Anyone been able to reach Isky Cams lately?

[EDC]

Only slightly OT, but having an online presence in Studebaker and Packard V8 discussions and being listed as a vendor in club publications, I should have a separate phone number just for that. I get calls early mornings, late nights, weekends; all nice older guys who just have a question and don't notice what time it is. I'm not really in the parts business, but have helped out guys overseas who can't find this obsolete stuff over there. No good deed goes unpunished, so when they thank me publically on a forum, that precipitates more calls for help.

Bottom line, it's such a small niche, the calls and e-mails are manageable; can't imagine what Mike, et al, go through daily.

When I contacted you through the forum about refacing my lifters you sent me a email instead of a phone number. Before I contacted you I felt very comfortable with you doing my job, I was and still very confident you could get my job done right. BUT I don't do business with people I can't call, just say I'am old school, but that's how I'am. I realize refacing lifters isn't a money maker, and maybe a hassle, my loss.

That's your loss then.

[Tom Walker]

Many of us old school guys are "no phone number, no business.
I also respect the business owners wishes, if they only communicate through e-mails, OK by me, I am still able to accomplish what I want to do with business owners who still have customer service and a phone number.
I know the world has changed, I choose to associate with the group that actually wants to talk to another human being!

[PackardV8]

Many of us old school guys are "no phone number, no business.
I also respect the business owners wishes, if they only communicate through e-mails, OK by me, I am still able to accomplish what I want to do with business owners who still have customer service and a phone number.
I know the world has changed, I choose to associate with the group that actually wants to talk to another human being!

I'll be out of country for three weeks, so via an e-mail, I sent you my partner's name, phone number and our shipping address. Tell 'em Jack sent you.

[EDC]

Many of us old school guys are "no phone number, no business.
I also respect the business owners wishes, if they only communicate through e-mails, OK by me, I am still able to accomplish what I want to do with business owners who still have customer service and a phone number.
I know the world has changed, I choose to associate with the group that actually wants to talk to another human being!

That's great - but - say you (as a paying customer) is having something being "built" and the owner has to stop every ten minutes to answer a phone call from someone who has not spent a dime with them, other than tying him up, asking for free advice. That is surely not going to make a paying customer happy if an "ask"hole is taking up valuable time and the result is a late delivery.

I ONLY do business by Email.... PERIOD. This allows me to respond as time permits, without interruptions. Sometimes, the responses are sent well before anyone is even awake, so there's that. Also, the Email is a written document, or contract, that can be referred to at any time if there happen to be any issues with the services or products provided.

I find it funny how some people think being "old school" means you must speak to someone. I'm far from being a newbie in this business but when I order products for my business, very rarely do I speak to another person. Just Email my requirements to a manufacturer, part numbers, quantities and magically, the items make it here.

/carry on

[289nate]

I hired Tobias Aldrate to build my current engine. Between Toby and Mark O’neal (handles the parts side of things) there was no lack of verbal communication as a PAYING customer. It was also incredibly valuable to have Toby and Mark making phone calls that get answered by the right people at companies we were purchasing parts from. Much more efficient than me calling and talking to some phone jockey.

EDC handled the valvetrain parts. I knew by his reputation I would not need to talk to him so I could go over and second-guess his work. I had no issue getting a quick response through email once I was a PAYING customer. Communication was excellent and happened in a very timely manner, though it was done over email.

If you ever find yourself, dealing with the city, trying to get permits and such I will offer this piece of advice to save yourself a mountain of headaches and time wasted. Get everything in writing sent through email. Verbal communication whether in person or on the phone means absolutely nothing! Might as well had never of happened.

When I started working for the family business, my mom would get furious if I let the business line ring more than twice. I absolutely prefer communication done by speaking. But I have come to understand and greatly appreciate the value of E-mail over phone calls in business. And on the customer side, I sure appreciate the time it frees up for the company hired to do a job for me.

[289nate]

I will throw out there I did receive a call from Ed Curtis a while after our business transaction. The guy is an absolute riot on the phone. I can see how people could tie him up just shoot in’ the… 15 minutes later men in black suits showed up, took my phone and deleted the number he called from. Good times.

[CamKing]

Many of us old school guys are "no phone number, no business.
I also respect the business owners wishes, if they only communicate through e-mails, OK by me, I am still able to accomplish what I want to do with business owners who still have customer service and a phone number.
I know the world has changed, I choose to associate with the group that actually wants to talk to another human being!

