Chebosto

iTrader: (1)

Taken from tonite's release on MaximaDriver.com

Stillen MaximaDay was today. Many of us met up at the Sam's Club over
in Gardena, it was very nice to meet you all, and thanks for coming up
to me and saying hello. After a few pictures here n there, the rest of
us drove over to Stillen in Costa Mesa for the event. Upon arriving, i
set up my MaximaDriver.com tent, and was then proceeding to show the numerous
products under development by me and products already available by those
sponsoring MaximaDriver.com, until Stillen's Sales Manager Jeff Ricciardi
came up to me and told me to cease action and pack up. Because "it
was a conflict of interest," for me showing the goods and having
a Stillen cash register oh 300 feet away. Although i merely wanted to
just let people know what NEW aftermarket products were coming to the
Maxima Community, Stillen did not like me being there, so instead of putting
up a fight, i decided to relocate my technical drawings of our nearly
completed Big Brake Kit, and the designs for the new Carbon Fiber body
kits, into my trunk until after i had left. Although the event was held
at Stillen, its a shame that Mr. Ricciardi, a self-proclaimed "auto-enthusiast,"
would turn down this opportunity to enrich the Maxima Community with new
and exciting products that i have worked very hard to get released. Oh
well, We all know Stillen is the big shot around here, so i guess i'll
take my resources elsewhere, hmm.. maybe somewhere in the neighborhood
of Arizona, where i might find a suitable Catt or two.

Speaking of resources, I finally met Mister Brian Catts, Mr. Cattman
Performance himself, as he made his way to Maxima Day. WHAT A TRULY NICE
MAN!!!!! His car, beautiful as always was retro-fitted with the Prototype
Gen2 Coilovers, and the newly designed Cattman-exclusive Cold Air Intake.
Other product news: The Quaife LSD will be available in August, along
with the Place Racing Motor Mounts (priced at $250) He also told me VERY
VERY interesting news about product R&D he is doing at his shop, that
might include something very very very good for us Maxima Drivers, that
will have Stillen shaking their centerfugal knees. More info to come at
a later date.

Unfortunately, when Mr.
Catts was showing off his newly designed Gen2 Coilovers to a few loyal
MaximaDriver.com readers when Mr. Millen himself came over to him and
told Mr. Catts to leave the premises immediately. Catts had the prototype
catback on it, which sounded similar to the GReddy, maybe a little quieter,
he took Sherieff and another member for a ride to show the new Coilovers.
Which, really didn't feel all that harsh at all, Sherief said.
Millen
walked over with one of his managers, obviously mad about something, just
about grabs Catts and pulls him aside. Talks to him for like 15 minutes
and then Catts returns and says he was basically booted out. He also said
that when he first got there, he introduced himself to Steve Millen..."Hi,
I'm Brian Catts, I own Cattman Performance. I'm one of your competitors."
Then, Sherief says that Millen goes around saying harsh things to his
managers for letting this happen. Then eventually, comes over and kicks
Catts out.


NOW. tell me this. is this BS or what?



--Cheston

brianw

iTrader: (3)

Woah.

First I see the 78 pics from SWEETSOUND2001... it looks like it was fun, but the silly guy didn't take any people pics.

Now... umm... kicking competitors out??

What the fsck is that!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

I don't hear any news of anything new from Stillen. Heck I don't even hear anything about their "sale".

Now this? Presumably they know both www.cattman.com and www.maximadriver.com ... then they don't let you setup your tent. WTF? If Brian Catts had huge Cattman performance stickers on his car and a table I can understand Stillen being ****ed... but if he just showed up with his car... why the hell is Stillen doing this?

I'm thinking the next next major West Coast meet needs to be between Los Angeles and Arizona, with the good folks at Jim Wolf Technology, Cattman Perfomance, MaxRev, URPD, and Nissan North America (or at least Mike Kojima ) there to participate...

Y2KevSE

iTrader: (13)

When did this happen? I believe Brian was talking to Steve at the autograph table when Jane and I left.

