Wild Horses rocks

[toddsrods]

I happened to be in Stockton today for some work stuff, and had a little time to kill at lunch, so naturally I swung into Wild Horses in Lodi to pick up a couple of parts i needed and to check it out. It is a great facility, and as always the customer service was great.
I asked to look around a bit, and Jim Creel himself spent about a half hour showing me around the place, letting me check out the Broncos on site, and just chat.
Overall a super experience. Venors like this make the Bronco hobby even more enjoyable.
Sincere thanks to Jim and the gang for a great visit today and all of the past experiences I've had with them and for all they do for us Broncohaulics.

 

[ared77]

Always great to hear about a business that goes the extra mile for a customer!

 

[sprdv1]

Sounds like a great day to me.. thanks for sharing

 

[OPCJeff]

The Silencer tail gate hinges

I've never had much desire to talk about this story but since you're on the subject I have some good things to say about Jim at wild horses also.

Quite a few years ago I realized that the hinge on my tailgate was metal and so was the tailgate obviously and I figured that this is probably a big source of the rattles back there. So I looked everywhere for a solution to buy and no one had anything. Just the stock stamped replacement hinges. So with the help of a friend of mine who makes specialized urethane products I made the Silencer tail gate hinge. A simple product really just a bracket with a pin and a urethane bushing that matched the stock radius and size of the original hinge. I originally made it for me and my dads broncos but my friend encouraged me to try and sell it.

I called every bronco shop out there and I pretty much got the same response from all. "I dont see anyone wanting these and theres no one asking for them" So i told them all that I would send them a pair and that they can try it on one of their broncos and if they liked it they can order more and if not they can do whatever they want with them. I had already tested them and knew they made a big difference so I was confident they would like them.

Well sure enough it didnt take long before all the big shops were selling them. And they were selling alot of them. Sales were good, the price point was good($5 above a factory replacement) and their margins were good also.

One day I get a call from Jim saying I should do a little research on whos selling my product. So I did and come to find out Toms and Jeffs had both copied my product and cut me out. Adding insult to injury was one of them literally took the picture i gave them and greyscaled it and called it their own. The other just took a new picture. Unfortunately both had kept my language the same but just modified a few words. As you could expect I was very upset. They also lowered the price to what I was selling them for to them essentially cutting me out but also cutting out the rest of the competition. After some long thought I decided to sell the business to Jim at wild horses and He paid for it! Jim didnt copy my product but instead communicated with me about the his dilema and we worked together to make it work for the customer. He said he was getting multiple calls a day asking for him to lower the price to match theirs. But there was no way he could give it away for free. So bottom line is Jim is a stand up guy who did the right thing and didnt screw a vender. Frankly Im not sure why the others did what they did either since im sure their sales didnt change over the long run and i know their profits didnt increase. They just screwed someone out of making a few bucks.

I know this has been a long story but its been eating at me for a lot of years. I hope it gives all of you some perspective on the market that we are all in and our desire to get everything for cheap. In my case no one would give me the light of day for my idea. I had to design it, pay to make it, test it, and prove that it worked before any one of them got involved. And then after that i literally had to give them the product because they didnt have enough understanding of our needs to realize the benefit the product. And yet once they saw the demand for the product they stole it and cut out the guy who started it all. The bummer part is there really wasnt anything I could do legally because i didnt make enough on the product to justify payingfor the lawyers to go after them. Please think about that next time you are buying from some of these shops.

Anyways enough with my rant. Thanks Jim at Wild Horses for being a stand up guy and an ethical business owner!

Cheers, Jeff

 

[NYC Bronco]

welp...there is another purchase and project in the queue!

 

[69broncofun]

Good to know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bukin 67]

That's great to know Todd. I've always had superior service from WH and it's very seldom you won't find them at an organized Bronco event on the West Coast, getting involved at the very core of their company's branding. Jim is usually right in there too. Few that have gone to the events WH attends haven't talked Broncos with him.

Sorry about your experience with the other Bronco houses Jeff. It's even sadder that more than 1 Bronco house was in on it.

 

[kshinnall]

I myself just had a great experience with Jim from WH.
I recently ordered a set of 3.5" rear springs from another vendor, only to get an email stating that they will be placed on backorder due to them not having them in stock (even though their web page shows they do). After a phone call to them with them telling me they don't know when they will get them in stock, I cancelled my order.

To make a long story short, Jim corresponded with me here on classic broncos (my thread about which vendor to order 3.5" springs). After a few PM's and a phone call to Jim, needless to say I will be ordering 3.5" leaf springs from WH and pretty much anything else I will need for my 71.

Now just the waiting game with the other vendor placing the money back on my credit card so I can order them. Yep, they took the money even though they didn't have the product in stock. Kinda frustrating.....