I follow the rule "Adapt or Perish".
When I was young, our family doctor made house calls. Now you can't hardly find a "Family Doctor" , let alone a doctor that makes house calls.
When I took over the business in 1990, all our customers paid with cash or check(no credit cards). Now, I have customers that have never even owned a check book(boy, does that make me feel old). Today, I would bet that check and cash payments don't make up 10% of our sales. Times change, and business have to change with the times.

I don't mind talking to customers on the phone, and I'm easy to get a hold of in August. From December through Memorial day, I'm usually busy putting out fires, hounding my suppliers, or getting product out the door.

[PackardV8]

Kudos, Mike. You and Ed went different ways in making cams, but a family-owned company is always my first choice to deal with. Thanks for hanging in there.

[CamKing]

Kudos, Mike. You and Ed went different ways in making cams, but a family-owned company is always my first choice to deal with. Thanks for hanging in there.

I was never the salesman Ed was, but even back in the 50's Ed new how valuable his time was.
If you called Isky Cams to talk to Ed, according to my Dad, he would start the conversation with "What can I do for you today ?" His time was too valuable for BS'ing.

[77cruiser]

Trouble with Email sometimes, some companies or people choose to ignore them. Call & get them on the phone & they can't.

[Tom Walker]

Jack, appreciate that, EDC I am glad however you want to run your business it works fantastic.
Just like Burger King commercial said " You can have it your way"
You Sir, carry on and good luck.

[skinny z]

I take a hybrid approach.
E-mail is generally discreet and the receiver can (and hopefully) answer at their leisure. Maybe this will continue into the second or third interaction with the vendor.
Then when crunch time comes and the questions escalate I'll ask if a call is appropriate and then carry on business in that manner.

Case in point were my dealings with Jones Cams. It started with an e-mail cam recommendation form. That followed with a revision to that engine spec and a further couple of e-mail questions. Once I had committed to moving forward, Mike and I talked on the phone. Might have been for a solid half hour too. Seems to me that was followed up with another call. Excellent exchange I should add.

I did the same with Crower although the need for a phone call was more a matter of somewhat less than stellar e-mail exchanges. Once I got someone on the phone, I was like a dog on a bone. I needed their parts and only their parts. Each situation might call for a different approach.

I'm guessing I'm a bit of an elder statesman here at ST but I like the text technology. I can formulate my questions well in advance and present them so that the vendor can also take his time and respond in kind. The phone conversation helps to dial in the personal touch though. You can get a sense of somebodies expertise that way.

[vortecpro]

Many of us old school guys are "no phone number, no business.
I also respect the business owners wishes, if they only communicate through e-mails, OK by me, I am still able to accomplish what I want to do with business owners who still have customer service and a phone number.
I know the world has changed, I choose to associate with the group that actually wants to talk to another human being!

I'll be out of country for three weeks, so via an e-mail, I sent you my partner's name, phone number and our shipping address. Tell 'em Jack sent you.

Thank You! I did get the number, I will until you are back, thanks again, Mark

[CamKing]

Well, after making multiple comments on preferring emails, this happens. I just got off the phone from an hour long call with tech support, regarding our "tech@jonescams.com" email. Supposedly someone was trying to send malware to everyone on the server our website is on, so they have shut down communications with that server, until they get it straightened out. This means, we have not received any emails in the last few days.
People have been filling out our cam recommendation forms and submitting them, and we were receiving them, and replying with our recommendation. They were getting our recommendations, but could not reply back to us.
Hopefully it will be back to normal tomorrow.

[Tobias Aldrete]

While Mike’s email issue brings up another point, we too have had email issues that do not come through but people were able to call and tell us. EDC/ Ed is very right about “askholes” who have no intention of buying-They deliberately waste small companies time so they can get as much info and then google where to get the parts cheaper than anybody else. Steve Morris made a video years ago calling these askholes out.

When I worked for Crappy Performance Racing we built a 408W as Rick Sperling wanted us to try their 205SBF heads and different cams and intakes. Rick at Air Flow Research was very helpful and generous with us so I said yes and last I checked the videos have over 100K views and showed various differences in cams and intakes.

So weeks later a guy comes in asking about building the same engine with the small cam 408W for his truck. Shows me the Windsor he just picked up and says he needs all of the components to build the same engine. I ask if he needs us to build it or if he just wants the parts and machine work? Hos reply which I will never forget “No, I just need a parts list so I can find them cheaper”. So I verify, “So you just need a parts list”? He says “Yes, just a list” I then ask him for $500 to complete a list and he scoffs. I tell him to pound sand as I can’t pay my bills by working for free.

I have more stories but don’t want to bore, you can’t make everyone happy. I prefer to call and leave a voicemail or send email but actually talk to someone knowledgeable about the products vs phone fillers who just put you on hold but everyone is different, I never did like Bud Light.