The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk BAD Customer Service - Chev's of the 40's

I am pretty ticked off and I have decided not to buy from them again.

I bought a full set of gauges from them about a month ago to install in my '46 while it is being re-wired. I also bought a billet dash panel for the Speedo and Tach, and a below-dash panel for the fuel, volts, water and oil gauges.

After about a week, the guy doing the electrical work called to tell me the panel was about .010 too large and would not fit in the stock dash opening. The dash has no bondo etc, so the panel is just a bit too big to fit. I called Chev's. At first I got the usual, "...we sell lots of these and they have all fit..." Uh huh, ok but the one you sent me doesn't so I need one that does. I got them to agree to send me one and I was told it would get to me last Thurs or Fri...it got there Monday. Okay fine, but it was the WRONG PART. They sent one different than the one I bought. I called them and they tell me they will send another...so another week. No offer to send it overnight, nothing. I tell them these parts have delayed me about 2 weeks. They offer to refund my money. I tell them I can't do that, the gauges are already wired in for this panel and the other are already installed. They tell me again they can only refund my money. I ask if they will refund me the cost of having the .010 milled off. Again, they can only refund me my money. Screw them, I will have the panel milled, pay for it and not buy from this supplier again.

Is this customer service? Am I being unreasonable to expect a part that fits, prompt replacement of one that does not, or a correct part when they send a replacement? A different attitude that shows some concern for their customer?

May not have been as smooth a transaction as you think it should be, but we don't have both sides of the story either.

I don't see how they can account for any and all manufacturing variances and tolerances on a truck that was built over 60 years ago.

If it's only 0.010" (less than the thickness of three pieces of paper) that could be the paint on the dash... If you test fit it before paint, which you should do with all new and probably all used parts too, you could have easily adjusted the fit with a sander.

I think in this case you should have resolved the fit no questions asked, or if you had to say anything a simple notification "hey, this thing was 0.010" oversize, but I made it fit no problem, thought you might want to know for the next guy"

I find that if I, the customer, can be helpful, courteous, and patient, the vendor/service provider will be the same, if not more so.

So yes, I think a different attitude may be helpful.

Grigg

aaaaat's rite!

Sounds to me like they were trying to correct the problem.

.... and the manufacturing varied back in 1946... and with that in mind I would say that the actual dash opening was made big enough to accommodate varies of a wide range back then. THe plant didn't want things like this holding up the assembly line.

I have bought LOTS of parts from LOTS of vendors over the past 15-20 years and have run into this problem he mentions countless times. I complained and got more crap sent to me...more than once.
On a couple ocassions the vendors told me "thats the best we can get from our supplier" and they REFUNDED my money and sometimes even told me to keep what they sent. I am still doing business with those guys......

BUT.. I have not bought anything from Chevs of the 40's for over 10 years and do not plan to....... I'll let you guess why as I do not want to "vendor bash". However I will tell you that there are vendors out there that would definitely make it right....One such instance was not long ago. I had a problem and the vendor checked his stock. All his stock was the same way...bad. They told me if I could use the part or make it work to keep the part and use it and they would give me a 50% refund. Now to me that is customer service and they keep getting my orders and I keep getting good service.

I was completely understanding (at first) and patient enough to wait for the replacement part with ordinary shipping. I WOULD have been willing to wait for a SECOND replacement part to come if it would have been offered, it was not. The atitude was that it was my problem. As for being "helpful, courteous and patient" I think you're assuming /i was not I also think it is in the seller's best interest to exhibit those qualities, not the buyer's responsibility. I can go to another vendor. The vendor is supposed to care if I do.

By the way, we verified that paint nor body filler was an issue. They simply provided a poor fitting part.

I started this thread to give a head's up to others here who might buy from Chev's of the 40's in good faith as I did. As for both sides of the story? Pretty much sounds to me like you;re assuming I am lying or at least misrepresenting...who di you say you work for?

...who di you say you work for?

There are two possibilities:

1. The part is the wrong size and would not fit any truck of your year.

2. The part is the right size and the opening in your dash is too small.

The vendor sent you a second part and it did not fit?

I'd try another vendor for the part. I'd try to get the first vendor to pay return shipping.

If someone else would report success or failure with this part (from this vendor or another vendor), there would be more of a basis for making additional speculation regarding the part and/or your truck.

I have ordered from Chevs of the 40s several times and have received good quality and service. When I purchased the wrong part, they readily took it back for full refund; and, if it was their mistake (rarely), they paid the shipping.

I've had mixed results dealing with Chevs. I've gotten good parts and not so good parts. I've also gotten the "we sell a lot of them and don't get complaints" line from them. I can only assume, if that is correct, that most folks realize repop parts made by the communist country across the pond don't fit well and are ready to "make" them fit.

One thing, you can't insert your urgent schedule in trying to resolve a problem like this. Don't plan on doing the assembly until you have everything in your hand and it has been checked for fit.

