The great thing about life is 99.9% of the time there are two sides to every story when it comes to situations like this. Because Mr. Kelley has thought it wise too publicly tell his tale, he leaves us with no other choice but to set the record straight. So here are the facts, as much as he might not like to hear them.
Since Oct 2016 we have been exclusively selling pedal commanders to the Raptor community. When we first started, we were purchasing 10 at a time. As PC’s caught fire, we were beginning to overwhelm Pedal Commander with the small PO’s that we were putting in each week. We came to an agreement with Pedal Commander, that if we inventory between 50-100 units at a time, we would continue to be able to offer exclusivity to the Ford Raptor community. The logic behind this for both companies was the following. For SVC, we would be able to have PC’s in stock and ready to ship, plus allow us a more accurate way of forecasting for each month. This would lesson the work load on Pedal Commander, and allow us shorter wait times for the customers. Plus the obvious that if we show that kind of commitment and financial investment, we would have some assurance that we won’t be sitting on thousands of dollars in inventory that could have gone to other items such as raw materials that we need for other production parts.
2. Since the very beginning of SVC offering Pedal Commanders to our customers, we have routinely ran aggressive sales to help move inventory. Since we were considered the sole provider of PC’s to the Raptor Community, we were under zero obligation to discount because we effectively controlled the market place. However, we aren’t greedy, we believe in the product, and have always done our best to take care of our customers as many of you know from your experience in dealing with us.
3. We have made investments to Pedal Commander each month that total between $5,000-$8,000/per month. This is money that is tied up into one product, so I’m sure any rational minded person can understand our financial concern when we come to work one day to find out another FRF vendor has convinced Pedal Commander that he focus’s the majority of his sales on other makes outside of the Raptor, when in fact, we know the truth is the complete opposite, just too get the rights to offer PC’s for sale on his website.
4. This prompted us to voice our concerns to Pedal Commander that this is the type of product that is ripe for a price war the minute they allow the on-line only vendors to sell the product. Companies such as SVCOFFROAD, TMX, Outlaw, SDHQ and many other brick and mortar run businesses have large overhead cost of employees, rent, utilities, COG’s, insurances, raw materials and many other expenses that have to be taken into account when we structure our pricing. The online only retailers for years have been able to come into the market place, take an order, have the product directly dropped shipped from the manufacturer with very little stake in the game other than the cost of a website and other minor expenses. For the record, we have no issues with the online business model. It seems to work for many supporting vendors of FRF, nor do we shy away from competition as Mr. Kelley has stated. Some of our best products have been the fruit of intense market competition. We have produced products that have had to stand up against some really talented companies and amazing designs. So to claim we are scared of market competition is laughable.
Competition fuels us more than anything, and if this was strictly an issue of who can beat who at the “pricer war” when it comes to Pedal Commander, I can assure everyone we have made the investment in Pedal Commander to easily win that war.
5. With regards to the “pricing war”. I find this particular statement rather humorous considering we were offering a month end sale to move the remaining inventory and make room for the next large batch of PC’s that are scheduled to show up. This is nothing new for us. What’s also laughable about Mr. Kelleys recollection of last week is the little fact that he blatantly plagiarized our Facebook sale post to the letter that read “UNBEATABLE deals now through Monday” no more than 20 minutes after we announced our sale. If your gonna launch a sale, don’t lift another companies verbiage word for word.
I hope this lets all of you understand the concerns we have and the reason we voiced them. We hold no animosity towards Pedal Commander as we are convinced they weren’t given the entire back story of who Freedom’s majority base clients were, “Raptor Owners”. Pedal Commander routinely had discussions with us, and consistently voiced their concerns about this exact situation. They went to great lengths to avoid it. They agreed with us that if to many vendors in a small community like the Raptor community were to offer PC’s, their brand would be devalued. Like Pedal Commander, we go to great lengths to make sure any new vendor we have, has a reputable business, with the ability to install and the cash flow to inventory our parts. It’s far to easy to start an online website with a day job, offer massive discounts, drop ship and reduce the value of products that have a lot of time and money into producing them. Sure in the end the consumer may get a product at a lesser price, but it also has a cause an effect on the brick and mortar businesses that have multiple employees.
For the record, we never sought out to have a “price war”, we never asked for a “price war”, but it should go without saying, that if another vendor happens too get into the same pool, economic principles will be applied, and the company that buys deeper, often has the ability to outlast the new comer. If Pedal Commander is disgusted by what has transpired and made the decision to offer firm MAP pricing, then we will honor their request. But under no circumstances will we ever accept blame for a decision made by Pedal Commander at the hands of another vendor who has sold a couple units. Our track record is clear and transparent. We’ve always offered aggressive discounts on Pedal Commanders. We’ve always tried to take care of our customers while still being able to grow and keep the lights on. So if Mr. Kelley wants too point the finger at us, we would remind him that there are three of his other fingers pointing directly back at him. He opted to make this post, not us. He’s the one publicly stomping his feet and placing blame at our feet. We have always liked Chris, been cordial to each other, and shared a few laughs together at runs. It’s a real shame he couldn’t pick up a phone and call us to discuss his concerns. That would have been the appropriate thing to do vs. publicly placing blame on others.
Thank you to the hundreds of loyal Pedal Commander customers who have supported us. It’s a great product, and regardless of who you choose to purchase one from, you won’t be disappointed. We will continue to keep them in stock, and make sure to offer innovative ways to make it worth your while to continue to support SVCOFFROAD.
Jarrett
