Cre8vtv

Just wanted to share a very disappointing experience I'm having with Eckler's. Since 2004, I have restored and purchased parts from various vendors like Zip, Corvette Connection, Summit and dozens of others without ever running into the kind of poor customer management I'm seeing from Eckler's. In early May I decided to purchase a restored C2 Windshield Washer unit from Ecklers because they had them in stock. The price was double ($400) because of the CORE charge.

I promptly returned the CORE and expected, like any other vendor I've dealt with in the past, that the core refund would appear in a few days. That didn't happen.

In early June I spoke to their customer service and was told they never received the core. I produced the confirmation of delivery and they next claimed they would have to investigate. A week later I called again and was told, "Oh they would immediately send the CORE refund." since I clearly had proof of delivery and even the name of the guy who signed for it.

Its now July and nothing. Upon reaching out to them again, I'm now being told their "3rd Party Vendor" must evaluate the CORE and then they'll send the refund. I reminded them of the ticket number and even the last CSR's conversation saying they would immediately process the refund. **Nowhere in their sales receipt or postings does it explain a 3rd party must evaluated the core to decide on refund, and by law, it certainly wouldn't hold up in court. When I have brought this up, I've been curtly told I'll just need to deal with it. They'll talk to the 3rd party vendor to see what they can do. What does that have to do with my purchase and payment from them???? I've filed a case at PayPal and I'm sure I'll get this resolved. My point is -- If you want to avoid a whole lot of your wasted time and trouble --- AVOID this supplier. There are so many more pro places like Zip and others that are responsive and fair about their practices. As a business owner myself, my clients are completely separate from anything my vendors do... that's what a successful business does! I suspect ECKLER'S will be OUT OF BUSINESS soon should such practices continue.

vettpapaw

I haven't bought anything from them for years. The last part I bought from them lasted 3 days.

Kerrmudgeon

....I've always had good results with Ekler's.

Cre8vtv

It's certainly not characteristic of other suppliers I've used. Not at all the kind of service I'd expect. It's not so much the money as the principle... very tacky to hold a customer hostage and not return the core deposit while you wait for an issue with your own vendor... Clearly, Eckler's has some problems going on internally. Not a company I would expect to be around much longer.

vettebuyer6369

I very recently ordered a set of dated glass rear windows while they were having a big sale. After the promised time came and went, I cancelled the order. I got a weird story about them needing to send/receive a message from the drop shipper because they couldn't speak directly with them, and they needed to know the order was cancelled. I asked to speak with a supervisor and said you already charged me ahead of time and I don't particularly care what the shipper tells them.

To Ecklers credit, a rep personally called me later in the day and said the refund would process in 5 days. I also received a similar email. The refund did in fact happen in that time.

I do know others have had very mixed results.

Zip Corvettes

I see a couple of issues here. For one, with UPS and larger stores. Even though it says they received it they may not have. We receive over 100 boxes at a time from UPS and they do not scan everyone of them. It is done as a batch and they are supposed to count the boxes and say yes there is a 100 in this batch and we are good to go. I know that we have shown to have packages delivered that were not and then end up showing up a couple days later or had been dropped off somewhere else. It does not happen often, but it can. So they do an investigation to make sure this didn't happen. You are also talking about a early car washer pump, Eckler's does not restore these so they have to be sent to the company that does for the core evaluation. That is another time frame for shipping and receiving. The company that does them may not be able to check the core for a couple of days, so there is another delay. This is not really unavoidable so when your dealing with these cars on rarer parts, you really have to be patient.
Justin

Zip Corvettes

Yep another scenario we are all faced with, Zip included. One manufacture of glass for these old cars than they don't really answer the phone. You have to have some patience on this. The alternative is that you get no glass, so at least all of us can get it. Yes it is pre-pay because they are drop ships. I know Eckler's started doing the same thing we did and the reason was that before when we would charge when it shipped. The problem is that the vendor would ship the glass, we would go to charge the card, the authorization would be expired because that is only good for 7 days and then the card would decline. Customers would not answer phone calls and we would have to continuously call to get funds for glass that was already delivered. Allot of cases those parts were never payed for, so the fix was precharging all drop ships. I am sure you can see the vendors side of this as well.
Justin.

vettebuyer6369

I absolutely understand the Vendors position. My problem was, I asked the advisor ahead of time about turnaround time, because I had an appointment to do a windshield install at a glass shop and wanted the rears for that time. I explained this to the rep and said i wasn't interested in a later shipment. He assured me of the delivery date. Of course I was skeptical.

