I ordered a front monospring on Thursday since mine has 18 years of tough use on it. Knowing that the spring would arrive in "7 to 10 business days", I pulled the old one out.

I received the new spring on Monday and to my disappointment, there were no center spring pads on the spring. The outer pads were held on with clear packing tape and when I removed the packing tape, the pads fell off. You could see where some kind of glue had been (unsuccessfully) used.

I was running late for class, so I threw them an email when I got to campus. I got a phone call sometime around 4:30 stating that they got my complaint and that they were going to contact the vendor, but the vendor had closed for the day. I assume the vendor they are talking about is located in FL. The time-zone difference was understandable. I live in Indiana, and I think the company I ordered form is still located in Michigan.

So today I call early and I give the lady that answered my invoice number. She asks who left the message and I had to play the message back for her because the lady who left it rushed the message so fast, her name was indiscernible. The lady who was "on top of things about my mistake" works very few hours evidently. I was told "Well, she doesn't get here til 3 CST because she has college". I am in college too...I never let that interfere with my customers at nighttime when I work.

I called back after I got home from school after 4:30 today and talked to the lady who left the message on my machine. She said that "We are still waiting for the vendor to contact us to see if they can just send you the pads or if you need to send us back the spring and then we send you a new one". Using the same logic as the day before, the vendor is now closed. Evidently, the lady doesn't contact the person directly, but there is someone working at the place that contacts all vendors. Ok??? So, seeing that my car is apart and I NEED to install this next week over spring break, I ask if I can go ahead and order another spring, be charged for it, and then return the old one when I get one with the pads installed. She told me that she didn't know if they even had another spring in stock. Uhm, inventory maintenance???

If they don't have another spring in stock, then I would likely be shipping my spring back to them and wait for them to get it in stock, then send it to me--obviously something that will not be here in time for my spring break.

I find it really hard to believe that a spring would leave a manufacturer without the pads installed. Just doesn't make sense. I find it harder to believe that the lady assigned to my problem appears to be the only one who can do anything regarding my problem--the problem could have been remedied by another operator who answered my call early today instead of me calling back after school to find out that "The vendor hasn't responded".

Am I going to be able to replace a spring that’s broken over spring break or am I screwed :confused:


[Modified by HighHopes85, 5:12 PM 3/11/2003]

 

that sucks...where did you buy the spring? :confused:

 

Ordered it through Corvette Central. I'll update this as it goes along, so if the end result is great, it will make them look great, too.

Today's update.

"Now Matt, you just notified us of the problem on Monday. You need to understand that this is going through our PO department."

Yes, very good. I understand this. Do you also understand that when I received the spring, I removed the old one and now have a car sitting up 25" in the air. If you resolve the problem today then the parts could be here by Friday. Otherwise, my car will have been up for a week incapacitated with no signs or resolution.

:U

All it would take them is ONE phonecall to the vendor to say "Our customer needs this: Polyurethane Frame Mount Pads (each set contains 3 pieces), 2 sets". Are you going to send them directly to him or to us first?

They made it seem like there was a possibility it would be shipped to them first. Time for CC to drink a cup of reality check. :rolleyes:


[Modified by HighHopes85, 11:16 AM 3/12/2003]

 

I am under the impression that Corvette Central is BIG. I have ordered from them as have many forum members.

What you are describing is more frustration than anything. I am sure they will take care of you. This is a classic example of the saying: "people make the company". Customer satisfaction is directly related to the quality of employees within that company. Anyone can run a company when everything goes right. It takes quality people to handle things when they don't go so smoothly..

Hang in there........ :yesnod:

 

This is classic so you better get used to it. Never take your car apart if you need it and don't have the parts in hand- rule #1. Although hard to remember all the time no matter WHAT you order, do it by phone and ask all the seemingly dumb questions, eg Does it come with the bolts shown in the pic? Ask for tech support if need be to get the answers. Above all- always remember to ask if it's in stock! Items may be posted with how many they have in stock but they're come back is: We don't update that info on a daily basis.

If you ask all the right questions and do it every time things work suprisingly well in most all instances. But, you can expect this type of thing to happen again until you get the system down.....

 

You guys have some good points. I am certainly not upset--it has only been a few days. It's more of getting ansy than anything else. Spring break only comes once a year for me!

In the meantime, I found a rear wheel bearing that was trying to take me out of the ballgame. Roller cage is crushed, rotor pulled straight off with the hub flange without any pressure really to speak of. Although this won't take up enough time to wait for the replacement parts, I've got a few odds and ends I can do.

:cheers: