn you folks - Robert Foster of FosterRad who sells the Laser exhaust, FRK power module, and a few other stuff has screwed me. They do not keep their word and promises! Please pass this along to your friends so they won't get screwed too...
OK, so I deal with alot of vendors and dealers for all sorts of parts and stuff. I also write product reviews and try to be fair and judicious with my reviews. I want to post this to serve as a warning so no one else gets screwed like I did...
I ordered a set of Laser Xtreme exhausts back on July '09, same day as when I bought my B-King. At the time I contacted Dr. Robert Foster, one of the owners of FosterRad who sells Laser exhausts. At that time I talked to Dr. Foster about the Laser Xtreme exhaust for the B-King. He told me he had 3 systems being shipped to him and mine would be part of that 3. He indicated it was enroute and would be two weeks to get it. I made a deal with him to order the exhaust. I went a step further and connected him to a dealer who would potentially be interested in being a distributor, carrying the line of Laser exhausts for him/FosterRad. As an exercise to ensure the logistics were proven out, we agreed that I would order from my dealer who would in turn order direct from FosterRad. When I asked Dr. Foster if he would rather I order directly from him, he indicated that it would be fine to order thru my dealer.
Well, the 2 weeks went by and I hear nothing. I contacted my dealer who indicated that they had already placed the order and given their credit card info to FosterRad. They encouraged me to keep in close contact with FosterRad, as well as themselves.
7/23/09: placed order and paid $658.58
8/4/09: I called FosterRad and left a message. I heard nothing back. I sent an email to make sure everything was set and inquiring as to status of my order and heard nothing back.
8/11/09: 2 weeks have come and passed. I called FosterRad and got Denice, Dr. Foster's secretary who told me Dr. Foster was unavailable. After explaining that I just wanted to make sure my order was placed, she directs me to Dr. Foster. He indicated that everything was ok and it will be just another couple of days or so...they would call me back next day to confirm..
8/12/09: I hear nothing back from FosterRad. I figure they were busy and give them a couple of days..
8/14/09: I call FosterRad and speak with Dr. Foster. He tells me he is speaking with Laser exhaust and they will receive shipment in another 2 weeks max and that I will get mine definitely by 9/15/09. They told me they will call me in a couple of days.
8/17/09: I call FosterRad to see if everything was in order. They say yes and they will call me in a few days.
8/24/09: I hear nothing so I call and insist on talking to Dr. Foster. I explain to him that I have been waiting on this exhaust to do a product review and have been working hard to possibly line up a spot on a publication to review his product. The window has closed several times and my promises and credibility is suffering. He says he understands and will make it right to me. Offers to hook me up on their new FRK Power module. I say whatever, I just need the exhaust as promised and that I have already paid since July. He says he will make it right and says he will call Laser right away.
10 minutes later Dr. Foster calls me back and says the exhaust should be to me no later than 9/15/09. He says he will call back in a couple of days.
9/10/09: I hear nothing from them so I send email inquiry, summarizing what we last talked about. I hear nothing back...
9/15/09: deadine is here, I have received nothing. I call FosterRad and leave message. I hear nothing back.
9/21/09: I call and get John at FosterRad. He says he is aware of my situation and it should arrive in a couple of weeks. He will call me back.
nothing....
10/1/09: I get a call back from John. He is nervous and says he will connect me to Dr. Foster. Dr. Foster gets on and has a big attitude. He tells me that this is a highly sought after exhaust and that he is doing me a favor by letting me buy this. He says it's no big deal to him as he can turn around and sell it to the next customer quickly. He asks me if I still want the exhaust. I said yes, just please give me a firm credible date as to when I can really get it. He dodges the question and says well the euro has gone up and you now need to pay $764.93.
I said but I already paid the agreed to price back in July. He says he has no record of payment and tells me if I want it that's how much I need to pay, stating that people all over the world have a high demand for this exhaust and that it would be sold to the next person easily.
I figured I waited this long, fine. I agreed to the new price and said that I was not happy with this. I stated that if he could understand my "heartburn" over the matter of getting bogus dates and being strung along this long, not getting any response to my inquiries and that I had to basically hound them thru the last several months just to get an answer. He interrupts me and says he is a "doctor" and there is no "heartburn" as this is business, trying to be a smartazz. I said ok, do the deal but I will definitely make this experience known. He says, if that's the case then you get no exhaust and we have no deal. I say I will just relay the experience as it happened as that is the truth. He says you have nothing to prove it and hangs up on me...
So here I am on 10/1/09, after having placed my order 7/23/09 and paid for it. I am currently scrambling to try and get my money back on my credit card...
Be warned, FosterRad is a scam! I posted some inquiries on a few other forums and guess what? Apparently there has been numerous instances similar to this on other forums/bike circles...
Keep up the good job.
