Hi everyone. I'm having a problem with my purchase from Mid-America. I bought a car cover from them about 1 month ago. I paid about $250 for the cover and about $40 for shipping. The color of the cover was red and black. After using it for a month, both colors started to fade. The red became pink and the black turned gray. I live in San Francisco so the weathet is pretty mild. I would have expected the cover to fade if I lived in Arizona but San Francisco is known for fog. I e-mailed Mid-America and got a response the next day. They apologized re: the fading of the colors and would be contacting the manufacturer. The also e-mailed me a shipping label to return the cover and they would refund the money. I was paid back $250. However, I believe they should have refunded me the shipping charge. I wasn't returning it because I didn't like it (I really did like it), but because there was problem with a product they sell. I bought the cover in good faith and this was the most expensive thing I've bought for the car. They said they were going to talk to the manufacturer about the problem so the return wasn't any fault of mine. I have e-mailed them twice and no one has replied. Now I don't know what to do. Some of you know that I served in the middle east and that every penny goes to my family. My wife bought me the car as a homecoming present and the $290 I spent is a lot of money for me.

 

 

To kimmer, I don't know what your response means.

 

Hey if it turns pink and you live in San Fransico, what's the problem?

All kidding aside, Mid Am is a stand up company. What they will probably do is when they ship your replacement there will be no shipping charge. So Your original $40 should be all they charge you. I guess they could refund it then charge you again....

And if the $250 is the most you have spent on your Covette, you haven't had it very long. IMHO

 

I have no problem calling Mid-America a standup company. I've ordered from them before. I just would like them to be accountable for something that wasn't my fault and is something wrong with a product they sell. They should actually thank me for letting them know something about their product so they won't have many people returning it like I did. Also, this car cover is called by Mid America as an All-Weather cover. It would have been different if a couple of years from now, I call them to complain. I had the cover for less than a month in mild weather. What did the all-weather title mean? They never offered me and I never asked for a replacement. Kind of silly if they send me another one. The problem I had would probably have affected the other ones. It wasn't a one time occurence.

 

Damnit!! Beat me to it!

 

Not refunding shipping is pretty well standard. The product is guaranteed. I'd be happy just getting my money for the purchase back but that's just me. The fact that they provided a return shipping label seems like a nice gesture on their part. Unless you want to shop locally, your pretty much stuck with paying for shipping. Always read the return policy BEFORE you make purchase. I buy from companies like this all the time. Most of the time I have no issues. Sometimes the cost of returning an item just doesn't make it worthwhile. Just ask the people around here that have C4 parts in brand new condition or lightlty used. Good luck with your replacement purchase.

 

This is weird. MidAmerica has outstanding customer service.

 

Maybe I'm old fashioned. I do realize this is the computer era and many things are accomplished through email, but if I have a problem with a company or a person, I pick up the phone (or cell phone) and call the other party. Give that a try, ask to speak to the manager and see what they will do. Maybe they will be willing to accomodate you. They probably get hundreds of emails a day and yours may have gotten overlooked.

 

I agree, I normally call and speak to a human on issues related to products/services; having said that, I must admit it sounds like they are taking care of you since they refunded the cost of the product. I am not sure about the shipping costs liability, but if it bothers you, go ahead and call them rather than wait for a reply on your email

btw: thanks for YOUR service!

 

Ok , here's my expierence with my last order from MAM. I ordered a oil resistant mat for my wife's 67 230 sl mercedes, just to catch the oil drips. I already had one and ordered the same size. What they sent was a different size so I called and was told that is the only size they have , the one I wanted had been discontinued. I told them I had a special need for the original size and I thought they should have contacted me to see if I wanted the only one they had. The guy was rude and said to send it back. I told him that I didn't think I should have to pay for shipping it back for something I didn't order. He got even ruder and after going back and forth he finally said "JUST KEEP THE DAMN THING AND I WILL CREDIT YOUR ACCOUNT". And hung up on me. I only order from them at a last resort.

 

While back I had the same problem, when I ordered something, and sent me something else, they where nice about it, told me to keep the original, and sent me what I wanted.
I would have talked to his boss, about his behavior, they sure don't need him, there are hundreds waiting to take his place.

 

When I first read your post all it said was that you had a problem, apparently a computer glich.

 

Would they have sent the replacement cover sans shipping?
Would have saved you $40 (which sounds like is more principle than need) and youd have a newer pink cover. It IS an outdoor cover I imagine?


There is SUCH a need for good made in US products these days.

 

 

buy a grey cover , that won't fade , problem solved
Wolf Noah

 

This is typical to eat the shipping charge. Though $40 seems high. I would have imagined $20.

I imagine you didn't pax sales tax on it. So in the event it wuld have worked out, you would have saved there. That's a risk of buy mail order

You'd really hate gmpartsdirect don't ever order anythig from them!

 

Hi everyone. So, today I decided to call Mid-America with the shipping charge problem. I wanted to order another more expensive cover and wanted to see if the can waive the shipping charge since I had to return a defective cover. The young lady took my order and went to get her supervisor to approve the waiver of my shipping charge. Right away, the supervisor was very rude. He started firing off questions before I even started to speak. I explained to him the situation regarding the refunding my original shipping charge and to apply a waiver for my current purchase. I told him that I a member of this forum and that Mid-America was talked about with good reviews here. I also told him that I have ordered from them before and by ordering another more expensive cover, I'm trying to be a happy repeat customer with good things to say on the forum. He went on this big upset speech about how "we already paid you. Why are you trying to get greedy. This is a separate order and your original order has already been closed out." WTF!!! I hung up and have decided never to order from them again. I'm not going to bash them because many people have had good experiences with Mid-America. However, if anyone asks for my opinion, well, you know that I'll put in my 2 cents.

Thanks for reading,
Ed.

 

Thanks for replying and thanking me for my service! It's been about 2.5 years since I've been back, and I'm now just starting to feel comfortable with my wife and son.