Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Pretty upset with ZAINO
When I first got on the forum about a year and a half ago, I saw all the posts on Zaino. Having tried many, many products over my 30 + years of taking care of cars, I was a skeptic. Finally, about 13 months ago I gave in and decided to try it. I must say, I became hooked. I have three cars, and have now put many applications of Zaino on them all, and have converted some friends of mine as well. I have spent about $150 on Sal's products.
Now I need to re-stock. My current "re-stocking" order is about $80. I have called my local distributor (the only source in Houston) twice in the last two weeks, and he has not returned my calls. I am not going to mention him by name, because I like him personally, and he has given me great service in the past. But it appears he has lost interest in selling Zaino.
I went on the Zaino web-site to order some. Sal is living in the dark ages. You still have to mail him a check. On the forum a year ago I was reading that he was close to having an on-line ordering system where he would take charge cards. No such thing yet.
I am about to order it from L.A.P.D. I guess, as it seems the best alternative (and I have had excellent service from L.A.P.D on other purchases). But it seems absurd to me that I live in the fourth largest city in the U.S. and have to order my car care products from 1500 miles away and wait for it to arrive.
I am writing this post to try to help Zaino, not hurt them. It's only a matter of time when the big companies come out with comparable products. I've already heard they plan to. When I can drive five minutes to Auto Zone or Pep Boys and pick it up on the spur of the moment, why wouldn't I? I know the Zaino distributors all expect us to be loyal to Zaino because they are so helpful, but come on guys, the product is just too damn hard to buy to instill loyalty.
SAL, my message to you is if you are only going to market through mail order and local part time distributors, at least be good at it. You are a long way from being good at it. You can win my loyalty, but you are not there today.
As we have discussed here before, the LAPD is not an authorized Zaino distributor.
Donald Brunswick is the Zaino distributor for Houston, but there are about 3 or 4 more distributors in TX with the moderator of this forum (RAT) being one of them.
Most all Zaino distributors like me, take orders using http://www.paypal.com now so no checks are involved.
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (KLO)
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As we have discussed here before, the LAPD is not an authorized Zaino distributor.
Donald Brunswick is the Zaino distributor for Houston, but there are about 3 or 4 more distributors in TX with the moderator of this forum (RAT) being one of them.
Most all Zaino distributors like me, take orders using http://www.paypal.com now so no checks are involved.
As I stated, I know who the Houston rep is, and he lives 10 minutes from me. Re-read my post - it explains my situation with him..
RAT is in Dallas. You may not be familiar with Texas Geography, that is no better than being in Los Angeles. Still has to ship the product - Dallas is 280 miles from me.
LAPD may not be a distributor, but they take Credit cards and have an on-line ordering system that neither Sal nor any distributors can match (to my knowledge). I stand by my point that Sal either needs to find a better way to sell his products, or he will go the way of the dinosour when other mainstream car care companies come out with similar products.
Thanks for the responses. I know you guys are not the problem :cheers:
"LAPD may not be a distributor, but they take Credit cards and have an on-line ordering system that neither Sal nor any distributors can match (to my knowledge). "
I can not speak for Donald, maybe he has quit his Zaino distributorship?
As Sal has said, he is putting a clamp on LAPD's unauthorized Zaino supplier ( whoever that may be, and you know who you are) so even though they have a web site, you may not get what you ordered.
Ecklers also has an online order system for Zaino and are an authorized Zaino distributor and have been for years.
But, I do not really know what you main problem is, not wanting to pay shipping? If so ordering online does not solve that. If it is wanting Zaino sold in stores like WalMart, Brother, I can tell you that aint gong to happen in your life time or mine.
"I stand by my point that Sal either needs to find a better way to sell his products, or he will go the way of the dinosour when other mainstream car care companies come out with similar products."
Brother, I can assure you I have no trouble selling Zaino products, nor does Sal :lol:
Ecklers could have that stuff on your doorstep in probably 1-2 days... I don't see any problem. Or just send Sal a check and have the stuff in a week or two. Not everyone wants to pay credit card companies their fees, resulting in higher prices to the consumer.
Zaino availibility may be a weak spot, but it's gains more then make up for it IMHO.
I've been using Z for about 2 years and love the results. I have ordered from Kevin (KLO) and I also order from Sal. Both are great about shipping and I get it in a week from Sal and several days from Kevin. I also have stock on some items like Z6 which I use on about everything. True it isn't as easy to get as the big M but it's worth the wait! I will agree with you it's time for Sal to modernize and step into the new era of on line business, so Sal please get with it!
Bill :) :)
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (KLO)
Quote:
But, I do not really know what you main problem is, not wanting to pay shipping? If so ordering online does not solve that. If it is wanting Zaino sold in stores like WalMart, Brother, I can tell you that aint gong to happen in your life time or mine.
Brother, I can assure you I have no trouble selling Zaino products, nor does Sal :lol:
I think I made my main problem pretty clear. There is a "distributor" (not really a true statement if they are not allowed to sell to people like LAPD) who lives ten minutes from me and he has not returned two of my phone calls in the past two weeks. So...
I live in the fourth largest city in the U. S., and I have to mail order a product that any other brand can be bought at any one of about 10 stores within ten minutes of my house.
My other point was, you and Sal may not be having trouble selling the product now, but businesses that do not keep up with the times frequently fail as other companies come up with comparable products and market them better.
And you can tell me how easy it is to order, but I just don't think wax should be this hard to buy. It's a consumable product that people like me have to buy several times a year. You can rationalize your side all you want, but that's how I feel about it, and I'm the customer.
I've always appreciated customers who tell me why they don't like my service, and give me a chance to fix it, rather than just moving on to another supplier. You don't seem too intersted in my feedback as a customer, you just want to tell me why I"M wrong. Must be nice to have all the business you can handle. I've read enough posts to know I'm not the only one who feels this way about Zaino.
In my conversations with Sal, he has told me the concern over quality far outweighs the concern over quantity. Sure he could whip up an E-Commerce site, heck I did one for another business in an evening. It was a secure site with a shopping cart and a check out that popped over to a CC procesor for final billing.
But could he keep up with the orders, and in trying to do that would the product quality drop? If it did, I would be extremely disappointed. I have no clue what it takes to produce the product in quantity, but history has a pattern of repeating itself, and most small companies that end up very successful and going big time, end up with much less quality in the product. Look at the car audio market and you will see repeated examples.
I for one, a distributor or not, am willing to put up with a little inconvience to have my cars look better than anyone else's.
As far as LAPD goes, its great you can buy over the Web, but you also have to pay a $1 more for each product, and not being an authorized distributor, who knows what you are really buying. The same goes for any other unauthorized source of Zaino, who knows what you are really buying, old stock, outdated formulas???? No thanks..... Stick with Sal and the people that are authorized to sell it. It may be inconvenient, but you know you are getting the latest in a quality product.
I would hate to see Zaino go by the way of Turtle Wax, for the sake of convenience and mass marketing.
Just my $.02
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (Grzldvt)
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I would hate to see Zaino go by the way of Turtle Wax, for the sake of convenience and mass marketing.
Just my $.02
How about reading my first post. I did not suggest mass marketing. What I said, is if you are only going to sell through mail order and "distributors", at least do it well. Neither is the case, in my opinion. I also agree I would not want to see him get too big. But there are other ways to control that (like price).
Also, if you followed my first post, I still plan on buying it. So I too, must think it's worth the trouble. But frankly, you guys who are distributors are so intent on defending a bad system that it makes me want to re-think what to buy.
If you want to buy it online (credit card and next day shipping), you can do this via Ecklers or other Zaino distributors.
If you're complaining that you can't purchase Zaino from K-Mart then I'd offer that Zaino isn't really an average "Joe" Turtle wax kind of product. Just look at the questions that Zaino users post on this and other forums.
Zaino is a great product and it requires a modicum of care and forethought. It's not the kind of product that you can simply put up on the shelf at Pep Boys.
If you want to buy it online (credit card and next day shipping), you can do this via Ecklers or other Zaino distributors.
If you're complaining that you can't purchase Zaino from K-Mart then I'd offer that Zaino isn't really an average "Joe" Turtle wax kind of product. Just look at the questions that Zaino users post on this and other forums.
Zaino is a great product and it requires a modicum of care and forethought. It's not the kind of product that you can simply put up on the shelf at Pep Boys.
Of course, this is just my opinion.
-Jim
Yes, at this point I am unclear as to what the problem is now.
No one can speak for Donald other than him, maybe he has moved? who knows.