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Damn! That really sucks! It must have happened late in the day, because Brian was there from practically the opening of the event until just before the second drawing took place at around 2:30 pm. In fact, he was still out in front of Stillen when I left, and I was one of the last guys out.

Brian is a super guy, and I'm really glad I had a chance to meet him. I'm glad I had a chance to meet you too, Cheston. Too bad you didn't have a chance to show off your wares.

Chebosto

iTrader: (1)

i'll host a MaximaDriver.com fun day or something in the summer... u know. just to hang out and race or something..

but this is ridiculous.. Stillen is a joke. first me (lowly 21 yearold with a website) now cattman.

i mean. thats just wrong.

#1 is customer base, and the way this is going, i hope stillen gets punished by their "loyal" fan base via boycott or something..

%!@#%@

this is worse than Altezza lights. Catts is the damn.
wtf millen.

La Jolla Max

This happened towards then end. Like close to 3pm.
What an ***. I'm never buying a $tealin product now.

~Sherief

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Frankly, I doubt it even phased Brian. Based on my conversation with him early in the day, I suspect he was surprised that he managed to hang in as long as he did, no doubt due to the fact that he maintained a very low profile. My hat's off to Brian for his restraint and the respect he showed his host, even if his host apparently did not respond in kind.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

To be honest, I'm not surprise at what happened. Given the past history of Stillen, you guys shouldn't be surprise either. If they can treat their customer(especially Maxima customers) badly, how would you think they will treat "potential competitors"? Ahhh...Stillen, you never cease to amaze me.

max1ma97se

iTrader: (1)

2 words "fzuck stillen" they charge to much, why do we have to haggle the price down like a car at a dealership? i called them 1.2k for a kit??? wtf they smokin, i got him down to 900?? wtf still like 200 more than i will pay f*ck them!

brianw

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't say "f*ck stillen" - look what they HAVE given us... it may be overpriced, but it's (mostly) been good products.

However, before I had no qualms about buying Stillen parts or even promoting them when they were the best option available.

Now, I don't even want to think about it...

FitzMax

Holy ****!!!! What a bunch of A$$holes! I can't believe that they would rather kick you out than come over and talk about the common interest that you all share. Its just all about business to them, whatever, the hell with them. I am not buying stillen anything anymore. I just bought a full body kit last week of theirs for my 3rd gen off of another Maxima.org member (luckily not through Stillen!) but now I am gonna have to sand the logos off of the kit so I am not advertising for them....hmmmm, this might call for some Maxima.org stickers!!!

ohboiya

iTrader: (3)

Although I'm not 2 keen on Stillen & their pricing tactics ... I kinda have 2 side with them ... this was their sponsored event (Please correct me if I'm wrong ... I may very well b since I'm in Canada & don't know how the day was organized) ... as sponsor ... I hardly think they would appreciate (& they didn't) competitors showing off their wares @ an event that Stillen was holding ...

if it was a gen'l Maxima Day sponsored or held by Nissan North America .. it would b a completely different story ... but it was their day ... if I were Stillen .. I would not have done n e thing different ..

but kudos 2 u Chebesto & Catts for showing the professionalism that u did ... it says heaps about you guys ...

Brian ... I'm sure all of us are really interested in knowing what Chebosto was alluding 2 in his first post!

Mr. Nismo

iTrader: (36)

Aaahhhhhhhhh man! and I just got the Stillen sticker on my winshield.

La Jolla Max

I think you misunderstood...
Brian Catts showed up in his car, yes. And his car was loaded with products that he sells.

HOWEVER, he was neither giving out flyers, nor touting his products. He had no tent set up with a huge Cattman banner, etc..

I corresponded with the man via email sometime, but I never met him in person. Heck, I didn't know it was Catts (or the Cattmobile) until I walked over to the car and looked at it closely..as if it were any other enthusiast's car.(and yes, Brian is a true enthusiast, unlike Millen..).

