Saferacer

[steve kramer]

One and done for me. Ordered a shield for my Arai on line. Didn't show up after a couple weeks, emailed them - it was "out of stock" but would be shipped later that week. Get my cc statement a couple days later, I was charged for it. Sent an email - it had been shipped, when I inquired about being charged without the product being shipped - "it's our policy to charge when ordered." Really? Well, it's my policy not to do business with companies that charge me for product before they ship that they don't have in stock. Am I unreasonable?

[Will Velkoff]

Same **** happened to me when I ordered my sparco suit, gloves, and shoes from them around Christmas time. Placed the order in early December, was charged for everything. Called in early January, said the suit was on backorder from Sparco. Fine. Then the credit card bill came, and saw I was charged for all 3 items, but had received none. Called them back and got the bs that "it's our policy blah blah", so made them ship the other two items that were in stock. Then end of February my suit finally shows up. 99% sure I won't be doing business with them again.

I understand that something is on backorder, but don't charge me for it, plus the other items I ordered, and not send ANY of it.

[jgrooms]

I have always had good service and delivery from Saferacer. I have bought 2 suits, several helmets, and my HANS over the last few years without difficulty.

However, I am not crazy about having to put their sticker on my beautiful car.

[Matt King]

They would be easy to ignore if it wasn't for the galling sticker situation.

[Kazis31]

i had good experience with them.
I bought my helmet and Hans from them.
Hans was wrong size ,but they took care of it in 4 days and got me correct one.9 it was wrong because i measured too small)
M.

[kea]

I'm not Saferacer and I don't sell as much safety wear as they do, but I would never charge for something (other than a deposit for something custom) before it was shipped and it's only right to let you know if it is in stock or not.
Many of the manufacturers are carrying less stock now because of the last couple of business years, so re-stocking has been slower, which is not an excuse.

[sauce_racer]

I was in the First Gear column in the Sportscar Magazine for June or July of last year. Saferacer gives the featured driver a $200 gift card. I found a nice pair of G-Force racing shoes and they were only $65 and Oakley gloves on clearance! It was all good until I went in to pay. I had to call, and argue with them about being the featured driver and having the gift card. Finally someone said just run it and we'll get it over with. I ordered the smallest size shoe they made which is a 5. I wear a 4.5 in mens (which is a 6.5 in womens). I asked about the smallest size they would get me and instead of the 5, I got the 6.5. So I went to the Runoffs needing shoes, and they wanted to charge me an extra $45 to ship them back from Wisconsin and fix the mistake. I raced with my old holey, racing shoes and sent them back once I was home. And low and hold... Still the shoes don't fit.

And still, I'm racing in my holey, old semi ugly racing shoes.


Meg

[sauce_racer]

Not blaming them for the shoes being too big, but the back and forth arguing about my shoe size and the gift certificiate was not fun to deal with.

[pschneider]

I, too, had a similar experience with Saferacer, but mine dates back to around 2002. My son had just started racing, and I ordered two Sparco driving suits; a larger size to fit me, and a smaller size for my son. Same style. Ordered in late November/early December, plan was for Christmas presents. When they did not come by a handfull of days before Christmas, AND my card had been charged, I called them. My size was in stock, but the smaller one was not in stock; should be here in a few days. OK. A few days go by. No suits. I called back; still out stock. I asked that they ship what they had (my suit, along with the gloves and shoes for my son), since I had already pain, and I am told that they SOLD my suit awaiting the rest of the order. I was not very pleased. It took weeks before all was resolved. It may all have been Sparco's fault due to backorder, BUT, my PAID FOR suit should never have been sold to someone else. I curse everytime I see the SCCA Saferacer National sticker. By far the worse customer service I have ever encountered.