"Too big" is usually not a problem. Most of the custom parts I use in my gunsmithing business come to me just a bit oversize- - - -that's where the "smith" part comes in. Anybody can install a drop-in part. A mechanic, as opposed to a parts-swapper, should be able to do a reasonable amount of fitting, especially if he's dealing with a non-stock part like a billet assewmbly. It could have been too small and left an unsightly gap, and you would have a legitimate reason to complain!
Jerry

The only problem I had with them is they would send the whole order if one part was on back order,the part on back order was usually the part I really needed and the others were stuff I ordered to make it worth the shipping. A call telling them to not send any part if one is back ordered untill I was notified was all that was needed.

In my opinion, yes.

It's a repop, I would have probably buffed it off a bit and installed it. You usually can.

..... so one should NOT expect any better for his money?? That don't float guys. Thats why we get crap... we take it and make do... because we have no other choice except to do without in some cases.... and in some cases I have done without!

Every case is different, but if this truly is a case of only 0.010" oversize I say fix it and move on.

Have you measured the part and had the manufacturer compare that to the drawing or the rest of the parts in the bin? Could be you have an oversize part, or an under size dash.
Whatever it is it's only 0.010", adjust it to fit.

Sorry, I didn't say who I worked for, and don't think it matters.

Not trying to give you a hard time, but it seems to me like you're being a little harsh on the vendor for a very minor issue with the original part (no comment on your later communications with them). If it were a whole 1/16" or an 1/8" I'd be on your side, but a few hairs is not much, I'd be happy that it will fit so well once you test fit and adjust prior to final assembly.

Grigg

..one thing I noticed in a few of the responses is that the vendor states that they have been selling them for years and no complaints. Well, first I doubt that!!

I got the same response from what was suppose to be a reputable company. I offered to do as you say Grigg, help them to get it RIGHT and at MY expense. I wish you could read the email responses from them. Basically they told me to take a hike.

So to get a MANUFACTURER involved is IMPOSSIBLE as far as I am concerned. I've tried to do that at least twice if not three times and you know what... even the vendors will not give me a "contact" number or person. NO ONE!

So, I still say, a man buys something with his hard earned money then it should work. Why should a man buy a piece then have to correct it or get it corrected if he can't do it.

I just can't put my arms around this one guys. A good business will always offer you your money back if you have not mutilated the part. They keep customers that way.

EDIT: I have worked in manufacturing for over 35 years. Ever now and then we may have felt "blameless" but in the end we would rectify the problem and simply consider it a Customer Accomodation. I don't ever recall loosing a customer that way.

All I have to say is aftermarket. Expect it. Rarely does any repop fit exactly. I'm not being rude but it's fact.

Fun discussion, Buuut, all we've heard so far are word pictures, we taint seen no real live PICTURES of the problem. As has already been mentioned, the problem might very well be with the mechanic that's installing it. I'll bet if I took some of the stuff I've gotten to my local Chevrolet Dealership and the part didn't drop in, they'ed shove the truck out to the back lot till they got one that was a perfect fit.
If we could see the problem area, then we might be able to offer a simple solution. After all, there are over 20,000 different opinions here on the Stovebolt.
DG

Hey, can I add my 2 cents worth.
Over the last 40 years or more I can not remember when custom or repop parts ever fit like you would like them to and if they did fit, great, but I've learned never to expect it.
You would think that if one went to all trouble to make a part you'd make it the right size, but for some reason unknown to me it doesn't happen.

I began to think someone wrote a law saying you can make it,but you can't make it 100% right.
And that's my two cents, thank you very much.

Dan

That law you talk about glasman is probably all ready on the books, Patent rights for one comes to mind. They all can reproduce parts, they just can't be 100% the same as the original with out infringing on the patent.

As for parts not fitting, if they offer a refund or exchange, thats about as good as it gets. Sounds to me they did a pretty good job of trying to correct the problem.

Joe

Patents are only good for for a certain number of years. For the most part, anything over 20 years old is fair game to make an exact reproduction.

If all this stink is truly over your part being ten thousandths of an inch oversize, I pity the vendor in this situation.

I read this whole thread and wanna throw in my 2 cents. 95% of the time, if you're respectful with your complaints to a business that did something you're not happy with, they'll do whatever they can to "Make it Right" - as Mike Holmes would say.

JMO.

Is your truck Canadian or Amaerican? Was it made in Oakland or Janesville or Oshawa? How many miles does it have on it? How much paint is on it now? 1 mil, 2 mils, more? Hpw many of these trucks were built?
Have you seen the build quality of a fresh off the assembly line vehicle? They are WAY better now than they were back after the War. Get 'em off my line and out to the public ASAP! Regarding THIS part And THIS situation with the dash opening-you are being way too picky. You don't know what the original dash looked like that they made the template from. Maybe it was taken from an Oakland made truck and yours is a Janesville truck or maybe the teplate came from a GMC and you have a Chevy. Get my drift---too many variables to account for a .10 variation across all brands, (OLDS, Holden, Maple Leaf, GMC, Chevy, Bedford ETC) that could have used that dash. Like I said , In THIS situation, you are a bit over the line of reason.

... how can we be wrong? There are about 22,000 experts here

They did offer his money back...

... thanks. I must have been half asleep. It was 11 o'clock!