First though I think I need to explain that, contrary my recent post saying I wouldn't be posting as much because of my wife's dementia, her daughter has stepped in with lots of help allowing me more time than I thought I'd have. Lori is a life saver. She won't see this but: Thank you Lor!! Now on to Speedway. I have wanted to install a front spreader bar, so I ordered from Speedway a '32 bar in instead of a '34, because it measures 23-1/4", because of boxing the frame. It only took 3 days and it was in my shop. Opening it up at first glance it looked great, and fit good with the 1/8 spacers in-place. It was ninety seven bucks, the spacers 15 bucks. The luster of the chrome was a little on the lesser scale than I'd like, but ok. Then I noticed right at the, "V" weld seam in the center, a pin hole showing through the chrome surface. Well that could be put on the underside where it wouldn't show, I turned it over, only to find it an even larger one on that side. The mounting brackets were even worse with weld bead undercut on both and one side of the mounting bracket was slightly bent right at the junction of the tube and the bracket, (maybe from the weld). The welding literally looked like a first ever weld laid down by a first ever welding student and to top it all off, the vendor to SW went ahead and chromed it. (Mexico, China, who knows?) I called them this morning with waiting over an hour for them to answer which they never did, and again after lunch with the same results. Well the whole kit and caboodle in now on its way to Lincoln, I kept the spacers. I made them an offer in an attached note to replace this with a good quality welded bar, or refunding my money. I bought a lot of "stuff" from them during my build, and granted, at times the quality dose not match up to other vendors, but I have never see such poor quality from them and then to have the guts to send it out and have the balls to charge what they did. If it came directly from the vendor to me, SW needs to know about what they are sending out and find another vendor.
I'm glad to hear that you have help with the care giver role because of the toll it takes on the person caring for a person in need. Good luck
Never had a problem with speedway, but i guess it can happen. McDonald's fucks up multiple times every single day, yet we keep going back. I'm sure speedway will take care of it.
Sorry you're having issues. It's likely that either Speedway had it drop shipped from the supplier and didn't know or the shipping clerk is overworked and not trained in quality control. In any case, you need to give the right folks at Speedway a chance to fix it. In any case, a bit more time and you likely could have made a first post about how Speedway stepped up to fix your issue. Hope the second thread says that.
Opposite side of the spectrum. I ordered a set of 1956 Ford parking light housings from Concours Parts in Carson City. They are repos made for Dennis Carpenter and available from a few suppliers and Concours has been very good to me; they are not inexpensive. They were horrible, no quality control person could have ever looked at them at Carpenters where they were shipped from. I took photos, wrote a letter, and sent them to both Concours and Carpenter. I didn’t expect much but a week later I received another set from Carpenters and an apology letter. The letter also said to keep the first set. This was after Dennis had passed away. This gave me confidence in our American suppliers.
I have bought from Speedway many times over the years and found out the hard way that if Speedway sells but does not manufacture I themselves it's usually okay. BUT, if Speedwa manufacturers it themselves it can be a hit ir miss proposition. I once bought a set of batwings from them and the perch bolt bosses were over an inch out of alignment ! You could insert the perch bolt through one end and the bolt would end up beside the other boss! I sent it back for a refund, I made a few other purchases in house built things and often they were of poor quality. Some could be fixed and others, like the batwings were beyond hope. I have not had a problem buying from them if they dealered for another manufacturer. So, my experience has been to find out if they made it or not before I order it.
Pretty anxious to hear from Speedway. I looked at other providers and noticed the great quality they put out but some fail to mention the measurements, some call out measurements that won't fit, (you'd think there would be no difference. My frame horns are 25-3/4 out to out, 23-1/4 inside which the Speedway bar fit good with 1/8 spacers. I would really like to continue with them because I know it fits.
I think most aftermarket suppliers do the same thing with returned parts , they shelve it and sell it to the next buyer., hoping someone will not return it . ?
Okay, I'm an idiot, not knowing polished stainless from chrome, which I do, .......... (dumb ass). However this even makes it worse. What kind of an even bigger dumb ass idiot polishes stainless knowing of and seeing rotten welding and pinholes and penetration, undercutting, then sends it out to the customer ??? One of my last responsibilities before retiring. was as an Industrial Engineer on the east coast, (Long Island, Connecticut, Albany NY, and in Wash., for the Boeing Company, (which in passing I will emphasize I have severed all ties with because of senior managements decision not to inform their buyers of soft ware on the 737 that killed almost 350 people.) Excuse my little rant and lets get on to why such stupidly on the vendor is inexcusable. Customers expect the maximum product quality possible and so field or in shop inspectors should be working right along the folks doing the job. When lousy quality is produced, it needs scrapping or rework, not sending it out the door knowing of the inferior quality and work and trying to get it past the unsuspecting user at the end use. Okay my morning rant has come to an end, pass it off as just a sometime ornery old coot expecting better of humanity, which he knows will always only be up to 30 % of his expectations.
