We've had some customer say they've had issues getting in touch with us, so in order to improve the efficiency of communication, that is to relay the greatest amount of information with the least amount of effort, we've put together some guidelines here to help streamline the communication process.  If you fail to follow these guidelines, this does not mean that we will automatically ignore communication, but rather the steps below are the preferred methods we suggest to achieve the fastest response time to get the information they want, which is what most customers are looking for.

General

• Questions about current inventory:  These are best to do through e-mail, but phone calls are also acceptable.
• Help placing an order:  You can ask for help by either phone or e-mail, but the actual order will have to be taken over the phone.  We do not ever recommend e-mailing financial information like credit card numbers.
• Installation: call or e-mail
• Policy questions: If you have read the Policy page and still have questions, a phone call would probably be best to further explain the information you're having trouble with.
• Problem with a part:  If you've received a part and it's defective in some way, I would suggest trying to call us first, and if you can't get through send an e-mail.  We take these issues seriously, and usually have a fast response time.
• Updates:  First off, you should check the website for information.  For usual parts lead-times, read the product description for the part.  For project updates, you should check our Schedule page.  If you need further information, it's best to send an e-mail as most update requests will require collection of information before a response can be delivered, and we typically will not give updates over the phone, as per our new policies on Lead times and Updates.
• Texting: We do not use texting as a method of communication.  It takes too long to type responses, and many errors occur due to auto-correct, so we pretty much refrain from communicating through texting at all.  If you send a text, it's very common that you would have to wait a week or more for a response, if you ever got one at all.  So we recommend communicating through any other method.

Calls

• I, Mike Miller, owner of Milzy Motorsports, am the person who answers every phone call from this website.  Not many companies have the owner answering every phone call, and those who do the owner doesn't do the actual work around the shop.  This is not the case with me, I do a large portion of the work at my shop.  I work on cars, order parts, ship orders, deal with customers, deal with vendors, even clean the shop.  If I'm on the phone, I'm not getting anything done that I'm getting paid to do.  I want to be available to help everybody get the answers they want, but this only works if this communication can be balanced with the work I need to do.
• Call during business hours, which is typically 9am to 5pm EST, Monday-Friday
• If you call after hours, we will not check until the next business day.
• The only exception to this rule would be an "Emergency" phone call.  In automotive terms, an "Emergency" is a situation where you need immediate communication to resolve an immediate issue that's currently keeping your car from working.  The most common one we see is where we sent you a PCM, but the car didn't start, so you need immediate assistance to do the security procedure so your car will start.  An update request is not an emergency.  If you abuse the Emergency policy, this will result in a "Boy who cried wolf" situation where we won't respond to you in an actual emergency because we don't believe you.
• If you have an actual emergency, call and leave a message, preferably within "reasonable hours" (not 2am).  If I don't answer, leave a message, and I will call you back asap.
• Call one time.
• I usually will never put someone on hold, or let another call interrupt the one I'm on.  So if you're calling over and over and over, one possibility of why I'm not answering is I'm on the phone with another customer.  If you're calling over and over during this , my phone is continually beeping which is very annoying, and makes the current conversation take even longer.  Another reason is I'm working on a car and would have to stop and answer the phone.
• If you call over and over and over again incessantly (like 10 or more times), we will block your number.  We will still communicate with you, but only though e-mail.
• Leave a message.
• This message should include name, phone number, and order number and description if applicable.
• Don't leave a blank message.  We only have so much voicemail space, so wasting it on a blank voicemail or one where the person is breathing for several minutes takes away space from customer who might need to leave an actual message.
• If you don't leave a message, you probably won't get a call back.
• If voicemail is full, send an e-mail to mikem@milzymotorsports.com
• Calls are answered in the order they are received, provided we have all the information to return the phone call
• Updates will usually be delayed until information is collected.  If you call a second time for an update before being called back, we will answer or return your call, and the answer to your question will be "I don't know when it will be done."
• If you don't leave a message, you're not really in line to get called back.  We have too many calls to be able to call back every number that calls us and doesn't leave a message.  Sometimes we can find a little time to call some of these numbers back, but don't count on it.
• If you call from a restricted or unavailable number, and do not leave a message, it is not possible to call you back.
• If you give me a time window to call you in, please be available and answer the phone if I call you during that time.
• If you're calling to report a problem, I may tell you that you will need to send me an e-mail about it.  One reason may be that I'm driving or busy, and don't have time to take notes on the problem, or need the e-mail as a reminder.  It's also beneficial for all the parties involved if there is a written record of the problem.  It all depends on the type of problem that it is.  If it's a simple installation problem, a quick phone call gets you fast answers, but a larger problem might be best over e-mail to make sure everybody knows the processes that need to happen, like warrantee procedures or anything like that.
• Please refrain from swearing or threatening.  If you swear or threaten once, we may give a warning, but if it persists, the phone call will be over, and we'll most likely only communicate through e-mail from now on.

E-mails

• Just like phone calls, e-mails are responded to first come first serve, provided we have all the information to reply back to you.
• Send one e-mail, and wait for a reply.  Rght now we're a little back-logged, and have a 3-10 business day lead-time for most e-mails, and 10+ business days for update requests.
• If you send e-mails over and over without responses inbetween, the e-mail system we use only shows us the latest e-mail you sent, which means you keep losing your place in line, which means longer response times.
• If you have multiple e-mail accounts, please only e-mail us from the one associated with the customer account we have on file for you, so we can keep track of your communication history.
• Please use punctuation.
• E-mails without punctuation are hard to read and may result in misconstrued information.
• Please have atleast a basic knowledge of the English language
• Please do not type the body of your e-mail in the Subject line, as I have a sense of humor where I will reply back in the same fashion.  It will be funny to me, and not to you, and it isn't very practical.
• Please refrain from swearing.

Misc

• Our policy page is well written, and very cut and dry, but sometimes extenuating circumstances can lead to a situation where I can decide to be lenient on some of these policies.
• If you are in breach of a policy and want leniency, the best thing you can do is explain your situation with complete honesty.
• I will often find a solution to make things a little more appealing if the story is credible.
• If instead you choose to lie about these circumstances, we will cut zero slack, and strictly adhere to the policies on the website.
• People have made up false dates on core return forms, lied and said they sold the car to try and get a refund on a non-refundable part, etc.  Don't lie.  We double-check everything, just be honest.
• Fill out core return forms and return them with cores.
• Every line is there for a reason, fill in as much as possible.  Blank lines just lead to longer core return refund lead-times.
• Core returns without forms typically get responded to a week or more late.
• If a box is missing forms and doesn't have customer's name on label, you may not get a core refund because we can't identify the parts/order.

Useful/Important Definitions and Terminology

• Business day - a day in a given week where we are open for business.  On a typical week, this would be Monday through Friday.  Therefor typically one week is 7 actual days, but is 5 business days.  However, on weeks with a holiday, these can vary because we are closed for major holidays.
• lead-time - the amount of time it takes to complete a part so it's ready to be shipped or installed
• early next week - when we say this, it means Monday or Tuesday next week
• mid next week - when we says this, it means Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday next week
• late next week - when we say this, it means Thursday or Friday next week
• a couple - when we say this in terms of time, it means 2-3
• a few - when we say this in terms of time, it means 3-5
• several - when we say this in terms of time, it means 5 or more