When it was clear it wasn't going to happen, I called Ecklers CS and the girl not only couldn't give me any info but said she didn't know what "date coding" a part was. I eventually received an email response saying they could not obtain an ETA on delivery. Of course I cancelled. I think they should not even take orders like this if they know they are destined to fail.

Zip Corvettes

I agree with what you said here. Honestly on stuff like this though you are better off to not make appointments until you have the parts. At least on the more difficult items. Glass has always been and issue, and it's like good fiberglass. I wish it was different but it isn't and believe me nobody wants to put parts in your hands more than Zip.

61vetteman

I ordered a new battery from Eckler's for my 1961 Corvette 7 weeks ago. After 5 weeks, I called asking about my order. It still hadn't been shipped by the battery manufacturer so I cancelled the order (summer is fleeting in Seattle). Eckler's said they couldn't refund my Visa until the battery was returned to the 3rd party vendor. Apparently it was enroute when the battery mfg. cancelled the shipment. Now I have to wait an additional two weeks before I can get my refund. That's 9 weeks folks ! I told them that THEY charged my account. THEY deal with the battery mfg. NOT me. I don't even know who the battery mfg is ? So, why can't they issue me a credit now since I never received the battery. Answer: sorry, it's their policy. WTF !

Cre8vtv

Totally agree with you. It's total crap to call yourself a company and not be able to handle the eb and flow of returns / credits promptly vs. leaning on vendors. That tells you there's a poor management team who is incapable of tracking or incapable of properly running finance at their so called company. ***My CORE was returned mid May and still no refund from Eckler's anywhere! Everytime I call, they say, "Oh we're so sorry, we'll process right away" and nothing. Emails get curt responses that it's their policy. Here's my POLICY: Eckler's is a poor supplier with a broken customer service model and should be avoided!

Cre8vtv

Appreciate the point of view and I do trust ZIP as I've dealt with you multiple times with no issues. However, isn't UPS and ZIP's problem to properly scan each box in? "100 = Good to go" doesn't cut it. UPS and the receiver are responsible for their shipping and receiving accuracy, not the customer. I'm in a facility that receives nearly 300 packages a day of various technology components and every one is closely scanned and delivered to proper receivers within the building. In my case Eckler's confirmed they received my CORE after I showed them the confirm #. That was mid MAY. What I don't accept is that now their 3rd party vendor must approve the CORE and then they issue refund? What is that? No where was there a mention of that practice. That's not acceptable or professional. It's JULY and I haven't heard a word after mulitple complaints.

61vetteman

Thank you for your comment. I feel rather validated although still pissed off.

Cre8vtv

I've filed a complaint and case with Pay Pal to ensure I get the refund, and if that doesn't work, I will reject the charges on my VISA. You can do that on the grounds of "product not received, or contractual misrepresentation" IF they don't state their policy on the sales receipt, and order confirmation, you have all the legal cards to stop them. They can't just arbitrarily make up a policy they thrust on customers without notice before the cash transaction... it's the law.

oemtech

J.Abbott from Zip...

What you state is all well and good. But, unless the customer knows all that up front it's not his problem. It's the Vendors. I always use a CC as I can reject the charges. And yes there are some dishonest customers, been there and done that.

But, the bottom line is Customer Sat! Remember it takes many new customers to fix the damage from one.

Cre8vtv

Exactly my point! Eckler's did not state anything about the CORE being conditional to a 3rd Party Review. I would have passed. This is why I'll never deal with them again. I've never experienced that with ZIP, you guys have always been great to deal with, not to mention lower prices and faster shipping.

Zip Corvettes

I merely pointing out the otherside. First we also have some rebuild items that we have to send out to the manufacture. We build allot of our own stuff but some we do not. On those parts where the cores are rare or hard to get ahold of and it is something that we can't verify here then it gets sent off. I totally see the customers point of view on this, but in our case we state that up front. Just buy from us and you don't have to worry about that anymore

oemtech

Zip sounds like you chit ittogether!
Had a little sude business and can say I ate few ordes for various reasons. But, my rep was clean.

swag

I know one thing that a lot sellers do is that they show an item "in stock", then you order it and then get a notification that it's on backorder.

I mean, if you have to drop ship or don't have it in stock then you should say so.

I haven't seen the status change on the website after I order something that gets backordered. Still says it is available.

oemtech

I hate "drop shipping" as I feel I am paying for someone to do paper work.

When ever I was out of stock I would tell my customers upfront and give them the option to wait or I could have it dropped shipped