[iQuiet]

Auto Talent Review from a friendly forum user.

So.. Where do I begin about my journey of purchasing a simple full Frequency Intelligent Exhaust (Catless downpipes, cat-back exhaust + Carbon Tips).

24-07-2017
At the start the few questions I had, were answered very promptly by the minute by Golan from Auto Talent;
During these conversations, I was informed that the lead time was 2-3 weeks.
So I made payment in full upfront in promise that the lead time was 2-3 weeks away.

Now.. Here is where havoc begins.
From this point in, I was chasing constantly as to when the exhaust would arrive and ship, I had replies days later and was told multiple times that they(Auto Talent) were expecting shipment.
I had a lot better response from Justin @ Auto talent, he was very prompt and responsive however didn’t provide the information that I was requesting as he wasn’t my sales person and was adamant that he didn’t want to overstep his boundary.

I had to constantly request invoice for the purchase (which was then later made out to me 4 days after I had purchased). I wanted this as a proof of purchase.

After constantly hassling and pushing to have my shipment sent, I was provided tracking 4 1/2 weeks since my purchase date. I eagerly waited and checked for my shipment, and as soon as it received the shores of Australia; I lodged the custom clearance and duties ($850AUD). just to push the parcel as quickly as I could to my installer SouthernBM as they had put aside tune/intercooler/chargepipes etc for me, and I had originally told them it would be 2-3 weeks from the purchase date and would update them. By the stage it arrived to Australia it was past its 5th week. My company of choice to install/tune etc was quite patient with me, and didn’t hold a deposit on the items they were holding aside for me.

During this time, I tried to get in contact with Golan to lower the shipment value so I didn’t have to pay as much customs duties/taxes. He did so (which was great) but didn’t tell me, so our stories couldn’t correlate. In a rush, I provided the invoice I received presume Golan didn’t receive my email and lower the value of the goods. Which in return cost me $850AUD; rather than a much lower figure if anything.
*LACK OF COMMUNICATION*. I did this because I didn’t want to hold up my installer any longer, this was 5 weeks since the sale.

I finally received the parcel on 29th of August.
The parcel came with NO Downpipes. (note: I paid customs and duty on everything) expecting it to come with everything.
So I urgently e-mailed Auto Talent(Golan). and multiple times corresponding with NO REPLY. (What kind of customer service is this?)
On the 31st of August, I made an international call (I set an alarm for 4AM Australian time; to make sure their shop was opened) all I was told “We just shipped what Fi Exhaust had shipped to us (They didn’t even check the shipment and goods) and thats it! I said well can you let me know as soon as you know something, he said he’ll contact Fi Exhaust and update me.”

So, during the next few days I asked Golan a few questions Example: Was the downpipes compatible with RHD vehicle etc. NO REPLY. I also asked for compensation in some sort (monetary, or additional parts) NO REPLY.

My installer has received their shipment of Wagner downpipes and asking me what is going on with Auto Talent, as they assume that I’m in Australia that the company doesn’t care about any customer that couldn’t go on shore and ask what’s going on. This is exactly how I felt.

On the 7th of September I finally hear something from Golan “I have the catless dp ready to ship, I can refund you if you like or ship it. Did you install the system?
I replied immediately, that I wanted the dp shipped and that all address remains the same etc. A day later (I try not to bother him too much) I ask if he can provide tracking etc.
another day later, I ask if he can keep the value of the dp low; so I don’t incur any customs duties and taxes.
I ask if he can throw in the app module for Fi Exhaust for free.
NONE OF THESE RECEIVED A REPLY.

Actually it’s now the 12th of September and I haven’t received ANY REPLY. or a refund.

What kind of customer service do you call this?
I’ve paid almost $1,000 in customs duties and taxes due to miscommunication (Lack of their responsiveness).
I’ve waited almost 2 months coming up now.
My installer is asking me what is going on constantly; which I then ask Golan (to NO REPLY).
I had a senior fedex tracer get in contact with them to which Golan had stated they didn’t ship the goods.

I’m requesting compensation of some sort, my time and effort is not free. For such a simple exercise I tried my best to make everything go smoothly but this just isn’t right.
I have everything organised to install and tune on my end. Waited 2 months since I paid in full for the exhaust and still haven’t received it.
Have not been compensated and have not received replies from Golan (Auto talent).