And what Cheston did not mention in his post was something else Mr. Catts told me: He told Stillen before he came that he was going to come, and what he was going to do (namely, show his car and talk about Maximas!). And you know what? they didn't have a problem with it.

Not until Steve Millen found out.
Damn...what a *******.

buss95max

i was there when homeslice told cheston to put the wilwood stuff away. it was funny when cheston asked him if maybe they can work on something like that someday(2gether)..and that guy just avoid the question...haha....

cattman is one dope ****...much respect to him....

they put a stillen sticker on my car too...its gonna say...ILLEN 2morrow...

Mr. Nismo

iTrader: (36)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

it seems everyday Stillen gets puts their heads farther up their asses!!! If I were in Cattman's position I'd be kinda happy that I have that affect on a "major" company like Stillen as to where I'm "trespasser" so to say .....awwww poor little Stevie Millen scared of some down home compettion...****ing PU$$Y!!!

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

You can't blame a company for not wanting competitors on their property showing off their products. It's funny that they booted Brian and asked Cheston to pack up his stuff though. They don't even care about the Maxima community, I don't see why this bothered them so much I'm sure they didn't want to get shown up by people who care more about the Maxima community than they do.

yongjun

That's exactly why I have nothing stillen on my car.

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

I'm afraid I'll have to join ohboiya on this one. Steve Millen is running a business and Maxima Day was a business-sponsored event. That means that on Stillen's property, Stillen's time and Stillen's money, Steve makes the rules. And if Steve doesn't want competition on his premises, low-profile or otherwise, then that's his right. I, for one, have no argument with that.

I should also mention the obvious fact that a lot of the aftermarket products available for the Maxima were originally designed by Stillen. And some of those parts are still exclusive to Stillen. So whatever I may think of Steve Millen personally, I owe him a debt of gratitude. And if you've got any aftermarket parts on your Maxima, Stillen or otherwise, you probably do too.

Stillnmax

Stillen is Crappy stuff sold to us at a premium price...... i could design so many better things than stillen stuff, maybe after a bit i will. Wow who would think that Stevey would be such a *****, i feel bad for his son.... growing up knowing that his dad is a Jerk0ff

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm. Time to change your handle, Stillnmax.

I applaud your desire to create new products. If and when they come to market, I'll be interested to see how much new ground you break in their design and implementation.

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

Good one!

BrianV

iTrader: (9)

Hmm yeah guys can't really blame Stillen.

First of all, they're paying money for this even to go down. The free food, the facility, the employees, etc. The reason they do it is so that they can promote products that maxima owners want to buy. Thus, in return this event is more than paid for.

From the honest truth I gathered this. Everytime I talked with a maxima owner that wasn't on maxima.org, they didn't know anything about Cattman. I convinced 3 people to buy Cattman's ypipe over Stillen's, and I know Y2kse did the same. Since cattman was there it was easy for us to just sort of forward his business. I'm serious to say I prevented at least 2 if not more stillen ypipe sales on maxima day.

About Cheston and the brakes. Stillen sells that ultra-expensive brake kit. Cheston sells a similar kit at less than half the price. Crap if I was Millen I'd want him to take that crap down too. It's embarrassing for Stillen, haha.

Pretend you own a store, and you're having a large event. Well advertised, well planned, etc. You have marked down your prices and have many willing customers there. All of a sudden your two competitors walk into your store, sit down, setup a table, and tell customers to buy their stuff instead. Although they're not selling the product there they are in a sense telling them to buy their's tomorrow, when the event is over. I don't know any company that would let that happen.

Yeah so Stillen isn't looking out for the best interest of the Maxima Community. Well no ****, if they were doing that than we'd be buying stuff from them at cost. Stillen is definately looking out for the best interest of their wallets; just like any other company does.

I know it's disturbing, but owning my own business myself, I understand how Stillen reacted, and frankly I'm surprised Cattman and Cheston lasted as long as they did.

Although Cattman was pretty stealth, he did have business cards, and fliers taped to his car saying his setup, which didn't have ONE SINGLE STILLEN piece on it.

