Ecklers Refuses Tech Support!!!

Ecklers is the new Obsolete Ford Parts in my book………Ecklers SUCKS!!!!!

Ecklers operates:
Late Great Chevy
Corvette parts and Accessories
Camaro parts
Classic Chevy Trucks

I am having an issue with some brake components I purchased from them and have been informed that Technical assistance is not avaliable without a $40 membership.

They sold me over $300 in parts that are not working and will not even talk to me unless I join their club so I can get a Magazine, a special Catalog, access to their classifieds, and simple tech support for products I already purchased.

I told the lady I suspect the parts are defective and her boss told her I am still not allowed tech support.

I’m pissed!!!

Please make an informed decision if you choose to purchase parts from this company. I know I won’t ever buy anything from them again.


http://www.lategreatchevy.com/membership.asp?

 

Sounds like this could also be a potential safety issue !! I would ask to speak with the head banana. Or just make a negative report to the B.B.B... Good luck !
Later, Jerry (manacoem)

 

huh, that's nice to know.

Anyways, ask your tech question here, you'll probably get the answer you need, if you can find it among all the other answers

 

Damn T, why do people suck?

did you offer to send the parts back?

 

Some of these companies are finding themselves being sued by corporate lawyers over the use of product names. I know that is why Obsolete Ford Parts is no longer called that. They go by another name now. Might be trying to recoup some legal defense fees or something.

I agree that is pretty sorry customer service though.

 

Devil's advocate..... Since when are parts houses obligated to provide free tech support?

 

When the stuff they sell you doesnt work as they advertised it too...

 

Basically you need to send the parts back, and get a refund. If they give you a hassle, call your credit card company, and they will get you your money.

I had to do this awhile back with another dealer. They wanted to be my friend after Visa took money out of their register.

That's the only good use of a credit card that I know

 

I went to a cruise to Edelbrock awhile back. One of the rodders had a problem with his Edelbrock carb (brand new). His truck wouldn't idle but it would rev fine. Since we were at Edelbrock and had just met the head of their tech crew, I told the poor guy to ask him to look at it. Edelbrocks tech guy refused....
Another friend of mine bought a set of Heddman headers for his 32' 3 window with a Hemi. He bought them at PAW. Since Heddman was so close, he went to their headquarters. The tech people said that since he bought the part from PAW, he would have to go back to them. As he was leaving, an old dude with a cigar said, "You don't look happy". My friend explained the problem with the Headers. The old guy said, "Follow me". They went into an office, the old guy called the tech service guy and told him to take care of my friends problem. It turns out that the old dude was the owner of Heddmans.
Often times, the supervisors or owners don't know what their people are doing. I had a problem with PAW and it went to the president. The salesman got his butt in a ringer and I got my problem solved.

 

Yeah, I agree. If you suspect it's defective just return the merchandise for a refund or replacement. I think their obligation is to provide the correct and operational part for the make and model of car you state. They're in the business of selling parts and not walking a customer through a repair on something that they cannot see or touch. Just my 2 cents.

edit: And for whatever it's worth, Ecklers Late Great Chevy has been a good vendor for me. Correct parts show up on time and never a bbilling problem.

 

Here’s a little more detail.

I asked a buddy of mine and fellow HAMBer where he got his disc brake parts
for his 59 Chevy. He got it from Ecklers so I figured I would give them a shot.

I wanted to purchase a complete master cylinder brake kit
- Booster
- Special booster bracket for the 59 Chevy that clears the wiper motor
- Master cylinder
- Proportioning valve
- Pre bent lines from the master to the Proportioning valve

After determining exactly which kit I wanted with a sales person who didn’t
quite understand how all the pieces fit together I figured out what parts I
wanted. Mind you I didn’t expect the sales girl to really understand the
details of a proportioning valve Vs a metering valve or combination valve,
bore size, reservoir size, built in drum check valves, single vs dual diaphragm
booster etc..

After that it took another 15 minutes to determine that I couldn’t buy the kit
and have it shipped because the pre bent lines were out of stock and they
wouldn’t backorder and ship it short even at my request.

I ended up buying the other 4 pieces individually, that worked for me
because I can bend and flare my own lines, I was just feeling lazy. I should
have known at this point there was going to be trouble.