[ducatiracer]

I've had two experiences with SafeRacer along the same lines and will not, under any circumstances, give them a thrid opportunity. My first order was several weeks in arriving and then it was missing a package of tearoffs. I emailed about the tearoffs and received no response and no tearoffs. The second time, other than waiting several weeks, my order was fulfilled correctly. All of the other web retailers I deal with regularly, perhaps as many as a dozen, confirm orders by email, ship promptly, don't bill until they ship, provide tracking info, and communicate if there are any problems or will be any delays. SafeRacer does none of these things. And it is damn annoying to have to wear their stickers.

regards, Michael Hausknecht

[addictedto]

Same story here, nothing but problems with them. I ordered a new pair of gloves (and about $1,200 worth of other stuff) as my old ones were 3 years old and looking a little worn. My new gloves arrive weeks later than I was told but EVERYTHING else was "out of stock" or "on back order" . The SFI tag on my NEW gloves was OLDER than the gloves I was replacing !!!!! I called and got nothing but a run around and was told and I quote "there's no expiration date on gloves, what difference does it make, gloves don't go bad". Really ? I don't want to trust my hands to something thats possibly been sitting in the sun or something for 3 years. It would have been different if they were discounted or something but they were sold as NEW. When I buy new I expect it to have been built within the last 12 months. I was told I could ship them back at my expense.
I'm done with safe racer. My stickers have BIG X's across them, and theres nothing saying that the sticker directly under the safe-racer sticker can't say "is the worst place to deal with" or something as equally creative !!

[Dave33]

[FONT=Verdana]I'll jump in. Ordered several items including a Bell helmet. Everything arrived except helmet. No explanation or notification. I called and left a message and received an email saying it was backordered and would not be available for three or four weeks and yes my CC was billed for the helmet. Had to call two more times for an update. Four weeks later it did arrive.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]I then order a Fire Bottle system, needing it within a week. CC was charged but no email regarding the order. After two days I call and once again, it is not in stock and will ship from manufacturer. I ask how long will that take as I need it in 5 days. They can't tell how long. I cancel the order and buy it from another company. Four days later the bottle I ordered from Saferacer arrives. I call to ask why and was told it had already shipped from manufacturer and there was nothing they could do. In order to have my CC credited I had to pay shipping to get it back to Saferacer. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]

[Larry]

If you're required to run their decal, and you're not happy with them, there is no reason you can't put "sucks" or any other derisive above or below their decal.

I have no experience with SafeRacer. I don't know them. All I know is that there are a LOT of people on this board that are unhappy with them. Sometimes we make mistakes. I didn't get an order right two weeks ago. I didn't charge for it, but I forgot it entirely. When the customer called, I shipped it immediately and I paid for the shipping. It was my mistake, and my customers shouldn't have to bear any additional expense. They should expect an apology (which I gave) and prompt corrective action (which he received).

A vendor should NEVER charge your card before he ships your good, unless he informs you of a partial charge as a deposit. That should be done and agreed to at the time you place your order.

The racing community is relatively small. If you mistreat people, the word gets around quickly, plus it's just no way to do business!

Larry Oliver
International Racing Products

[joshuagore]

Instead of starting a new thread I figured I would add to the criticism here.

I bought a few items totaling $250 with shipping. I placed the order on Friday before lunch. I was planning my first session with a fresh car for Wednesday of that week so wanted to get the new harness in before then. I contacted them Monday to get tracking and ensure the items shipped Friday, and if not I would pay for overnight shipping, to get it in time.

I was told they did not ship yet, but were packaged on a pallet and the order could not be updated to overnight. I am in Illinois so it was not the end of the world, I would get the harness in 1-2 days and bolt it in and be on my way to the afternoon session.

At 2pm on Monday I get an email stating the harness is out of stock. I call and they confirm it is out of stock, and ask me if I want a different harness, I say no, and take my business elsewhere. RacerPartsWholesale.com took care of me in the harness department and shipped same day, and checked inventory prior to confirming the order.

Its Wednesday and the track day was rained out, but my SafeRacer package arrived with the parts they did have in stock. Except my arm restraints were not packaged and a window net was.

Same day shipping is not expected or required, but it would be nice if I was notified if something was not in stock same day of order, or when I call to ask about shipping something priority they notify me when I am on the phone that it is not in stock instead of emailing me 2 hours later.

Josh

[Speed Sport Engineering]

Add me to the list of less then happy Saferacer customers.