Stillnmax

instead of making a wise decision i think stillen totally went about it the wrong way. It was stillen day ok yea so why not let the ppl that were there stay. What i would have done is used that opportunity that was given to them to prove that their products are that much better. I guess they arent that smart over their.

I already have several designs for things in the works, and im going to apply for a couple of different patents as soon as i finalize somethings..... it really isnt that hard to design stuff... figure the Vortech SC from vortech costs about 6-700 bucks, add some mounting brackets and other things and you too can charge 4grand for an SC that fits on the max.(although your SC make work the way its supposed to)
added:

ok i will give stillen the nod on their Suspension Bars, but look at whats out there - hollow bars , and the cheapie street beat...... but we wont know the diff of hollow vs Solid, yet.

Ok given the customer support given by stillen for maxima's would you want to mod your MB with stillen stuff ? i doubt it.

Maximamike

That type of **** from Stillen doesn't surprise me. I've heard of other **** involving a particular black turbo 3rd gen too. Oh well, **** them..

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Another Vortech supercharger isn't very interesting to me . . . unless, of course, it costs $1,000.00 less than the Stillen Supercharger.

I'd recommend you concentrate on developing products that Stillen doesn't manufacture, products like a Maxima turbo kit for instance. On the other hand, if you decide to copy Stillen's products, you'd better have the price, quality and performance to back you up. Otherwise, why bother?

ohboiya

iTrader: (3)

Stillnmax

lol you could make a FSTB out of a broomstick and it theorectically would work ... dont know how it would hold up.... its damn cheap to get stuff like that made up.... im not going to open up a shop or anything like that..... but whatever i do make will go straight to Cattman, or cheston.

i should get off my soap box now

Synki

Screw Stillen! Boycott Stillen.. i mean Stealin! I hope they read this thread and see how bady they screwed up!

yongjun

why don't you email it to them stynki.
steve@stillen.com i think

Maximamike

I'll do it.

Synki

You can help me too Jelly Boi.

yongjun

K but we need a fast get away car for when they try to chase us. Better call up cattman for the good stuff

Maximamike

Done. I'll send one to Steve as well..

Don in Texas

iTrader: (-2)

I really don't understand why you would expect Stillen to act any differently.

I agree is was "Maxima Day" ,but it was "Stillen's Maxima Day". He set this up to have his customers (loyal or not) to visit, and had an opportunity to offer stuff over the counter while you were there (It might have seemed like a "lets all get together and talk Maxima's", but it wasn't. It was a sales event, pure and simple.

If Brian was trying to promote his products on Stillen's site, I would have done the same thing. I wouldn't try to sell people on our stuff at another companies event.

Now, at Maxus,or a regional meet, or Drag Wars, etc. it truly is an enthusiasts event, no one company would stand above another. Everyone could offer their products without this problem. But when you go to a Maxima Event sponsored exclusively by a dealer who offers Maxima products, you are in the wrong, not Stillen.

ohboiya

iTrader: (3)

i think everyone that is dissing stillen should put themselves in Stillen's shoes ... can u honestly say u would act differently?

not likely ...

business is business ... this is Steve's livelihood ...

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Even though Brian wasn't actively "selling" his products, his mere presence at the event could be viewed as provocative. Once again, Brian didn't expect Stillen to let him stay at the event all day, and the fact that he was allowed to remain there until practically the very end is far more intriguing to me than had he been kicked out at the very beginning. I also find it interesting that Cheston wasn't asked to leave the event even though he tried to set up a MaximaDriver.com sales area and sell competing products.

Under the circumstances, I'd say that Stillen showed far more tolerance than either Brian or Cheston had any reason to expect.

ohboiya

iTrader: (3)

i c that u have the stillen sts ... i hope u can answer a coupla questions ...

1. do u know how long the throws r?
2. if u could .. would u shorten the throws or is it just rite?

tkx .. i'm trying 2 determine how long my throws should b on my smc sts