TLDR; It feels like I’m getting played and after they took my money, they don’t care about anything else.
How do you guys feel best I resolve this, as clearly their not willing to communicate with myself.

I have now received the downpipe.. 2 months after initially ordering it, paying upfront in full. No Compensation or anything, just a short fat, delays happen. Thats it.

Any recommendations or opinions are welcomed!

[zFrostyy]

I hate being the hindsight guy, but using PayPal's no payment until delivery sounds like it would've been key here.

Thanks for the heads up, i'll be sure to avoid them in the future. Good luck with them, scummy car parts and car people are the worst to deal with.

[GreyF87]

Extreme Powerhouse has the FI down pipe FYI.....dont need to get from AutoTalent....XPH may also be able to get the exhaust also.

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by zFrostyy

I hate being the hindsight guy, but using PayPal's no payment until delivery sounds like it would've been key here.

Thanks for the heads up, i'll be sure to avoid them in the future. Good luck with them, scummy car parts and car people are the worst to deal with.

Originally Posted by GreyF87

Extreme Powerhouse has the FI down pipe FYI.....dont need to get from AutoTalent....XPH may also be able to get the exhaust also.

Andy,

I would like to apologize for your experience with us at Auto Talent. I want to make sure that the issues you experienced would be resolved and amended.

Although I was not your consultant, I did keep in constant communication you. We traded conversation at early morning (12am – 4am) due to our time zone differences. My phone is always on sound and I do my best to respond as soon as possible. I am a full time student and only work part-time at AT so sometimes my communication can be delayed. I did my best to answer your questions and assist you in any way I could, however the fact that I was not your sales consultant made that more difficult.

The issue was in part due to lack of communication with Golan, as well as the logistics of the exhaust and downpipe. The system essentially traveled the world, traveling from Taiwan to our shop (Located in Los Angeles, CA) to you in Australia.

I completely understand how frustrating this situation was for you, not only having to wait much longer for the parts than originally quoted, but having your messages left unresponded to as well. I know first-hand how exasperating waiting and being in the dark can be and our inability to answer your messages promptly made matters worse.

I will personally bring up the dilemma to Sam and Mike, the owner/partners of Auto Talent.

[Corinne]

It’s amazing how a company’s credibility can be destroyed in no time...

[importriders]

Is AutoTalent the only distributor the OP could have used. I find it surprising that FI doesn't have a dealer in Australia or FI couldn't drop ship to Australia.

Delays are pretty common especially if you're passing through two sets of customs

[SuckaGDog]

Sorry OP you had to go through all that trouble. I agree that there should be some type of compensation (credit, etc).

Out of curiosity, how come you didn't purchase from a local FI dealer in your area? Would have been much easier in my opinion. No need for the parts to travel to another country.

[lax01]

To add anecdotal evidence (and I've never even bought anything from AT), but I have communicated via PM and most of their responses have answered all of my questions and have been very prompt.

Definitely planning on doing business with them.

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by importriders

Is AutoTalent the only distributor the OP could have used. I find it surprising that FI doesn't have a dealer in Australia or FI couldn't drop ship to Australia.

Delays are pretty common especially if you're passing through two sets of customs

Originally Posted by SuckaGDog

Sorry OP you had to go through all that trouble. I agree that there should be some type of compensation (credit, etc).

Out of curiosity, how come you didn't purchase from a local FI dealer in your area? Would have been much easier in my opinion. No need for the parts to travel to another country.

The root of the issue is exactly as importriders mentioned, there were several delays due to customs.

The OP actually messaged both sales associates at Auto Talent (Golan and I), and contacted the distributor for FI in Australia. Another major cause in the delay was because OP was shopping between both the US distributor & Australia's distributor in search of the best deal possible. At the time of the transaction, the AUD was considerably stronger than the USD, which made purchasing in the US more favorable to him.

I did not part-take in accepting his business because I know that FI has a distributor for Australia, and per policy agreement, we cannot accept orders from Australia. I simply answered his questions regarding the exhaust system and sent him several video clips to assist him in his choice between Remus and FI. My coworker did not know of the policy at the time because he had not heard of a Australian distributor and took his order down.

Originally Posted by lax01

To add anecdotal evidence (and I've never even bought anything from AT), but I have communicated via PM and most of their responses have answered all of my questions and have been very prompt.

