A Rant

I almost made it all the way through this project without bringing this up, but my attempt today to obtain a replacement contactor has convinced me that this must be said.

EV conversion parts suppliers - as a group - are the WORST people I have ever encountered to do business with . I have done a lot of different things in my long life, and I have never run across an industry with customer service this TERRIBLE.

Sure, it is supposedly a fledgling industry and they got overwhelmed when gas prices skyrocketed. But gas prices have been falling since July, and are now less than half of what they peaked at. Surely these companies have fewer customers by now. However, there is apparently still no customer service.

I have NEVER sent so many unanswered or slowly answered emails. I have NEVER made so many calls to businesses that just go to answering machines. I have NEVER left so many 'detailed messages' without receiving so much as a call in return. There are a few notable exceptions, but by and large this industry is full of parts suppliers that

• do not stock the items they sell
• require full payment up front for even long-lead-time and expensive items
• do not answer phones
• do not return calls
• do not answer emails
  
• do not provide necessary information for customers

Because of this constant difficulty, I would have to think seriously about ever doing another conversion. If gas remains this cheap or continues to fall, many of these no-service suppliers are going to have to find another business to be bad at.