Help on refund @ Thunderbird Specialties 2002 Reviews

[VolleyballJIM]

I just ordered a bezel for the scoop on my 2002 TBird. When it arrived, from "Powersport" (TB Specialties) I was kind of shocked as it was a single piece of metal that you peel the 3M tape off and put on the top of the hood scoop. Well, for $79,00 I kinda expected sometime much more substantial. I cannot imagine it "looks like the Neiman Marcus edition" scoop trim. SO, I plan to return it, 35% stocking fee (my bad), but does anyone have (1) any advice on returning (looks like hardball on their site) OR (2) anyone buying this and it "looking good" (I looked at it and CANNOT imagine it would look appropriate for the car.)...Thanks! Hate to be turned off to that web site as I planned to use them in the future, but this first experience ....

 

[Tiger650]

If the prices on that site do not scare you away then the sketchy business practices should!!

 

[stevedaphotoman]

If the prices on that site do not scare you away then the sketchy business practices should!!

Just saw the Battery Tender Plus that I paid $49.00 at a car show for $129.00 on the web site.. Perhaps it comes with a battery also.. BUT If they had the chrome bezels for the rear taillights maybe, just maybe, I would consider buying them.. I understand they are out of production.. So I'm safe.. I guess it's like women's sexy lingerie, it looks great on but boy is it expensive..

 

[Jamie]

I just like to

I would just like to add that to recently purchased several things from power sport specialties One was a k&n air filter and some chrome pieces for the fenders and so forth and the others are these 3.9 number badging thant I’m speaking about,, and it took me two months to get my order and several emails which I corresponded directly with Philip his prices are high , and I realized shortly after that all of his stuff can be purchased from other places,,, I just purchased 3.9 badging , he stated it will be a six piece set my assumption which was my fault of course , that I would get four numbers and two of the dots much to my surprise I received after six weeks and two emails , two numbers and four dots trickery at its best !! anyway I was very upset and realized I’m not gonna deal with them anymore since I had paid $79 total with shipping .so as I needed two other numbers of course for the other side of the car I would not purchase them from him for an additional $79 and his flat fee of 22 dollars shipping in 2019 ,,his price went up from $59 in 2018 so I search the Internet and I found the same exact numbers and they were 2,85 apiece with shipping both of them came out to be less than $10 and I am telling you they are the exact same numbers ..anyway there’s no sense contacting Philip anymore to discuss what he does,, I guess he can ask anything he wants for his product but he should be smart enough to realize that after a while you just going to search the net and realize he’s just buying stuff from other companies ! And marking them up.

 

[JRMedved]

2-words: "Buyer Beware!"

 

[Thunderbird22]

I had my fair share with this character.... tried to screw me out of $$$ , had to file a complaint to paypal to get the money back, then i found exact same item on e bay, for 1/3 off ! Then i get a threatning e mail from him stating that i was screwed because he had some kind of rights from Ford on T bird parts, and he’d never sell to me again!.... well he must be some kind of stupid, because i i managed to find all the parts i needed, And CHEAPER::: lol

 

[coat1971]

@Thunderbird22 22. That is just the way Phillip operates. Do not understand how he stays in business with his pricing structure and customer service.

 

[JRMedved]

It's an unsustainable business model. Two axioms of retail is customer acquisition/retention...another is competitive pricing. With the easy access to competitive pricing through the internet, and alienating an already acquired customer, it makes no sense to me. Nothing offered through TB Specialties website is unique enough to demand a 50%+ mark-up over retail. Walmart will tell you their success is due to its low-pricing structure - customer's know they are consistently getting a very competitive price by shopping there...and continue to have repeat sales and gain new customers as existing customers tough their bargain pricing. For those (smaller) businesses that have to compete with Walmart, they'll tell you they offer what Walmart can't - exceptional customer service, for which customers will pay a premium (over Walmart pricing). Those small businesses maintain and gain customers through referrals. Strikes me that consensus is that TB Specialities offers neither. I'm left guessing their business model is customer ignorance, which I don't believe is sustainable.