Definitely planning on doing business with them.

Thank you for the kind words. We try our best to be helpful and answer any and all questions!

[dtmpower98]

Nothing to complain about with AT. Always great service. Definitely could have been a logistics issue as the amount of ground that package had to cover.
Justin.AutoTalent

[iQuiet]

Originally Posted by SuckaGDog

Sorry OP you had to go through all that trouble. I agree that there should be some type of compensation (credit, etc).

Out of curiosity, how come you didn't purchase from a local FI dealer in your area? Would have been much easier in my opinion. No need for the parts to travel to another country.

Only reason why I had purchased from USA and rather than Australia, was I was in contact with the Australian FI dealer, he has told me he would let me know a lead time by the afternoon, I didn't hear anything back, so I called the shop the next day, they said that sales rep went on holidays to a motor event in another state, I left a message and requested a call back, I didn't hear anything back even when the shop stated when he'll be back... So due to the lack of communication I decided to purchase elsewhere. I believe customer sanctification and communication is key to business.
And the dealer in Australia had not demonstrated this.

The sales rep I dealt with (Golan) was very prompt with replies when I had questions PRIOR to purchasing, like I stated, he replied by the minute.

But as soon as the funds were over, I was chasing for replies, checking when he was last active on the forums, even asked him about KW coilover purchase just to get a reply and a potential buy.. but NOTHING.

Like I also stated, Justin from Auto talent was very pleasant to deal with, he had very prompt replies and reassured me that I wasn't disregarded although I was in another Country. He replies messages around the clock and extremely promptly.

I personally have no problems with delays, but if you quote me on 2-3 week lead time, and don't tell me anything at all that suggests it would be delayed, which results in me chasing the supplier up.. but to NO REPLY. This is where the issue arises for myself.

As a consumer, would you not like to know where your $5,000 worth of goods are coming? And also be updated if there are any delays? and even if you weren't, you'd expect the same prompt replies they gave you earning your business correct? I had to set an alarm at 4AM to physically call the store to ask if Golan had received my email.

[McPurrs]

Sounds like one of those "anyone can be an auto parts vendor" aka middleman sales groups. No thanks.

[importriders]

Originally Posted by iQuiet

Only reason why I had purchased from USA and rather than Australia, was I was in contact with the Australian FI dealer, he has told me he would let me know a lead time by the afternoon, I didn't hear anything back, so I called the shop the next day, they said that sales rep went on holidays to a motor event in another state, I left a message and requested a call back, I didn't hear anything back even when the shop stated when he'll be back... So due to the lack of communication I decided to purchase elsewhere. I believe customer sanctification and communication is key to business.
And the dealer in Australia had not demonstrated this.

The sales rep I dealt with (Golan) was very prompt with replies when I had questions PRIOR to purchasing, like I stated, he replied by the minute.

But as soon as the funds were over, I was chasing for replies, checking when he was last active on the forums, even asked him about KW coilover purchase just to get a reply and a potential buy.. but NOTHING.

Like I also stated, Justin from Auto talent was very pleasant to deal with, he had very prompt replies and reassured me that I wasn't disregarded although I was in another Country. He replies messages around the clock and extremely promptly.

I personally have no problems with delays, but if you quote me on 2-3 week lead time, and don't tell me anything at all that suggests it would be delayed, which results in me chasing the supplier up.. but to NO REPLY. This is where the issue arises for myself.

As a consumer, would you not like to know where your $5,000 worth of goods are coming? And also be updated if there are any delays? and even if you weren't, you'd expect the same prompt replies they gave you earning your business correct? I had to set an alarm at 4AM to physically call the store to ask if Golan had received my email.

Sorry you had to go through that. I have experience importing and exporting goods out of Asia (China, Singapore, Japan) and I will tell you first hand its a crap shoot. We normally give a month buffer for just the foreign customs portion, not including shipping time and US customs. It is key to have all the right documents in place to avoid delays.

It sounds like this was a unique situation for AutoTalent and probably why they have that policy in place. I don't think you can really point the blame on anyone in this situation because of its uniqueness.

If I was in the same situation I would have tempered my delivery expectations based on the circumstances. There are a lot of things in the chain that were out of AutoTalent's control. At the same time maybe AutoTalent shouldn't have stated any delivery estimates or instead made extremely conservative ones. Although, I do agree, more communication probably would have helped in this situation.