Now I have the system installed and but I don’t have any volume to the
front. The pedal is at the very bottom and after a pump the rears lock up.

The tech support I wanted was a recommendation on which MC reservoir
should be the front, I think I may have plumbed them backwards into the
proportioning valve causing the bias to be to the back and less volume of
fluid to the front..

The M/C is supposed to be for a Disc/Drum, but the reservoirs are really close
to the same size. I have always used a rule of thumb that the Disc reservoir
is the larger one and I plumbed accordingly. In this case the front one
appears to be larger.

I’m going to swap lines and see if that fixes the problem. The tech support I
wanted was for them to tell me which reservoir they recommend using for the
Front circuit.

Also, the proportioning valve has one in and out for the rear and one in and
two outs for the front. I only used one of the front outlets and plugged the
other. I have done this on other cars with a GM combination valve, but
wanted confirmation that this would not effect the Ecklers proportioning
valve.

TZ

 

One would think that it would be far cheaper for a company in every way to take a phone call as opposed to a return.

If this item is returned they are not likely going to ask for a replacement. With taking a simple phone call the company can offer a replacement rather than a full return and the consumer will likely accept.

So, no, a company does not have to take a phone call. They are stupid not to.

 

Customer service is sometimes an oxymoron, some years ago I bought a set of headers from Sanderson for a project I was working on. Didn't think to test fit them (I mean they are Sanderson's right!) Sent them to be HPC coated and attempted to fit them to the engine when they were coated. Drivers side could not be installed as it interferred with the bellhousing of the TH-350 trans. No way it was the wrong application, it fit the car but not the engine/trans as advertised.
I ran across Sanderson at an event later that year, explained the problem and jackass working the booth said, "Well beat them with a hammer until they clear", the conversation went downhill from there. I know it was my fault for not test fitting them before having them coated but come on "A Hammer for God's sake".
Needless to say I don't buy squat from Sanderson, the headers ended up on a friends drag boat by swapping them side for side and turning them upside down. I had the pleasure of learning about a $300.00 lesson.

 

As the parts department manager in a G.M. dealership, I'm not OBLIGATED to sell parts to anyone that shows up after the parts dept. closing time of 5:00. However, if they approach me like a reasonable human being, and I'm obviously still here anyway, I will see if I can help them out.....and I don't make them give me $40 for a membership to the Heathen Club of America!

 

Oh they'll take my phone call all right, but only after they extort another $40
out of me for "membership".

I was also informed that even if I had membership there was noboody there to talk to anyway because everyone was out to an event. The lady took my name and number but had already told me NO and that her boss said NO.

 

Modern "Business" practice.

They only want your money,
anything else is an inconvenience,at least.

 

When I visited Ecklers during a trip to FLA back in my corvette days, the showroom was just that. No garage, standard Min wage personnel without any grease under the fingernails if you get my meaning. They sell other's stuff at a markup. they had a slick catalog though. I decided it was too gold chain for me. I did my own research on parts and bought direct from the source instead of these boutique resellers.

 

Yes, but you have a conscience. Look at the people who sell damaged parts on (for example) eBay and Ford Barn, and after the sale, tell the unhappy buyer, "You should have asked before you bought it."

It's not like it's something new to find people in the hot rod community who have bad ethics, or that are just selfish, lazy, ignorant employees.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

size of the reservoirs has nothing to do with the volume of fluid moved by the pistons in the m/c. The only reason the disc side is bigger is because the calipers fill up with fluid as the pads wear, and they want the m/c to have enough capacity to not go dry before the pads wear down to metal (it's a lawyer/idiot consumer thing).

sounds like you have issues with the brakes themselves, or a leak, or something like that. and the combo valve probably should work ok with one front connection plugged, as long as there is no where for air to get trapped in it.

 

thats pretty much how i feel about it. when someone buys an air ride kit from me i go out of my way to answer any questions they may have and have even sent pics of how to fab brackets for differnet applications. and do you have any idea how many times i've answered question after question from somebody who has'nt bought a thing from me and probably never will?? it's just part of being a good business person. if i was'nt helpfull with answering questions how could i expect anyone to buy from me? i would'nt buy from somebody that would'nt answer my questions and concerns before i bought and i certainly would'nt buy from anyone AGAIN after they snubbed me like this Eckler's is doing to you.

they'll get theirs in the end in the form of less and less business. ALOT of people read the HAMB and if they are giving you such a hastle i'm sure they are doing the same to others. word travels fast when people are dissatisfied.

