Tried to buy tail lights from a certain San Diego corvette parts seller and when I was reluctant to give credit card info over phone he became very indifferent and verbally abusive. Have heard before of this perticular individuals attitude so I'm to blame for trying to purchase this item. Sworn at then hung up on.......................pitiful way to conduct yourself in this manner and his miserable interaction with people. Lesson learned. begee22

 

Initials DC?

 

I've dealt with two of the LONG time California corvette parts suppliers. Crane did a bait and switch on a restored hardtop for my 62. He lists his tops on EB and the photos looked really nice, but he shipped a different top to me that wasn't as nice........I made him take it back (I paid freight) and I'll never deal with him again. The other one is in the LA area and can't email photos, doesn't do emails and I had to send a check via snail mail as he couldn't do CC. He carries his huge inventory in his head, but it's time he joined the 21st century. I bought a correct 66 ignition top shield, but it wasn't as perfect as he described. In fact, it looked like he got it in an inventory purchase and never unwrapped it.

 

How did you intend to buy the taillights?

 

Same run around with a similar DR.
Threw the outdated catalog out and chalked it up as one less vendor
Marshal

 

Trim Parts has the tooling from guide and they 100% like originals. so why buy from anyone else

 

Listing was on ebay and I made a counter proposal on shipping cost which was unexceptable. We agreed on a price and I stated I prefer paying on my Paypal account for my protection................that lit the fuse and he went sideways from there regarding fees charged to him. His reputation is well known here but my first (and last) time dealing with this seller. begee22

 

my guess is DC

 

Yeah, DC is a little funny. I bought something from him many years ago. It was on eBay so I called him directly figuring I could save HIM some fees and I can’t stand eBay anyway, but didn’t ask for any discount on my end. He ends up charging me MORE THAN what it was on eBay if I didn’t call him at all! Talk about crazy.

 

Are they a corvette forum vendor? Why all the cloak and dagger? Who is the parts supplier with a not so nice attitude?

 

we would all like to avoid...

 

I'll add my 2 cents just for some balance. A few years ago, I bought a pair of L72 heads from David Crane. When they arrived, they were what they were supposed to be, but when my engine builder magnafluxed them, one of them was revealed to be junk. Long story short, after providing "proof" thru my engine builder talking to DC, DC actually sent another head at his cost. So, he stood behind his product. Who knows if he knew the head he sent was bad or not. But, when we called him on it, he basically replaced the bad head for free (as he should). So, my experience was fine. I'd buy from him again.

 

Like him or not you threw out a Great catalog with great diagrams. JMHO

 

This is a great point! I fully agree. But. Vendor/Customer relationships are not supposed to go like this. When the prospective customer balks at the payment method, the vendor should never then become verbally abusive. From the customer standpoint, that's that. No business in the future, most likely, with that vendor. From the vendor standpoint, the vendor shut off the money trail from a possible customer.

The vendor has opportunities lost- the possible customer might have come back after re-considering options if the vendor had just said, "I'm really sorry sir we want to help but I can't change the way we do business; we can't make enough money to stay open otherwise. I hope you reconsider and come back to us. I'll be happy to help. Here's my direct line if you change your mind.".

I did this stuff for years, for customers who should be much more angry than a guy who didn't get a part for an old car, and for equipment that had much more critical importance than a car used for a pleasant Sunday cruise. Being professional, up-front, and reasonable is actually pretty easy. That's how customer relationships are built and maintained. It works, and it also lowers the pressure put on the company rep. The side benefit was that my firm had a rep as people who actually wanted to help, and it impacted sales positively. I call sales a side benefit because the real pay-off was lives saved. If this can be done for a guy who is mad that he will be put in danger if a part can't be purchased, surely a person answering the phone at a glorified auto-parts store can be civil at least

 

Slightly off topic but I dont understand the pervasive fear many have of using a credit card with a legit business.
Is there a chance your card gets compromised? Yes it can happen but the odds are so low and the benefits of buying that way are very much worth it.
The card companies 100% always back you in the event of any actual fraud and always void any questionable activity.
They have to do this or will go out of business.
Who on earth would want a card if they didnt??
Amex is the best for this and when you have legit reasons to be unhappy with a purchase, service or product they will always reverse the charge.

 

I get the mark "mark up" that credit card companies charge. I have a small medical business. What we did was add a service fee equal to the amount of the haircut I would take from the credit card company. Most customers get it. The customers still gets all the advantages of using a credit card. Lastly, I agree, Trim Parts makes great products. Jerry

 

That's absolutely right, whether you are selling french fries or Ferrari's. And a seller who abuses the customer can not only lose HIS future business, but also the business of those the customer tells - be it word of mouth or on a forum. If a seller does not want to use PayPal, or if a customer does not want to use a credit card, those "should" be relatively easy to explain and accept without hostility.

 

I have dealt with the above vendor, DC. He had what I needed at a reasonable price and I was satisfied with the product. I had a related question about the part which I thought was a reasonable. I could see he was impatient and a bit cranky. So I tried to be nice and ended the conversation quickly. That said, he has one hell of a inventory a just about anything you may need. Overall, I would still buy from him.

 

Moving to Transaction Feedback.

 

Maybe it's me but I still don't know who the vendor is to avoid...