ChristopherOrris24

Friends, thank you.  Thank you for caring enough to post your thoughts, and taking time from your life to do so.  Thank you for making your feelings known,  and I can appreciate that you feel we have drifted from our core.  Thank you for continuing to care about our company and brand, even though it's not the company and brand that you supported initially. 
 
The reality:  I understand your point.  We have become a much larger enterprise. At the same time, our customer base has changed as well. Over 60% of our customers are under 30 today!  We have a fantastic marketing department that turns out limited edition promotional products and Adam's branded apparel. While I certainly appreciate the sales, it's not something I had in mind when we started. Nor would I ever have thought old or limited edition products would sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay. Never in a million years, and our marketing team has created tremendous brand equity, and demand.
 
I started this business to offer great detailing chemicals, matched with premium application and removal tools, and easy to understand instructions.  (Eventually, videos, to help the DIY enthusiast achieve incredible results at home, with ease.)  Above all, I want our customers to be impressed with the quality, ease of use, and results achieved with everything that comes from Adam's.  
 
The reality:  The promotional stuff sells, and the new majority of our customers are young.   I now have partners, a bank expecting us to meet goals, etc.  It's not just me and my small team, boot strapping to make payroll, and kick out a few new products each year.  Adam's Polishes has grown exponentially, and as a result, it has changed.  While the changes at Adam's are good for some, they are not appreciated by all. Especially the original customers, those who remember us small, with nearly all American made products.  Those who have supported our brand for a decade or even two. 
 
As some of you are aware, our ownership group acquired our chemical manufacturer last year, and now have access to truly amazing chemistry.  We have invested heavily in the business, updated the lab, and are now making products that are more advanced than the big players in our industry.  Crazy enough, we now have 150 employees, plus another 25 part time show champions.  While I'm humbled that we have established a much larger company, and are roughly 10X the size we were just a few years ago, I also miss the old days.  I miss the days of taking our entire staff out to lunch daily.  Miss indoor parking and a cross-fit gym at the HQ.  I even miss the days of whacking payroll on a credit card, and living in my first warehouse.  While those days were tough, doing whatever it took to survive was invigorating, exciting!  It's hard to do things like that as a large company.
 
You asked about DVK?  Dylan VonKleist is incredible at identifying and developing new products.  He knows detailing as well or possibly better than I do, and has his thumb on the pulse of the detailing community.  He was instrumental in starting this very forum!   I also miss Ashley Wilson.  She worked with us since high school, with her fantastic dad, Mike, one of our original team members.   Ashley was amazing with our resellers, and everyone she came in contact with.  When we moved the business to Colorado, she was unable to move with us, understood.  We had an outstanding controller, Patti.  She started with us in 2009, and helped us get through many, many hurdles.  Her positivity and influence on both me, and the staff was awesome!  She eventually moved on to work with a non-profit, which helps children.  Understood, and she is missed by all of our employees that knew her, and was replaced by a super capable CFO and eventually, an accounting team of five that are much needed to keep this enterprise afloat.  Great people, certainly needed, but a big company team is different feel than a small few person team.  Realize, those people who are gone have moved up, and as our business grew, we had to make changes.  We are friendly with each person that moved on, no bridges were burned in the making of Adam's Polishes!
 
I introduced Dylan to Cody, then the owner of Cyclo Tools, and he was hired there.  Then, Cyclo was acquired by Rupes, which is how Dylan landed there.  It was a good fit for him, the right move at the time.  Truth:  Dylan is one of the smartest, most OCD, focused detailers I've ever known.  His focus on detailing products made our line better, and makes Rupes a better company today.  We never replaced Dylan, and are still looking today. (If you know someone, please shoot me an email with a resume: Adam@AdamsPolishes.com.)  