 

[AMX]

I would just like to add that to recently purchased several things from power sport specialties One was a k n air filter and some chrome pieces for the fenders and so forth and the others are these 3.9 number badging thant I’m speaking about,, and it took me two months to get my order in several emails which I corresponded directly with Philip his prices are high , and I realized shortly after that all of his stuff can be purchased from other places,,, I just purchased 3.9 badging , he stated it will be a six piece set my assumption which was my fault of course , that I would get four numbers and two of the dots much to my surprise I received after six weeks and two emails , two numbers and four dots trickery at its best !! anyway I was very upset and realized I’m not gonna deal with them anymore since I had paid $79 total with shipping .so as I needed two other numbers of course for the other side of the car I would not purchase them from him for an additional $79 and his flat fee of 22 dollars shipping in 2019 ,,his price went up from $59 in 2018 so I search the Internet and I found the same exact numbers and they were 2,85 apiece with shipping both of them came out to be less than $10 and I am telling you they are the exact same numbers ..anyway there’s no sense contacting Philip anymore to discuss what he does,, I guess he can ask anything he wants for his product but he should be smart enough to realize that after a while you just going to search the net and realize he’s just buying stuff from other companies ! And marking them up.

That is right, the guy is a greedy crook with an attitude also.

I had my fair share with this character.... tried to screw me out of $$$ , had to file a complaint to paypal to get the money back, then i found exact same item on e bay, for 1/3 off ! Then i get a threatning e mail from him stating that i was screwed because he had some kind of rights from Ford on T bird parts, and he’d never sell to me again!.... well he must be some kind of stupid, because i i managed to find all the parts i needed, And CHEAPER::: lol

I agree. he is a crook with a you need me, I don't need you attitude. This guy is going to lose alot of customers and I am one of them

 

[mtbronco]

My 2 cents about Thunderbird Specialties and Philip Wegener - cheat and crook, don't by anything from this company!

Our 2002 T-Bird wouldn't start this spring, it would just crank over but not start. I just thought it was a low battery even though the tender is on and it shows it was charging just fine. I began some self diag thinking it was maybe a fuse or relay, have spares on hand, replaced each that it could be but still nothing. I looked around on the internet and after lots of reading it sounded like it could the REM module. Figuring it was beyond what I could fix, I put the T-Bird on the trailer and took to Bison Ford in Great Falls Montana, my local dealership who I have bought many many cars from. They diagnosed it and said it was either the REM or fuel pump, it acted just like the owners 2 T-Birds and his daughters T-Bird when their REMs went out. I said lets start with the fuel pump and that wasn't it so it looked to be the REM was bad. They used to send to a place in Detroit but they don't fix these anymore and at the time there wasn't any available from Ford. So we began a horrible route of trying to contact this company to fix. We sent the REM to Philip in agreement he could repair it, for an original cost of around $1100 though his website said charges began at only $250. Here is where everything went south...... After he received the REM in early June he didn't try to fix or repair, we mailed him multiple times and received no reply, we began to worry if this was a legit company, more on that later. Finally in late July/early August he replied saying he couldn't fix it but gave no answer as to why, don't think he even tried to repair it, he said for another $200 plus additional costs he could get a reman REM from Ford, now we were really confused, as Ford said none where available. Bison looked at their site and oddly they showed some were now available, we tried to order one, but couldn't as Philip locked up my VIN with a dealership in NC trying to get one ordered. We contacted dealer and said here is what Philip is trying to pull, they agreed that once they received my REM from him, they would ship the new REM directly to us, well he never sent my original REM to them and still has it. After some time of working with Ford, they released my VIN so we could do an order for a REM through Bison, after a few weeks we received the REM and our T-Bird is running again, with no help from Philip Wegener or Thunderspecialties.com. We have sent messages to him only to have him state that during the summer he sent mails to Bison and they never replied to him, he considers the matter closed but I have communicated with him that how can you consider it closed when you are still holding onto my REM and won't return it.

Long and detailed but after this encounter and hearing of others who have had similar encounters, I'd steer clear of Thunderbird Specialties and Philip Wegener, he will cheat you out and never get you your parts you paid for.

 

[Paul B]

I recently replaced the FEM on my 2003 T Bird. I unfortunately purchased it from Thunderbird Specialties who turned out to be a bad vendor. At the time I didn't mind paying an inflated price, however, when he was ready to ship the item, I had to pay an additional $1200 Core Deposit which I was supposed to get back when I returned the old one. I must have sent a dozen e-mails to Philip Wegener, the owner of the company. He said the credit would be forthcoming but it never happened. Not sure why he would want to cheat a customer. Be careful when dealing with this guy who should be put in the "Hall of Shame" His new name in the industry should be "Crooked Philip". He turned out to be a real scoundrel. Just for the record, the correct item number for this product is 6W6Z13C788AB. The list price from Ford is $955.31. The dealer cost is $623.86. You are much better off buying it from a legitimate Ford Dealer.

