Bsr rica mte

[davew]

T6

2922 cc with twin (lp) turbos

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by rica

The RICA software itself and customer care procedures are also ISO9001 quality certified, providing customers with independent assurance of the high quality of the product and service they are buying.

I find that comment very misleading.

ISO 9001 Is in essence a process audit. In itself it implies no measure of quality of the actual end product.

So many people tout ISO9001 as a guarantee of a quality product, yet it is simply a method of auditing that the prescribed procedures are being followed, and the produced product is checked to see if it meets it's design specification.

Design sh1t, audit sh1t, ensure sh1t is sh1t, sell the sh1t, keep record of what sh1t is sold to who and it's still ISO9001 compliant, all be it ISO compliant sh1t.

I'm not implying that RICA product is sh!t, but emphasising the use of the ISO9001 standard DOES NOT imply the product is of the best quality.

How do you start to implement ISO 9001? What is involved?

* Identify the requirements of ISO 9001 and how they apply to the business involved.
* Establish quality objectives and how they fit in to the operation of the business.
* Produce a documented quality policy indicating how these requirements are satisfied.
* Communicate them throughout the organisation.
* Evaluate the quality policy, its stated objectives and then prioritise requirements to ensure they are met.
* Identify the boundaries of the management system and produce documented procedures as required.
* Ensure these procedures are suitable and adhered to.
* Once developed, internal audits are needed to ensure the system carries on working.

Assessment to ISO 9001

Once all the requirements of ISO 9001 have been met, it is time for an external audit. This should be carried out by a third party, accredited certification body. In the UK, the body should be accredited by UKAS (look for the ‘crown and tick’ logo). The chosen certification body will review the quality manuals and procedures. This process involves looking at the company’s evaluation of quality and ascertains if targets set for the management programme are measurable and achievable. This is followed at a later date by a full on-site audit to ensure that working practices observe the procedures and stated objectives and that appropriate records are kept.

After a successful audit, a certificate of registration to ISO 9001 will be issued. There will then be surveillance visits (usually once or twice a year) to ensure that the system continues to work. This is covered in more detail in ISOQAR’s ‘Audit Procedure’ information sheet.

[s60ben]

Originally Posted by rica

I would speculate that one of the reasons why you may have "heard" they have terrible customer service is that some customers try to deal direct with RICA HQ.

No, they dealt with HLM / Volvo Tuning / Adam Weber / Hamish Lindsey.... That's the issue.

Originally Posted by rica

That's like trying to call the Volvo factory in Sweden when you have a problem with your car! RICA is geared up to providing customer service via their extensive network of agents, in a similar way to how you deal with your local Volvo dealer for your car servicing requirments or any troubleshooting. So if you deal with RICA through the correct channels, you will be looked after very well.

Interesting analogy.... absolute trash mind....

Originally Posted by rica

All of the RICA agents in the UK are highly trained in automotive diagnostics.

Yes, your main UK distributor used to do "smoke checks" under the bonnet as their main diagnostic check before tuning a vehicle

Originally Posted by rica

Many of them are trained and certified by Automotive Diagnostics Solutions who's training is recognised by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). All of these agents will aim to provide excellent customer service.

http://www.ads-global.co.uk/aps/performance_rica.htm

Aye......

Originally Posted by rica

Over the last 2 years, RICA have made many improvements.
The software is of very high quality and is now TUV approved.

Oh really, like the TUV approval is "worth something" to customers......

Originally Posted by ricas website

Many tuning companies claim TUV approval for their products, but TUV approval only shows that the product meets the minimum required safety standards for use. TUV approval does not prove reduced emissions or improved economy. TUV has nothing to do with emissions, performance or economy at all.

Weasel words...... again....

Originally Posted by rica

The RICA software itself and customer care procedures are also ISO9001 quality certified, providing customers with independent assurance of the high quality of the product and service they are buying.

The ISO procedures (In all honesty worth JS to most end customers) would only apply to RICA itself (Not its disties or resellers) and clearly it's level of assurance to customers is worth nothing, as you've already said above, that customers trying to deal with RICA direct will get cr*p customer service.

[rica]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

I find that comment very misleading.

That was never the intention. Apologies for this.

Originally Posted by Nuisance

So many people tout ISO9001 as a guarantee of a quality product, yet it is simply a method of auditing that the prescribed procedures are being followed, and the produced product is checked to see if it meets it's design specification.

Design sh1t, audit sh1t, ensure sh1t is sh1t, sell the sh1t, keep record of what sh1t is sold to who and it's still ISO9001 compliant, all be it ISO compliant sh1t.

I'm not implying that RICA product is sh!t, but emphasising the use of the ISO9001 standard DOES NOT imply the product is of the best quality.