 

[Skiddy]

welp...there is another purchase and project in the queue!

heck I think I am going to go buy some just because.
WH is good people, even the goofy guy Paul;D

 

[bronconut73]

heck I think I am going to go buy some just because.
WH is good people, even the goofy guy Paul;D

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[Rox Crusher]

Jeff, sorry for your experience but appreciate that you shared.

Yet another reason to buy from Wild Horses !

 

[OPCJeff]

I myself just had a great experience with Jim from WH.
I recently ordered a set of 3.5" rear springs from another vendor, only to get an email stating that they will be placed on backorder due to them not having them in stock (even though their web page shows they do). After a phone call to them with them telling me they don't know when they will get them in stock, I cancelled my order.

To make a long story short, Jim corresponded with me here on classic broncos (my thread about which vendor to order 3.5" springs). After a few PM's and a phone call to Jim, needless to say I will be ordering 3.5" leaf springs from WH and pretty much anything else I will need for my 71.

Now just the waiting game with the other vendor placing the money back on my credit card so I can order them. Yep, they took the money even though they didn't have the product in stock. Kinda frustrating.....

isnt it funny how fast they can take the money out of your account but it takes what seems like forever for it to go back in

 

[OPCJeff]

thanks for the kind words guys. Its just the market we are in unfortunately it just sucks being on this end of it.

But yah they really do help with the rattles in the back. I'd say 90% of mine are gone so totally worth it.

 

[sprdv1]

isnt it funny how fast they can take the money out of your account but it takes what seems like forever for it to go back in

Always the case brother....

 

[DirtDonk]

Good to know Jeff. Just bought a set myself last week in fact!
Even if you weren't the one actually selling it to us anymore, your idea is living on and still working out great.

Paul

 

[OPCJeff]

Good to know Jeff. Just bought a set myself last week in fact!
Even if you weren't the one actually selling it to us anymore, your idea is living on and still working out great.

Paul

good to hear! hope you enjoy them!

 

[Boss Hugg]

And the FB giveaway thing last week was awesome. I had intended on ordering a few parts on Wednesday night, but got distracted (because that's what my brain does when it's on the internet and there are projects in planning for the bronco). Anyway, I guess it was Friday, I took a moment to look thru FB while working on my new rear bumper, and found their post that said pick something under $50 and you might win it. I looked up the number for one of the items I intended to buy a few days earlier. Within an hour, I got a message saying I'd won.

Also, just a few weeks ago, I was looking at buying a used item from an individual, and WH helped me confirm that some of the parts were missing, and after further research, I've decided that it's likely those parts can't be had without purchasing the whole thing new. They saved me a few hundred bux there.

Wild Horses is good people. The ONLY thing I don't like about them is that it costs so much to get their stuff to me. I really wish shipping wasn't so high. But that's not anything they can control, so.

But after hearing the issues with other vendors and some personal experiences myself, I'll be looking to order some bigger parts from them in the future.

 

[hankjr]

Always great to hear about a business that goes the extra mile for a customer!

^^^ this

last year there was the usual vendors black friday thread. i was looking for a bunch of parts and none of what i was looking for was on sale. i mentioned that inside the thread (not naming names) and was "oh well i was going to buy anyway" and went on with life. A day or so goes by and WH reaches out to me to get a hold of them so they can see what they can do for ME. a few phone calls and they worked out a package that got them a bunch of my $$. I was very pleased and add to the shout out voice. Fantastic business management and customer service

Hank

 

[thirdtime]

Love doing business with them but shipping to Florida is a killer. Needed a part last week that no one had in stock on the east coast. Figured I'd get killed with shipping. Told them the situation, they bent over backwards (Tim I think) to shop the shipping cost. Long story short, I cancelled all the back orders with the other vendors, ordered everything from them and it should be here tomorrow. They seem to understand "customer service". They didn't care if I was spending 20 bucks or 2,000. They have done this several times for me and seem to "get it". I've never given props to a vendor, but they deserve it for this. Good group of people to deal with for sure.

 

[gr8scott]

Living out in Hawaii I pay through the nose for shipping. So here's my story.

A long time ago, on an island far far away, after a horrible death wobble experience I determined my Bronco was in dire need of new front end bushings.
So I went on line and placed my order. The next day I get a long distance phone call, and I recognized the number.

Me: Hello?
Jim: Hey Scott, Jim over here at Wild Horses.
Me: Hey Jim. What's up?
Jim: Can I save you some money?
Me: Uh...sure. What did you have in mind?
Jim: Well, I got your order for the bushings and they want soo much for 2-day air. Can I ship these out 3 day Priorty? It'll save you about sixty bucks.
Me: Hell yeah! Thanks Jim, really do appreciate that!
Jim: No problem Scott. Thanks for your business.

Back then, priority mail wasn't one of their shipping options. Jim went out of his way to ship them that way for me. Since then, WH has been my go-to shop. Really good people.