*** WARNING IMPORTANT NOTICE*** ECKLERS-MACS-DEARBORN CLASSICS ANY ORDERS FOR EMS AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS VIA ECKLERS WILL NOT BE SHIPPED OR HAVE NOT BEEN SHIPPED DUE TO NON-PAYMENT. DELIVERIES WERE STOPPED IN FEB. 2022 AND IN JUNE THERE IS NO RESOLUTION. PLEASE CALL EMS CUSTOMER SERVICE 248-546-0232 TO RE SCHEDULE YOUR DELIVERY EMS AUTOMOTIVE SELLS BODY SHEETMETAL FORD 1935 TO 1958 CHEVY. 1935 TO 1954 FORD F100 1948 TO 1966 I HATE TO SAY SOMETHING BAD, BUT IT HAD TO BE DONE, TO MANY COMPLAINTS
Good to know. I suppose what that means is anything you order from any of their 'brands' will probably have the same issue...
Good on you for the heads up. I have never entertained buying from the above companies. Reputation is everything and nothing is worth the headaches. On my “Elsie” my ‘48 F1 , parts I don’t make , I get directly from Dennis Carpenter. No need to buy from the above . But then again, because of that maybe why you didn’t get paid. Sorry.
Thanks for the follow up. That’s not good news as far as their fiscal stability. Non-payment by vendors also hurts your cash flow. Rather they fold than you.
Looks like you are not alone. Eaton Detroit Spring also. See this from the Ford Barn, Ecklers Cancels order - The Ford Barn
To BRIAN BRADLEY PRESIDENT ECKLERS INC ORLANDO. FL FROM: MANAGING DIRECTOR EMS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ( EMS AUTOMOTIVE) MR BADLEY, THIS IS OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF CANCELATION OF BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH ECKLERS AND ALL UNITS OF ECKLERS INC. ECKLERS WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE EMS AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT LINE FOR RESALE. REASON: NON-PAYMENT ECKLERS IS OVER 180 DAYS BEHIND AND CONSIDERED A BAD RISK IMMEDIATELY STOP USE OF ANY EMS LOGO’S, TRADEMARKS, IMAGES OF EMS PRODUCTS. AND REFERENCES TO SUPPLYING EMS AUTOMOTIVE PARTS. ALL PENDING ORDERS AND BACKORDERS ARE CANCELED THANKS ALEXANDER ERDEY
There have always been businessmen with flaky tactics, I remember Bob Hedman talking about dealers who push the envelope on payment windows and still deduct discounts for prompt payment and some who didn’t pay up until threatened with disassociation or legal action. Too bad it’s still going on in the hot rod sector but it just shows how so many in this country today have lost their moral and ethical compass. Thanks for the heads-up.
Had a friend years ago that worked at a local dealership. As the new owner was telling them all the things he was going to do to make money, my friend got up and left the meeting, loaded his tools and quit. His comment was "If the SOB will crook the customers, he will crook me too."
How many times have we seen this? A well-run family business is bought up by a corporation when the owner wants to retire, which then proceeds to attempt to extract as much money as possible out of its new acquistion using various shady methods to do so. Or over-extended itself to make the purchase, not having enough capital to ensure good customer service and timely product delivery. Whatever the problem, word gets out, business falls off and the money problems start. It doesn't take much to go into a death spiral from this point and the end result is yet another loss of quality products. It seems like it's taking a pretty long time for Holley to digest its purchase of Edelbrock, are they next?
Last year I ordered a top kit for my sport coupe from Mac's. The woman who answered the phone identified as Eckeler's. At any rate I completed the order which the lady said was in stock and would ship shortly. About 3 months later and multiple phone calls, I finally received a box from Mac's/Eckler's. It was about 15 inches long and maybe 2 inches square. The box inside the box listed a Corvette supplier out of Texas. It turned out to be some type of interior molding for an early 'Vette. It took about another 2 months to get it returned and my money credited back. During my numerous phone calls it was evident that the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing. I wondered how they could continue to do business as fouled up as everything was.
Poor old Mac (McKenzie) must be rolling over in his grave. I used to drive up to Lockport, NY to his shop on Lincoln Rd. In the 1980's. He was a great gentleman and ran a fair & honest business. Sad to see it end like this.
I used to buy VW parts from Ecklers years ago, never had a problem. They were always a bit higher than Rocky Mt Motorworks, but sometimes had things in stock RMM didn’t. Then they bought RMM just before I got out of the VW world, and things went to pot. Prices went up, service went down. Same with their Vette stuff, bought a few items from them, but prices were higher than everybody else, and shipping took forever. They have been on the downhill slide for a while now. The bigger they get, the worse they get. Wouldn’t surprise me if they went belly up in the near future…..
....I must have worked for that same guy when he got into the reman engine and transmission business.
This is the investment group model. It sucks but a lot of aftermarket companies are going this way. I see a resurgence of mom and pop shops starting up in the near future. The way these all started…. I heard that Vintage Air was bought up recently.
Even I just had good customer service a little over a month a go, lets hope it doesn't shit the bed...
I remember going there with my dad to get parts for his Model A when I was a little kid in the 80’s. It’s about an hours drive for us. When I bought my wagon I was excited that I could get parts there and maybe take my son to buy parts like I did with my dad, but I was extremely disappointed with the poor service.
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