I had a $500 gift certificate to use from the nationwide points win last year. I used it and ordered both a Hans and a Saftey Solutions device. I ordered both so I can see which I like better, and informed them I would be returning one of the 2. They said fine, but reminded me of their 30 day return policy. I was told both items are were in stock and would ship in 1-2 days. I got an e-mail confirming and a tracking e-mail.

First they screwed up the Fedex label on the box - they put my company name and street address on one line so the street address was cut off the printed lable. It was delayed in getting to me as Fedex had to figure out where the hell it was going.

Second, only the Safety Solutions was in the box. No Hans. I called them, and was informed it will be shipping from Hans, but not for another week. I commented that I was told when ordered both were in stock and whould ship in 1-2 days. The response was they can't control how quickly Hans ships. To me that's not in stock if it's being dropped shipped from a supplier.

Not furious, just dissapointed that their shipping department can't even get a shipping lable right and being lied to about being an in stock item. At the very least the confirmation e-mail saying my order had been shipped should have been noted it wasn't the complete order! I had plans on going to the shop tonight to test fitting myself in the car with both restraints.

[reidhazelton]

Add me to the list of less then happy Saferacer customers.

I had a $500 gift certificate to use from the nationwide points win last year. I used it and ordered both a Hans and a Saftey Solutions device. I ordered both so I can see which I like better, and informed them I would be returning one of the 2. They said fine, but reminded me of their 30 day return policy. I was told both items are were in stock and would ship in 1-2 days. I got an e-mail confirming and a tracking e-mail.

First they screwed up the Fedex label on the box - they put my company name and street address on one line so the street address was cut off the printed lable. It was delayed in getting to me as Fedex had to figure out where the hell it was going.

Second, only the Safety Solutions was in the box. No Hans. I called them, and was informed it will be shipping from Hans, but not for another week. I commented that I was told when ordered both were in stock and whould ship in 1-2 days. The response was they can't control how quickly Hans ships. To me that's not in stock if it's being dropped shipped from a supplier.

Not furious, just dissapointed that their shipping department can't even get a shipping lable right and being lied to about being an in stock item. At the very least the confirmation e-mail saying my order had been shipped should have been noted it wasn't the complete order! I had plans on going to the shop tonight to test fitting myself in the car with both restraints.

Wonder what Part 2 of the story will be when you try to return one that has been out of the box, or in the case of the HANS - drop shipped, and was bought with a certificate....

Before the sale: "ohhhh sure, no problem at all. Easiest thing in the world."

After the sale: "I don't know who told you that, but we just can not do that."

[Will Velkoff]

Interesting to hear others people stories, they are all very similar-NOTHING in stock, WRONG items shipping, and TERRIBLE customer service. "Safe" to say my business will never be going their direction again. It's disgraceful that their sticker is on every National competitors car... Once I upgrade to National status I'll certainly be putting a big red X through the decal like someone else mentioned.

[Speed Sport Engineering]

Wonder what Part 2 of the story will be when you try to return one that has been out of the box, or in the case of the HANS - drop shipped, and was bought with a certificate....

Before the sale: "ohhhh sure, no problem at all. Easiest thing in the world."

After the sale: "I don't know who told you that, but we just can not do that."

Yeah, that's my concern too. That's why I'm not happy about the delay in the Hans - I figure the longer I wait to test fit both of these, the less my chances of a return. To make matters worse it looks the Saftey Solutions device has been around the block a time or two - the box was already a little beat up when I receieved it.

To be fair, the people on the phone have been nice. I just should have been notified about the split shippment somehow.

[carnut169]

What did they give the club in exchange for the forced advertisement?

[cooleyjb]

What did they give the club in exchange for the forced advertisement?

Not that much. If you look at the sponsorship line on the year end statements that they publish, which includes all sponsors, the total value from all sponsors was less than I would expect a single person to have to pay for the naming writes.

[Bob Clark]

Interesting to hear others people stories, they are all very similar-NOTHING in stock, WRONG items shipping, and TERRIBLE customer service. "Safe" to say my business will never be going their direction again. It's disgraceful that their sticker is on every National competitors car... Once I upgrade to National status I'll certainly be putting a big red X through the decal like someone else mentioned.