[RedCarrot]

OP, you have my sympathy and I agree Golan should have done a better job to respond to you. Having said that, unfortunately delays from mfrs itself is a common place. A set of custom wheels I ordered directly from a US mfr (built in and delivered to within US) was delayed by a month. Having to clear multiple customs, in your case, adds even more variables to the delivery time. While the shipment is in custom, it's out of the vendor's control and they don't know how long it might be held up. It might be a day; it might be couple weeks. It's difficult for them to give you an estimated timeline once it's held up longer than the norm.

I learned not to plan my schedule around estimated lead time. If it happens to arrive on time I'd consider it a bonus. Hope you get everything resolved soon.

[zFrostyy]

It's awesome to see both brands commenting on this post, but the communication from Golan to you was still unacceptable no matter what was going on with the parts.

I get international shipping is a shitshow, but someone should have said that to your buyer. You don't just forget about him/stop responding, especially when you're getting paid to respond to people.

During this time, I tried to get in contact with Golan to lower the shipment value so I didn’t have to pay as much customs duties/taxes. He did so (which was great) but didn’t tell me, so our stories couldn’t correlate. In a rush, I provided the invoice I received presume Golan didn’t receive my email and lower the value of the goods. Which in return cost me $850AUD; rather than a much lower figure if anything.
*LACK OF COMMUNICATION*. I did this because I didn’t want to hold up my installer any longer, this was 5 weeks since the sale.

I finally received the parcel on 29th of August.
The parcel came with NO Downpipes. (note: I paid customs and duty on everything) expecting it to come with everything.
So I urgently e-mailed Auto Talent(Golan). and multiple times corresponding with NO REPLY. (What kind of customer service is this?)
On the 31st of August, I made an international call (I set an alarm for 4AM Australian time; to make sure their shop was opened) all I was told “We just shipped what Fi Exhaust had shipped to us (They didn’t even check the shipment and goods) and thats it! I said well can you let me know as soon as you know something, he said he’ll contact Fi Exhaust and update me.”

On the 7th of September I finally hear something from Golan “I have the catless dp ready to ship, I can refund you if you like or ship it. Did you install the system?
I replied immediately, that I wanted the dp shipped and that all address remains the same etc. A day later (I try not to bother him too much) I ask if he can provide tracking etc.
another day later, I ask if he can keep the value of the dp low; so I don’t incur any customs duties and taxes.
I ask if he can throw in the app module for Fi Exhaust for free.
NONE OF THESE RECEIVED A REPLY.

Actually it’s now the 12th of September and I haven’t received ANY REPLY. or a refund.

I mean fuck guys, fuck the product in these examples, look at the communication. The customer here clearly doesn't care as much about the product arriving 'late', it's that you didn't tell him it was going to arrive late, or tell him that you plainly were uncertain/unable to tell due to international shipping times varying so much, or you haven't gotten a response yet from the mfc, etc. etc., the problem is you ignored him.

This wouldn't have been a forum post if it just arrived late and you didn't ignore him. People understand shit happens, especially in the car world. People don't pay $5,000+ to be ignored.

[iQuiet]

Honestly zFrostyy has hit it right on the nail, the issue wasn't due to it being delayed, it's the lack of communication, I felt like I had to keep lying to my installers in Melbourne telling them, yes it's coming soon, or I haven't heard back yet, let me try chase them up, as the installers have to book me in as well, I understand delays do happen, but if the communication is free flowing and everyone is on the same page it makes it a more enjoyable experience.

And honestly, I purchased through Auto Talent based on their past reviews which were mostly quite stellar.

Yes this may be a once off, but it nonetheless was a disappointing experience.
If this allows the company to adjust the way they communicate and exempt a fellow member from being left in the complete dark when spending this amount of money on car parts, that would be the goal.

I know compensation would be out of the question.

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by McPurrs

Sounds like one of those "anyone can be an auto parts vendor" aka middleman sales groups. No thanks.

For what it's worth, Auto Talent has been around for 12 years, and is owned by someone who's been in the industry for 25+ years. Our Master Technician and in-house Tuner both have 25+ years of experience, I would like to note this is not combined experience....

In this day and age, a lot of businesses have chains of distribution and have MANY middleman.

