When is lying to a customer ok?

[wheelsup351]

Here is a chronology of a really bad dream that I have yet to awaken from.

On July 11....
I ordered a really nice set of ported, polished, flow benched tested and assembled 3 valve heads for my 408 on July 11. The manufacturer quoted me higher than a third party vendor so I made what I thought was the better business decision and got them through the vendor (500 miles away from me). When I placed the order, I was told shipping would be free. They immediately charged my card for 50% of the total agreed upon amount. Would have liked an invoice or a receipt to go with that, but whatever. The vendor has a decent reputation, and, really, I care more about getting these heads so I can finish my motor asap.

A few days later, after several demands for an invoice, I get one. The invoice states the estimated ship date would be August 24. I have no problems with that wait.



August 17
My card is charged for the balance of the heads. I call up the vendor and ask if they had shipped them early. Vendor said no but assure me they will arrive by the August 24 arrival date on my invoice. For the first time I noticed that I was charged for shipping. The vendor tells me they never waive shipping charges but he would look into it and "take care of it for me."

August 24
Estimated arrival date per my invoice. Nothing.

August 25
I call up the vendor and ask if my heads have shipped. They inform me they haven't but they should any day arrive any day from the machine shop and then he would send them to me.

September 2
I call the vendor and asked if the heads are back from their machinist and he asks for a few hours to find out. I hang up and immediately call the machine shop directly and they say my heads were finished the week before but nobody came to get them. The vendor never calls me back.

September 6
I call the vendor and again ask where my heads are. He says he has no idea why there weren't sent from the machine shop but that he would send a driver the next day to go get them on September 7. He promises to ship them on September 7 and I'd have them September 9 or at the latest, Sept 12.

September 8
I finally get a tracking number. UPS.com says a shipping label has been created on Sept 8 an with expected delivery of September 12.

September 9
UPS tells me nothing has been picked up. Vendor says it's been shipped.

September 12
Nothing shows up but the Vendor again states the heads have been shipped. I call UPS to verify and they tell me nothing has ever been picked up. Vendor tells me there was a scanning error and the heads will arrive on September 14. The tracking info online has not changed since Sept. 8.

Today AM
UPS again tells me nothing has been picked up and suggests I file an investigation. I call the vendor and he tells me if I don't get a working tracking number this evening he would voluntarily give me a full 100% refund for 100% custom 1 off set of cylinder heads. Weird.

Today PM
I get an email from UPS.com that my heads were picked up this evening, with scheduled Friday delivery.

Has anyone ever been given the scanning issue story by a company? Did this company assume that since I was born at night, I must have been born last night?

I'm a pretty chill guy and have been abundantly patient with this vendor. I wish there was a better explanation for the way they handled my patronage and hard earned cash. We'll see what shows up on Friday.

[gkring]

From seeing how most custome stuff guys and people's stories I'd say being 1 month late is pretty awesome! However lying is not the answer. I don't care about any of the names, but would like to hear the reasoning for paying more to deal direct with the mfg. Typically you want the distributor as the manufacturers aren't good at dealing with the end user, deadlines, communication, etc as you have found out. Again, i think one month late isn't too bad as long as they guy was just lazy and inaccurate and wasn't flat out lying to you knowing something was not shipping.

[SLO_Z28]

He bought them through the vendor, not the manufacturer. I just dont see waiting that long for a set of heads, there are plenty of in stock options.

[parsonsj]

Moved to Feedback forum.

[TT302Z28]

I did just have a UPS tracking number that showed it hadn't been picked up yet but received my products. Only after I signed for the product from UPS the tracking changed from ni tracking information due to no pick up to delivered (with of course the expected delivery date the day it arrived).

[Gitter Dun]

Story sounds sort of familiar but you only lost 4 weeks. I called an engine building company that told me I would have my engine in 3 weeks. He never took any money but when I called him 3 weeks later he told me they still haven't found an engine block. I told the guy forget it and cancelled with him.
The next guy I call tells me he can get a motor to me in 4 weeks. I specifically ask,"Are you sure you can get it to me in 4 weeks". He answers,"Yeah no problem but I have to give him 50% up front".
OK, cool right? Wrong!! They took my 50% on June 6th and I didn't recieve my motor until August 30th.

I asked what was taking them so long amidst the time I was waiting. He gave me the same answer as the first guy, we were having trouble locating an engine block.

I've seen quite a few 010 blocks for sale on craigslist so I'm a little confused. Both these companies were mid west east coastish so can somebody out there answer a question for me.............is it really that haed to find a decent first gen block out there?

[parsonsj]

Just a quick reminder: all posts in the Feedback forum have to be approved by a moderator or administrator before they are visible to members. If your post doesn't show up, give it some time, or PM a mod. This particular thread is fairly innocuous since we aren't talking about a specific vendor (or at least we haven't named one), so most posts will be approved.

[BADDRIDE II]

Feedback

- This moderated forum has been provided as a service to our members. It will provide a searchable database of positive and negative feedback related to Sponsor Vendors / Non-Sponsor Vendors / Private Sellers

Curious as to how other PT members will be protected from BAD BUSINESS if in this "feedback" forum a vendor cannot be named? If what this customer has said is true....why would this vendor not be exposed to protect others from his lack of business skills. Above I have simply cut/pasted PT's Feedback guidelines. It states it would basically expose negative feedback? How about Moderators investigate claim......if valid.....let names be given! After all that would help protect the consumer (guys that make up 99.9% of this site. Just an idea?

[parsonsj]

how [will] other PT members will be protected from BAD BUSINESS if in this "feedback" forum a vendor cannot be named?

What makes you think that? This particular poster isn't naming names... but most do.