What's up with Coastal Tech?

I've encountered the same situation you describe and felt pretty much the same way. My impression is that it's a small outfit and they do the best they can with what resources they have.

After persistently sending them e-mails, I finally established contact with them and also received my order.

I found them to be very nice people and genuinely interested in helping me get my kits working.

I'm sure you will receive your order, perhaps even with a little surprise included. Easy for me to say, but my best suggestion is to be patient.

 

Small outfit, nice people, etc. is all well and good, but useless when you have travel plans and there is no serious alternative to what you ordered (receiver hitch for carrying bikes) and you have to spend money (and gas) on an alternate vehicle at the last minute because you don't know if and when your order might arrive. Unprofessional is the correct adjective here. If they have enough business to get so far behind that they can't even answer the phone or email, they can hire and easily pay the help they need to catch up.

 

I totally agree.

When I became impatient with them, I started sending them an e-mail every day. If memory serves, I got a reply on the 3rd day and we've maintained contact ever since.

The squeaky wheel...................

 

Don't suppose anyone has heard anything about the viewtech audio/video input?

Dave

 

Did they charge your credit card? Other owners on multiple sites stand by CoastaleTech. But if they charged your CC you can file a complaint with your CC company. That might at least put a fire under their butts. Also, maybe they lost your order. It was just a couple weeks ago that their site went down for not renewing it. That might mean they are not very good at the management aspect of the business and your order has disappeared. I would at least email them endlessly and contact your CC company.

 

Exerpt from March 6 2005 Post:

. . .I agree - I called them to to place an order, the woman took about half of my order then put me on hold, and after several minutes, disconnected my call (I got the impression I was interrupting dinner - but I did call the 800 number.)

So - I then placed an order via their website. I called the next day to see if everything went through - but had to leave a voice message asking them to confirm my order. As of yet - still no response from them or confirmation. It's been about a week and a half so far.

Several weeks ago, I also sent them an email requesting additional information on some of their products - and - as of yet - not a peep.


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May 3 Post (Two months later)
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Still waiting - No response, No charge to credit card, but it looks like lots of new activity on their website. They have time to update the site to sell more?

I'm beginning to think EVERYTHING associated with the Prius takes months to get.

Maybe it's time for the squeeky wheel approach!



The fact that they're an honorable company is not in question in my mind. All I need is communication from them stating when the ordered product will be available. (1 month? 2 months? 4 - 8? Do I trade my Prius for a new one?) A quick reply to my email inquiry would suffice.

Whew, I feel better now, I could probably wait a couple more months.

 

That's what I and quite a few others on PriusOnline tried to impress upon Dave, but he got insulted and defensive, especially with me stating that if he didn't currently have a monopoly on some products, he would be going out of business. He thought I was wishing him out of business.

Quite the contrary actually, I hope he does do well, but if someone duplicates his products, under his current CS reputation, he won't.

 

Update: I finally talked to a human at the 800 number. She was apologetic and said I was in the system and should have received a confirmation email. So they are still operating, but having some problems meeting orders and communicating.

 

If they became more responsible in order taking, confirmation and communications they would be able to improve on the number of sales and be able to afford staffing that would relieve them of some of the time consuming tasks of running the business. I want their products, but I will wait until they act like a business that wants its customers.

 

I'm so glad I found this site. In less than a week, I've learned so much. I'm looking at a 4-6 wait list for my Prius. I've also determined that there are several of these Coastal Mods that I'm interested in. Perhaps I should place an order now!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AnOldHouse\";p=\"86808)</div>

I wouldn't mind if they'd take an order for the iPod adapter now, and deliver whenever. If there are enough pre-orders, maybe that'd get development moving. Just tell us what it'll do once it's finished, and make sure it lives up to the specs, and I'll wait. Waiting on them seems to be a given anyway...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AnOldHouse\";p=\"86808)</div>

Sure go ahead! If for some reason you decide not to get the Prius, and you got the mods from Coastal, you might be able to sell them at a markup!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DanMan32\";p=\"86855)</div>

Good idea...but there's just no way I'm not going to change my mind.

I've been focused on buying the G2 Prius when I came across the design on the Toyota website almost a year before it went into production. I never buy the first model year or the the first year of a major re-design. So, I've already been on a self-imposed waiting list of about 2 years already. The current 4-6 months I'm being quoted now is minor in comparison.

 

I just spoke to Kelley at Coastal. She has part of my order (mudflaps), but the EV button won't be in for another week.

If by chance you need one piece more than others, order it separately, or ask them to ship as stock arrives.

The video unit looks cool, how much more distracting is a DVD compared to all the screens you can pull up while driving?

 

Ya, I just cancelled my EV mode order because it's been almost > 2 months (since March), and I can do it myself.

Since I see other people on PriusChat and PriusOnline getting their recent order within days instead of waiting like me for a few months, I'm not feeling very good about it.

I'm still on the waiting list for the Nav/BT speed bypass because you can't get it anywhere else.

 

I just picked myself up off the floor - Kelly just responded to my email inquiry.

But alas, she says the NAV kit is not shipping yet - even after being on order for 2 months. No eta was given.

I am happy she finally responded though. A little communicaton makes all the difference.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike\";p=\"86906)</div>

Current version doesn't do anything for BT. A BT speed limit bypass is in the works; next year maybe?

 

I was thinking of doing a homebrew NAV bypass, but when you figure out the cost of materials and the time involved, I concluded that it didn't pay. Those molex connectors alone are pretty pricey in small quantities and I really don't want to cut any wires if I don't have to.

I'm waiting to see what the overall NAV/BT combination comes to before I revisit this again.

Gary