You are right. I should therefore correct what I wrote earlier to state that the RICA software development processes are ISO-9001 certified. What I should have done in the first place was simply copied the contents of the web site, since the correct information was actually stated there all along:

http://www.rica-engineering.com/about.aspx

[rica]

Originally Posted by s60ben

Interesting analogy.... absolute trash mind....

I don't believe so. I think most UK based Volvo customers would be a little disappointed if they had to call Volvo in Sweden for assistance or to book their car in for a service and then have to drive to Sweden for any work to be carried out. Perhaps one or two enthusiasts may enjoy this!

Originally Posted by s60ben

Yes, your main UK distributor used to do "smoke checks" under the bonnet as their main diagnostic check before tuning a vehicle

I'm referring to the current RICA agents appointed over the last 2 years.

Originally Posted by s60ben

http://www.ads-global.co.uk/aps/performance_rica.htm
Aye......

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. The agent's own web sites are maintained either by themselves or by their web hosting companies, not by RICA. Since the new site went live, the RICA agents have been given new details on how to integrate the new RICA database into their own company web sites.

Originally Posted by s60ben

Oh really, like the TUV approval is "worth something" to customers......

To many it is worth something. To others it is not. For some it's a requirement. Either way, for any potential customers to whom this may be important, the RICA product is TUV approved.

Originally Posted by s60ben

The ISO procedures (In all honesty worth JS to most end customers) would only apply to RICA itself (Not its disties or resellers)

I agree to the extent that it's probably not interesting to the end customer which is why I wrote the following in my earlier statement: "I realise that all of the above may not make any difference to you in terms of your choice of product." However it is relevent to the resellers and is also relevent to RICA related business activities between other companies.

Originally Posted by s60ben

clearly it's level of assurance to customers is worth nothing, as you've already said above, that customers trying to deal with RICA direct will get cr*p customer service.

Please refer back to my initial analogy with the Volvo network as I believe it clearly demonstrates the problem of a UK based customer trying to resolve a problem by having to drive to the Netherlands. By specifically referring customers to suitable agents, be it for tuning or diagnostics, and by working closely with these highly trained agents, RICA customers are provided with excellent customer service!

[Hemichromis]

glad i got my answer as this post is turning into a war.

RICA
no matter what you say these peoples experiences with your distributers have damaged your rep. your customers would like to know that they are getting a good product AND service when spending 500+

that's one of the reasons RICA was not n my list.

BSR and MTE have had nothing but good comments as far as cstomer service goes.
from what i am told though the RICA is a good map, very agressive apparently.

[Nuisance]

I do find this "don't want to know" approach a little worrying.

It doesn't stand up to the "calling Volvo" analogy at all.

If I were to have an issue of lack of knowledge from a Volvo main dealer I CAN contact Volvo directly. They may not deal with (as in fix my car) me directly but will most probably call the dealer in question themselves.

It may not be head office in Sweeden, but VCUK is a wholly owned UK office of Volvo.

Lets take this example. If I have a question regarding my Aquamist, I can call Aquamist directly and they will VERY helpfully deal with my issue. (I think Aquamist unit sales may be similar to those of RICA)
Same goes for many aftermarket products.

I agree much damage was done by Chiptuning Ltd with their "we've had your money now F*** o**" approach. Much can be drawn from that, but it seemed that as long as the sales figures were kept up the relationship continued to hold out.

What would it cost for RICA to have a person who's position is to deal with "customer service" directly. That way you could snsure that your reputation for support is to the standard you want, not dependent upon the mood of a so called "specialist" backstreet garrage. As a further consequence you could keep an eye on the level of service your agents are providing.

I fail to see how you are meeting your ISO9001 obligations when all your end customer feedback loop is out of the ISO monitored system.

Or maybe you are WRONGLY classing your dealers as the customers.

You see, in the case of your product, in order to meet the ISO9001 requirements your audit trail will need to include the end customer, and for that purpose you will need a final point of contact for resolution of faults..

I mean...

How much do RICA really know about all the mechanical failures experienced on the D5 sports map when the people who's cars are splitting intercoolers, and battering DMF's are not able to report back to RICA HQ. You will probably only hear of a small percentage of issues as most will be simply told "it's nothing to do with the map" and sold a replacement intercooler by the garrage who fitted the rica map at a further profit to them.

As the product you are selling is in effect "tuning" many many cars on the road, You cannot possibly satisfy ISO90001 as you ARE NOT monitoring the performance of your product across it's userbase from within the ISO system.