I'm sure you did not buy your BMW from BMW GmbH, but instead a middle man (your local BMW dealership).

Originally Posted by importriders

Sorry you had to go through that. I have experience importing and exporting goods out of Asia (China, Singapore, Japan) and I will tell you first hand its a crap shoot. We normally give a month buffer for just the foreign customs portion, not including shipping time and US customs. It is key to have all the right documents in place to avoid delays.

It sounds like this was a unique situation for AutoTalent and probably why they have that policy in place. I don't think you can really point the blame on anyone in this situation because of its uniqueness.

If I was in the same situation I would have tempered my delivery expectations based on the circumstances. There are a lot of things in the chain that were out of AutoTalent's control. At the same time maybe AutoTalent shouldn't have stated any delivery estimates or instead made extremely conservative ones. Although, I do agree, more communication probably would have helped in this situation.

Originally Posted by RedCarrot

OP, you have my sympathy and I agree Golan should have done a better job to respond to you. Having said that, unfortunately delays from mfrs itself is a common place. A set of custom wheels I ordered directly from a US mfr (built in and delivered to within US) was delayed by a month. Having to clear multiple customs, in your case, adds even more variables to the delivery time. While the shipment is in custom, it's out of the vendor's control and they don't know how long it might be held up. It might be a day; it might be couple weeks. It's difficult for them to give you an estimated timeline once it's held up longer than the norm.

I learned not to plan my schedule around estimated lead time. If it happens to arrive on time I'd consider it a bonus. Hope you get everything resolved soon.

Originally Posted by zFrostyy

It's awesome to see both brands commenting on this post, but the communication from Golan to you was still unacceptable no matter what was going on with the parts.

I get international shipping is a shitshow, but someone should have said that to your buyer. You don't just forget about him/stop responding, especially when you're getting paid to respond to people.








I mean fuck guys, fuck the product in these examples, look at the communication. The customer here clearly doesn't care as much about the product arriving 'late', it's that you didn't tell him it was going to arrive late, or tell him that you plainly were uncertain/unable to tell due to international shipping times varying so much, or you haven't gotten a response yet from the mfc, etc. etc., the problem is you ignored him.

This wouldn't have been a forum post if it just arrived late and you didn't ignore him. People understand shit happens, especially in the car world. People don't pay $5,000+ to be ignored.

I'm sure we can all agree here that communication plays a VERY important role, and I feel very sorry for the OP. This could have been handled much better, and it's been a learning experience.

This is clearly a wake up call. We will do our best to improve from here on out.

[AutoTalent]

Andy,

I am sorry to see you write this thread. When you purchased this exhaust I let you know the lead time from FI. As I mentioned earlier, we are not in charge of how quickly an exhaust ships from the manufacturer. As the 3 week date approached I let you know that the exhaust has still not shipped and I was waiting for an ETA. It was then when you would keep asking for an update when I did not have one. You then proceeded to contact Justin who had nothing to do with the order just to try and get a faster response. I always give an update to the customer when I hear from the manufacturer. Due to FI being in Taiwan communications can sometimes be a little slower than the customer wants. You would email Sam complaining that you did not receive a response only 2 hours after sending me an email (You yourself apologized for this).

You were updated every time I was updated from FI. I apologize if that did not suffice for you but constantly asking for a status update does not speed up the process. I also provided your invoice with a lower value like requested to customs but not fast enough for your liking. I believe our time difference played a factor here and you were just in a little bit of a rush to have it clear customs. On top of all this you know we were in the middle of moving our shop. Moving 10k sf of shop to a new building is not an easy task so that slowed us down as well. You were kept in the loop that we were in the middle of that as well.

I'm not saying this transaction could not have gone smoother. It definitely could have but I feel like you are blowing this up a bit much. I apologize you had a bad experience and hopefully if you allow, I will make it up on the next one. You said yourself that you proceeded to go with us because of our stellar reviews. I pride myself on making sure customers are happy with every transaction. Hopefully people who have dealt with me in the past can confirm that. I just feel in this instance you were a little anxious (rightfully so) to install this on your car and you took things the wrong way. Either way, I hope you are enjoying the system and would be happy to take care of you like mentioned before if you give me the opportunity.