Today:  Our customer service team is awesome.  Our marketing team, led by Matt Butcher, is amazing.  Our chemicals are outstanding, and our ceramic program is world class.  Our towels and accessories are very good as well.   As I always say, "VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS!"   We are one of the only companies on earth that honors a 110% Satisfaction guarantee.  Pleas, return any product you are dissatisfied with.  Whining about products online doesn't solve a problem.  Remember, you get 110% refund on products you are unimpressed with. Please, no whining, just contact us so we can make it right!
 
I gave 200% to Adam's Polishes for decades. (Gave 200% to detailing for the previous two decades as well. Been detailing for nearly 40 years now!)  Today, I've shifted priorities, to a family man, and business man.  In that order.  I used to come home after work and get on AdamsForums, and on other social media platforms.  Today, when I'm home, I'm a Dad, and husband. Today, I don't always get to the HQ, rather, I travel all over for business.  I'm on a plane at least 4X a week, and while my United Airlines status is rocking, my absence is noted at home.
 
God has been incredibly good to me, and our business.  I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity to start and grow this business from zero. Blessed with an incredible and dedicated team.  Blessed to have met my wife, and blessed with our three healthy children.  Blessed to live and work in Colorado.  Blessed to have incredible customers who care enough to report your feelings on our direction!  
 
Finally, I encourage everyone to VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS!  Focus on the high quality products that keep your car shining, and your shine therapy soothing.  I'm still detailing something every week, sometimes daily.  It's my therapy.  It's always been my therapy.  Detailing is how I unwind and find clarity in this complicated world.  
 
I'm here as the Chief Detailer, and Founder of Adam's Polishes.  I'm not the CEO, not the marketing director, just the Chief Detailer.  If you don't like a product, please, contact our customer service team, and we will make it right.  (orders@adamspolishes.com, or 866-965-0400.)  When I tune in to listen to people complain about our business, it certainly hits a nerve.  If you have a product that has not impressed you, please contact us!  Vote with your dollars, and you will see more products that you love from Adam's Polishes.
 
Thank you very, very much for your loyalty, and for your business.
 
Humbly,
Adam

As you may have noticed, our main website is currently offline for updates and maintenance. It went down yesterday afternoon for the upgrades, and was planned to be down for a few hours. 
 
I do not yet have an ETA of when it will be back up and running, but as soon as I find out anything this morning, I will update this post.
 
Thank you for your patience!

Copied from the announcement on our Facebook Community:
 
Friends and Customers of Adam’s Polishes-
 
We recently learned of posts on social media raising concerns about potential credit card issues in connection with transactions on the Adam’s Polishes web site. We place huge value on our relationship with our customers, and we are writing this post in an effort to respond to those concerns.
 
First let me clarify, Adam’s never stores or holds credit card information. When our customer types in a credit card number during the online purchasing process, the information is first encrypted in the browser before it is sent directly to our credit card company. Adam’s employees do not have access to credit card information at any point of the process.
 
We take security and privacy very seriously and we have been working proactively and diligently to address any potential issue. When we learned of these concerns, we engaged expert security professionals to review the concerns raised by our customers, our security and our website. All of the scans have come up clean, and thus far we have not been able to identify any issues with our website or service providers.
 
Adam’s is not trying to minimize or avoid the fact that people have and are experiencing credit card fraud. We are just trying to understand it and react to what is a very complex issue. At the end of the day if customers have an issue, we have an issue – we fully understand that.
 
As part of our ongoing effort to improve service and security and in addition to our ongoing software upgrades, we are changing our server hosting provider this week as part of commitment to improving the customer experience and security.
 
We appreciate your loyalty and hope you will be patient with us as we go through this difficult and time consuming process. Of course, if you have concerns about the Adam’s site, you can use Amazon, PayPal or contact your local dealer.
 
If you do feel like you have had a security issue as a result of ordering through the Adam’s site, please contact us directly at IT@adamspolishes.com. We will update this post on Friday, March 15th with any new information.
 
Thank you.

Moving to the appropriate section. I've passed this along to our Marketing and Web Development teams.
 
Please keep in mind that pre-paid debit/credit cards DO NOT work on our website - you must call us to place an order if you would like to use one. We try to steer clear of accepting payment by check in the mail, since we have to wait for them to clear before an order can ship, and limited edition items can sell out fast.
 