 

Damn bro that sucks a fatty. I hope you get things squared away.

 

If you check out their website you will see that there is a place to make comments. On your behalf , I sent them the URL for this thread and reminded them that the HAMB has over 30,000 members, lets just see if they have the balls to front up and sort this like other vendors have done.


My email below :/

There are over 30,000 rodders who passionately discuss hotrodding and car stuff on this forum This morning I woke up to find this staring me in the face.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2078205#post2078205


If you notice beside the name of Flt-Blk there is a notice saying "alliance member" , not only does this mean he is a member in good standing , but that he is possibly a vendor who gives discounts and assistance to others.
I think it would be in your own best interests to check this out,sort out your in house issues, join the forum and answer his simple questions before this situation goes from bad to worse. The question he has is very simple, certainly not worth $40 to him or thousands of dollars to you.


P.S. The chap named Ryan who posted in the discussion is the founder and head honcho of the HAMB , it wouldn't pay to get him riled up.
Cheers
Craig.

 

Ecklers are corvette parts. Do you know the difference between a porcupine and a corvette?
The porcupine has the pricks on the outside!

 

Here's Ecklers Craptacular "No Hassle" Return policy
Guess if you have a defective part you get to eat it...
Thanks for the heads up!


You may return any part within 30 days from the original ship date (Foreign customers have 60 days to return parts).

There is no need to call for authorization. Complete the form on the back side of your invoice and include it with the parts being returned, cutting out and taping the return label to the box. Allow up to 3 weeks from date of shipment for processing refunds and exchanges.

Refunds will be issued in the form of original payment.

• Parts must be returned in the original packaging within 30 days of invoice date for a refund of purchase price.
• Parts returned within 30 days not in the original packaging are subject to a 25% restocking fee.
• Parts returned after 30 days in original packaging are subject to a 25% restocking fee.
• Parts returned after 30 days not in new condition or not in original packaging will be returned to the customer at customer's expense.
• No returns will be accepted after 60 days.
• No returns on special orders or personalized items.
• No returns on all exhaust products after installation.
• No returns on electrical products, computer chips, scanners, tools, books, videos or CD's.
• No returns of a partial kit or set, parts will be returned back to the customer at the customer's expence.
• Parts returned without customer number, address and invoice number will not be processed for a refund or exchange and will be disposed of in 30 days.

Note:Return packages must be sent shipping charges prepaid. COD packages will not be accepted. It is recommended that all returns be insured and shipped with a carrier providing a method of tracking in the event the shipment is lost or damaged.
Please return all merchandise to the following address:

Eckler's Late Great Chevy
ATTN: Returns
5225 S. Washington Ave.
Titusville, FL 32780

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=590 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD colSpan=3>
Upon inspection and acceptance of a qualified return, a credit or refund will be issued. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

WTF! a membership for tech support. the only way to really teach these assholes a lesson is to boycott them. most of the reproduction parts come from the same suppliers. next time a hamb member needs a part contact one one the alliance members on this site. their isn't anyone on this site charing for tech. info. don't buy from them! shit, i back all of the "ELECTRIC DOG POLISHERS" i sell with tech. support. buy one from me and see!

 

I don't get it. In my business, if someone has a problem, I just refund their money. But that RARELY happens. A third to a half of my business is repeat customers and referrals. You can't please all the people all the time, but if you have a liberal refund policy, you keep problems from festering.

 

This is outrageous. I'm a Ford guy, but I do have a family heirloom '51 Chevy PU waiting in the wings for restoration. Now I know where NOT to buy the parts. And, all of my Chevy restoring friends will be made aware of this, too.

 

Some disreputable vendors tend to subscribe to a slightly modified quote by Abraham Lincoln which goes:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time - and those are pretty good odds."

This message board is how we fight back but it is only effective if we give feedback in the manner our astute fellow HAMBer did above.

Cudos to 97 for what he did!!!!!