I think that's bull. No quality supplier would waste the time and expense of re-shelving knowing that they'd likely harm their reputation and just have to undergo the expense and hassle of returning and re-shipping all over again.
Speedway puts items like this in their "garage sale" category and sells them as imperfect parts at a discount.
5window, that is NOT bull. Most of the bigger retailers do that every day. EVERY big box retailer does it, and I know that for a fact. Don't know anything about Speedway, though.
5Wdo , The reason I feel that way is, When I had my Body Shop , A customer with a 32 3 window ordered some steel front fenders to be delivered to my shop as I was to replace the Fiberglass fenders that were on the car. The fenders arrived , Obviously someone had , hammered ground and made a effort to fit them and failed , I had an original steel fender to compare , the Repops were way out of proportion to the real fender. my opinion is that the fenders which I received had been molested and returned , only to be sold again. I might be wrong ,I have described only one instance, I've had many over the years , when I have received bad parts, call the provider and they send a better , usable item . you and I are both entitled to our own opinion , I believe I'm right in some cases .
There's a Habitat for Humanity (second hand home supplies) store near my office that receives basically brand new in the box stuff from Lowes and Home Depot weekly. Take an under sink pull out wire rack for example. Someone buys it, doesn't like how it installs, returns it. Lowes/Home Depot doesn't verify if all the screws and mounting hardware are in the box. They simply donate it to the re-use store. I've bought brand new (still wrapped in plastic) items from there, just because I'm not afraid to source an extra screw or two if need be, and I know it's the local big box story policy to donate them here. So no, not "EVERY" big box retailer does it.
When I shop at Walmart, I expect Walmart quality. Now, I'm not saying that Speedway doesn't care about the quality of products that they're selling, but they're a long way from a mom and pop operation that puts hands on every product they sell. A pallet of product comes in to Speedway from a supplier. They shelve it and re-sell it. The warehouse guys aren't unboxing every item to inspect unfortunately.
exactly .. ya get what ya pay for.. apples to apples . oranges to oranges. at $97.00 dollars I would have had second thoughts right off the bat..
I tried calling them today and could not get through. I did however find their email; sales@speedwaymotors.com sending them the following: "Yesterday, May 6th I sent back, (returned) the unacceptable 1932 Ford spreader bar sent to me on that order. This part was wholly inadequate because of the poor quality welding and pin holes in the part. Frankly I have to believe your vendor sent it directly to me from their facility it was so bad. My name is in your computer showing all the parts I have bought through the years, of which I have never had a bad part from Speedway, always very acceptable ones only. I have returned recently an early Ford E-brake Handle due to my error, I'm in hopes that purchase has been credited to my account". "I included a note saying it is acceptable to me to replace this poor quality spreader bar, with one of proper quality or just refund the money. I would like to know what you will do in this regard however, if you will please". Larry Moe Federal Way, Wash. 98003 There was an almost immediate reply saying a customer service rep would be calling me sometime in next couple of days.
Folk routinely return things to “big places” where they (parts) are restocked. Some do it for a scam, some do it because the part isn’t correct. Heck, I’ve gotten grubby finger printed boxes locally at AP stores, in that instance I just tell them to pull another and let me see it. Cant do that mail-order, but still happens. If the part is returned as not needed, it goes back to inventory. Could easily be sent to you. Many years ago if you returned an item , the item was looked at , I think today it cost too much to pay for incoming QI, so it’s restocked
The fact that it is stainless rather than chrome could have been to your advantage had you not returned the spreader. A competent metal fabricator could have done some grinding, rewelding and straitening and after a repolish all would have been good. Of course if you had to pay shop rates it could have gotten expensive. I have worked with skilled pipe fitters that could and would have fixed that on their lunch break.
But Jay Here, every one knows our rides aren't cheap and no matter what, you just GOTTA have that part, shipping or not! And that'll be enough out me on this fiasco.
Explain. Someone needs to decipher your order,someone needs to pull the parts, someone needs to reorder the inventory, someone needs to package them so they will safely arrive, someone needs to address your package and contact the shipper who then has to transport it and deliver it to you. And, of course, you want quality control. And, generally, that all happens in just a few days. What's your concept of a"fair price"?
I understand Larry. Having the proper tools on hand would be important as well. I am not that far behind you Sir.
It's not just the aftermarket, our local Multi-line OE (GM, Fomoco, FCA, Honda, Toyota) dealer's warehouse sends us stuff that was obviously raided for parts, installed, damaged, etc. weekly. We've even gotten parts that WE had previously returned as defective.
The Jalopy Journal