Our website accepts PayPal, and Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express credit cards.
 
Also please note that the fastest way to reach us for customer service related issues is to call us at 866-965-0400 during business hours or email us directly to "orders at adams polishes dot com"
 
Respectfully,
Dan@Adams

From a security and liability standpoint, you really should use a Credit Card for online purchases and not your Debit Card.  With the Debit Card the money it taken directly from you account and while you can usually get it back it takes a while.   With a Credit Card, you are usually only liable for the first $50 and you don't have to pay disputed items so you don't have to worry about your account being drained.
 
My preference is the use of PayPal that is tied to a Credit Card which adds two levels of security.

I also had a debit card I used on the site, get hacked..  bank caught it really fast, and issued me a new card and refunds within minutes.  There was a fairly long post about this on the Adams FB group. Seems like alot of people got hit after black friday.

Same here. I had my card compromised from the Adam's site in November 2018 and early January 2019. The November charge was $186 from Jet.com and January's charge was for $361 from Hidrycovers via a Paypal charge. Both debit cards were cancelled and new ones were issued. I have placed a few orders recently on Adam's and I'm hoping it doesn't happen again. Adam's is the only online shopping I do with this particular debit card, and I receive my work direct deposits on it.

Awesome! I’ll be excited to see how it turns out.  

Great suggestion, I will pass this one along to see if our manufacturer could implement this change!

Great suggestion. The Velcro from my trunk organizer stuck to my Hossa Blackhawks jersey an pulled on the threads .

I’d like to make a recommendation.  For the next Trunk Organizer.  Can you get rid of the Velcro Lid opening in place for some of those Flat Magnets you see in some retail packaging.  It shouldn’t cost much and would make repeated opening and closing of the Trunk Organizer 110% Better

59 entries, I put them into a spreadsheet chronologically. Google's random number generator chose...
 
drumroll...
 
#52 - Tim! Please PM me with your current mailing address and I'll get it sent on the way!
 
Thank you everyone that entered. We'll do one of these again soon

Maybe we all won?! 😜

I’d like to make a recommendation.  For the next Trunk Organizer.  Can you get rid of the Velcro Lid opening in place for some of those Flat Magnets you see in some retail packaging.  It shouldn’t cost much and would make repeated opening and closing of the Trunk Organizer 110% Better

Yep, we just got word that the labels have been ordered and waiting to go to print, so hopefully we'll be able to offer the gallons in the Feb/March time frame, stay tuned!

Yes! A million times yes. The magnet is a great idea. Great suggestion @ChristopherOrris24

And not get stuck on any poor MF that wanders too close...

I’d like to make a recommendation.  For the next Trunk Organizer.  Can you get rid of the Velcro Lid opening in place for some of those Flat Magnets you see in some retail packaging.  It shouldn’t cost much and would make repeated opening and closing of the Trunk Organizer 110% Better

Enjoying the benefits of spray wax on my device screens. 
Big difference!

We use detail spray and Interior Detailer throughout the house. With out Husky hair can get everywhere and it helps it not to stick to everything. It's what always happens to the special editions when they come out, the wife either grabs them or tells me to order them (who am I to tell her no to making an Adams order?) for the house
 
We also use glass cleaner, Brilliant Glaze and some OG all purpose cleaner in the bathroom a lot 
 
Have used foaming cleaner on the couches and use leather conditioner on the wife's purse a couple times 

This is awesome! Count me in Dan!

This is awesome! Count me in Dan!

Interior Detailer instead of VRT in the engine bay.
 

Love that 16:1 mix, works great for so many things!!!! 

Diluting Rinseless Wash 16:1 and using as a waterless wash is amazing.  I truly believe this is the best kept secret of the Adams community.  It’s pennies on the Dollar compared to Waterless Wash and produces better Shine.
 
I would happily pay double the price if they would replace the bubblegum scent with the waterless blue raspberry though lol.