Golan

[zFrostyy]

@iQuiet I find it hilarious the response times of both Justin and Golan exactly mirror your experience. Justin responds to your post almost instantly and Golan takes a few days (to see it? Justin maybe waited a few days to tell him? Maybe he was on vacation?) and then nearly completely misses the point (and blames you for it?).

Come on dude. There were criticisms in here that weren't demanding of an update to the manufacturer. They were asking for communication from you specifically about customs pricing coordination among other things that communication from just you would've sufficed. Did you even read any of the other posts/replies in here before you wrote your response?

[AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by zFrostyy

@iQuiet I find it hilarious the response times of both Justin and Golan exactly mirror your experience. Justin responds to your post almost instantly and Golan takes a few days (to see it? Justin maybe waited a few days to tell him? Maybe he was on vacation?) and then nearly completely misses the point (and blames you for it?).

Come on dude. There were criticisms in here that weren't demanding of an update to the manufacturer. They were asking for communication from you specifically about customs pricing coordination among other things that communication from just you would've sufficed. Did you even read any of the other posts/replies in here before you wrote your response?

I actually was on vacation and got back yesterday and was informed of this thread. I am not blaming him by any means. I am just explaining that it is hard to update someone who is constantly asking for an update and reaching out to a different rep every time. Add the time difference and to top it all of we were in the middle of moving shops.

He asked for an invoice for customs which I supplied as soon as I saw the request. It just wasn't up to the speed he liked. There is always two sides to a story. I would not be so quick to jump to conclusions.

[Yiruna]

I kind of agree with Golan and Justin here. You went into the purchase order knowing full well of their shop's personal issues with moving, and asking for an update constantly doesn't really speed up the process. My M2 is in the middle of the ocean, me bothering my SA and the manager on a weekly basis isn't going to change the fact that it's in the middle of the ocean.

Also, you decided to buy something that had to go through two customs ports just to get to you. Sure, clothing and small articles can get by easily, no problem. The problem is, is when you have a big package upwards of 50LBS, there are going to be hold-ups. You knew full well of the problem and you decided to go through with them. You gave up on the Australian dealer because you couldn't get your toys fast enough or was too impatient to just call again. And you're blaming Autospeed for things out of their control?

[zFrostyy]

Originally Posted by AutoTalent

I actually was on vacation and got back yesterday and was informed of this thread. I am not blaming him by any means. I am just explaining that it is hard to update someone who is constantly asking for an update and reaching out to a different rep every time. Add the time difference and to top it all of we were in the middle of moving shops.

He asked for an invoice for customs which I supplied as soon as I saw the request. It just wasn't up to the speed he liked. There is always two sides to a story. I would not be so quick to jump to conclusions.

I get your point, but it's not like he was anxiously waiting to install it himself, he also had a shop/installer waiting with another part asking him what's going on. Was he supposed to ignore the shop that's going to be working on his car?

You could just have a notepad doc on your computer to copy/paste "My best guess is it's on a boat in the middle of the ocean right now, it left us x days/weeks ago, we don't get a tracking number for the boat, it'll probably get to you in 3 weeks or so" Or "We sent it yesterday so it's in shipping now, won't have any other info until it gets to xyz".

It just comes down to not ignoring your customer unless he's sending 20 emails a day with or without a response from you. I don't see how a time difference affects email communication. There were definitely a few windows there where a response could have been made in a more reasonable time frame even if you're on vacation/moving shop.

Why is shopping around reps a negative thing? I understand it may be irritating to you, but he's just trying to find what his $5k is doing.

There's two sides to a story indeed, everyone here understands that shit happens, but you can't expect ignoring a customer to end well in customer service. Look at what people do when they feel they're not being heard on every social media platform known to man. Nearly any response is better than no response.

Was the downpipes compatible with RHD vehicle etc. NO REPLY.

I replied immediately, that I wanted the dp shipped and that all address remains the same etc. A day later (I try not to bother him too much) I ask if he can provide tracking etc.
another day later, I ask if he can keep the value of the dp low; so I don’t incur any customs duties and taxes.
I ask if he can throw in the app module for Fi Exhaust for free.
NONE OF THESE RECEIVED A REPLY.

I had a senior fedex tracer get in contact with them to which Golan had stated they didn’t ship the goods.

If you're on vacation, why not have one of the other associates he's shopping around to take over for you instead of leaving your customer in the dark?