 

[Bobberoo]

I also had an issue getting my core charge back from Thunderbird Specialties. Same deal. Many unanswered emails, a phone call with promises of sending a check immediately and still nothing. Starting to wonder why a guy with a specialty business like that would want to get a bad name with the very people that are/were supporting his business.

I just ordered a bezel for the scoop on my 2002 TBird. When it arrived, from "Powersport" (TB Specialties) I was kind of shocked as it was a single piece of metal that you peel the 3M tape off and put on the top of the hood scoop. Well, for $79,00 I kinda expected sometime much more substantial. I cannot imagine it "looks like the Neiman Marcus edition" scoop trim. SO, I plan to return it, 35% stocking fee (my bad), but does anyone have (1) any advice on returning (looks like hardball on their site) OR (2) anyone buying this and it "looking good" (I looked at it and CANNOT imagine it would look appropriate for the car.)...Thanks! Hate to be turned off to that web site as I planned to use them in the future, but this first experience ....

Any luck on getting a response from Thunderbird Specialties? He owes me for a core charge and I have had little luck in making contact with him. As I said earlier I don’t understand why he would want to make a bad name for himself with the people that potentially buy his products.

 

[AMX]

My experience with Thunderbird Specialties was also a disaster He does not respond to E mails or phone calls, even just to get some advise, pricing or availability for an item. I did get lucky once, and it was a once in a life time lucky for him to actually answer the phone. I asked him if there was a problem with his web sight or phone service because I can never make contact or get a response. He got real nasty with me and hung up in my ear. Real professional customer service with a "you need me, I don,t need you attitude" My advise is don't do business with this character at all or if you do, use Pay Pal cause at least you are guaranteed to get your money back instead of the item you ordered and they have the power to withdraw from his account. I am really surprised he has not been shut down by the BBB or Attorney General. He is not the only source for retro parts, hang on to your money and look else ware.

 

[tag]

I ordered 2 items on March 21,a black "Cockpit " cover and stainless steel luggage rack. The web site says they are in stock and my order status says "Completed". I sent an email asking why it says that and was told by Phil the new system refers to it that way. Phil said the parts I ordered are custom made and delivery is approximately 2-3 weeks out. He had no comment when asked why the site says that they are in stock. I have purchased parts from him for several years and never had a problem until this time and the core charge on the FEM. He needs to get back to doing business the old way or he will lose another customer.

 

[Bobberoo]

In answer to why I purchased the FEM from Thunderbird Specialties is my Ford dealer erroneously told me the part had been discontinued some time ago and there were only used and repaired parts available. Thunderbird Specialties offered New stock through some agreement directly with Ford and he was the only one with new FEMs available. Hindsight offered a different view but there’s not much I can do about it now. By the way the part came from Lakeland Ford so I would suggest anyone looking for an FEM contact them directly.

 

[KodiBird]

How does this "slick dick" sales guy Phillip of Thunderbird Specialties stay in business?

I Inquired about a part, got back the "I'm the only one on the planet who has it, you better buy from me
this second or it could be gone tomorrow!"

I ask a couple follow up questions about the part the next day, get attitude back a bit
with "I sold the last one today."
Really?

Asked about another part, "I'm the only one on the planet who has it. And, I'm
raising the price to about two grand plus shipping."

I do a search online, find the exact same NOS Ford factory part, new in box from another
supplier for $225...including shipping!!!!

I'm all for something is worth what another will pay and I am willing to pay a bit
more for things if service is good, easy and decent. And, I'd much rather support
a "mom and pop" type business whenever possible.

However, that isn't the case with Thunderbird Specialties in my one time and last time attempt
to buy from this Phillip.

I came to look up something else on the forum and saw this post about Thunderbird
Specialties...

Well, a fool and his money are soon parted. I'll pay a bit more for a rare part...but, I'm no
fool. Don't be one either!

 

[Bobberoo]

How does this "slick dick" sales guy Phillip of Thunderbird Specialties stay in business?

I Inquired about a part, got back the "I'm the only one on the planet who has it, you better buy from me
this second or it could be gone tomorrow!"