But we have established that a person can order online with a credit card at Ecklers or pay online with Pay Pal and order from a distributor like myself, RAT, or Carl.
Many people will not order any product online as they do not want to give their credit card number out online nor will they give it out over the phone either. Believe it or not many people like to mail checks.
If there is no longer a distributor in Houston, I would assume that problem would be corrected by Sal.
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (KLO)
I give up. There is no problem. Your Houston "distributor" not returning his phone calls is not a problem.
Having to order it is not a problem. Having a web site in this day and age where the business requires you to mail a check is not a problem. Suggesting I set up a Pay Pal account just to buy wax is not a problem.
There is no problem. I'm a dumb butt consumer who simply stated how I would like to see the service improved, and you have insulted me in about three posts now by stating that you don't understand what the problem is.
I give up. There is no problem. Your Houston "distributor" not returning his phone calls is not a problem.
Having to order it is not a problem. Having a web site in this day and age where the business requires you to mail a check is not a problem. Suggesting I set up a Pay Pal account just to buy wax is not a problem.
There is no problem. I'm a dumb butt consumer who simply stated how I would like to see the service improved, and you have insulted me in about three posts now by stating that you don't understand what the problem is.
It must be me.
I do not see how I was insulting in any way, and the Houston distributor is not "MY" distributor, "I" am just a working Zaino distributor.
Sal has been working on an online ordering web site for some time now, as has been discussed many times on this board.
I do not see how I can make someone return phone calls???
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (KLO)
None of my original posts blamed you. In fact, my second one specifically stated that I didn't blame you. But you got very defensive and all of your posts after your first one stated that you didn't understand the problem.
I think it's pretty obvious that when I said "your distributor", I was refering to Zaino's distributor. I apologize if this statement was misconstrued.
Re-read my first post regarding his on-line order system. I'll guarantee you that has been dicussed for over a year now.
I never asked you to "make" him return calls.
All I was doing was pointing out what I consider shortcomings in Zaino's Marketing of products. I was not pointing my finger at anyone. Heck, I even went out of my way in my first post to go easy on Houston's local distributor. I'm still not as upset with him as I am with Zaino's marketing strategy.
I'm trying to keep this from being a pissing match. So please re-read every one of my posts above. All I'm trying to do is share my opinions about Zaino's marketing.
I've heard good things about you from people I respect, so I apologize if I am in fact contributing to this becoming a pissing match. I really don't mean to aim it at you or any other of the distributors. I'm willing on letting this post stand as it is as just IMHO.
Jim,
Sorry if I haven't returned your calls but I have been out of town for the HD Open Road Tour up in Ft. Worth since Thursday. Don't know what number you called either since I have no messages at home or on my cell. If you call me today @ 713-826-2501 we can talk, that is if you haven't gotten some from someone else.
Jim, maybe your distributor is away on vacation or something, I know my customers get nervous when I go away too, it's that Zaino fix thing :yesnod: But to see your post topic that your upset with Zaino..... well that is really not true, you are upset with a Zaino distributor, and I can and do see why you would be upset, but you will see things changing soon. ;)
Location: Houston, TX Picture above at "Tail of the Dragon"
Re: Pretty upset with ZAINO (hcvone)
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you are upset with a Zaino distributor, and I can and do see why you would be upset, but you will see things changing soon. ;)
No, I'm upset with Zaino. I have made a very serious effort here to make sure everyone knows that I am not blaming the distributor here. And to make sure everyone is clear, now that he has responded, I have called a phone number that is on his business card, and it is very clearly his voice on the voice mail that I have left the message on. I will take that up with him. But for a product that is bought on a repeat basis, several times a year, I just don't think Zaino is going to market the proper way.
I have ideas on how it could improve, but frankly you distributors are so damn defensive that I'm done trying to share my feelings. I've never run into a company and it's representatives who are so intent on not listening to their customers.
Donald,
I will call you today, and I'm glad to hear from you. As stated in my first post, I like you personally, and you've gone out of your way in the past for me. That is the real reason I posted here is to give you and Zaino the opportunity to come through, and that is why I have not actually ordered elsewhere yet.
I've always just sent a check to Sal, and 5-7 days later I get a box. What could be easier? I kind of like the fact that he's resisted on-line ordering. I'm a dinosaur, too.
Corvette Store
Pretty upset with ZAINO