Just be careful about putting that red X through the sticker. There is something in the GCR about running the sticker unmodified or defacing it. Can't remember the exact wording. Trust me it really hurts having to run that sticker when I work at Pegasus......

[cooleyjb]

Just be careful about putting that red X through the sticker. There is something in the GCR about running the sticker unmodified or defacing it. Can't remember the exact wording. Trust me it really hurts having to run that sticker when I work at Pegasus......

At least one board member asked if they would make exceptions for those of us who could be considered direct competitors. No traction on that sadly.

[Neil_Roberts]

I'd say it's time for a bidding war for decal rights, and it might not be expensive to win.

[Northwind]

Make up some thumbs decals and place them near the decal. I would look something like this:

SAFERACER


PEGASUS
AUTO RACING

Get them made Bob and I will run them on my car.

[JRMarchand]

SafeRacer sends me a "Giveaway" $500 cerificate for being one of the participants at the RunOffs that purchased something at the track from them. I remember purchasing tearoffs, they were the only vendor that carried them for the common Arai GP5 helmet. So, with the $500 certificate, on Dec17 I placed an online order for Alpinestars shoes, Alpinestars gloves, 5 gallon jug, a helmet bag, Arai visor, Oakley shades and hose for fuel jug(its separate). The total bill was $508 +$12 shipping, i punched in the certificate number on the checkout box and it worked, they billed me $20 dollars to my credit card, done and done. Two days later I got a huge box with awesome shoes and shades, a fuel jug/ hose and 6 big decals. I was so happy to have new $180 shoes and my first ever $100 sunglasses. Ok the rest of the stuff might be on back order, its been a week since i went on vacation so rest of order might be sitting at the postal office or outside in the snow.

I didn't get a notification that the rest of the gifts are on back order and if they were shipped in the last few days, well i didn't get a tracking confirmation to be aware of whats really going on. Thats not a complaint, just my experience.

SafeRacer gets my up

[JRMarchand]

Pegasus gets thumbs up though.

[BWC54]

Just be careful about putting that red X through the sticker. There is something in the GCR about running the sticker unmodified or defacing it. Can't remember the exact wording.

It says it shall be unaltered.

At least they're free. I wouldn't want to pay for them.

[jhenn4716]

Yeah, that's my concern too. That's why I'm not happy about the delay in the Hans - I figure the longer I wait to test fit both of these, the less my chances of a return. To make matters worse it looks the Saftey Solutions device has been around the block a time or two - the box was already a little beat up when I receieved it.

To be fair, the people on the phone have been nice. I just should have been notified about the split shippment somehow.

If they don't take it back, I know a safety team you could donate it to so it could be used in training.

[pschneider]

Sorry, but I must add yet another "anti SafeRacer" comment. As an SCCA member, we are supposed to get a 10% discount; a reasonable return for having to run their sticker. For a Christmas gift, I called to order Alpine Stars racing shoes and gloves. Of course, as others have mentioned above, they had no stock. We had to settle for white shoes, which really are not too bad looking, and Sparco gloves. When I asked about the SCCA discount, I was informed that Sparco does not allow discounts. Seems to me, SafeRacer should have made me a better deal.

[Rick Kirchner]

Are any of the "well connected" paying attention here?

[JohnPaul]

I used them a few times, Prices were always the cheapest (and I look), always got the discount and returned stuff a couple of times. Never had one problem or issue, always treated nice. Not crazy about being forced to run anyones stickers but as far as doing business with them I can't complain.

[BWC54]

Saferacer can't even get their decal orders right. I ordered 6 decals. You know - the ones SCCA makes you display. Today the order came and there was only 1 in the envelope. I could see them sending 3 in error instead of 6 but they know SCCA makes you display 3. Why would they send 1?

[Speed Sport Engineering]

Saferacer can't even get their decal orders right. I ordered 6 decals. You know - the ones SCCA makes you display. Today the order came and there was only 1 in the envelope. I could see them sending 3 in error instead of 6 but they know SCCA makes you display 3. Why would they send 1?

They are probably on backorder.

[SwanTechEnt]

Are the saferacer decals mandatory for any and every national race throughout the country? Just wondering as I am entered for the National at California Speedway next weekend and haven't heard about putting any decals on my car.