I ask a couple follow up questions about the part the next day, get attitude back a bit
with "I sold the last one today."
Really?

Asked about another part, "I'm the only one on the planet who has it. And, I'm
raising the price to about two grand plus shipping."

I do a search online, find the exact same NOS Ford factory part, new in box from another
supplier for $225...including shipping!!!!

I'm all for something is worth what another will pay and I am willing to pay a bit
more for things if service is good, easy and decent. And, I'd much rather support
a "mom and pop" type business whenever possible.

However, that isn't the case with Thunderbird Specialties in my one time and last time attempt
to buy from this Phillip.

I came to look up something else on the forum and saw this post about Thunderbird
Specialties...

Well, a fool and his money are soon parted. I'll pay a bit more for a rare part...but, I'm no
fool. Don't be one either!

I’m so impressed that you actually got a response from Phil. I’ve been sending messages to him via email and phone calls for some time and I have yet to have a conversation with him. I’m pretty much done trying to get my core charge back so it is my goal to let everyone know that if you deal with Thunderbird Specialties you will most likely get screwed! I took one on the chin but with any luck maybe I can keep someone else from repeating my mistake. P.S. taking donations to cover the cost of my stupidity!

In summary, you got something free so long ago, you can't remember, and you've never bought anything from him. RECENTLY , THREE DIFFERENT people- @Bobberoo, @Paul B and @mtbronco are all reporting they had issues getting a 1200.00 core back. Had they bought it directly from the Ford Dealer, they would already had the 1200.00 core returned with no excuses. He's selling an FEM unit for 1595.00 that can be purchased directly from the Ford dealer for 719.84 or less! The Ford dealer said they will give the 1200.00 core back after they get the FEM no matter what! So people have paid 2,795.00 for an FEM they could have bought from the same place this guy bought them for 719.84. Also, curious if @Bobberoo, @Paul B and @mtbronco ever got the core refunded?

I have yet to receive the core charge owed to me from Thunderbird Specialties. Again I was led to believe I had limited choices for a replacement FEM. My Ford dealer gave me little hope of finding a replacement so when I found someone who could help me I took the plunge and ordered one. Was it over priced? When I had nothing to compare it to and my other choice was to have a beautiful black flower box parked in the yard, hell no! Hindsight is 20 20. When I received the FEM I found that it did indeed come from a Ford dealer and I’m not certain why my Ford dealer couldn’t get one but I have since passed the name and phone number of the dealer Lakeland Ford that obviously has access to them to you guys so you have the opportunity to purchase direct from them. Enough said!

 

[davea]

IF the US mail was involved the postal inspectors can get involved IF they choose to. IF you paid by credit card and not too much time has elapsed, your bank can act on your behalf and refuse the charges. If you can proves a pattern of fraud, The FBI can get involved and IF the transaction crossed state lines. Good luck

 

[Anthony C]

Thank you all for that bit of input ...... I will put him on my poo poo list. This is exactly what I hate. People like this that take advantage of the hobby.

 

[Drdipstick]

How does this "slick dick" sales guy Phillip of Thunderbird Specialties stay in business?

I Inquired about a part, got back the "I'm the only one on the planet who has it, you better buy from me
this second or it could be gone tomorrow!"

I ask a couple follow up questions about the part the next day, get attitude back a bit
with "I sold the last one today."
Really?

Asked about another part, "I'm the only one on the planet who has it. And, I'm
raising the price to about two grand plus shipping."

I do a search online, find the exact same NOS Ford factory part, new in box from another
supplier for $225...including shipping!!!!

I'm all for something is worth what another will pay and I am willing to pay a bit
more for things if service is good, easy and decent. And, I'd much rather support
a "mom and pop" type business whenever possible.

However, that isn't the case with Thunderbird Specialties in my one time and last time attempt
to buy from this Phillip.

I came to look up something else on the forum and saw this post about Thunderbird
Specialties...

Well, a fool and his money are soon parted. I'll pay a bit more for a rare part...but, I'm no
fool. Don't be one either!

I have not dealt with this guy because of all of the warnings on this website. Thanks. I needed a FEM for our 2003 and followed the recommendations to Lakeland Ford. They tried to order from Ford and there none currently available. They referred me to Bob Allen Ford in Kansas. I called them and they had one in stock and were excellent to deal with. The core was only $500.