Steve from The Filling Station here. First of all, let me say that I respect Dave Dawn for all that he has done over the years for the VCCA. He has authored tech tips in the early days of the G&D and also did a huge project tracking engine and body data for 1929-1933 cars & trucks. I have always admired his knowledge of early Chevys and willingness to help others in the club. In fact, if I had to pick someone to restore a 1931 Chevy for me, Dave would be the guy. With that said, I will try to explain our side of this 7-point bashing that Dave has written.
Dave has a commercial shop that restores old cars. He has purchased parts from us for many years. We only track sales history back to 2003 (10 years) and in that time we have sent him 84 separate orders. All of these problems, except #5 (Aug 2013), happened in 2010 or earlier (the radiator issue must have been around 1995 because that was when we first offered honeycomb cores). Each time there was a problem (#1, #3, #4, #5 & #7) we either replaced the problem item or refunded the merchandise and freight. I believe that #2 just required trimming a ¼” off of a gasket at each end of the oil pan. #6 is a problem I do not remember … not sure if he contacted us or not, but this was October of 2010. Over the last 10 years we have refunded over $450.00 to him for defective or incorrect items … he has purchased over $13,000 from us in that same period.
When we get a complaint about the quality of our products, I take it very personally. I have worked hard for the last 34 years to provide quality products to our customers. I am proud to say that we have helped over 80,000 customers in the USA and in 75 countries worldwide. We also have over 450 suppliers around the world and offer over 20,000 items to help restore old Chevys. 2012 was a record sales year for us and 2013 is heading in that direction. Do we get it right every time? Heck No! But when there is a problem we work hard to correct it to our customer’s satisfaction.
With 450 suppliers and over 20,000 items, it is impossible to have quality control be 100% but we do try. I want to directly address complaint #7 about brake shoe relining since we did have a big problem with brake linings. Back in 2008 when this took place, we lost the source of good brake lining. The lining we were getting was being made in England for street cars in Austria. The factory burned down in 2007 and the supplies dried up. Since asbestos has been outlawed, it has been difficult to find a good replacement lining. Everything that is available has brass flecks in it which causes squealing in the mechanical brake cars. In 2009 we found a lining that is better, not as good as asbestos, but as good as we can find. We refunded him his complete cost, including all freight charges on this item.
I guess what it all boils down to for me is how you are treated. As a customer you deserve to be treated with respect and get your problem resolved as quickly as possible. We as a company also deserve respect. Know that we are human and we make mistakes. Our suppliers make mistakes and stuff happens! It is not necessary to remind me of things that happened 5 to 10 years ago to make your point. When you have a company that does not meet your expectations, simply stop doing business with them. Perfection is a very difficult thing to achieve. In fact, Dave is really the only perfect person I know.