Well today I got the final bit of "Good News" regarding the 63 Riviera I brought in from the USA recently. The process of purchasing and importing the car through Auto Ezy Search in Melbourne went relatively smoothly, if a little slow. But as far as customer service goes?.......well if you like customer service steer well clear of George Prok and his Auto Ezy Search. A couple of months ago I got the call that my car was cleared for pick up and to go get it from quarantine in Spotswood. So I get there and start to look the car over as I hadn't seen it in person prior to this. Fortunately I had some help from Nick Hoesing (Malcolm) in that regard so no real bad surprises regarding the condition of the car. I start looking for my new carpet and dash shell I bought for the car. I did my research and planning and made sure they would be at the CA shippers in plenty of time to ship with the car, and they were. For some reason they didn't go in the car but were shipped separately, as I found out when I called George asking about my stuff. He told me he had them somewhere but couldn't put his finger on them right away. He asked me to leave it with him and he'd sort it out. Well, he found my carpet but had somehow allowed another customer to take my dash shell to Canberra. Eventually I get a call from George that he has my carpet and dash shell ready to pick up from him. One and a half hour's drive for me to pick up my stuff from him. After the **** around you'd think he might have the decency to deliver them to me. Here's the kicker, I owe him $100 for the freight from Canberra to him. He ****s up and I pay to fix the **** up. I'm sure for $100 the shell could have at least been shipped direct to me. After a slightly heated discussion I establish that I won't be getting my stuff unless I allow George Prok of Auto Ezy Search to extort that $100 from me. My mum lives near his factory so I asked her to pick up the stuff and pay George the money. So today I picked up the dash shell from my mum, opened the box and guess what. Some ****er in all the shipping to every corner of the world and back has dropped something on the shell and cracked it. Not necessarily the fault of Auto Ezy Search, but had the items been shipped in the car as originally arranged it would not have happened. I was going to let the whole thing slide and just **** it up but in the end, it comes down to the poor customer service and truth be known, the $100. That really pissed me off. So if you are looking to import to Melbourne from the US and you are happy with an importer that in all likelihood will get your car here but provide nothing else in terms of communication or customer service, Auto Ezy Search will probably suit you. If you expect a little more, keep looking. I know I will be looking elsewhere for my next car import. Ahhh. That's better....vent over Pete
Pete why did you not use the same shipper that you used for the Model A coupe? Oh and where's the pics? Without pics it didn't happen LOL
Tommyd. I stewed for a while and then seeing that damaged dash today just tipped the balance. It's just a piss poor way to run a business. I don't understand people like that. Swifty. Ron Wicks brought in my A coupe and he stopped importing. I should have done better research. I sure will next time. Do you want to see pics of my cracked dash shell?
Yes and the Buick too. After looking at the post by Groucho which included pics of Ryan's Rivi I am starting to really like Rivi's.
Don't use bricks.. slingshot and gl*** marbles works better That ****s about the damage though.. some people are just **** unfortunately.
The stuff was insured on the water Brett. Really not worth the h***le trying to deal with Auto Ezy Search. George Prok already showed me how he looks after his customers. For the couple hundred dollars I think I'll just chalk it up to (bad) experience. Notice I am using the full company name Auto Ezy Search a lot? Also using the name George Prok. Hoping that it might help if someone is searching for Australian shippers.
Here you go Swifty. IMG_1089 by striper posted Jul 10, 2014 at 6:06 AM IMG_1109 by striper posted Jul 10, 2014 at 6:06 AM IMG_0834 by striper posted Jul 10, 2014 at 6:06 AM
Hey Pete I don't have permission to view images in that album. Are you able to post them some other way?
Hopefully your experience with Auto Ezy Search and George Prok will ring a bell when other fellow Aussies are looking for help importing cars to your country and will avoid using his company altogether. HRP
I've shipped quite a few packages overseas, and even a few to Australia and New Zealand, but I've never had the bad experience like Auto Ezy Search and George Prok have provided.
Ahhh. The new HAMB! Still learning how to drive it Swifty. I just changed the permissions on my album. Hopefully that will allow you to see the pics.
Wow that looks really sweet. What are the wheels-the Buick optional spokes? Being a 63 that would have the Dyna-flow trans and is it a 401 or 425? Interior looks really good too. Pity you're going to get it dirty going up and down your dirt road LOL. All jokes aside it looks to be an excellent example. BTW I'm currently working on putting the 401 into my other 32 ch***is but with a T5 behind it.
Ron , would be getting on , so I understand why he has given it away , I have used him and Karen a few times , always great to deal with and very reasonable price wise
Swifty. Those are the factory Buick wire wheel covers. Not quite as nice as real wire wheels but I think they look OK. It is a nice driver. No show car by any means but I'm not that kind of guy. It has a 401 and twin turbine ( dynaflow) trans. It has pwr steer, AC, elec windows, dual circuit pwr brakes but otherwise it's a povo pack. Probably about mid range as far as factory accessories I suppose. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Ron and Karen were good to deal with. My understanding is they split and the business got wound up. Sad to see. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Pete, Ron is still in business. I picked up some stuff up after your rivi came in. I think for a few months there he was in hiatus due to the split, but the stuff I got was after we spoke on the phone about parts for your car. Ron is good to deal with not like old mate. Appreciate the heads up as with all the money it costs to get stuff here we dont need that sort of person in business, not good for any of us. Hope the car works out otherwise. Dad and I are just in the process of sorting out the nailhead into another 32 ch***is, should be a good thing. Thats 3 gm motors in our family now, scary!
I've used Auto Ezy Search quite a bit in the past, I've brought in a couple of cars and some engines and other stuff with them. Communication is non existent you have no idea of where your stuff is or when it's going to arrive. Chances are you'll get your stuff in the end, but the process is agonizing. They don't offer insurance in the off chance your stuff goes missing. There are plenty of other providers out there, next... Great looking Riv Striper, a real peach! Gomez
Cory. I hoped Ron might get back on the horse. That's good news. More good news is that like so many others, the Swift family has seen the error of their ways and are now appreciating the General's product. Ford for show but GM for go. Which 32 gets the nailhead? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Pffft! Flatheads are where its at pete. Thats a good question. Tourer first if I get my way. Then 5W. Did you get a hat with your old man car? Will be something nice to be able to take to work and the faimily around in thats for sure.
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