[Breva]

Originally Posted by rica

I would speculate that one of the reasons why you may have "heard" they have terrible customer service is that some customers try to deal direct with RICA HQ. That's like trying to call the Volvo factory in Sweden when you have a problem with your car! RICA is geared up to providing customer service via their extensive network of agents, in a similar way to how you deal with your local Volvo dealer for your car servicing requirments or any troubleshooting. So if you deal with RICA through the correct channels, you will be looked after very well.

When I bought my car the previous owner had already got the BSR PPC from Nordic Car Parts. I needed to get the ETM software updated so put the car back to standard before letting Volvo load the new software.

Upon getting my car back the BSR software wouldn`t load due to a mismatch with the new Volvo software.

I contacted Nordic who contacted BSR on my behalf. I didn`t have any of the logon codes I needed to send the software to BSR to get it re-mapped.

BSR sent out the codes to the previous owner (Who luckily enough I was still in contact with) however there was still a problem. Again Nordic contacted BSr for me and BSR replied directly to me !!!!! They then sent about 10 e-mails to me over a period of a week to sort out what I needed on my PC to get it to work.

After I got it sorted and sent them the software I got an e-mail a day or so later saying the new software was ready to download.

Absolutely top service direct from BSR.



This is when people are more likely to recommend something. It`s all down to how they sort a problem rather than the fact there was a problem to start with.

i.e everyone slags off a garage that screws up and then won`t help sort the problem, however if they screw-up then do everything they can to help you sort the problem with minimal cost/fuss etc then they will get a good report dispite the screw up.

[martybelfastt5]

have been dicing with this same problem as im remapping my 850 t5 soon,,,on what i have read so far in various threads its all about the power delivery you want as to which map will suit you,,,i feel that my t5 had great low down punch as standard and is already hard to keep tyres on the front,and that it runs out of breath at the top of the rev range.based on this the mte map should suit me as its more mid range to top end,i cant see how or why id want more low down grunt which would leave me with clouds of smoke from a standing start,so il be going mte with don at kalmar,,,pcv overhaul n stage zero first

[rica]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

I do find this "don't want to know" approach a little worrying.

It doesn't stand up to the "calling Volvo" analogy at all.

If I were to have an issue of lack of knowledge from a Volvo main dealer I CAN contact Volvo directly. They may not deal with (as in fix my car) me directly but will most probably call the dealer in question themselves.

Perhaps I didn't explain adequately. You can contact RICA direct, but it's the agent who will deal with your car. However, as implied from your statement, the first contact is normally with the dealer. If the dealer for some reason does not have the information, they will contact the distributor or RICA to obtain it. The customer can also contact RICA direct if they so choose. However, the whole point in having the trained agents in place is that in most cases you don't have to.

Originally Posted by Nuisance

What would it cost for RICA to have a person who's position is to deal with "customer service" directly.

That would not be practical as that person would need to speak many languages fluently, specifically with a technical vocabulary in the customer's native language. Also, if a lot of people called direct requesting information, it is possible that they may be on hold for a long time while in the telephone queue. This can be avoided by having the entire RICA network handling customer enquiries. The process works very well and provides a fast efficient service in the customer's native language.

Originally Posted by Nuisance

I fail to see how you are meeting your ISO9001 obligations when all your end customer feedback loop is out of the ISO monitored system.

You see, in the case of your product, in order to meet the ISO9001 requirements your audit trail will need to include the end customer, and for that purpose you will need a final point of contact for resolution of faults..

Customer feedback is not out of the loop. It is very much in the loop. Customers are given the opportunity to provide feedback via questionnaires, including amongst other things the quality of the service provided by the dealer itself. RICA can then analyse this feedback and address any problems if there are any. RICA are constantly looking how to improve this process in order to capture as much feedback as possible.

Originally Posted by Nuisance

How much do RICA really know about all the mechanical failures experienced on the D5 sports map when the people who's cars are splitting intercoolers, and battering DMF's are not able to report back to RICA HQ. You will probably only hear of a small percentage of issues as most will be simply told "it's nothing to do with the map" and sold a replacement intercooler by the garrage who fitted the rica map at a further profit to them.

Since most customers who have split intercoolers actually have this problem prior to tuning and not after, it is clearly a common problem on standard cars too, as is the DMF. These well documented problems are limited to the older Euro 3 D5 engines. Fortunately, Volvo has addressed these issues in the later Euro 4 D5 models.

Originally Posted by Nuisance

As the product you are selling is in effect "tuning" many many cars on the road, You cannot possibly satisfy ISO90001 as you ARE NOT monitoring the performance of your product across it's userbase from within the ISO system.

That is not correct. ISO-9001 is fully satisfied because part of the ISO requirements was to implement a customer feedback system of a suitable standard. A new customer feedback system was already in place prior to the ISO certification process being undertaken, but the feedback system was further improved to meet the ISO standards as requested by the ISO officer.